By Jacob Bender
CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director
If all goes according to plan — and that’s a big “if” given the unprecedented absurdism of the current presidential administration and its chief executive — this Thursday, a lonely woman will walk into Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in our nation’s capital to be questioned by, among others, a clique of white men determined to prove her a liar and destroy her reputation before the eyes of the world. I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say that the fate of American democracy may hinge upon how Dr. Christine Blasey Ford responds to her tormentors.
As numerous commentators have pointed out, the elevation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States will have a profound and disastrous impact on all aspects of American life for over a generation. We joined this chorus of critics and detractors of Judge Kavanaugh shortly after President Trump nominated the conservative federal appellate judge from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created upon Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing his retirement. Undoubtedly, Justice Kavanaugh will shift the Court’s balance inextricably to the right, considering he is far more conservative than the retired Justice Kennedy, who on occasion voted with the four members of SCOTUS’s liberal wing. This would have a devastating impact on environmental protection, climate change, education funding, civil rights and immigration related matters, gun control, women’s reproductive rights, and the freedom of religion.
“People, beware of injustice, for injustice shall be darkness on the Day of Judgment.”
– Prophet Muhammad.
Putting her life and the life of her family in danger, Dr. Blasey voluntarily left the sheltered bubble of academia to publicly accuse Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Dr. Blasey’s life-altering decision to go public with her accusation against Judge Kavanaugh is an act of courageous self-sacrifice that will long be remembered in the annals of our nation, akin to how Professor Anita Hill sat before the very same Senate Judiciary Committee twenty-seven years ago.
Dr. Blasey need not stand alone. All who believe in democracy and equal rights and who oppose the open racism and blatant cruelty of the current US Administration, must stand with Dr. Blasey in solidarity as she stands before the Inquisitors. You can do this in numerous ways:
- Write or call the offices of your senators and representatives, demanding that they halt Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process so that law enforcement may investigate the accusations against him (now in the plural).
- And if the Senate Judiciary Committee does vote in approval of Kavanaugh and send his nomination to the entire Senate, write or call the offices of your senators and representatives and demand they vote “NO!”
- Participate in a “Stand with Christine” rally on Thursday.
- Sign a petition or opposing Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court and sexual violence, such as “We Believe Christine” Men’s Letter.
- For men, “Stand with Christine” must also mean a commitment to expose and oppose sexism and misogyny wherever we find it, whether in our families or our communities.
Indeed, apropos of the last bullet point, the Muslim community and the faith of Islam itself have been repeatedly and unfairly accused of being intrinsically sexist and even tolerant of violence against women. This prejudice persists despite the lack of any data to demonstrate that domestic abuse is more prevalent in the American Muslim community than in other religious communities.
By publicly “Standing with Christine,” by condemning violence against women no matter where you may find it, by explaining to your non-Muslim colleagues at work and your non-Muslim friends that Islamic tradition unequivocally condemns violence against women (visit Princeton University’s IslamFYI site for more information on women and Islam), you will be helping to transform public perception of Islam as well as greatly contributing to the future security of the American Muslim community.
