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This morning, President Trump was bragging about how dramatically he's reduced crime. He gave no real statistics or citations at all -- just claimed to a cheering crowd that things were bad and now they aren't because he's so good at what he does. Then, admitting that the crime isn't 0, this man actually said, "Things that take place in the home, they call crime. You know, they'll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime scene. So now I can't claim 100%," *
This is another shameful attempt to diminish the voices of victims -- especially women. And this is very, very dangerous. An average of 3 women die every day in the US at the hand of a partner. This nearly always happens in their home. About 75% of these incidents occur when the woman is trying to leave, after many other incidents that Trump has just chalked up as "a little fight with the wife" and claimed is not a real crime. ** Let me be clear -- he said that crime will never be 100% erradicated because women are reporting things that happen at home that shouldn't be counted as crime. If you've ever been the victim of intimate partner violence, you've heard this BS before. It's been used to shame you, gaslight you, and make you lose hope. "What happens at home should stay at home." "It's a personal issue, don't make it public." "It's not really as bad as you think it is." "You shouldn't have done anything to provoke him." (Or as the pastor I sought council from in 2001 said, "You really should just work harder to be a better wife.") This is dangerous. This is appalling. This is the patriarchy at its most condescending and violent. The more we as a culture believe the lies about IPV and how people deserve to be treated in their own homes, the more people are at risk of violence in what should be the safest place in the world for them. If you would like information on how to support a local organization that is working to prevent domestic violence and provide anti-violence education in our communities, please let me know. Especially as more and more non-profits and community services agencies are losing funding, every minute and every dollar matter. We need funders, donors, volunteers, and board members, among other things. *** I'm especially looking at you, men. It's largely women leading the fight against DV/IPV, but the powers out there clearly don't care to stop and listen to female voices. We need you to be out there publicly and have our back. *No, I'm not directly citing one source for this one. Watch any number of YouTube or news videos and/or reports of his comments. I cited this word from word from his speech. ** Take your pick of sources: https://www.cdc.gov/intimate-partner-violence/about/index.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499891/ https://www.ncdsv.org/uploads/1/4/2/2/142238266/53b59f30-959f-4d79-8106-96d644745ccf.pdf https://www.pcadv.org/ https://www.thehotline.org/stakeholders/domestic-violence-statistics/ ***https://www.crisiscenternorth.org/
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9/8/2025 0 Comments The 9999 sheep carried on peacefully in the field
doing all the things that sheep in green pastures by still waters do They grazed lazily on the fresh, green grass. They napped casually in the warmth of the sun. They meandered without purpose as the day wore on. They weren’t hungry or thirsty or frightened or alone because they were cared for by a watchful shepherd and each had 98 other sheep to grant companionship. They forgot or just didn’t care . . . . . . they were meant to have 99 other sheep each. 100 sheep were meant to be well fed and watered and protected and together with one another. But 99 satiated content old sheep went on with their peaceful, sheepy lives. . . . . .as 1 young sheep wandered Far from the flock Into the wild, dangerous unknown. They didn’t even notice. . . . . . if he’d been lured away . . . if he’d been driven away by another sheep . . . if something had scared him and he’d run haphazardly . . . if he’d felt alone and unseen by the other sheep . . . if he just didn’t fit in So content and fat and happy were the 99, So wrapped up in their own little lives full of minor inconveniences — like having to move to a new patch of grass or scramble over a rock to reach the stream — they didn’t notice or care when the yearling wandered away. 99 fat and happy sheep stayed put. When the shepherd left — THAT they noticed. THAT they cared about. They knew why he left. He only ever left to find a lost sheep Good for the shepherd! Someone should go bring that lamb back and tell him what he’s done wrong! And the sheep each began to reminisce about a time long ago when they too had each been lost. I remember when I was lost and the shepherd came to find me. I was over there on the edge of the field by those trees nearly out in the wild! That was nothing compared to the time I was lost all the way past that tree the one you see over there and the shepherd came to find ME! Thank God I am now back and safe with the flock They felt it was good and right after their own personal ordeals that they were fat and happy. content and fed protected at night by the wall that kept the enemies in the world out. that kept them separated from the other sheep from other flocks. Or, God forbid. . . The wild, flock-less sheep that ran wild in the hills. Heathen, lawless feral sheep. When they thought about it, though It wasn’t a good optic Having only 99 sheep in a flock Everyone knows that 100 sheep THAT is a good, healthy flock The shepherd really ought to do EVERYTHING in his power to bring back that wayward lamb. It is the shepherd’s job to find the lost to bring them back to talk them into coming home It certainly is the SHEPHERD’S FAULT we’re missing a sheep The shepherd should have been more watchful more engaged with the lambs more knowledgeable about all the dangers and all the reasons a lamb might leave and all the right ways to lure a lamb home. As the afternoon wore on into evening the lazy sheep kept gossiping about how the shepherd should go about finding the lamb and the possibilities that the shepherd would find even more lost sheep sheep from other flocks or tame wild sheep from the hills to make their flock even larger Wouldn’t that be great? A larger flock than even before! What if something happens to the shepherd, though? How would we find a new shepherd? Good shepherds are hard to find. And we’ll never find another just like this one No good shepherd would want a flock of only 99 selfish greedy shepherds We are good sheep the best sheep but now we’re only 99 What if the shepherd doesn’t find the lamb? What would it look like if we remained only 99. . . . . . forever or worse . . . dwindled further to 98 or 95 When their gossip and hollow daydreaming and panicked worry was interrupted by the bleats of the lost lamb carried on the shoulders of the weary shepherd Their gossip turned to self-congratulations What a fine job our shepherd has done of finding this lost one of bringing him home We are a fine and loving flock because we have a fine and loving shepherd because when the shepherd went to find 1 lost of 100 we stayed in the walls of the fold we did not risk becoming lost or eaten or wooed by feral sheep from the wild hills It is about time, young and wayward yearling, that you listen to the call of the shepherd that you return to this fine and loving flock the flock that sat quietly patiently while you explored the dangerous world And as the sun began to set the sheep filtered back into the protective walls of the fold and the shepherd prepared to close the gate and tend his wounds — scratches from briars and bruises from stumbling on rocky paths and bites from the coyote he’d had to chase away from the wayward lamb and rest for he’d hiked so many miles and fought off a coyote and carried the lost and frightened lamb all the way home. and the sheep prepared to sleep soundly exhausted sleeping off the harrowing day they’d had a day full of moving to fresh patches of grass climbing over rocks to get to the stream and of course. . . . . . the exhaustion of worry and nostalgia |
Charissa Clark HowePastor, author, musician, audiobook narrator Archives
September 2025
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