An article from CNN.com published Friday bewilderingly claims that the biblical story of Easter is a #MeToo story from Mary Magdalene’s perspective.
“The men refused to listen to her story,” the article begins. “She was publicly smeared as a whore. And when she emerged as celebrated advocate, powerful men tried to silence her because she threatened their status. Nevertheless she persisted.”
“The woman we’re talking about, though, is not a leader in the #MeToo movement — the viral campaign raising awareness about sexual assault and harassment against women,” it continues.
“She is Mary Magdalene, the first person Jesus appeared to after his resurrection, according to the New Testament, and the first person to preach the good news that he had been raised from the dead.”
The post, which is not marked opinion, continued to make comparisons between the way women are allegedly mistreated in 21st Century America with the way Mary Magdalene, the biblical character, was marginalized.
The article’s author, CNN’s John Blake, draws another comparison between Christ’s crucifixion and #MeToo — the use of “sexual humiliation.”
Blake argues that Jesus being stripped naked on the cross is analogous to stories of sexual harassment exposed by the #MeToo movement.
“If linking the Easter story with the #MeToo movement is offensive and bewildering to some, perhaps that is fitting. The Easter stories in the Gospels have a jarring, unexpected quality about them as well,” Blake argues.
“The stories are enigmatic and elusive. They continue to yield surprises even 2,000 years later. They are, in some ways, much like the figure of Jesus himself,” the article concludes.