Equitable Hands
Photo by Alvin Mahmudov on Unsplash
This has been such a roller-coaster of a week to be a sexual human being. Consider:
- United Methodists’ data-keeping agency, the General Council on Finance and Administration, approved with only one dissenting vote to add the category of “non-binary” to the gender section of the denomination’s annual statistical report.
- The Methodist Church of Britain voted overwhelmingly, by a vote of 254 for to 46 against, to permit same-sex marriage, making it the largest denomination in the United Kingdom to enact marriage equality.
- The U.S. State Department unveiled new LGBTQ-inclusive policies for passports.
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the sexual assault conviction of comedian Bill Cosby on the grounds that his civil right to due process was violated because a previous prosecutor had a verbal agreement that Cosby wouldn’t be prosecuted if he admitted to his crimes.
On the one hand, movements toward greater inclusion of LGBTQ persons deserves to be celebrated. LGBTQ persons and their supportive families and friends can rejoice that both church and state are coming to realize that humans aren’t solely binary sexual beings but exist on a spectrum of sexuality. It’s long past time when we, as a society, realized that sexual identity is not a lifestyle choice but an inherent characteristic. What we do with our bodies as sexual beings is an entirely different matter, and the church is woefully behind in teaching ethics for healthy relationships in the context of sexual identity.
On the other hand, overturning Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction re-traumatizes survivors of assault and harassment, because the comedian himself admitted to crimes against women in a a deposition with then-prosecutor Bruce Castor. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that even though the Castor-Cosby agreement was never documented formally, the verbal non-prosecution agreement was binding on Castor’s successor.
Protecting Cosby's civil right to due process comes at an unconscionably high cost. The decision tears hope from the hearts of all, especially women, who have been raped or harassed that their violators will be brought to justice. So far some 60 courageous women have come forward to attest to Cosby's sexual predation. They're in the minority, because it's estimated that already two out of every three rapes aren’t reported because sexual assault investigations are so harrowing for victims. The Cosby decision makes reporting sexual assault crimes even more unlikely now.
These latest developments underscore again a significant opportunity for the Church to shape a more sexually just society. By casting off the patriarchal framework of the Holy Bible and the sexist traditions of two millennia, Christians become free to teach and to model a society in which men and women, whatever their gender identity, can create human relationships of mutual protection, pleasure, and procreation.
Admittedly the task is daunting. While women fend off sexual harassment and assault, men are struggling to free themselves from the false, sinful identity of toxic masculinity that demands they conquer and command those around them. In this respect, United Methodist Men are to be highly commended for teaching, modeling and advocating Christian manhood that is both strong and equitable in its leadership. UM Men’s campaign against gender-based violence, Amending Through Faith, has been a particularly encouraging example of its principles.
At the same time, The United Methodist Church still has a long way to go in its treatment of women. Of the approximately 47,000 clergy in the worldwide denomination, only about 12,000 are clergywomen. The majority of clergywomen still endure sexual harassment in their churches, as documented by a distressing video produced in 2019 by the North Carolina Annual Conference. Likewise, United Methodist laywomen often face sexual harassment and assault by both clergymen and lay leaders, according to the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women. The monitoring agency has developed a free curriculum, “The Way of Integrity,” that encourages church members and clergy to relate to one another in ways that deeply respect one another’s personhood.
Even with the resources already available to United Methodists, change will come only when we find the courage to speak out against sexual prejudice and exploitation in favor of a beloved community that upholds the sacred worth of all. Each person, whatever their gender identity, deserves to be safe physically, mentally and emotionally from the greatest assault against one's being as a child of God. The events of this week have shown both the promise and the perils of the task before us.
Full disclosure: United Methodist Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle is a survivor of violent sexual assault; thus her life experience serves as a lens to critique the Church's progress toward sexual justice.