ad-aeternum

This map shows every state where women are more likely to live in poverty than men

Wait… hold up. Every state is colored in. That can’t be right… right? 

Yeah, there’s other factors too, but “women don’t ask for raises” and “pink-collar jobs aren’t valued” are smaller factors than the simple fact that caring for your own children is mandatory for women and optional for men.

Here’s the life story of, I’m going to say, about half the women I’ve ever worked with:

- Had children.  Possibly voluntarily, possibly through lack of contraception education and/or funds.

- Broke off relations with the father.  Frequently this was for a reason that was not a choice on her part, like he abused her or went to prison or just plain disappeared.

- Kept the kids.  Even if it was an amicable split, she likely has weekday custody and is the one who takes charge of the vast majority of their needs.

- Dad may or may not pay child support, but even if he does, the average child support is $2550/year and the average cost of raising a child in a low-income family is $8610/year.

- The mother can’t afford paid childcare, but she has some friends/family members who watch her kids, but they can’t commit to a consistent schedule, which means she can only work limited hours and has to take a lot of unplanned time off.

- This drastically limits both which jobs she can take and how much she can earn from those jobs, and completely locks her into poverty until the youngest child is old enough to be home alone.  But by then she’ll have an unimpressive resume of assorted part-time gigs, plus likely health problems from 15 years of eating junk and barely sleeping, so it’s not a fabulous career launch point.

“Kaci and Holly Clark-Porter may well be the first same-sex couple to be jointly ordained into the denomination.

Sunday’s ceremony will be remembered as a historic moment for the church, but for Kaci and Holly, it was the end of one long chapter of their lives and the beginning of another.” 

I’m tired of Episcopalians that think that, because they don’t mind that LGBT+ people, people of color, and the poor sit in their pews (and often, not even this is the case), they’re living the ultimate fulfillment of the Gospel.

I’m tired of Episcopalians that make idols out of inclusion, as if the triune God can be reduced to “all are welcome.” As if voting Democrat and hanging a flag in the nave is an end to the reconciliation that the Church owes to marginalized people in the US. As if, “MY God loves EVERYBODY” has any theological or tangible benefits to entire communities that can’t just fit in with “everybody.”

Yes, the crucifixion was a sacrifice for all, but resurrection overcame execution. Life overcame death. Liberation occurred. We can’t ignore that.

Our inclusion must be in greater service to the liberation of the poor, the downtrodden, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and the oppressed. It is not a high horse for us to sit upon. It is not a badge for us to tote above Christians that share our baptism. 

The inclusiveness of Christ’s crucifixion is inseparable from the liberation of his resurrection, and our testament to the resurrection must be continuous revelation through revolution: an emergent struggle to form communities and societies that recognize the dignity of the human person.

Hear the words of St. Paul:

If we weave by day and undo at night, nothing gets woven. If we build by day and destroy by night, nothing is ever built. If we pray to God and do evil before Him, the nothing is woven, and a house for our soul is not built.