Living life on the Jericho Road (representing the dangerous and difficult places in our society) rather than hiding away in our houses or our car with the music turned up loud is still on my mind. If social justice means anything it has to mean engagement and with parts of society that are not like me.
Today after church, I got the bus home with my 4 children. My eldest who uses the bus every day sits on his own, happy to disown the presence of his family, whereas my 3 girls sit with me where there were empty seat at the back of the bus! Upon sitting down, the guy next to me, on the phone, tells his listener that I have got on the bus. He uses a term to describe me that I have never heard before and I won't put on this blog in case I find it to be deeply offensive slang. His conversation which he is broadcasting to the whole bus then proceeds to be filled with plenty of foul language. I can deal with that fine, I asked him to watch his language and he agrees and then tells his phone listener (and the bus) that it makes sense because the kids don't need to hear that language. What I was unable to find a solution to, was the constant valuing of women as objects that he has authority over, anyone (thing in his vocabulary) who was female that came into view out of the window got a sexualised comment. This guy had no shame! He might think that children shouldn't hear swearing but he was very happy to let them hear sexualised vocabulary. When he got off the bus my eldest daughter and I started a discussion about his views on women. She told me up to the point he got off, she was desperate to get off the bus and walk! She really hoped that it had gone over the heads of the younger two.
Yesterday I saw a man wearing a T-shirt that read 'made to be laid' - now I find the term 'laid' fairly offensive especially on public display but it was the word 'made' that got me thinking. God made us and one of our key purposes is to procreate. Did this man even know that he was 'made'? The impression was that he was the author and maker of his life and the obvious statement he was saying by wearing this T-shirt was that he had a right to use another person for his own selfish gain. How did we end up here when God made sex for our good?
The sexualisation of young people through clothing and music videos etc has made the headlines recently and I am relieved that there is voice of reason in the midst of this onslaught. Yes the casual acceptance that is given to talking about and display your intentions regarding sex is deeply disturbing.
My task as a Father of a son and three girls who live on the Jericho Road requires my full engagement and now is not the time to hide my head in the sand. Happy Father's Day!!
1 comment:
very real and very sad. I had a gang of boys walking behind me recently discussing if they would go with an older woman and if they did it would be me, of course I told them in no uncertain terms where to get off, but being the same age as their mothers you would think they would respect me. but no such luck.
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