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| Dr. Don Boys. "It's only rape if they scream." |
Dr. Don Boys is a respected (in conservative Christian circles) writer on religious matter, and, as a former GOP member of the Indiana House of Representatives, a leading defender of Judge Kavanagh. He has concluded that Kavanagh cannot be guilty of rape because his victim, Christine Blasey Ford, did not scream.
He reasons that for rape to be rape, the woman has to scream. It matters not that she may be unable to through disability, incapacity or threat to her life, or even if the rapist has his hand over her mouth (like Kavanagh's victim alleged). Why? Because the Bible says so of course. The Christian book of excuses makes it all clear. It's only rape if she is screaming during it.
In an earlier BarbedWire piece, now mysteriously taken down but archived here, Boys wrote:
Some common sense definitions are necessary regarding this accusation. Rape is having sex with a woman while she screams for help. No scream, no rape according to Deuteronomy 22:23-24. Ford says Kavanaugh held his hand over her mouth so did she scream for help when his hand was elsewhere? After all, it was in a bedroom of a house; surely, one of the other 4 teens could have heard him scream when she bit his hand. Did she bite his hand? Poke him in the eye? Women know instinctively how to protect their honor: screaming, shouting, slapping, spitting, slugging, and stabbing with a finger, pencil, or hat pin. Since she did not cry out or stab him, I will not believe her without a film of the event.
Moreover, Matthew 18:16 clearly commands that there must be at least two witnesses to validate a charge against a person. This is a repeat of Old Testament law. Ford has no witnesses.
The infamous passage in the Bible, maybe one of the more repugnant because it blames and condemns the victim of the crime, is:
If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 22:23-24
Curiously, Boys appear not to have noticed that, according to that passage, both Brett Kavanagh and Christine Blasey Ford should have been taken outside the city gate and stoned to death - but only if she had been 'betrothed to an husband'. If not, presumably the need to scream doesn't arise either.
He also appears not to have noticed four verses later, where it explain that if a man rapes a woman who is not 'betrothed', he has to buy her from her father for a token sum and gets to keep her for life - literally. The rape victim is forced to marry her rapist!
If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29
This latter passage makes it clear that the reason the betrothed woman should be killed is not so much that she was complicit in the crime but that she isn't any use to her husband anyone.
Nevertheless, despite his favourite excuse not appearing to apply to Kavanagh and Ford because she wasn't 'betrothed to an husband' at the time, Boys is quite clear on the subject. Ignoring the little bits about betrothal, he has now defended his definition of rape. Reacting to the outcry, mostly by women who object to a Christian telling them when it's okay to rape them, whom he tactfully called 'screamers', he said:
Most of the screamers took umbrage with my statement that rape “is having sex with a woman while she screams for help. No scream, no rape according to Deuteronomy 22:23-24. Did she bite his hand? Poke him in the eye? Women know instinctively how to protect their honor: screaming, shouting, slapping, spitting, slugging, and stabbing with a finger, pencil, or hat pin. Since she did not cry out or stab him, I will not believe her without a film of the event.
[...]
Well, everyone has to have a foundation for what he or she believes and I choose to believe the Bible as being the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and indispensable standard for my life. Now, because I believe in a perfect Book does not make me or all my decisions perfect since I am a flawed individual. But I do have a standard that helps me make minor and major decisions in my life.
So, the Bible and thousands of years of history support the fact that a rape victim must resist or there is no rape. My critics have presented all kinds of scenarios to prove the Bible wrong: what if she is incapacitated, she is deaf and dumb, she is too scared, etc. However, that’s covered in God’s command for the Jews to do justice for all under all conditions.
The Jews did not have police or prison system until the time of the Kings. Egypt did have prisons as per Joseph in prison after being falsely accused of rape. However, the Jews did have a justice system that included Cities of Refuge. Furthermore, Deut. 16:18 commanded Israel to appoint highly qualified judges to administer justice to the aggrieved and to enforce weights and measurements in each town. When they found anything wrong, they brought the offender before the magistrate at the city gate (where business was transacted and cases decided in the East), and the offender was punished by the officer on the spot.
IOW, despite this being the perfect excuse and despite it being 'the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and indispensable standard for [his] life', Boys blames the Jews, just to be on the safe side.
Boy's then displays his non-judgemental human compassion and that good ol' Christian lurve and concern for a victim with:
During the hearings, I believed Ford was honest but mistaken about her attacker. I felt sorry and pity for her; however, it is now my opinion that she is a liar and tool of evil, unprincipled Democrats…
Boys then concludes his defence of rape with an advertisement for his book of Islamophobic hate and a reminder that he used to teach boys in a Christian school. One can only hope that the unfortunate schoolboys were not unduly influence by Dr. Don Boys in their formative years and grew up into decent human beings who respect women and their right not to put their bodies at any man's disposal should he so decide to use them.
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