"Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton

I attended the "The Bystander Dilemma: The Holocaust, War Crimes, And Sexual Assaults" symposium today at the S. J. Quinney School of Law at the University of Utah and it was outstanding.

Here is the video of the entire 6 hour program, it starts with the discussion about the Holocaust and Bystanders:

YouTube (U Law): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0sfrQ2o4Cc

There were several parts that really struck me.  The Reverend Doctor John C. Lentz, Jr.'s talk, spoke to me about how I believe religion and Christianity should be.  I am not that religious, but if I were, this man is someone whose guidance I could believe in...  Actually, I absolutely believe what he said in his talk is true.

He asks the question (28:26): "Why did Christians just stand by and do nothing to save the Jews?".

And he made an excellent point (33:05): "Christians failed (to protect the Jews), but so did Atheists".

I really liked the end of his talk (35:24), so I tried to transcribe the text at the bottom of this post.

In fact, I think his talk is so wonderful I think everybody should just watch and listen to the entire thing.  This is where it starts:

YouTube (Reverend): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0sfrQ2o4Cc&t=25m

Then the War Crimes panel picks up on topics raised in then first session:

YouTube (War Crimes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0sfrQ2o4Cc&t=1h41m58s

The segment of the program on Sexual Assault was dear to me.  Far too many people are sexually assaulted every day.  And as I'm sure most people are aware, it's not just women and girls.  Gay men, transgender people, straight men and boys are assaulted regularly.

I'm sad to say that several of my transgender friends have been sexually assaulted.  The entire thing is SAD!!!  No human being or beings should be attacking another human being in such a deeply personal way!

YouTube (Sexual Assault): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0sfrQ2o4Cc&t=4h41m5s

I had shed some tears during various parts of the program.  Even more so this section on Sexual Assault.  All of the stories where horrific, the attacks so personal!

But Ms. Brenda Tracy's story (5:17:59) about what happened to her, really opened the floodgates.  I'm so glad that Catherine was sitting next to me so we could hold each other.

It blows my mind that so many people could conspire to throw a young woman (who had been brutally assaulted by 4 young men) under the bus, just so they could assure their football stadium was updated.

YouTube (Ms. Tracy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0sfrQ2o4Cc&t=5h17m8s

After the symposium was finished I stayed and talked to Ms. Tracy for a few minutes.  What an absolutely amazing woman!  I told her a bit about my story as a transgender woman and she pointed out some similarities in our experiences.

Thanks to her for that insight, that connection hadn't occurred to me at the time.  But in reading the articles, perusing her website, watching her video and thinking more about it, I see several similarities and connections.  That is probably why I related so strongly to her story.

I notice that Title IX came up in her story and it is, of course, very much in my mind in the past few months.  My blog posts on Feb. 24th and Feb. 28th for example.  #StandWithGavin

And there was one unexpected connection, she mentioned in her About section "My two sons are my  heart and my life.  When I wanted to die, I thought of them.".  I know that thinking of my children, is what always pulled me back from the precipice.

You can read more about Ms. Tracy on her website and I definitely recommend watching the video on her website:

Brenda Tracy: http://www.brendatracy.com/

Please, everyone reading this: sign her and her son's petition to ban violent athletes:

Brenda Tracy (petition): http://www.brendatracy.com/petition
#BanViolentAthletes

And here are some other articles about her I found:

ESPN: http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18440993/sexual-assault-survivor-brenda-tracy-addresses-american-football-coaches-association-convention

Fox Sports: http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/brenda-tracy-sexual-assault-rape-baylor-activist-032317

Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-state-university-sexual-assault_us_56f426c3e4b02c402f66c3b9

Oregon Live: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2017/02/brenda_tracy_to_meet_with_oreg.html

USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2016/06/22/rape-survivor-brenda-tracy-meets-nebraska-coach-mike-riley-oregon-state/86270018/

And finally, in the same vein, I happened across this Samantha Bee "Job Fair for Future Women" story about sexual harassment at work.  Places like the Grand Canyon, cruise ships, even female comedians and scientists.  Really!!  She even finished up with a theme song for "The Rape Boat"...

YouTube (Full Frontal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDfpGdk3HgQ

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This seems a bit anti-climatic after all of that, but it is a wonderful song I've been intending to post for a long time.

YouTube (official): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxPj3GAYYZ0
YouTube (lyrics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6t4Zs5Yq_k
YouTube (live 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmLQes4tmtM
YouTube (unplugged): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSbqm7ZK_9s 

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This is the text for Reverend Doctor John C. Lentz, Jr.'s talk that really reached out to me.

Note: I transcribed this with voice-to-text and it wasn't perfect by any means.  I've done my best to clean it up and make it reflect what the Reverend intended.  I have put the phrases that I feel are important in bold. Please excuse any errors I may have introduced.

While it isn't easy reading, Deuteronomy and Leviticus, it's absolutely foundational to everything that is written; that you care for the other.  That you help someone in need.  That you remember that you were a stranger and so treat everyone with compassion.  That you even help someone who's donkey is stuck in a pit, even on the Sabbath.  The prophets Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah declare in no uncertain terms that God is on the side of the oppressed and that god demands that the faithful act on behalf of the other.  So perhaps, theologically, we should quit blaming God and more blame ourselves.  In short in the biblical literature, the call is clear: no by standing.

And I really think too much of religion today is about individual purity and identifying who's in and outside of the in-group, at the expense of community concern.  And I think this is a horrible misreading of the sacred text.  In the same... it is same in the New Testament: "lay down your life for a friend", "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness", "love your enemies".  The ancient religious texts give us the moral vocabulary, so we need to know it and use it, not dismiss it.

Religion at its core stresses a covenant-al rather than a transactional language and approach to our Civic life together.  Clearly in this partisan age we are losing the notion that we are part of a larger whole, this E pluribus unum. 

Individuals within the covenant community understand that we are in this together, as part of something larger, therefore we must alleviate the suffering. We must stand up and speak out against oppression and violent... of violence.  And what is often overlooked, I believe, is this: the message of the sacred scripture, at least for me, is transcend... transcendental, transcendent, not tribal.   The covenant is really not for the closed-in group, who share a religious belief, but is rather has this wonderful transcendent vision extended to all people.  

Laws can encourage this for sure, but I think a secular society alone cannot work.  So Christians and Jews need to reclaim and proclaim the revealed truth, again and again and again.  Because it is easily forgotten, as we see, and the powers-that-be are strong.

And let me close with something contemporary.  I fear that we are in a similar state today.  Because: do we stand with the Jews, today, in response to the attack on Jewish community centers and the desecration of cemeteries?  Do we rise up and speak out against hateful words that are directed towards our Muslim neighbors and immigrants and refugees? 

Do we challenge white privilege and institutional racism within the church and the academy, let alone in police departments and in businesses?  Do we stand by and watch women get raped or homeless men taunted?  Or as I read in the newspaper: not to build homeless centers in my backyard?  

When community breaks down and we become tribal rather than transcendent, we lose ourselves and no law is going to protect us for long.  And so I want to claim that religious text, whether you're a believer or not, doesn't really matter.  Religious texts give us a language of protest, of behavior, of community, of standing with the least.  And the notion of covenant from Genesis 1 to Revelation 21 stresses compassion, care, sacrifice, neighbor love.  Always extending the boundaries of concern and I think it is a source of hope for me.

So from standing within a religion, I get very frustrated and critical and embarrassed about my institution and many who claim the title, including myself.  We failed during Nazi Germany and often times we fail today.  But I will be damned if I'm going to let it happen again!  And the deeper question is: where are you standing?

Thank you.