Emerging Women

My church recently hosted a screening of the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell. I knew little about the film before attending the event, but what I encountered was a powerful story of women making a difference in their world. As the film description reads,

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. Thousands of women — ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim — came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about a agreement during the stalled peace talks. A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

Theirs was a courageous and hope-filled story that gives testimony to the fact that grassroots activism does affect change, but it was also much more complex than that. It is also a story of terror, greed, and oppression. Liberia’s Civil War tore apart the nation. The President, Charles Taylor, in his greed for money and power, ruled through his roaming military bands with no regard for human rights. The opposing warlords cared little for saving the country, and made use of the same injustices to secure power and wealth for themselves. The women were tired of seeing their husbands and sons caught up in (and dying in) the pissing contest for power, of watching their children starve, of having to flee their homes, and of witnessing the rape and murder of family members. But instead of simply despairing, they decided to take a stand for peace. Taking their cue from Esther in the Bible, they wore simple clothes and began protests for peace hoping to gain the attention of the President and the warlords. They held signs, sang songs, and persuaded their priests and imans to join their cause. They withheld sex from their husbands to get them to listen to reason. And when the eventual peace talks stalled and became a joke, they staged a sit-in trapping dignitaries in the conference hall until a decision was reached. And even when the chance of democratic elections was won, they campaigned still – guiding the disarmament process, getting women out to vote, and electing for Liberia the first woman President of any African nation. Courage, passion, and intensity can barely begin to describe the commitment these women had to peace. As they got into the cause and started to see that peace might actually be realized, they were emboldened and forgot to fear. As one women put it, “we forgot we could be raped.”

The power of women to change their world was profoundly demonstrated in this film. I loved how these women were presented as always being for peace rather than against the atrocities. This perspective kept them on the path to achieving their goals. It also help them help rehabilitate the child soldiers after the war ended. The images of young boys with limbs blown off playing schoolyard games is heartbreaking – and it was even harder knowing that those women were helping their former rapists and torturers. I’ve heard similar stories of women in Nigeria and Kenya peacefully banding together to stand up to injustices. It takes vision, commitment, and more hope in a better world than there is fear of what repercussions may ensue.  But it also takes a commitment to mercy and love.

Beyond being emotionally moved by this film, I was struck by the need for a couple of things in response to the film. First is the need for stories like this to be told. All of this was unfolding in Liberia during 2003-2005 and I never heard a thing about it on the news. Granted here in the USA, we were busy at the time bombing the crap out of Iraq and to even say the word “peace” much less talk about a movement of all of a nation’s women for peace was considered highly “unpatriotic.” But the world needs to know about the injustices as well as these stories of hope. Knowing that ordinary mothers and grandmothers can completely alter the path of a nation, is inspiring to say the least.

The second thing I was struck by was the need to educate children on conceptions of masculinity and femininity that affirm love and not hatred. When men are taught that they must be strong and powerful to be a good man, it is not hard to end up where the men and boys of Liberia did. Killing, raping, and pillaging in order to gain wealth and power shouldn’t be the definition of a man. Churches though are supporting these lies in encouraging the “fighter Jesus” images and hierarchical concepts that place men above women. The women of Liberia finally stood up and took charge, challenging those inane conceptions of masculinity. Others of us, especially in the church, can learn from them the importance of promoting respect, reconciliation, and love as opposed to strength, power, and dominance as core values.

To see the ability of women to change the world, to see the hope to be found in peace, and to know that even the most horrible of hells can be redeemed through peace and love, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, is a must see film. This is the sort of film that should be encouraging our churches to similar action and the sort of story that I want my children to learn as they grow older.  Our schools should be teaching our children less of the stories of who killed the most people to win wars, and more of those that saved their country by ending war without violence. If we want to raise peacemakers that respect the dignity of women, choose love over hate, compassion over greed, and life over death these women are the heroes they need to be presented with from a young age. So go see this film – spread the word, tell the story of hope, and take a stand for peace. To find a screening of this film near where you live click here