The Billy Graham rule exacerbates rather than alleviates the abuse of male power
SARA J. MOSLENER, RELIGIONDISPATCHES at Raw Story
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/billy-graham-rule-exacerbates-rather-alleviates-abuse-male-power/
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But if we examine the Billy Graham Rule in light of his fear-based rhetoric around sex, we discover a principle that exacerbates rather than alleviates the problem of male sexual indiscretion. Graham’s Rule was in service to his own reputation, one thinly veiled by a condescending veneer of chivalry. It posits that women and sex are threats to powerful men’s reputations. In such a circumstance, the best solution is sex-based segregation. But what Graham, Pence, and their ilk fail to understand is that neither women nor sexual desire are the problem; the problem is the abuse of male power. This is why women fear confronting powerful men, or simply men who have power over them. It’s easier to claim that sexual desire is inherently dangerous than to hold powerful men accountable.
When we celebrate a great man like Billy Graham upon his passing, it’s considered at best dishonorable to discuss his failures and flaws. We want to reaffirm his greatness as a man, as a Christian, as an American. But the reckoning of the #MeToo moment is one that is calling us to a moral clarity around powerful, great men. Even the men whom we celebrate because of their squeaky clean reputation cannot be protected from the truth. The cultural insistence on male dominance, power, and victory, so infused in Graham’s religious teachings and our national ethos, has never made us safer, only more inclined to relinquish our power to the already powerful.
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