February 18, 2010

Daniel 13.28-64

While the first reflection I did on this reading showed the fact that the Gender and Performance class is in full swing in the conversations swirling around me in my grad program, this is a more traditional interpretation. Then again, perhaps it's coming from a family of lawyers that makes me realize that all of this was possible for any of the community members to do.

No one asked. No one demanded details, no one fact-checked the story. Then again, when do they? We have an obsession with wanting to say things first, a race to get things out, and we end up apologizing for getting it wrong a lot.

But it could have been anyone in that assembly who stood up for Susanna and asked a few simple questions. Clearly the Elders weren't prepared for even the slightest challenge. Hubris, really, to not bother to get their stories straight. Any of the many family members we are told Susanna brought with her could have spoken up, asked a few questions because they knew this must be a lie. But we get so stuck in the idea that we can't do anything to stop the bad things from happening. We've become so used to watching it all happening, throwing up our hands, and going back to our dinners.

I wonder how many people the Spirit of the Lord whispered to before a young man stood up and spoke the words aloud. Who stood up and said: No. Who said the thing anyone could have said. Who stood up and asked the questions everyone should have asked.

We don't stand up. Or if we do, it's just to condemn. What if we asked the obvious questions? What if we fact-checked? What if we demanded a higher standard? And yes, my frustration with "Opinion News" especially the 24-hr kind, is filtering in the way my gender studies periphery is, but the point stands. Daniel stood, and the Spirit of God filled him. The initial courage was his. Everything else was God, and it was fantastic and rhetorical and powerful, but that initial courage was what he provided. That's the bit so many of us don't seem to have anymore. It's always the hardest part.

And the saddest part is what I've said ten times already in this post: anyone could have asked those questions. So why don't we?