There’s a fairly common narrative that’s told in certain parts of our society. It says that women frequently make false accusations against men as a way of social climbing or gaining notoriety at the man’s expense. Although researchers and law enforcement data say that this isn’t actually an especially frequent occurrence, a lot of people still embrace this narrative wholeheartedly. Stories like the one in today’s reading certainly don’t do anything to discourage this thinking - here we have a woman accusing a man of sexual advances that he did not make in order to get him in trouble and pull him down from a powerful position within the household. This story could be read as a cautionary tale about the inherent deceitfulness of women.
But wait a minute. Potiphar’s wife didn’t need to social climb. She was the mistress of the house, for goodness sake! As the wife of Pharaoh’s chief officer, she belonged to the upper class of the dominant (Egyptian) culture, whereas Joseph was a foreign slave. Yes, she was a woman, which tends to come with vulnerability in patriarchal societies, but the advantages afforded to her by the other aspects of her identity far outweighed the disadvantages brought by her gender - and they granted her a considerable amount of power over Joseph. Her false accusation couldn’t have been motivated by a desire to improve her station because it was already about as high as it was gonna get. It’s far more likely that she was lying in order to protect the reputation and authority that she already had.
The reality is that the powerful use false allegations against the powerless for their own benefit far more often than the other way around. After all, they’re the ones with the connections and resources to pull it off, whereas those without power struggle to even get their voices heard, let alone believed. It happens every day, all around us: we see it in the so-called “bathroom bills” that falsely accuse trans people of voyeurism;[1] we see it in abortion bans that falsely accuse women of ending their pregnancies on a whim, “up to and even beyond the ninth month”;[2] we see it in public statements that falsely accuse immigrants of eating their neighbors’ pets;[3] we see it in the indiscriminate arrests that falsely accuse people of color of being in our country illegally.[4]
In each of these instances, someone in power is lying in order to preserve and protect their control over others. But even though these examples are all around us, we don’t always recognize this for what it clearly is. Human beings have a tendency to believe the wealthy, famous, and powerful by default - a reality that people like Potiphar’s wife use to their own advantage. It’s not an intentional bias; we’ve just been conditioned to trust and obey those in authority in order to keep society running smoothly. We don't have Pharaohs and such today, but we do have our own version of royalty: the businessmen who run our economy, the career politicians who write our laws, and the multi-millionaires and billionaires that underwrite it all.
Despite the fact that they’ve done remarkably little to earn our unconditional faith, we believe them - even though trans and intersex people repeatedly stress how difficult and dangerous “bathroom bills” make their lives. We believe them, even though women share harrowing stories of nonviable and even dead fetuses that they’re forced to carry to term in spite of the threat to their health. We believe them, even though immigrants insist that they would never do anything so anti-social and cruel to their neighbors. We believe them, even though people of color point out how being arrested without cause is just one more example of the systemic racism that they face every day. We believe them, because power and status are somehow more credible to us than the testimony of everyday people, people just like us. The vulnerable tell us their stories again and again, but collectively, we don’t listen. And Joseph’s story reminds us that we never have.
Yet, at the same time that this passage holds a mirror up to the uncomfortable way that we still privilege the voices of the powerful, it also offers hope to the powerless. Even though *we* might be easily swayed by power and prestige, Scripture reminds us that God isn’t. Without fail, God ALWAYS stands with the vulnerable and powerless. When the whole world ignores them and the powers that be silence their voices, God hears their stories and knows their truths. When Potiphar’s wife turns the entire household against Joseph and has him thrown in jail based on a vicious lie, God is with him. God remains faithful. And God makes sure that the power unjustly wielded against Joseph isn’t the end of his story.
If we pay attention, we can find this same narrative woven throughout Scripture. We encounter powerful figures making all sorts of false allegations to serve their own interests - and time and again, we find God resolutely standing in the opposite corner. In the First Testament, countless kings falsely accuse the prophets of everything from disturbing the peace to causing natural disasters to treason, hoping to discredit the prophets and preserve the kings’ own power. Through it all, God remains on the side of the prophets. In the New Testament, religious authorities groundlessly claim that Jesus was breaking the law, inciting riots, and directly threatening Caesar’s rule, all in an effort to eliminate the threat he posed to THEIR power. From their very first confrontation to beyond the cross, God was with Jesus. After the resurrection, the apostles faced similar harassment and indictments from people in power. At every turn, God stood by them. And these are just some of the better known examples.
This isn’t luck or favoritism; this is just who God is and what God does. As Mary sings in the gospel of Luke, “The Lord has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed.” Notice that it’s not, “He will do these things,” but, “He already has.” Just as God was already working good in Joseph’s life long before he landed in prison, God is already lifting up those who have been victimized by the slander of those in power.
The work is well underway. God has chosen a side. The time for neutrality is long past - as Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” It’s time for each of us to choose a side.
There’s no reason not to give the vulnerable the benefit of the doubt. We all have stories. Most of us try to tell ours as honestly as we can, because at the end of the day, we all want to be heard, and we all want to be believed. Isn't that the least we can do for each other? If someone had taken the time to ask Joseph about his side of the story - and given him the benefit of the doubt - maybe things would have turned out differently for him. Maybe justice would have come sooner. Imagine being able to give that gift to someone else - believing their story, assuring them that they’re not alone because you’re on their side. It’s really not a difficult gift to give; after all, what does it cost to listen?
that you might understand the pain that you’ve caused and repent of your sin.
And if you aren’t either of these people - if you’re neither especially vulnerable nor especially powerful - I pray that your eyes and your ears will be opened. I pray that you’ll begin to question who receives your trust and why, whose voice you find yourself actually listening to, who gets the benefit of the doubt - whose side you’ve chosen to be on. God’s choice is clear. Which side do YOU choose? Amen.
------------------------------------------------
[1] https://apnews.com/article/trans-criminalization-charge-bathroom-law-gender-bd24a8c29cb9cd5bb36fefa3ec1131e2
[2] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4580775-read-trump-abortion-statement/
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/10/trump-springfield-pets-false-claims
[4] https://www.aclusocal.org/press-releases/breaking-federal-court-blocks-unlawful-warrantless-immigration-arrests-in-southern-california/
No comments:
Post a Comment