Legitimate Rape?

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What Do You Think? Wednesday
As a strong black woman I have had my own notions on what I believe should be: I believed that I would never get an abortion but others should have a right to one in all circumstances and that people should be able to express their sexual love to whomever they want. As I studied the Bible more my convictions changed. Now, as a recovering strong black woman, I no longer believe women should be able to have an abortion in all circumstances or that people should be able to express their sexual love to whomever they want. You can read in detail my views on abortion and homosexual here and here. Though my views are considered conservative, what I like to believe is that they have not been developed 1) based on my emotions or 2) to promote a political agenda by any means necessary. These two reasons—emotions and political agendas—seem to be the impetus behind liberals who seek to change the historical definition of marriage to include homosexual unions and conservatives, specifically Rep. Todd Akin and Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan, attempting to redefine rape.

When asked about his views on abortion in an interview Sunday on a local television interview, Akin, the Missouri congressman, said, “First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” What? He has since said that his remarks were “off the cuff” and that he “misspoke.” His latter statements are hard for me to believe when he and Ryan co-sponsored a bill in Congress to redefine rape as “forcible rape” when it relates to abortion. This was done to limit federal funding for abortions for rape victims. What? Ryan, the congressman from Wisconsin, has since said in an interview on a local CBS affiliate that “(r)ape is rape. Rape is rape, period. End of story.” His new view is hard for me to believe when he still says “I’m proud of my pro-life record, and I stand by my pro-life record in Congress,” which includes his ‘forcible rape’ legislation.

Rape, by definition, is forced and illegitimate. The developed phrases ‘forcible rape’ and ‘legitimate rape’ are by no means misspoken language. You misspeak when you say something “in a way that is inappropriate, inaccurate, or unclear” (Encarta Dictionary, emphasis mine). The term forcible rape suggests brutal rape, which suggests the term rape by itself is not brutal, and the term legitimate rape suggests some rape is appropriate or the violation has the right characteristics to be classified by using the word rape. There is no appropriate, accurate or clear way to express the ideas behind forcible rape and legitimate rape. These redefinitions of rape are intentional, malevolent and shameful. Yes, I am disgusted but certainly should not be surprised.

Humankind as an entity more concerned with its own agenda than God’s agenda will always espouse some view just as horrible as what Akin and Ryan have. Akin and Ryan’s language make clear that we need a nonpartisan, non-human agent, to arbitrate for us so we stay consistent in calling good ‘good’ and evil ‘evil.’ God, the only perfect and all-wise being, defines for us what is good and evil. When we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, one where we seek to please Him and not our strong black woman or any other human notions, we will work to steer clear from redefining what is clearly wrong and leave language up to the Ultimate Linguist.

You’ve read what I think. Please, tell me what you think about what Rep. Todd Akin and Rep. and Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan have said.

Election Tragedy-The 22nd Day of Christmas

On the 22nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me a God who redeems from tragedy (Job 19:25).

Yesterday tragedy struck, at least that’s what many Democrats believe. After Election Day 2010, Republicans are now the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, leaving many folks disillusioned and resigned that their fate lies in the hands of people partial to corporations and special interests and who have no interest in helping them. Some may even want to curse God and die. Well, maybe they wouldn’t go that far, but we know that’s what Job’s wife told him to do after they lost just about EVERYTHING.

Thieves, killers and natural disasters took Job’s children, livestock and servants, and the physical pain of a body of boils compounded his deep emotional wounds. But Job didn’t curse God and die. Instead he said to his wife: “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil” (Job 2:10)? Later, pointing us to Jesus Christ, he declares:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!—Job 19:25-27

Job knew that no matter what happened to him the One who saves him is alive and He is the One who will exist when the world ends. This is Jesus Christ, our Redeemer who lives and sees all our issues, our tragedies, and is in control of the entire earth (Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 15:24; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Yesterday, none of us lost everything. If we think we did, we definitely had our emphasis in the wrong place. Every one of our needs comes from Jesus. If He decides to use politicians He can, but He doesn’t have to. The tragedy is when we don’t elect Jesus as our Savior, and when He is our Savior, the tragedy is when we don’t elect Him to be the Lord of our lives. No human or political party can save anyone. Only the King of Kings can do that. He is our Redeemer, Savior and Supplier and no vote can change that.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Dissatisfied Church Folk-The 33rd day of Christmas

On the 33rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me a ruler as a savior and king (Judges 4:4).

Some church folk are never satisfied. The pastor didn’t call their name. He didn’t put them on the committee. He didn’t let them preach. He didn’t take their advice. He didn’t support a casino trip. He preached too long. He preached too hard. He used the wrong bible. He didn’t wear the right suit. You know these people so you know I’m not exaggerating. In the eyes of some, the pastor just can’t seem to get it quite right for them.

This was the classic case with the children of Israel. They didn’t listen to their prophets; they snubbed their kings and gave their priests plenty to intercede for. In Judges we see “[i]n those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6). This thought repeats throughout the book, showing the depth of sin when there is no ruler present. They had judges who each served as a spiritual and political leader, but “[i]n those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25). This pointed to the need for a savior and a king, not just an earthly one but one with supernatural power to help his people do what is right in the eyes of God. This savior-king is Jesus Christ.

Though Judges foreshadows Jesus as Savior-King, Jesus, like the judges of old, can’t be effective if we don’t have Him as king of our hearts. When we don’t have Jesus as King of our hearts we will do what is right in our own eyes, letting that strong black woman rule us. If we aren’t already, we will be those dissatisfied church folk who criticize everything about their pastor because the ultimate ruler doesn’t have the throne of our hearts. Please know that I am not saying we should blindly follow our spiritual leaders (Though if you are trying to plan a church trip to the casino and can’t see how your pastor’s disapproval is right, just follow him.). I am saying let Jesus reign supreme in our hearts. This way when we are dissatisfied with our leaders, more times than not our complaint will be legitimate and Jesus can guide us with how to handle our dissatisfaction. Let it be said that in our days there was King Jesus in our hearts and we did what was right in the eyes of God.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Sherrod Charade

As I have thought about the unfair treatment of Shirley Sherrod, I remembered my post on Equality vs. Fair Treatment. In white racists and angry white male sympathizers’ attempts to show that they, too, are not racists, both groups immediately condemned Sherrod for what they believed was equal to the discrimination some whites have been guilty of. Every situation is unique. That’s why I believe being treated fairly, not equal, should always be the goal. Read this Continue reading

Day 13: History Shaping You

Every society has myths that either makes the society famous for being archaic or heroic in a supernatural way. Whether folklore or tradition, many myths become so entrenched in society that they are hard to distinguish from reality. What’s more is people unknowingly perpetuate myths, and, unfortunately, continue a cycle of abuse in the process.

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