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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Keely, I appreciate that you read Dale's blog and
keep us in the loop. It's important we are called upon to
remember a significant number of people in this community are willing
to twist a tragic issue and use it as a bludgeon to attack those
of us who define ourselves as liberal. I think we shouldn't be
surprised this would be his issue now. He's representative of a
group of patriarchial men, willing to tolerate, even protect, males in
their congregation who are sexual predators. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Sue H.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kjajmix1@msn.com href="mailto:kjajmix1@msn.com">keely emerinemix</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, April 20, 2008 3:16
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] condemning
rape</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Visionaires,<BR><BR>The Everlasting Blogstalker, Dale Courtney,
laments today on his Right-Mind blog that Moscow's liberals are quick to jump
on the bandwagon of disapproval of the recent revelations that young girls in
the FLDS polygamist cult in West Texas are routinely forced into sexual
relationships with older men who believe that these polygamous "celestial
marriages" are essential to the practice of their faith, while remaining
silent about things like young girls being forced to "marry" older men in some
Muslim cultures. Dale believes that the shameful tolerance his liberal
foes exhibit toward the behavior of some Muslims is hypocritical in light of
their disgust over offshoot-Mormon group practices, and he, like a good
"Christian" libertarian man of chest, must make note of it. It seems
that we liberals just can't muster any disapproval of Islam, so busy are we, I
suppose, hating groups that call themselves Christian. <BR><BR>Certainly
Dale's worldview is energized by the thought that he and his pals are
witnesses to the persecution of the Church from their vantage point of those
suffering under it. It's a silly assertion, of course, as is his smug
denouncement of feminized, morally bankrupt liberals who pick and choose their
objects of outrage from a tortured position of ethical spinelessness. I
am a liberal; I know of no one, liberal or conservative, who isn't disgusted
by the reality of adult men who engage in sex with children. I'm not
aware of anyone who thinks that religion excuses the horrors that men visit
upon their victims, whether that religion is a perversion of Christianity or a
perversion of Islam. Because most of the people I know are rational,
decent people, they are angered by child rape and outraged that it can be, and
is, committed as a sort of religious expression. Atheists and the
religious are united in believing that no God would be honored by inflicting
horror on the little ones he created.<BR><BR>I don't know if Muhammed had a
sexual relationship with a nine-year-old girl, as Dale asserts, just as I
don't know if Joseph Smith slept with underage girls. My not being
Muslim or Mormon, or part of any group that claims to be the "true expression"
of either, has nothing to do with the sexual sin of the men each faith reveres
as prophets. I am much more concerned about my own faith and the men who
claim it, and who, as Christians, perpetuate patriarchy, hierarchy, power,
manipulation and sexism in their homes, churches, and
relationships. If, for example, there were a Christian church in
town that had witnessed one or two specific instances of their men preying on
young children or teenage girls, I would expect that that church would reflect
on any connection between the rape committed by their young students of
patriarchy and power, sexism and sexuality, and the practices and teaching
that the predators received from their teachers. I would expect that
that church would publicly repent of any gender-based arrogance, hierarchy, or
wielding of power it had exhibited. I would hope that its leaders would
examine a theology that has as its origin the reality of a post-Fall seizing
of ungodly power and descent into violence, rather than the redemptive,
radical justice and equality ushered in by the Savior they claim to
worship. I would pray that such a church would see that its elevation of
male power and privilege, its defense of patriarchy, its practice of gender
hierarchy and unilateral submission, and its defensive clinging to the ways of
the world and not the fruit of the Spirit are sinful, reflecting the depotism
of evil and not the gentleness of Christlike love. I would expect
that. <BR><BR>I would be disappointed.<BR><BR>And so I will lead the
charge, if that is indeed what Dale's asking for, by announcing that
this middle-aged, progressive, evangelical homemaker, and everyone she knows,
thinks men who sleep with girls are evil. There. Now that the
totality of liberal condemnation of rape and pedophilia has been thusly
offered to this erstwhile elder, let's see if he and his other patriarchal
heads of household pause and examine if the perpetuation of sexual violence on
the weak in the name of religion has more to do with bad theology, teaching,
and practice than with the perceived indifference of Moscow's liberals.
It could be the start of an incredible spiritual renewal, revolutionary in
scope and profound in effect. Or, Dale could just write this off as the
emotional blather of someone who just doesn't know her place, a position that
is probably a lot easier to undertake while enjoying the Sabbath with other
puny patriarchs. <BR><BR>I guess we'll see . . .
<BR><BR>Keely<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
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