The following represents the views of a single member of the SSU, and does not necessarily represent the views of the SSU as a whole.

Mormonism is a man-made church.

It was created by a man, run by men (and I do mean men), and perpetuated by men. Like every other man-made organization on this planet, it has the capacity for great good. Unfortunately, it also has the capacity for great evil. Normally, the members of an organization can recognize this, and praise the good, while condemning the evil. This check on organizational power, however, doesn’t exist when those that make the decisions lay claim to divine authority – as the leaders of the Mormon church do. They demand unchallenged obedience, discourage listening to criticism (like this), and claim to have direct access to ultimate truth. The potential for harm is vast. 

Here, we see another harm passed down from the patriarchs, and one that I find particularly deplorable.

The following is a direct quote from the Young Women’s Manual, taken directly from the LDS website:

 

The following story illustrates how a young woman lost her chastity because she was not obedient to gospel principles.

Alice was thrilled to be invited to a party with all of her new friends. She knew several would be drinking, but she decided she would just say “No, thank you” if anyone offered her a drink.

At the party, several people offered her drinks. She refused the first few times, but she finally had one drink. This one drink multiplied into several. As the evening progressed, Alice lost her ability to control both her mind and her body. This loss was indeed heartbreaking because she later had to live with the reality that she had also lost her chastity.

 

Alice went to a party. She is a minor, and had significant amounts of alcohol pushed on her due to social pressure. She became so intoxicated that she was hardly conscious. What happened next is a textbook example of date rape. If a girl does not have the capacity to consent, it’s rape. So, what is the lesson is teaching?

…because she was not obedient to gospel principles.

It’s her fault. She’s the one to blame for being raped. 

This is a common message in Mormonism. Men just can’t control themselves, and are prone to extreme acts of violence such as rape – especially without being held back by their faith. Even then, they are bound to lose control, and women should expect that. They should fight back and resist, otherwise, men will just walk all over them. It’s a message that is so oppressive and degrading to both men and women that words escape me. 

This theme is reflected in the Mormon classic, the Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball, a Mormon Prophet:

Also far-reaching is the effect of the loss of chastity. Once given or taken or stolen it can never be regained. Even in a forced contact such as rape or incest, the injured one is greatly outraged. If she has not cooperated and contributed to the foul deed, she is of course in a more favorable position. There is no condemnation where there is no voluntary participation. It is better to die in defending one’s virtue than to live having lost it without a struggle. (p. 196)

What would this say to a girl who has just been raped, a phsycological offense that knows no equal?

 

1. Once stolen, it can’t be regained. My chastity is gone. I am no longer chaste. I am a lesser person, tainted. Damaged goods. 
2. If you cooperate, it’s even worse. Did I cooperate? He said he would kill me if I didn’t, so I did. I am weak, and I allowed him to do it. I’m at least partly to blame. 
3. My virtue is inherently tied to my virginity? I’ve been raped. I’m no longer a virgin, and no longer virtuous. 
4. It is better to die in defending one’s virtue… my virtue is more valuable than my life? It’s more important that I’m chaste than alive? I could have done more, I could have resisted more. I’m to blame. My chastity is gone, and it would have be better for me to be dead than the unclean being I am now.

 

So paranoid of sex, these old white men in their ivory tower are, that they must condemn the victim of a rape if there was even a sliver of consent. I’m not even going to cover incest, which Kimball throws in with rape, but is even more vast and sweeping in the damage it causes.

I knew a Mormon girl who had been raped. The experience destroyed her, and shattered her confidence to the point that she became highly agoraphobic, and was loath to leave her home. She might have recovered, and someday be able to rebuild her life, even if it wasn’t completely… but for her local Mormon bishop. 

Think about it. 

If you survived a rape… if you lived… doesn’t that mean that you did not do enough to “defend your virtue?” Doesn’t the fact that you are alive mean that there was at least a little bit of consent on your part? Therefore, if you lived, you are at least partly to blame. Even if you lived somehow without any shred of consent, you may still be to blame. Were your clothes too revealing, and set off a man’s uncontrollable animal desire to rape you? Were you too flirtatious? Did you kiss him? Clearly, you must have opened the door at some point:

The victim must do all in his or her power to stop the abuse. Most often, the victim is innocent because of being disabled by fear or the power or authority of the offender. At some point in time, however, the Lord may prompt a victim to recognize a degree of responsibility for abuse. Your priesthood leader will help assess your responsibility so that, if needed, it can be addressed. Otherwise the seeds of guilt will remain and sprout into bitter fruit. Yet no matter what degree of responsibility, from absolutely none to increasing consent, the healing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ can provide a complete cure. Ensign, May, 1992 (emphasis added)

I’ve heard of something similar. During the witch-hunts, they had a test to determine if a woman was a witch. They would throw the poor woman into the water, and if she lived, she was a witch with the protection of Satan, and therefore should be burned at the stake. If she drowned, she was innocent, and her virtue is maintained.

I’m often asked why I would ever ‘attack’ religion, and why I don’t just live and let live. This is why.

It’s because 90% of Provo rapes go unreported. This might be why:

 

“She said something that blew me away. She said, ‘I should have died before I let him do that to me,’ ” Lemmon said. “I was troubled that she had to believe that.”

Lemmon read from a letter written by a BYU rape victim who shared a similar belief.

“I’m a perversion to the good saints of my church,” wrote the victim, who said she wished she were dead. Tragic thoughts like these are common among rape victims in Provo, Lemmon said.”

Deseret News: 90% of Rapes Not Reported to Police

 

This is also true across the state of Utah, which has higher rates of rape than the national average.

It’s heartbreaking. It’s enfuriating. This is the danger of unchecked dogma. This is real harm perpetrated in the name of an imagined deity. This is why I can’t, as an ethical person, just live and let live.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 3:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.