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Pastor Wilson recently caused all sorts of trouble by writing a bit of satire called “Potiphar’s Wife, Survivor.” I’ve called Pastor Wilson out a few times when I think he’s crossed a line, shown some characteristic insensitivity, but I must admit, I found this satire of his very funny and wise, in a tragically comical kind of way.
For those who don’t know the story, Joseph is thrown into a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, and eventually becomes the head servant in Potiphar’s household. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him and when he refuses she grabs his cloak as “evidence” and falsely accuses him of rape. So Joseph loses everything and is once again thrown in a pit, jail. There is no ambiguity here, Potiphar’s wife is clearly victimizing Joseph, perhaps because she was rejected, perhaps because she envies his status in the household. Regardless, there is no doubt Joseph is the victim and now sitting in jail falsely accused of a crime he didn’t even commit.
Pastor Wilson is clearly mocking Potiphar’s wife, her self perceived status as a victim, a “survivor” of this self-induced “trauma,” and also mocking our current culture of perpetual victimhood. I’d like to tell you that Potiphar’s wife doesn’t exist in the modern world, that no woman would ever strike out like that, that everyone who claims the “status” of a victim really is one, but it just isn’t true. That word “status” says it all, these days being a victim comes with a certain social status that is troublesome to say the least, because it encourages us to take on the persona of powerless victim and to avoid any personal accountability at all.
Genuine victims of crime are never to blame for the crime itself, but let us be totally clear here, Potiphar’s wife is no crime victim.
Sadly, Potiphar’s wife is alive and well in the world and I think if we are humble about it, perhaps we could even admit that a few specks of her reside in us all. The world can be a very confusing place these days and one thing I see changing for the worse, is that women are less likely to see and know the nature of their own selves, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I was disheartened to see this bit of satire from Wilson retweeted by a few Christian women quite angry at Wilson for allegedly mocking victims, almost as if to imply if you are a female you are a victim, therefore innocent of all wrong doing, always.
Again, I must say Potiphar’s wife is not the victim here, Joseph is.
That attitude is actually really harmful to women, because the truth about who and what we really are must than be denied and suppressed. The standard now being perfection, complete innocence, incapable of wrong doing, and that is a standard no woman can ever live up to fully. So in the process of trying to deny her own self, she inadvertently becomes an epic failure as a woman. It is far healthier to resist that victim status, to see those few specks of Potiphar’s wife lurking within, and to reach for redemption.
If nothing else, a bit of honesty will grant you the freedom to laugh at a piece of satire, rather than to be offended by it. I personally take great comfort in the fact that I have never sent the head slave to jail, lied about rape, driven a tent stake through anyone’s head, or danced for a king so I could get man’s head on a platter.
girlintheflowerydress said:
This is sort of reminding me of a video I watched of Lauren Straughn (sp?) responding to someone else who made a video addressing rape culture and false accusations. The girl Lauren was responding too expressed her dislike for people claiming that some women make up rape accusations to get attention by sarcastically saying, “Yeah, because every survivor wants to see their name smeared across media headlines.”
Lauren replayed that one sentence a few times in slow motion, and then reminded everyone that someone who makes up a rape accusation is not a survivor of actual rape. People seem so tied up in their assumptions that we live in a horrible and oppressive rape culture that they can’t even wrap their minds around idea that a woman may lie about it. It’s crazy.
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insanitybytes22 said:
That’s really well said.
I’ve known many abuse survivors over the years and while some may certainly fight back publicly and probably should, it is far more characteristic to withdraw, to seek to avoid the spotlight. That’s why we work so hard to provide confidentiality, safety, so people can heal in peace.
“People seem so tied up in their assumptions that we live in a horrible and oppressive rape culture that they can’t even wrap their minds around idea that a woman may lie about it….”
I hear you. There’s a tragic case going on right now of a girl being charged with making false rape allegations, and while I think she’s really troubled, I think she has issues and needs healing and prayers, everyone seems to be forgetting that there are a couple of young guys here who really lost everything, who have been drug through the muck through no fault of their own. Then there is the added issue of how harmful this kind of thing is to actual victims who are now less likely to be believed.
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"A" dad said:
Memi, In the case below, the girl/woman involved, did make a false rape accusation, but the two boy/men involved, did fornicate with the girl/woman. : – (
They all had their “planks” to bear, more so than any “specks”.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/23/college-student-accused-football-players-rape-now-charged-lying/
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insanitybytes22 said:
I hear you, A-dad. It’s a trainwreck of a case.
While no one should ever be falsely charged, the whole thing could have been prevented by an awareness that you should probably not be sexually exploiting unstable people. Not trying to assign blame to anybody, it’s just that a bit of personal accountability can protect you better than all the laws in the world.
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SLIMJIM said:
Very good post. We live in a society that sees a perpetual victimhood, and its not just women, there’s some men too that live under this.
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