[Vision2020] RE: TYPO CORRECTION Re: The age of consent

[Taro Tanaka]

Chasuk,

I specifically prefaced my statement with "if we lived in a Christian 
society with laws that are in harmony with the Bible" (or words to that 
effect). I was talking about what consistent, Bible-believing Christians 
would do in their dealings with other consistent, Bible-believing 
Christians. I was NOT suggesting that we should immediately write to our 
legislators to get the current "age of consent" laws repealed.

As a matter of fact, the current "age of consent" laws, since they represent 
the codificaton of traditional norms, are in line with Christian practice. 
In other words, the norms are Christian norms. So if we eliminated the age 
of consent laws, things would not change appreciably for Bible-believing 
Christians. (I can't speak for all the other faith perspectives out there.)

Most Christian denominations would balk at ordaining as a Christian minister 
an unmarried youth of just 18 years of age. As a general principal, a person 
should be much older, be married, and have proven himself as a good pastor 
of his own family first. But in the 19th century just such an exception was 
made in the case of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers 
and one of the most active and capable men ever in the realm of charity 
work. (Many of the charities that he established still thrive today.) 
Spurgeon was a truly rare exception, but it was good that an exception could 
be made for him.

With regard to the age at which we allow two people to marry as well -- and 
note I said marry, not jump in bed together outside of marriage -- I think 
we need to be able to accommodate rare exceptions. Most people who object to 
this will want cite the example of an older man marrying a pre-pubescent 
girl. First let me say I think the majority of the exceptions would be the 
other way around -- young males marrying older women. Second, marriages 
involving pre-pubescent males or females are out of the question. Sexual 
intercourse with an eye toward procreation is part and parcel of marriage, 
and pre-pubescent boys and girls cannot enter into the equation. Which is 
not to say that older people who are incapable of bearing children (due to 
infertility) can't get married, but the point should be clear. I want to 
see, in a Christian society, a system which respects the rights of all the 
parties -- especially the rights of women -- and God's rights, as He is 
party to every marriage -- and also has enough flexibility to accommodate 
the rare genuine exception. You don't have to agree with that, but it is the 
consistent biblical position.

-- Princess Sushitushi

Chasuk <chasuk at gmail.com> wrote:

>The theoretical example I provided was extreme, but we live in an
>occasionally extreme world.  We don't have specific laws against
>things that have virtually no likelihood of happening, but against
>those things which do happen, even in if only in a minority of
>circumstances.  The majority of people aren't thieves and yet we have
>laws against thievery.  The majority of people aren't murderers but we
>still have laws against murder.  Note that we don't have specific laws
>against plunging one's hands into a fire.  We do have laws against
>causing injury to children, which is what age of consent laws are,
>when you examine them closely.

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