I just can't resist!
I've been doing most of my blogging lately at my new blog, Souful Knitting Ministries, lately. Since nearly all of my knitting time has been spent on knitting pink scarves, preemie caps and prayer shawls, I haven't had any knitting projects or pictures to blog about here.
But life goes on, nonetheless, and there are other things that I feel compelled to blog about... some pertain to knitting but others don't. So, since this blog is here, I might as well use it, right?
As fate would have it, the pressing issue I've chosen to mark my re-entry into this blog is ripped from relatively current headlines and is near and dear to my heart - the Duke LaCross team rape case. No, I haven't been following this story and honestly, I couldn't tell you what the latest news updates are. But I do know this, there's something about this case, and thousands like it that are cropping up all over the country all the time, that really burns me.
Let me set the stage by saying that I am a sexual assault survivor. I am a survivor of the legal system that assaulted me again as I tried (successfully, I might add) to have my assailants brought to justice. I am a Christian. And more recently, I am a conservative, Republican Christian. I believe in personal responsibility and accountability. I realize that I've probably just offended some of you, so feel free to stop reading now if you'd like because it gets worse.
I don't presume to know the truth about what happened in the Duke case, but I do know that at some point, we are all going to have to wake up and accept the fact that our actions have consequences. No, I'm not saying that any woman "deserves" to be raped. That is absurd. And I realize that violent crimes can happen anytime, anywhere. I was kidnapped at gunpoint in front of my house after coming home from school. It was a snowy February night and under my heavy coat I was wearing boots, a long jumper, a turtleneck and red thermal underwear - hardly the attire of a woman "asking for it". But that said, we must know that being in certain places, at certain times, and involved in certain behaviors (i.e., drugs, drinking, "dirty dancing", etc.) increase the odds dramatically that something bad could happen.
If I were standing in the middle of a pit of snakes, would it come as a big surprise to anyone if I got bit? If I were standing in the middle of a dark country road in the middle of the night, dressed in black, would anyone be shocked if I got hit by a car? Why is it then that young women in particular continue to put themselves in incredibly dangerous situations, because it's their "right" to do so, only to be shocked and outraged when things head south?
People wonder why the criminal justice system is so hard on women who make accusations of rape. Sadly, it's because so many women who haven't been raped claim they were. Sometimes it's to hide their own complicity in a situation that may have gotten out of hand, often under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Sometimes it's to get back at a guy for some actual or alledged wrong. In either case, every time a woman falsely cries rape, there are several true victims who pay the price. Enough is enough, women. We say we want equal rights... fine. That includes the right to be honest. The right to make smart choices. The right to consider the consequences of our actions. The right to be responsible. The right to be accountable.
I could go on and on about this, but Ann Coulter sums it up much better than I ever could in an article she penned recently entitled, Lie down with strippers, wake up with pleas.
But life goes on, nonetheless, and there are other things that I feel compelled to blog about... some pertain to knitting but others don't. So, since this blog is here, I might as well use it, right?
As fate would have it, the pressing issue I've chosen to mark my re-entry into this blog is ripped from relatively current headlines and is near and dear to my heart - the Duke LaCross team rape case. No, I haven't been following this story and honestly, I couldn't tell you what the latest news updates are. But I do know this, there's something about this case, and thousands like it that are cropping up all over the country all the time, that really burns me.
Let me set the stage by saying that I am a sexual assault survivor. I am a survivor of the legal system that assaulted me again as I tried (successfully, I might add) to have my assailants brought to justice. I am a Christian. And more recently, I am a conservative, Republican Christian. I believe in personal responsibility and accountability. I realize that I've probably just offended some of you, so feel free to stop reading now if you'd like because it gets worse.
I don't presume to know the truth about what happened in the Duke case, but I do know that at some point, we are all going to have to wake up and accept the fact that our actions have consequences. No, I'm not saying that any woman "deserves" to be raped. That is absurd. And I realize that violent crimes can happen anytime, anywhere. I was kidnapped at gunpoint in front of my house after coming home from school. It was a snowy February night and under my heavy coat I was wearing boots, a long jumper, a turtleneck and red thermal underwear - hardly the attire of a woman "asking for it". But that said, we must know that being in certain places, at certain times, and involved in certain behaviors (i.e., drugs, drinking, "dirty dancing", etc.) increase the odds dramatically that something bad could happen.
If I were standing in the middle of a pit of snakes, would it come as a big surprise to anyone if I got bit? If I were standing in the middle of a dark country road in the middle of the night, dressed in black, would anyone be shocked if I got hit by a car? Why is it then that young women in particular continue to put themselves in incredibly dangerous situations, because it's their "right" to do so, only to be shocked and outraged when things head south?
People wonder why the criminal justice system is so hard on women who make accusations of rape. Sadly, it's because so many women who haven't been raped claim they were. Sometimes it's to hide their own complicity in a situation that may have gotten out of hand, often under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Sometimes it's to get back at a guy for some actual or alledged wrong. In either case, every time a woman falsely cries rape, there are several true victims who pay the price. Enough is enough, women. We say we want equal rights... fine. That includes the right to be honest. The right to make smart choices. The right to consider the consequences of our actions. The right to be responsible. The right to be accountable.
I could go on and on about this, but Ann Coulter sums it up much better than I ever could in an article she penned recently entitled, Lie down with strippers, wake up with pleas.
posted by Syd at
9:40 AM
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