Victims of Jeffrey Epstein took to the steps of the U.S. Capitol this week to be heard and demand that Congress release more files about the convicted sex offender and his gang of evildoers. As Congress investigates, much attention has been placed on the names associated with the dead financier and predator.
Speaking at the press conference, Lisa Philipps, one of the victims, reported that the group will be compiling a list of names associated with Epstein and his trafficking of women. The list, she said, “will be done by survivors, and for survivors.” However, the women fear retribution if they release the names themselves.
Other victims recalled their time with Epstein and the evil that surrounded him.
Marina Lacerda took to the podium, speaking for the first time about her terrifying ordeal with Epstein.
Epstein employed Lacerda when she was 14 to 17 years old. When she was 17, he told her she was too old. Lacerda recalled, “I was one of dozens of girls that I personally know who were forced into Jeffrey’s mansion … in New York City when we were just kids … A friend of mine in the neighbourhood told me that I could make $300 to give another guy a massage … it went from a dream job to the worst nightmare.”
As more information comes forth during the investigation, I want to go on record stating that every name associated with Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking of women needs to be revealed, thoroughly investigated, prosecuted and sentenced appropriately. For me, it does not matter whether the individuals on the list have wealth and power; they need to be held accountable for their behavior and face the consequences.
Any refusal by the U.S. Congress, Executive Branch, or Supreme Court emphasizes the power of the patriarchy still hovering over our culture and influencing our attempts at self-governance. bell hooks wrote in her book, Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom, “Patriarchy has no gender.”
The influential author, theorist, educator, and social critic went on to criticize the attitudes and systems that permit men to act in harmful ways that destroy the common good for all people:
Emotional neglect lays the groundwork for the emotional numbing that helps boys feel better about being cut off. Eruptions of rage in boys are most often deemed normal, explained by the age-old justification for adolescent patriarchal misbehavior, “Boys will be boys.” Patriarchy both creates the rage in boys and then contains it for later use, making it a resource to exploit later on as boys become men. As a national product, this rage can be garnered to further imperialism, hatred and oppression of women and men globally.
As I reflect on the Epstein case, his victims, and the overall evils that patriarchy has brought to the world, I cannot help but recall the stories of Dinah and Tamar. Both stories recall the lives of two remarkable women who fell victim to patriarchy. Yet, the biblical storytellers remind their readers that in the end, patriarchy must face the consequences of its actions.
Dinah was the daughter of Leah and Jacob (Genesis 34). A prince in the region, Hamor the Hivite, raped her. Hamor attempts to cover his evil by feigning love, asking his father to ask Jacob for Dinah’s hand in marriage. When Dinah’s brothers find out about the evil, they devise a plan.
The brothers inform Hamor and his father that if they abide by their custom of circumcision, then they will give Dinah over to be married to Hamor. When Hamor and his court followed through with the request, Dinah’s brothers snuck into the Hivite camp while they were healing. Unable to defend themselves, Dina’s brothers killed them.
Consequences.
Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah (Genesis 38). She married Judah’s eldest son, Er, but he was “wicked” in the sight of God, who killed him (that’s another article to write). When Er died, Judah told another other son, Onan, to sleep with Tamar so that she might conceive. Onan refused and spilled his semen on the ground, displeasing the Lord. Judah then promised his younger son, Shelah, to Tamar after the boy grew up.
After Shelah became a man, Judah still did not move forward with the marriage between Shelah and Tamar, leaving Tamar to live as a widow. Some time later, Judah mistook his daughter-in-law for a prostitute while on a business trip. After some negotiations, Judah had sex with her.
Tamar became pregnant with Judah’s child. When her pregnancy was discovered, Judah proclaimed, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” It was at that moment that Tamar revealed she was carrying Judah’s baby as she produced his signet and cord.
Judah was admonished for his behavior.
Tamar turned the tables on patriarchy to secure her future.
Consequences.
Throughout the Bible and history, patriarchy has believed and acted upon the notion that men have dominion over the world and all that is within it—including women and other men whom they determine inferior.
This is the lie that continues to be perpetrated today.
The time has come for people of good faith to stand up to the patriarchy and demand that it relinquish its powerful grip on our culture. Patriarchy’s grip is truly strangling the world and everyone in it.
It’s time for patriarchy to face the consequences. It’s time history follows the lead of women, especially those victimized by the horrors of patriarchy, and dismantles this heresy.
Again, bell hooks writes: “The power of patriarchy has been to make maleness feared and to make men feel that it is better to be feared than to be loved. Whether they can confess this or not, men know that just is not true.”
We have no use for a patriarchal society.
What we need is more love.
Jesus said it best: “Love God, love neighbor, and love yourself.”
The Great Commandment is the formula for a symbiotic and egalitarian existence.
And while the patriarchy still needs to face the consequences of its actions, I hope and dream for a day when love becomes the standard by which we measure ourselves as a society.
The consequences of love will offer a brighter future for us all.
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