Who's to Blame?

Today I had an interesting conversation with Pastor Mmanga. It was sort of a special day for the Uswaa women, they had a women’s group from a neighboring parish joining them for the day. It started out by gathering for prayer and Bible study, which Pastor Mmanga led. His text was from Lamentations 5: 1-5, focusing on vereses 3 and 4:

We are orphaned and fatherless. Our mothers are widowed. We have to pay for water to drink and even firewood is expensive.

Me:  What did you talk to them about? That text from Lamentations was kind of depressing.

PM:  I told them that the women have to be militant in the village, that they are responsible for the welfare of the people. I told them that it is their responsibility that this (referring to the Lamentations text) doesn’t happen again.

Me:  So you’re blaming the Babylonian Exile on the women?

PM:  Yes, of course. Who do you think it was that threw their jewelry into the fire to make the golden calf?

Me:  They all did, (quickly flipping through Exodus) all of them had gold jewels that they threw in, and it was Aaron, a man, who built the thing and an altar to go with it. Plus, what does the golden calf have to do with the exile?

PM:  No, it was the women. (Then he changed the subject.)

He then went on to tell me about two of the examples he used in his Bible study/sermon. One was from Thailand, but he couldn’t remember the year (not less than 10 years ago, but not more than 20, was his estimate). The Thai women instigated a social change by standing in the streets naked. Then he told me another story about some women in Kenya who joined together and vowed to not sleep with their husbands for a week until some change took place.

These are two very interesting examples, but not at all consistent with his stance that the women caused the exile.

Regardless of my interpretation of the whole thing, it was clear that the women today were engaged in his presentation and that they were somehow empowered by it as well. Pastor Mmanga has a genuine gift to encourage and care for people, it is a joy to watch.