The First Stone

“Let him who is without sin among you, be the first to cast the first stone at her.” John 8:7. These are words to live by for almost any human being and were ascribed in the Bible telling of an angry Mob ready to stone a woman for adultery. The verse is a caution to those men who had worked themselves into a frenzy to stamp out their own misdeeds by calling attention to another. Something that is incredibly relative at this time of intense greed around the world.

The creation of commotion to deflect blame and winning at all costs is gut wrenching to most of us and many are throwing their arms up in despair when it comes to whom they should be believing. I dare say that insecurity is by design and something we all need to recognize before it becomes our downfall.

Women accusing Roy More, Donald Trump, Matt Lauer and others by and large have made up little of their stories; sexual impropriety happens on a regular basis around the world. Some of it we overlook as playful interaction, but a fair amount of it is more serious. Does that mean women run right over to their family or friends to tell them it happened? Most often no, it is bottled up inside for often times years and in many cases forever.

I was taught there was shame in sex and took that to heart, so why pray tell would I tell my friends, my Mother or anyone else that I had been abused? I was personally violated by a 65-year-old man when I was 12 and had no idea what to do about it. Men were always right, and I felt shamed. When he did it a second time I told my sister-in-law trusting she would not look down on me. She didn’t, but frankly offered no out for me other than to stay away from the guy. The one thing she did sternly advise was not to tell my Dad or he would kill the guy. Great, I was trapped, either I keep it to myself or I would be responsible for a dead man.

Maybe it was my outgoing personality, my need to fit in or my curiosity, but when another man that same year invited me to look at his apartment I followed him and was raped. I told no one. Were that man running for office now and especially the Presidency I damn sure would speak up, but not without reservation because a woman coming forward about greedy, self-serving men will be raked over the coals as we are seeing now.

The men of power who have something to lose are cat calling everyone of the women who point a finger at them, and the more guilty they are the more they run down their accusers. Almost without exception the one tossing these charges aside as made up or hired to discredit them are guilty as hell you can bet. I have heard one soft spoken man suggesting that Roy Moore had served time in the military and gone onto college so when he arrived home at 30 something all the girls his age were taken. Right. He was in no contact with women in the service or in college? Uh huh…

We are making excuses for people like Roy Moore and Donald Trump and their errant sexuality, but even looking at their records there is little room for acceptance. I heard the Alabama Secretary of State say in an interview yesterday that the people of Alabama want “someone in the Senate that will protect the Constitution”. Well then, I have to ask, why are they supporting Moore who was twice thrown off the bench for NOT upholding the Constitution? Trump is no different, pretending to be someone he is not when he offers folks that he will help them out and then turn around and be willing to sign legislation such as the tax-cut bill for few in the middle class and all of the super-rich and corporations who are still taking their money out of our country.

Both these men and others like them were self-serving sexually and are self-serving in government. It is important I think to ask yourself why it is they are going straight to blame. Why is it they will not say, as Franken did that they feel bad that any actions of theirs were taken to be more than what they intended? If it were any of us wouldn’t we be falling all over ourselves to correct those misunderstandings?

There was nothing consensual with those young girls and I see nothing in their records that make them a bit sympathetic to others. We are looking at an abuse of power here and I say in both cases we need to be looking at that stone pile.