There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing.- Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Real Problem, The Wrong Solution.

Apparently, if I promote chastity and human dignity, then that means that I support rape.

I hope that sounds as ridiculous as it is, but that is the position of a new "march for us" type movement called "SlutWalk." I was first made aware of it through the wonderful facebook feature called "Friends' Events," otherwise known as things I was not invited to, but for some reason facebook thinks I should attend. So, this is the page for the "SlutWalk" nearest to me: Washington DC.

On one hand, they appear to want to help end rape. To quote them, they want to not "blame the victim in sexual assault cases." Their rallying cry is the patently obvious "No one asks to be sexually assaulted."

On the other hand, "blaming the victim" is new code for asking women to wear chaste clothes. This blew up from the Toronto Police simply "advising young women not to 'dress like a slut' in order to be safe." I will not link to the official website, as their sponsor has placed a pornographic picture on it. They plan to "take back" the term "slut" but it is unclear what they want to turn it into (other than use it as a provocative title for their movement). To quote "We are tired of being oppressed by slut-shaming; of being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result. Being in charge of our sexual lives should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence, regardless if we participate in sex for pleasure or work. No one should equate enjoying sex with attracting sexual assault." So, this movement is also a cover for supporting prostitution, homosexual activity, and "free love." And, if you bring up opposition to these to a person who was raped, then you are "blaming the victim."

Their solution: to DEMAND respect for an unchaste lifestyle. They want "meaningful dialogue." Their idea of doing something about it is simply "coming together." In other words, they want the Thought Police to punish rapists.

Are they right? If a person walks up to you naked, should you treat them the same as if they had on long parkas and snow pants?

Are they wrong? Does what a person wears send a message? Would wearing less provocative clothes decrease the occurrence of rape? 

I think it's a selective surgery of both. You can tell someone that they're sending a message with their clothes, while being respectful of them. If you wear provocative clothing and get raped, there is a sin on both sides. The solution is not societal acceptance of self-proclaimed "sluts." The solution is an increase for respect of human dignity occurring in the form of both chaste clothing and prevention of rape.

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