False Dichotomies

Evil often wins (at least for a time) because it often offers us two (or more) relatively easy choices, one of which is slightly less bad than the other. Society--meaning, the great mass of people--is then asked to choose between the two, as if no other alternatives exist.

There often is another alternative, one which is not evil (and which may in fact actually be good), but it is often difficult.

There are countless cases, but as an example let me pick just one which is currently in the collective conscience: that of the Mohammedan rape gangs in Europe (and particularly in Germany). The choices which we are provided with, as "relatively easy" options are these:

1. Support the actual rape culture of the Mohammedan immigrants
2. Support the "anti-rape" culture of the feminist crowds who argue that women who act however and dress however they want with impunity
3. The minor (third) choice is that we should round up all of the Mohammedans and deport them

Option number 3 isn't necessarily a sub-choice of option number 2, though I've seen plenty of people using 2 to argue for 3. A further subset of 3 is "forced assimilation or deportation," which is an improvement on 3.

Looking at the choices above, it seems obvious that 2 is the "less evil" option of the two major options; nobody really wants option 1, after all. And too often, 2 is implicit in 3: I've seen quite a few erstwhile "conservative" voices suddenly supporting 2 because 1 looks like the worse option.

The problem is, 2 is not a good option either. Surely, it is less bad than option 1, but it is still bad. Men should not become rapists, that is obvious; men who do should be punished severely for it. On the other hand, women should not engage in "Slut Walks" or exhibitionism, or naked "performance art" (I won't provide a link, but let's just say this exists) as a response to the bad behavior of men. Degradation is not suddenly made better on account of being self-degradation as opposed to degradation inflicted by another.

Raped by Rape Culture Warriors

One argument against allowing concealed carry of firearms on campuses runs as follows. We shouldn't allow guns on campus, because one day a disgruntled student might enter the classroom (or even just his professor's office) and blow the professor's head off. That kind of targeted nightmare scenario is relatively rare, even with the plethora of school shootings (they seem to be more frequent nowadays, but this might be sampling bias by the media). Nevermind that a disgruntled student can in theory still in theory do that now--if he's willing to break the law against murder, why would a law against carrying a weapon stop him? It might, however, stop the professor and/or his students from having a means of defending themselves--such has been the case in practice in virtually every school shooting which has occurred since guns were removed from campuses.

Funny how the argument is never applied towards the rhetoric of "rape culture." It's only a matter of time before a disgruntled student--probably a female, likely a radical feminist--makes a false "rape" accusation against a professor which ends up getting him suspended until he can prove his innocence. And the likely next step is a false rape accusation against a professor, which gets him fired before he has any chance to prove his innocence, in the name of something like "zero tolerance" (I'll bet); this will happen even if the professor in question has never had contact with the student outside of the classroom or other public settings, and even if the student has no evidence to bring forward.

Sure, he's not been shot by the disgruntled student--but he is an innocent victim nonetheless, one whose life and livelihood may be permanently ruined over it. The way campus administrations and feminist circles are heading, it may be only a few short decades before this particular scenario is a reality.

Rape Culture Warriors

The title is more of an adjective than an imperative statement. I have to wonder wonder, sometimes: are the people who push the boundaries on what constitutes "rape" or "rape culture" sane, or are they serious? Either way, there is a point at which they can no longer be really taken seriously, and they are rapidly approaching that point, so much the worse for actual rape survivors. Because the latest, greatest boundary-push in the question of "was it rape?" seems to fit the pattern of "it was rape because at some point one person involved decided it was." To wit, the concept of being "raped by rape culture."

Explicitly given consent is no longer enough, because now even "yes" can mean "no" after the fact.

First, let me reiterate that there is, of course, a simple solution to all of this: that is the very solution that these people oppose. A return to the so-called "Judeo-Christian" sexual ethic does largely get rid of these problems, and it does entirely get rid of them if understood via theology of the body, etc. A culture which adopts a sexual ethic which places the greatest emphasis on purity of heart or even simple chastity is a culture in which rape ceases to be a problem. Avoid fornication, adultery, etc, because in the context of marriage you can build the kind of relationship and trust to understand your spouse's desires, to say nothing of consent*. Barring this, another simple lesson from the Bible comes to mind: " Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37).

Second, stupid ideas like the one presented by Miss Bosiljevac--that one cane be "raped by rape culture"--are of concern to everyone, in that when people begin to take them seriously, a whole host of real and imagined victims are created. The imagined victims are those who claim to have been "raped" when no rape has taken place; the real victims are largely men, but also women who suffer from actual rapes and are not believed. Indeed, there are cases now of lives being ruined over an alleged rape in which no sexual encounter of any sort has occurred, and some reasonably widely read organs of propaganda which have helped to create these victims. To the extent that one need only be accused of being a rapist--without evidence, without, in some cases, even necessarily knowing the victim--to be treated like a rapist, well, this whole movement is a threat not so much to rapists, but to ordinary and ordinarily innocent men (and perhaps even women) everywhere.



