Be hard to bury. Be impossible to silence. Be vigilant to vote.
In the face of the SAVE Act, it’s clear nobody’s coming to save us. It’s time for us to act.
Feather-wrapped texts carefully hidden in the niches of a burial site. Truth-telling documents stashed in dusty boxes forgotten in the archives. Unspoken accounts lodged in the throats of victims trapped in political oppression.
These are the images swirling in my mind as I process news that Congress passed the SAVE Act yesterday, moving it on to the Senate. Under the guise of “safeguarding American voter eligibility,” this mandate would disenfranchise millions of people, including married women who’ve taken their husbands’ surnames—even if they’re presently legal, active voters. By enforcing unusually stringent document requirements for voter registration and demanding those documents be presented in person, this act serves to do the opposite of its title; it suppresses voter eligibility rather than safeguarding it.
From Democracy Docket:
“There’s never been an attack on voting rights out of Congress like this.”
- Alexander Keyssar, professor of History and Social Policy - Harvard Kennedy School and leading historian of voting rights
“It’s the most extraordinary attack on voting rights in American history. This is an attempt to destroy American democracy as we know it.”
- Sean Wilentz, professor of American History at Princeton University
Proponents claim the act would prevent noncitizens from voting, yet even ultra-conservative The Heritage Foundation found only 85 alleged incidents from 2002-2023. Reality is there’s no evidence of widespread fraud, and this act would massively suppress voting rights without basis.
If this legislation passes, how many of the 69+ million married women who’ve changed their names will drop from the ranks of voters? How many low-income and rural voters, our military and citizens located overseas, Native Americans and naturalized citizens? Whose votes and voices will be effectively silenced because of the undue contortions this act requires?
During the 2024 election, I was flabbergasted by the vocal MAGA men proclaiming wives must vote according to their husbands’ direction. One Fox “News” personality equated a wife voting for Harris as the “same thing as having an affair.” To counter this, there was a great deal of messaging targeted to women, assuring them their voting choices are private. This all seemed so dystopian to me at the time; little did I know what was to come.
Last year, I read Mary Magdalene Revealed by Meggan Watterson and received my introduction to the Gospel of Mary. This authenticated ancient writing was discovered in fragments on three occasions around the end of the 19th century in Egypt. The first fragment was found in the niche of a wall at a Christian burial site, wrapped in feathers for preservation and hidden with great care. The other portions were sifted from ancient trash heaps. While there’s debate about which Mary aligns with this writing, most historians lean toward it being Mary Magdalene.
The facts and the mysteries of this text have echoed in my mind since I learned of them. Fact: Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute. That’s a fiction conjured centuries ago and taught even today to conveniently fit this woman, who was a prominent and beloved confidant of Jesus, into a patriarchal narrative. Mystery: What did the missing portions of the writing reveal, and why did people meticulously hide or discard copies of such important writings?
Most likely, the male-dominated system of the 6th century sought to suppress the gospel of Mary in attempt to tidy up and codify scriptures in support of the predominant hierarchy of the time. Most certainly, the system fabricated a version of her to downplay her prominence in the historical account of Jesus.
In the machinations of ancient male authority, Mary Magdalene was suppressed; in our time, she’s emerged to be more fully seen and known.
Yesterday morning, before news of the SAVE Act broke, I listened to the final poignant episode of All the Buried Women, a podcast miniseries exploring forgotten stories of women from the vast archives of the Southern Baptist Convention. As a former SBC congregant, I’ve been intrigued by each installment, but today’s cut me to the quick.
The series’ co-hosts excavated the story of Maria, a pastor’s wife who was abused for 40 years. Her life was so barely documented in the SBC archives, it’s astonishing they were able to piece it together. Sparing the details in hopes you’ll listen, I’ll summarize that, though I ached hearing of this woman who died without acknowledgment from the denomination she faithfully served, I also celebrated that her story is no longer lost. Maria is as relevant and appreciated as ever.
Unfortunately, my quiet celebration was quickly hijacked by the gut punch news of the SAVE Act.
One baby step forward, a dozen giant leaps back.
The only way I can fathom that there are fresh attempts to suppress voters, deny civil rights, erase the stories and silence anyone here in 2025 is to admit that such attempts have never been eradicated. They’ve been present in every era of history, in every semblance of society—including right now, right here.
Perhaps I’m finally awake to them in this moment because I’ve opened my eyes, my mind and my heart to the true life stories of those that others relegated, ignored or intentionally silenced: Mary Magdalene and Maria—and also Annie Lee Cooper and Sandra Bland and Mary Turner and female heroes and inventors and so many women writers who used male names just to get published. Perhaps I’m finally awake because I’ve read the John Lewis memoir and the story of Ota Benga and watched every episode of Finding Your Roots in which it’s miraculous to find actual names of people who were enslaved, let alone unearth any details of their lives.
Word is the SAVE Act is unlikely to get the 60-vote supermajority vote it needs in the Senate to pass. While that’s hopeful, we’re still operating in the reality the act has made it this far.
Friends, we’re watching the tattered, fragile threads of the Democracy we once took for granted get thinner and thinner. It’s time to get our acts together.
Thank you for being here with me!
- Irene