#Bringbackourgirls For Mother's Day

It’s been almost a month since more than 270 young women were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria, and only a week since the world’s news media, the United States, and the Nigerian President have starting speaking about this horrific assault.

I first learned about what was happening on May 1^st on social media, and tweeted, “If 200+ white girls were kidnapped in London, it would 24/7 headline news with governments sending troops in to help.” I kept thinking about how the U.S. media had been obsessed with covering the stories of one missing white young woman: how Jon Benet, Elizabeth Smart, and Natalie Holloway are household words but that these brilliant school girls in Nigeria weren’t making headlines at all. 

I’m glad they are now.  But, I have to ask, “What took so long?” And “if thousands of social media activists hadn’t responded, would they be headlines now?” I want someone in the media to acknowledge that they were wrong in not covering this as soon as it was known.  I want there to be searing analysis about how we are not in a post-racial era at all.  I want there to be coverage of how it is that there are men willing to enslave young women because they wanted an education and that there is a market of men who will buy them.  I want world leaders and media leaders to acknowledge that sexism and racism still permeate the world. I want the world to redouble its commitments to women's education and women's safety. 

As a survivor of sexual assault, my heart aches for these young women and the terror they must be experiencing.  As a mother of a young woman, my heart hurts for their mothers who don’t know where their daughters are but do have an idea about what they are going through.   As a minister, I cry out for us to remember our call to take care of the most vulnerable and the most marginalized. 

I fear that just like some of the individual kidnappings, too much time has passed for these young women to be found.  But, I will keep praying that they will. And, I will do my part to raise my voice to make sure that the search goes on.  On Mother’s Day, I will light candles for them and for their mothers.  I hope you will join me.   

Denominations Support Sexual Justice

I thought you’d enjoy this report from Juliana Mecera, the Religious Institute’s 2010 summer intern.

This summer I researched seventeen different Jewish and Christian denominations, exploring their policies and programs on sexuality education, reproductive rights, women’s programs, and the full-inclusion of LGBT persons—and was pleased to find that denominations are active and even vibrant in engaging and responding to sexuality concerns. As I met—over the phone and in person—with many church and synagogue leaders, I appreciated their familiarity with sexuality issues and was encouraged to learn that many had worked with the extensive resources of the Religious Institute to improve the quality of sexual information and care they provide to their congregants.

Impressively, all of these denominations (see list below) are active in at least one of these areas pertaining to sexuality! As children begin school and religious education courses start-up again, I was especially attuned to educational issues. A large majority—14 of these 17 denominations—have either developed their own sexuality education curricula or promote another denomination’s resources. Furthermore, 11 of these denominations support sexual education being taught in public schools.

Support for the full-inclusion of LGBT persons is fairly strong among this group as a whole. Ten have an official policy for full-inclusion, and of the 7 that do not, 3 have unofficial organizations that work for the full-inclusion of their LGBT members and offer them support. Unfortunately, even those denominations which formally support LGBT persons often lack an official denominational office to help congregations become welcoming and affirming. Even more striking is that 14 denominations—all but 3—have a national women’s program, and 11 denominations have an official statement that advocates for reproductive rights.

It’s truly heartening to see this amount of engagement by religious communities in sexuality-related issues. The numbers of these prominent denominations, however, indicate that there is still work to be done, particularly in advocating for LGBT inclusion. I am thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to further this work at the Religious Institute this summer.

• African Methodist Episcopal Church
• Alliance of Baptists
• American Baptist Church
• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• Church of the Brethren
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
• The Episcopal Church (USA)
• The Fellowship
• Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
• Metropolitan Community Churches
• Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Reformed Church in America
• United Church of Christ
• The United Methodist Church
• Union for Reform Judaism
• United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
• Unitarian Universalist Association

Juliana M. Mecera

Help Haiti's Women

I have been glued to the television news reports about Haiti. My heart breaks at the images.

I watched a report this morning about children in the capitol. It was heart wrenching to see them -- and their mothers.

I know natural disasters affect men, women, and children...but I started to think this morning about the special needs of the women of Haiti. Women who are delivering babies this week without medical care. Women who are pregnant or post partum. Women who live in shelters for victims of domestic violence that may have been destroyed. Women who may be sexually assaulted or raped in this time of disorganization, as women so often are in times of crisis. Women who need sanitary supplies. Twelve year old girls getting their first periods without mothers or homes. Women watching their children suffer or die.

Women who need us to support organizations that are there especially to help them. International Planned Parenthood is seeking funds for its Haitian affiliate, Profamil, so that they have the resources to reach out during this disaster. UNFPA is seeking funds for emergency contraceptive care and reproductive health kits. V-Day has begun a fund for the V-Day Haiti Sorority Safe House, one of the few shelters for victims of domestic and sexual violence in Haiti.

Please help. Please pray.