*Yes, there is such a thing as marital rape, and it too is a horrible thing. It has no place in an authentically Christian marriage, or, really, any authentically loving marriage. Neither do false accusations have any place in any authentically loving relationship.

Certifiable Insanity

That's how I would describe every member of the Minnesota State High School League not named Emmett Keenan. Public showers of the sort used by students in high school gym class (and sports' teams) can be awkward enough as it is. This just goes over the top. Oh, and coed hotel rooms? Not a brilliant idea either.

Catcalling in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

You have surely by now heard of--if not actually watched--the video of the woman who walked around New York silently for 10 hours and was subjected to a bit of verbal harassment (along with a few unsolicited compliments and salutations). Perhaps you have also seen the response video of the man who walked around the same areas for three hours and was subjected to a roughly equal amount of verbal harassment?

These videos seem to demonstrate that some people in New York are jerks (but we already knew that!), though that is not of course the narrative being drawn from them. Actually, from the first of the two videos, the narrative varies depending on which professionally aggrieved or perpetually offended group is the one doing the narrating.

To b fair, there were a few jerks in the 10 hours' worth of the woman walking. There were a few more jerks in the three hours' worth of the man's walking*. All of which goes into a personal theory of mine: men and women receive about the same amount of verbal abuse and harassment on average, but we deal with it differently. I do not here intend to go into details, but might I suggest that this is a large part of what's behind the typical woman's complaints about harassment from colleagues.

Indeed, I suspect this is also a large part of the harassment women face in the STEM fields, where such things are alleged to happen frequently. In truth, guys pretty much do this to each other too, though admittedly they may focus a bit more on the one obviously different person in the group (e.g. the one female present). It should be remembered that this is sometimes how we bond, including how we at times bond with coworkers (light hazing).

I can't explain it either, but it does seem to me that the disruption of this particular bonding behavior is one consequence (intended or otherwise) of an integrated workforce. Certainly it is a consequence of the disappearance of mens' space (e.g. the increasing forbidden-ness of any men-only clubs or establishments).

And for a palette cleanser, here is a video of what it's like to be Princess Leia in New York:

<<<OVER>>>

*The woman got 100+ instances of harassment in 10 hours--basically an average of once every 6 minutes. The man got 30+ instances of harassment in 3 hours--basically, an average of once every 6 minutes.

One Real Cause of Rape Culture

First, it's worth stating that "rape culture" is a bit overblown in the numbers. I'm fairly confident that the number of women who experience an actual rape in college does not approach 20% (1 in 5). But, with that prefatory caveat aside, even 2% or 0.2% is still not a good thing. I should note that while I find date rape to be vile and frankly intolerable, I do not equate it with rape*.

With those caveats aside, I can believe that both are much higher than they should be, and I can even believe that both are on the rise as compared with decades past. There is a compelling article posted on the Aletiea website explaining one of the root causes of why this might be so:

The issue of “rape culture” on college campuses swept into public consciousness through the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, which states that nearly 20% of college women in its survey experienced rape or attempted rape.   

Whether that high a percentage of young women are being victimized is much debated. Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute, using a standard rule of thumb for reported versus actual cases (12%), ran the numbers for Ohio State.  He came up with the far lower percentage of 2.9%. 

Still, a serious problem exists.... 

Every examination of this issue has noted the close relationship of “hookup culture” with violent sexual assaults. Over the last four decades, dating and romance have gradually vanished from college social life, replaced by parties where college men and women meet, drink heavily, and then, in Lady Gaga’s words (from “Do What U Want”), “get naughty.”   

Universities countenance, and—in their non-judgmental way—even affirm the desirability of casual sex. A women’s counselor at Dartmouth, for example, explains that what’s important about a hookup is that “each person gets something out of it. If it's to get off, then that's great. . . . If it's to work some issue out—like sexual assault—then that's great. It's basically to get pleasure and enjoyment out of it . . . the hookup culture is good for experimentation, and what someone does for experimentation is up to them." The counselor does admit, however, that she never got much out of her own hookups.

Feminists in particular are quick to look for an institutional cause of the "rape culture" which can be blamed and then "fixed." It's always about what they can make other people do (a strange irony when looking for a means of fighting against a "rape" culture), and especially what that can force men to do in the name of fighting rape. To be fair, the guys are about half of the problem here. But all the "rape awareness campaigns" and marches and so on are just technical attempts at alleviating a very obvious moral problem--while at the same time institutionalizing one of the very causes of that problem.


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* On the other hand, there are different levels of "date rape," some of which might be arguable worse than violent/"forcible" rape. Violence is very bad, but treachery can be worse.