Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

suspended in her jar

Home
Catholic
What Is The Dispute Over Kavanaugh And His Accusers Really About?

What Is The Dispute Over Kavanaugh And His Accusers Really About?

Last updated on: September 27, 2018 at 12:06 am by Rebecca Bratten Weiss

What Is The Dispute Over Kavanaugh And His Accusers Really About? 2018-09-27T00:06:19-04:00 Rebecca Bratten Weiss

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The first thing I have to point out is that it is generally recognized by many people, left, right, and center, that Judge Brett Kavanaugh is not going to overturn Roe. He himself has said it is settled law. And as legal expert H. Lillian Vogl wrote in a prior piece for this column, “that’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works.” Anyway, this is the man who overturned a ruling protecting the mentally disabled from forced surgeries – including abortion – so he’s not exactly in the strict anti-abortion camp.

Abortion is not going to go away under this regime, any more than it has at any other time when republicans held power. For some, this may be distressing. For others, a relief. Many of us, however, anticipate that abortion rates will go up, due to loss of health care and increased poverty. And many of us, both pro-life and pro-choice, are dismayed by this.

The second thing I have to point out is that it ought to be widely recognized by now that women have little to gain from making up false accusations, that the ratio of false to true accusations is tiny, and that in reality the vast majority of assault cases go unreported. So yes, we should suspend judgment until we have more evidence, but statistically speaking – and as Kavanaugh’s character becomes more clearly delineated, materially speaking – it seems plausible that Dr. Ford is telling the truth.

The third thing I have to point out – to those who keep saying “innocent until proven guilty! – is that this is not a trial. This is a job screening, for one of the most powerful positions in the nation. I’m sorry people don’t understand that in this case, only the highest standards will suffice. If there is a shade of uncertainty about this man’s fitness to judge the nation, he needs to stick with doing what he’s doing now. This is not “ruining his life.” This is not “punishment,” any more than I’m being punished if I don’t get a job because of something shady on my record.

That she has received a barrage of hatred, and even death threats, as a consequence of speaking out, tells you something about the objectivity and moral character of Kavanaugh’s fans. That many of them have been quick to condemn Pope Francis for not doing more to prevent cover-ups of clerical abuse crimes tells you something more about them – and about just how much they value women, since they continue to reiterate that the majority of clerical crimes were committed against young men and boys.

So what is this really about?

The conversations tell us all we need to know. On one hand we have a group of diverse persons – pro-life, pro-choice, male, female, non-binary, Catholic, non-Catholic, secular – who think that these accusations are serious, that the accusers should be given a listen, and that we should be respectful and cautious in how we speak about victims, about assault, and about the terrain of sexuality in general.

These people are not necessarily anti-Kavanaugh, but they know that – especially given the horrific revelations Catholics have recently faced, regarding assault and cover-ups, and the argument that “he’s a good Catholic man, so he couldn’t have done it” – this is no time to get breezy about assault, as though it’s no big deal, just boys being boys, or maybe a mere “youthful mistake.” They know why victims may wait to speak out. They recognize that without consent, a mere sexual misdeed becomes a crime. They may be republicans, democrats, independents, monarchists, or socialists – but whatever their political alignment, they are horrified by the indifference of the GOP leaders who are determined to make this nomination happen whether the accusations are true or not.

And on the other hand, we have those who don’t think sexual assault is a big deal. They may accuse the women of lying, of being paid by Soros to fabricate a story. Or they may say “it was long ago, who cares?” or “he just humped her a bit.” But across the board, their modus operandi is to enable and facilitate rape culture with their breathtaking indifference to women. When pressed they’ll say “oh, these women are lying because they love abortion” – in spite of the fact that abortion is barely an issue here – because they can’t get it through their heads that women might truly be motivated by a desire for justice. They can’t understand that a woman who has kept her traumatic violation under wraps most of her life might feel morally compelled to come forward, when she sees her accuser about to be placed in one of the highest positions of power in the land.

Perhaps they are only dimly aware of women as moral agents at all, considering how lightly they shrug off assault of women, and how easily they mock the idea that a woman might care about something other than abortion.

When Trump was elected, many women stepped forward to say “no way” to a serial sexual predator, and many men mocked them for doing so. It’s beginning to look as though the biggest dividing line, in the U.S. right now, is between “people who recognize that women are persons” and “people who don’t.” The dispute over Kavanaugh is making that line look a lot more significant.

image credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_law_enforcement_in_the_United_States

Previous Post

September 23, 2018

Victims Can't Always Speak Out - And This Can Compound Trauma

Next Post

October 6, 2018 "But He's A Good Person!"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion anti-semitism art Atwood Betrothed church clergy abuse coronavirus culture economics education environmentalism ethics faith family feminism gardening gun violence immigration Judaism literature MaddAddam New Pro Life Movement news pandemic personalism poem politics politics blue Pope Francis racism religion salvation sexuality social justice spirituality Station eleven Stephen King The Stand Trump Uncategorized war World Health Organization

Select a Month March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 2 John, anyone who does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Truth God The Holy Spirit Salvation

Support this
Column