RAPE IN PEACETIME

Deuteronomy 22:28-28: it allows any man to rape a woman as long as she is unmarried and, if that rape is discovered, he pays a few coins to the victim’s father and marries her.

Exodus 21:7-11: it objectifies women again, and therefore allows fathers to sell them as sex slaves to a man, who can try her out and, if he likes her, keep her; and if he does not like her, he can give her to his son, or return her, or get rid of her, as if she were a mobile phone bought on Amazon.

These kinds of passages are what made it common practice in Christian societies until the 20th century that when an army conquered a territory, soldiers had the right to rape its women as part of the spoils of war, all with the approval of the Church.

This is not exclusive to Christianity; it is also part of the Qur’an, of what Muhammad did (considered the model to follow by many Muslims), and of almost all cultures that emerged from a certain point in the Neolithic, in which the abduction and rape of women was normal. In fact, this remained the case until it was prohibited by International Law only after World War II, specifically in the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Therefore, the Harmful Verses above should be understood in that historical context and, consequently, as written by men of their time and not as revelations of a benevolent God.

Read LIVING WITHOUT HARM: Let us understand each religious precept within its historical context

Read HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARM?: Let us put the Bible’s harmful verses into context

Read FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Not for women either

Read THE ART OF LIVING WITHOUT HARM: Let us defend women’s rights

MURDER

Deuteronomy 22: 22-25: woe to a married woman who is raped in a town or city and does not scream, because as if the trauma of being raped were not enough, the author of this verse orders that she be cruelly killed by stoning. By contrast, it “spares the life” of the woman raped in the countryside who does not scream, because if it is an isolated place, screaming is useless if no one can hear you.

But as unjust as the above is that it punishes the man not for the harm he causes the raped woman, but for the harm he has caused her husband, since she is merely another one of her husband’s possessions. That is why rapists of married women are penalized, but not those of unmarried women.

Deuteronomy 22:13–21: When we buy an item on Amazon, we almost always want it to be brand new. If it is sold to us as new and turns out not to be, we simply return it, but we do not destroy it. However, the author of this verse shows far less consideration for a woman who has already been sexually “used” by another man, ordering that she be stoned to death if she does not successfully pass the virginity test.

It is revealing that if the husband falsely accuses his wife of not having been a virgin when she married, he does not have to compensate her but rather her father, since she is a mere object that the father transfers to the husband, like a jar that, if cracked, requires some kind of repair.

If the woman does not reach marriage as a virgin, the punishment falls on her; but if it turns out she is a virgin and it is her husband who has falsely accused her of not being a virgin, the compensation for defamation goes to her father. That is the justice of whoever wrote this biblical precept.

Another verse that says something similar is Leviticus 21:9.

All these texts are what have led for centuries to degrading virginity tests for women and the punishment (sometimes causing them great suffering) of those who did not reach marriage as virgins.

If we want a Christianity free of cruelty, these texts should be understood in the context of the patriarchal societies that have existed in almost the entire world from a certain point in the Neolithic until the triumph of the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment. Therefore, for a benevolent reform of Christianity, it is advisable to regard these biblical precepts not as the word of God, but as rules preached by specific individuals who were educated in that deeply sexist mindset of their time, and for whom those rules were convenient.

Read THE REVOLUTION OF LIVING WITHOUT HARM: Let us reform the harmful part of Christianity

Read LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARM! Let us reform the harmful part of religions.

It would also be advisable to reject other deeply sexist verses. Read more at…

… LIVING WITHOUT HARM: Let us invalidate the Christian doctrine that enforces the subjugation of women

Thank you for sharing to help end the scourge of sexism,