I was browsing around, kind bummed because I had written most of a diary and then accidentally erased it. So I was doing sour grapes: They wouldn't read it anyway because it was religious in nature. Waa Waa! Poor me!
When, by the power of the internet, I was suddenly enlightened! Some was saying things better than I ever could! But I had never heard of Melissa Harris-Perry, much less her new show on MSNBC.
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Well, today is the day for miracles! I tried to provide a link but embedded instead! I am sorry that there is no transcript and I could not take out the little ad for MSNBC but I am still in awe of the embed.
Over the link.
She basically expends on the whole idea of "schema" (an organized pattern of thought)and the embedded images we have and how difficult it is to change them ... not impossible, but difficult.
She is much more articulate than I am but our thinking is parallel. She talks about the hearing Issa had on contraception and about the American College of Cardinals and the whole notion of the image of God as a Big White Man, and by extension the current image of political power (how many women are in the Senate, etc). It's a great segment.
My lost diary was about when I preached in Monterrey, Mexico. I was part of a delegation from my church to the church in Mexico because we wanted to establish a formal relationship. The protestant churches in Mexico tend to be very conservative and the particular church where we met did not allow women to be up on the dais, much less behind the pulpit. But I did not know that. It was difficult for the Mexican pastors (men) to accept me as a full member of our group since I am a liberal Chicana who is both divorced and ordained. Furthermore, my group had elected me to preach. This too was difficult for them since our group included a man and a White woman who were both ordained and spoke Spanish, and were much higher on the social order.
I preached from a passage from the Book of Numbers (chapter 27) which is the story of the daughters of Zelophehad, who, during the dividing up of the land, go to Moses to say that they should inherit since their father had no male heirs. Moses took the request to God and God said that they made sense. So there I was preaching from a feminist text and Mexican men were sitting there, glares on their faces, arms and feet firmly closed (God forbid they cross their knees and be thought Gay) with ramrod straight backs.
After the service, several demanded to know where I got that passage. I had to show them in their own personal bibles ... several times ... so that they knew I had not made up the story nor was it only in wierd feminist versions. They were not pleased.
However, unbeknown to the men, the women at the church had been watching me on closed circuit TV instead of going about their duties (even the cleaning lady had watched). They were thrilled that a woman who looked like them had been up in the pulpit and spoken so boldly to the men. The were thrilled to discover a passage that spoke to them and told them they had voices God would hear. They were thrilled to discover a crack in the schema of male dominance and authority.
I don't what happened in the long run since I moved and never saw those women again. But I have the feeling that strong and vocal women and men who see a new vision can make a difference. That the schema of rich white male authority that the GOP is trying to bolster will crumble unless we give up.
I have sometimes likened the voices here to ripples, sending change through the pond. I would love to see the ripples become waves and the waves tsunamis to bring about a change in the schema and to make us all more free.