(December 2, 2014 at 1:12 pm)abaris Wrote:(December 2, 2014 at 1:05 pm)Nope Wrote: That doesn't take into account that if the victim had as much power as her attacker, she wouldn't have been raped in the first place. A man that will rape a woman to get a wife, will also beat her if she speaks out of turn and probably continue to rape her during the marriage.
Not trying to defend it, but that was the normal in most ancient societies contemporary with the Israelites. With the laudable exception of ancient egypt where women were mostly allowed to be their own persons.
Everywhere else at the time, women were property to be sold.
Don't worry, I know that no one is trying to defend the practice...except the idiot who told me marrying the victim was more of a punishment for the attacker(Yeah, I am still annoyed over that one.)
I think Christians could get a pass if the bible is seen as the literary work of a bronze age people and not as the words of an all knowing god. As a historical work of literature, it has interesting stories and poems with some valuable insights into the minds of the Hebrews. The Old Testament has some surprisingly compassionate rules about how to treat the poor that would cause hard core conservatives' heads to explode.
When someone believes that the bible is both the word of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipresent god and also literally true than it becomes harder to say that times were just different. It really doesn't matter what the Hebrew neighbors did because their god wanted them to be different. He gave them rules like not mixing fibers but no rules about not raping women. IF he was real, it would be reasonable to think that bible god cares mainly about men and views rape as acceptable.
God could have just popped over to the nonHebrews and said,"Hey, I am THE GOD, let's not have wars and rape. Leave the Hebrews alone. Oh and by the way, I know everything anyway so treat women like they are good for something other then sticking your penis in and having your babies. I know it is hard to believe but they have feelings too. God out."
