S1-Day 22: God in dirty places: God and the "Whores"

I, recently, had an opportunity to conduct a bible study with a small group of women on “Levite's concubine” from Judges 19. I emphasized on the brutal rape and murder of Levite’s concubine whose body was dismembered into twelve pieces because she was a powerless woman and her status was a mere ‘concubine.’  To my surprise one woman in the gathering asked, "Sister, what is wrong here? She received what she deserved, she was unfaithful and she was a concubine, it is better to handover the worst woman to the mob to be raped than giving a good man (her husband) to them." If this text was understood in its context, then it challenges us all to walk toward an un-trodden road which takes a lot of unlearning moving us into envisaging a just and inclusive community.

‘SEX’, a three-letter word is regarded a ‘sin’ in our Indian Society. It remains sacred only under the institution of marriage (heterosexual marriage), anything outside marriage is sinful/forbidden. Sex plays a vital role in the lives of people, yet, is obscene to talk or discuss about even among family members. It remains a hidden act. In such a context commercial sex work is seen as a deadly sin, immoral and ungodly.

In the prevailing realm of chastity, morality and purity are applauded as holy and words such as 'immorality', 'sexuality' and 'impurity' find no space, because it is seen as 'unholy.' These two contrasting worlds remain opposites with no way to unite. However, these binaries are the realities intertwined in our Indian society. Calling women as 'slut', 'whore', 'prostitute', 'fucker', 'hooker' and so on are so-called ‘supreme’ ways of men showing their power and control over bodies of women. I would say such men carry the thoughts to view women as ‘the objects of pleasure’ not seen even as human beings.  For instance, if a woman who chooses to wear bright makeup, red dress and red lipstick immediately she receives comments like ‘u look like a slut’. If a woman comes across such stigmas and hardships, think of the plight of women who are commercial sex workers.

Our community has failed to express compassion to those who are forced into sex work for survival-sake or being left with no/few choices. Many scriptural passages emphasize that, those playing the whore need to be punished without mercy. Scripture passages such as Genesis 34.25-31 that tells the story of the rape of Dinah; Genesis 38.23-25 which narrates the story of Tamar; passages from Jeremiah 1-3 in which Israel is seen as the whore to God; the entire book of Hosea or Revelation 17 that depicts Babylon as the Great Whore, are just some of the references that mention either an individual or a nation labelled as a whore and the consequences that followed.

Jesus as a liberator of humanity showed compassion, love and acceptance to those who were marginalized. He embraced everyone just as they were. There is no question that Jesus accepted all the people including sex workers (Luke 7:36-40). It is a shame on our church and society to reject those people who are left with few options to engage in sex work for survival-sake. These sex workers are excluded by the society precisely because of their profession. We label them as ‘sinners’ and ‘objects of pleasure’ denying them their existence. We make sure they are damned to remain in their private dirty spaces for eternity. We do not want them in our churches, and in public spaces.

It takes a serious commitment for us to live as a welcoming community. God calls us to be inclusive of those who were made dirty and invisible by us. To respond to this calling, we must begin with interpreting the scripture to include and be just, not to oppress or condemn. We are the church, not because of what we do, but because of what God did. We are often seen taking sides with the crowd in John 8:1-11. We have never been Christ-like. However, on that day, for that so-called ‘sinful woman,’ God was on her side. Yes, that is God in a dirty place. Therefore, let us not use the scripture to hate, but to love, for that is when we affirm life in its fullness.

Prayer:

God in dirty places, we pray that you heal the brokenness in our hearts and in our world, that has caused injustice, indifference, because of our selfishness, fear and greed. Open our hearts to hear the cries of your suffering people. Guide us into solidarity with hospitality to those in dirty places. Amen.

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Author: Femila Livingston

About the Author: Femila earned her Bachelor of Divinity from Bishop’s college, Kolkata and Master of Theology (Christian Theology) from Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, Madurai. She previously interned with National Council of Churches in India -ESHA Project. Currently, she serves as a Program Executive for CSI-GEET in CSI Synod.