Make no words.

I watched a movie in the middle of the work day—The Testament of Ann Lee. I had done what I needed to for the day and I remembered seeing an ad for it a few weeks prior. It popped into my head for an unknown reason and I thought I could watch it right now. So, I did. I paid $5.99 via my TV remote and not even a minute later I was enjoying the opening credits. There are some upsides to technology.

I was not familiar with the story of Ann Lee. I learned that she founded the Shaker religion and grew her following in the American northeast. The Shakers got their name from the frequent shaking, chanting, and dancing they believed purified them of their sins. Ann’s followers called her “Mother” which is badass and particularly meaningful given all four of her own children died before the age of one. Ann and I are well-aligned on our beliefs; gender equality, community, pacifism. We do differ on the topic of celibacy though. Ann thought God took her children from her as a punishment for having sex with her husband and swore off the act entirely, believing sex to be the greatest sin. (I think it’s possible she was forced to marry the wrong lover.) Ann frequently had visions she believed were from God and claimed to be the second-coming, an assertion supported by her followers. She was repeatedly incarcerated for her gospel and is said to have performed miracles upon her release.

Ann Lee existed in America at the time of the Revolution. She refused to pledge allegiance to either government while advocating for peace and freedom, so they came at night, burned her church down, and beat her brother so badly he succumbed to his injuries. They also beat her before tearing off her clothing to find what they were sure was going to be a hidden d*ck. They could not fathom a woman capable of preaching the way she did. I cried during the scene depicting her assault. In the film the strangers who beat Ann are shown striping her skirts and forcing their hands inside her to “verify” that she was indeed female. They desecrated her faith on top of everything else they took from her. I would bet they did worse in real life. I read her Wikipedia page but it didn’t mention specifics.

I enjoyed the movie overall, although the ending was a bit predictable. (That’s a joke about the state of feminism.) The film was well made, and I particularly appreciated that the published works the creators drew from were included in the closing credits. That’s when you know you’ve viewed a quality dramatic interpretation. They did their research.

You can’t admit you talk to God, right? That seems to be the time society agrees they should angrily mob people who are just existing—when they claim to have a direct line to the source of all this. They aren’t getting their information from a book somewhere. In fact, Ann was illiterate. Well, it was probably also the Christ thing they didn’t like. They never like that. Do we think we’ll recognize him? What if He’s been back a hundred times already and we keep murdering Him in His name? Flo has a great lyric about Christ coming back but in a beautiful dress and all the angels are like ooooohhhh yeeeesss! Maybe that was the situation was with Ann Lee. Who’s to say? Ann died young by today’s standards at 48. Just a few years older than I am now and I have founded zero religions. What a life.

Don’t you find it odd that none of the books in the Bible were written by women? Did God have nothing to say through them? Maybe God assumed the ability to create life would speak for itself. Surely, Mary had something she could have contributed to the canon after the whole virgin birth thing. And it’s odd that Eve was reported to have been “taken out of man” when that’s the opposite of everything modern science tells us. It feels like maybe the Bible’s editors had an agenda. Maybe that’s why Ann didn’t feel it was important to be able to read it. She was living with her eyes open to God’s creation, and she witnessed God’s message through her belly button. It’s interesting to me that she experienced so much push back. Why is it that when a woman is able to heal the ailing, she is demonized and restricted from doing so? Don’t they want to be healed? Or would they rather their sickness befall everyone?