(December 2, 2014 at 10:41 am)Nope Wrote:Quote:Deuteronomy 21:10-14 NAB)
"When you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD, your God, delivers them into your hand, so that you take captives, if you see a comely woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as wife, you may take her home to your house. But before she may live there, she must shave her head and pare her nails and lay aside her captive's garb. After she has mourned her father and mother for a full month, you may have relations with her, and you shall be her husband and she shall be your wife. However, if later on you lose your liking for her, you shall give her her freedom, if she wishes it; but you shall not sell her or enslave her, since she was married to you under compulsion.
There isn't any way to defend this passage. Religious people can't get around the passage by saying that it is only reporting historical events in a neutral fashion. Obviously, god is telling the Hebrews how to treat female captives.
And, ironically, the very next chapter of the same book goes into details about not raping female virgins. Although, don't let that fool you. The text and the context are all exceptionally creepy:
- If she's betrothed to be married and is raped in a city, she and the rapist are to be put to death (wow!)
- If she is betrothed and raped out of the city, just the rapist is to be put to death (that puts the earlier law in context. In the city, if she doesn't scream, then she wanted it).
- As mentioned earlier in the thread: if she is not betrothed, she gets to marry her rapist! The rapist must pay a fine to the father (you see, the real victim here is the father. He now has an unmarriable daughter.).
- No explicit prohibition on raping non-virgins. The NT will later complain about fornication, but we're not talking about that; we're talking about Deuteronomy.
- Absolutely no word on marital rape. Ever.
