Over the past few weeks, I watched on TV, some exciting T20 cricket matches. Besides the riveting cricket, what was on show was a troupe of dancing girls who performed at all the matches. Scantily dressed, they gyrated and went through provocative motions, from platforms, to the glee of spectators. Not to conceal their real intentions, some placards announced: “I am here to watch the dancing girls, not cricket”. Commentators added spice to the conversation, with their snide remarks. The dancing girls are now a hot topic.

Strangely, the very men who came to watch the dancing girls would join their women folk, at home, to condemn the girls. “Public women; shame to womanhood; anti-social; should be banned;” and so on. In effect what was on show was cricket, the dancing girls and sadly, our double standards.

Whether we refer to the dancing girls at cricket matches, belly-dancers, or cabaret dancers all over the world, the question is the same: Why? Perhaps the majority are drawn to the job for the money and glamour. But some are forced into it by circumstances: An irresponsible father, an alcoholic mother, siblings who exploit the young woman, a physically or mentally challenged child who needs extra care and therefore extra cash, an ailing parent who needs expensive medical attention, an abusive husband who will not let her quit the job because he spends the money she earns. She must carry on because she is compelled to. She suffers in silence because that is what she heroically chooses to do.

Such women cannot have long-term jobs. In months, or in a few years, based on circumstances, younger girls will oust the older ones. Drained of all they had to offer and friendless, they will walk into the sunset with heavy hearts. Friendless and penniless. A forced end to a promising life!

To understand their predicament and to shape our response to them, let us go to the time when Jesus walked the earth. The passage, John 8:3-11, has few parallels in the Gospel, for the poignant drama it unfolds and the teaching it imparts. What does Jesus bestow on this woman, caught in adultery? Compassion and forgiveness. No condemnation. Only forgiveness that saves the fallen woman from a death by stoning. In a subtle yet remarkable way, Jesus harks back to his lasting lesson on love. A sharp contrast to the hypocritical ways of the local heavyweights.

The Pharisees and Scribes who think they have an irrefutable case, are determined to expose Jesus. Even as they repeatedly urge him to pass judgement on the woman, Jesus notices that the man involved in the adulterous act was not brought to him for justice. Often, in a man-dominated world, the woman loses out. Ironically, it is woman who is her own enemy. Pitilessly, she condemns her own kind. Test this view by separately talking to daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law. The results of the test could be shocking. To such women, and to women in general, here is a poser: What would happen if some of our daughters chose to become dancing girls? Would we condemn our daughters? Or, would we find excuses for them? Our double standards would stand exposed in the test.

Let us get back to the woman caught in adultery. As her accusers await Jesus’ reaction, the woman herself expects no mercy. She is bewildered at the words Jesus speaks. She is surprised at the turn of events. Instead of punishment and death, she receives forgiveness. Instead of condemnation, she receives acquittal. Like her, the Samaritan woman at the well and Mary Magdalen, the sister of Lazarus, turned prostitute receive from Jesus, mercy and forgiveness. No condemnation.

As we get ready to throw stones at the dancing girls for what they do, let us ponder the words of Jesus: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”. His words changed the accusers into the accused as they slunk away – their pasts a rebuke to them. Are we without sin? As we contemplate the Lord’s words and our situations, should not those stones slip out of our hands and fall to the ground? Can we not offer those young women a little understanding and some compassion? Should we not whisper a prayer for them? Someday, may our compassionate Lord grant them enlightenment, as he did for the Samaritan woman at the well and Mary Magdalen! May the Holy Spirit grant us the enlightenment we need!

In those times, women caught in sin were stoned to death, because of the Law. There was no appeal. No second chance. No forgiveness at all. Only punishment of the worst kind. Wonder why there was no similar law for sinning men? In a flawed society, the defenceless woman suffered, even as the fallen man escaped the claws of grasping law. Jesus rewrote the law by example and a unforgettable lesson. In our shameful hypocrisy, do we see the difference that Jesus made as he wrote on the ground, even as he waited for the murmuring crowds to cease their chatter. His lesson had to wait for the din to cease. Then his words like an avenging storm swept away all clamour for the woman’s death. With that came liberation for the woman. And a reminder for us to do likewise!