It's funny ... after everything I have been through in the Church, I continue to find it remarkable, in a less than positive way that my COLLEAGUES continue to deny the reality of what I endured in Minnedosa ... they continue to shake thier heads and BLAME ME for the violence I've endured, and they even stoop to ridiculing me for raising my voice to protest the bad behaviour of OTHERS, particularly the Church and Community Leadership, that marked the last three years I spent in that community.I wonder if my esteemed colleagues would be the type to blame the rape victim ??
I wonder if they would tell the family of the lynched black man that he "really had no one to blame but himself"??
I wonder if they tell the homeless First Nations guy on the street to "get a job"??
I can't help but wonder ...
The list of happenings that I posted the other day are not made up - THEY HAPPENED, and yet repeatedly the local leadership, and those in Presbytery and Conference brush such events off with a - "oh, they can't be connected to the Church ..."
To that I say - BULLSHIT, - just because you deny something doesn't make it so ... just because you've cozyied up to the toxic leadership and stumbled over the boundaries that you're so good at telling me to observe doesn't make them innocent nor relieve them of their responsibility.
Justice demands a courageous stand, and such a postion begins by no longer blaming the victim ... it is increasingly obvious that The United Church wouldn't know JUSTICE if it tripped over it ...
Thank God there are still those out there who not only know what justice is - but are working hard to bring it into being ... to bad they are outside the Church ...
7 comments:
what kind of justice are you looking for?
Perhaps they are more "in the church" then you might realize. I mean, even the most learned of men didn't recognize Jesus when he came; it was those men who were not so "into religion" that recognized God for who he is.
What was the church supposed to do - arrest the "bad guys?"
thank you My Own Woman - YOU get it ...
The anonymous posters just PROVE my point. Thanks. Appreciate it.
shawn, i don't get it. what is the church responsible for when your tires are slashed and your house shot up? wouldn't that be the police? it sounds like you did endure some horrible things, but did you ever call the cops?
not to be facetious, but what do you expect to happen through the church? a prayer? a committee struck? a potluck lunch?
Anonymous - the fact you don't get it is the problem ... Yes, I called the Police - and I called the various courts of the Church TOO. The ONLY time I got a response of ANY kind was when I was falsely accused of beating my children in a parking lot, and the Children and Family Services investigator interrogated my two eldest children for two hours before determining that there was no substance to the anoymous complaint ... That was the only time I had a supportive conversation with someone from the Greater Church who didn't judge me or try to posit the blame on ME.
What is the church responsible for???
The DENIAL of any connection to the crap being spread around town by members of the BOARD of Minnedosa United Church and the acts of violence that I endured is a start ... I KNOW WHAT MEMBERS OF THE BOARD SAID ABOUT ME. I know the lies they told - I know the pressure they put on my friends - I know the two faced actions they engaged in ... small towns are beautiful places because secrets are seldom secrets for long ...
And yet, these "fine up-standing" individuals continue to be "leaders" in the community and the Church without once being called to account for thier personal actions ...
What's the Church responsible for? Railroading me out of town to AVOID dealing with the mis-deeds of the lay leaders and fellow presbyters who openly lied to my face - repeatedly.
What's the Church responsible for?? NOT holding EVERYONE involved equally culpable and responsible. Particularly those Board members who participated in perpetuating and spreading the LIES being told in the community that fueled the acts of violence and violation against me.
What's the Church responsible for ??? A FLAWED 333/363 document that begins by naming that there were longstanding issues and problems in Minnedosa, then ends 48 pages later posting ALL of those problems on one person - ME.
What's the Church responsible for??? Failing to maintain it's share of the Covenant and expecting me to grovel and beg while it repeatedly kicked and beat me ...
What's the Church responsible for ???? NOT LISTENING but instead sticking their collective fingers in their ears and saying kind caring things like - "Shawn, your story has never changed ..." and "maybe you're responsible for ..." and the ever popular (after 10 minutes of conversation) "I see no change ..."
What is the Church repsonsible for??? Casting judgement on ME at every turn while cozying up to the very people who were part of the the toxic mess ...
Shawn,
You have confused me. In what way is it increasingly obvious that the church wouldn't know justice if it tripped over it? Are you referring only to your situation or to justice in general?
Who's the "you" cozyied [sic] up to toxic leadership?
About what boundaries are you speaking?
To what are you responding in this post?
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