Religions > Atheism > From The Pond: Rape is nature way of maintaining the species- a CracklQ
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Larry" |
| Date: |
15 Jun 2005 01:12:09 AM |
| Object: |
From The Pond: Rape is nature way of maintaining the species- a CracklQ |
Sexual violence is a nightmare. Dragging it out for nine months of
pregnancy seems an added cruelty. Then there's the child, for whom the
truth about his or her father could be devastating. But did anyone think
to ask the victims themselves?
In their book, Victims and Victors (Acorn Books, 2000) 1, editors David
Reardon, Amy Sobie and Julie Makimaa draw on testimonies of 192 women who
experienced pregnancy as the result of rape or incest, and 55 children
who were conceived through sexual assault. It turns out that when victims
of violence speak for themselves, their opinion of abortion is nearly
unanimous – and the opposite of what the average person expects.
Nearly all the women interviewed in this anecdotal survey said they
regretted aborting their babies conceived via rape or incest.
"I feel personally assaulted and insulted every time I hear that abortion
should be legal because of rape and incest," says Kathleen DeZeeuw, whose
testimony is included in Victims and Victors. "I feel that we're being
used to further the abortion issue, even though we've not been asked to
tell our side of the story."
Her side of the story starts with skipping a church meeting to go with a
girlfriend to a local coffeehouse. The sixth of eight children, Kathleen
was raised in a Christian home with strict rules against associating with
anyone outside her family's church congregation. So perhaps Kathleen was
naive when she agreed to go to a movie with a young man she met at the
coffeehouse.
Soon after, her head was being bashed against his car window until she
was too weak to resist. Somehow she knew the rape that followed would
make her pregnant.
"I remember screaming over and over again," Kathleen said-a reaction that
brought only laughter from her assailant. He threw her out of the car,
with a warning that he'd hurt her worse if she told anyone. She made her
way home feeling shattered and dirty. Kathleen, only 16, kept the secret
until it couldn't be concealed. When the pregnancy became obvious, her
parents were distressed and her siblings were disgusted.
"Because I wouldn't talk about it, many rumors started about me, and
everyone had his own interpretation of what must have 'really' happened."
She was sent to a maternity home a thousand miles away. That's where
something began to change in her heart. At first, she was repulsed at the
thought of carrying "this man's child," yet as she felt the baby kick and
move, her horror began to change to sympathy.
"I began to realize that this little life inside me was struggling,
too . . . I was no longer thinking of the baby as the 'rapist's' . . . I
now thought of this baby as 'my baby.' My baby was all I had. I felt
abandoned by everyone. I had only this life inside me to talk to."
Not that everything was easy. The first time Kathleen held her son,
Patrick, she felt "revulsion," because he looked exactly like his father-
a resemblance that remained as he grew into adolescence.
"The laughter of my little boy often reminded me of the hideous laughter
of this guy as he had raped me." But Patrick kept telling his mother she
needed to forgive, as he himself had forgiven her sometimes-pained
reactions to him as well as the actions of his unknown dad. In the end,
forgiveness set Kathleen free. Victims of sexual violence need counseling
and care, Kathleen says, and plenty of time for healing. "To encourage a
woman to have an abortion is to add even more violence to her life," she
says. "Two wrongs will never make a right." What rape takes away from a
woman, abortion cannot restore. Though many outsiders view abortion as a
quick and sanitary procedure that takes place behind closed doors, to the
woman it is a second assault, a disturbing reminder of the invasive
violence she already has endured.
"Many women report that their abortions felt like a degrading form
of 'medical rape,' " Reardon writes. "Abortion involves a painful
intrusion into a woman's sexual organs by a masked stranger . . . For
many women this experiential association between abortion and sexual
assault is very strong . . . Women with a history of sexual assault are
likely to experience greater distress during and after an abortion than
are other women." 2
Reference Notes:
1 Victims and Victors, David C. Reardon (Editor), Julie Makimaa (Editor),
Amy Sobie (Editor). Acorn Books, May 2000
2Rape and Incest are Tragic, But Abortion Doesn't Heal the Pain, by
Frederica Matthewes-Green; Source: Citizen Magazine; October 2000
-=-
This message was sent via two or more anonymous remailing services.
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| User: "R. Pierce Butler" |
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| Title: Re: From The Pond: Rape is nature way of maintaining the species- a CracklQ |
15 Jun 2005 01:25:34 AM |
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(Larry) wrote in
news:JNUAQ0KI38517.8834375@anonymous:
Sexual violence is a nightmare. Dragging it out for nine months of
pregnancy seems an added cruelty. Then there's the child, for whom the
truth about his or her father could be devastating. But did anyone think
to ask the victims themselves?
In their book, Victims and Victors (Acorn Books, 2000) 1, editors David
Reardon, Amy Sobie and Julie Makimaa draw on testimonies of 192 women who
experienced pregnancy as the result of rape or incest, and 55 children
who were conceived through sexual assault. It turns out that when victims
of violence speak for themselves, their opinion of abortion is nearly
unanimous – and the opposite of what the average person expects.
Nearly all the women interviewed in this anecdotal survey said they
regretted aborting their babies conceived via rape or incest.
Had anyone forced them to have an abortion? They made a choice and now
they regret it? Maybe the next time they will choose differently.
rj
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| User: "John Baker" |
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| Title: Re: From The Pond: Rape is nature way of maintaining the species- a CracklQ |
15 Jun 2005 01:43:45 AM |
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On 15 Jun 2005 01:12:09 -0000,
(Larry) wrote:
See ya, Jabbers.
<PLONK!>
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| User: "towelie" |
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| Title: Re: From The Pond: Rape is nature way of maintaining the species- a CracklQ |
15 Jun 2005 01:28:36 AM |
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TV's Larry wrote:
Her side of the story starts with skipping a church meeting to go with a
girlfriend to a local coffeehouse. The sixth of eight children, Kathleen
was raised in a Christian home with strict rules against associating with
anyone outside her family's church congregation. So perhaps Kathleen was
naive when she agreed to go to a movie with a young man she met at the
coffeehouse.
Maybe if the parents had taught the girl about life, instead of trying to
shelter her from the rest of the world, she would have better dealt with the
situation, and not been raped. I place my blame on the girl's parents and
their exclusionary religion.
--
Beliefs are dangerous. Beliefs allow the mind to stop functioning.
A non-functioning mind is clinically dead. Believe in nothing.
- Maynard James Keenan
The belief in the Christian god... is an appalling nightmare. I reject
the notion that the whole universe was created by this kind of evil
creature who would create such a thing. - Anthony Flew, March 22, 2005
aa #2133
ap #19
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| User: "georgann" |
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| Title: Re: From The Pond: Rape is nature way of maintaining thespecies- a CracklQ |
15 Jun 2005 12:16:20 PM |
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TV's Larry wrote:
Her side of the story starts with skipping a church meeting to go with a
girlfriend to a local coffeehouse. The sixth of eight children, Kathleen was
raised in a Christian home with strict rules against associating with anyone
outside her family's church congregation. So perhaps Kathleen was naive when
she agreed to go to a movie with a young man she met at the coffeehouse.
towelie wrote:
Maybe if the parents had taught the girl about life, instead of trying to
shelter her from the rest of the world, she would have better dealt with the
situation, and not been raped. I place my blame on the girl's parents and
their exclusionary religion.
georgann (forgiven since 33 AD) wrote:
Do you see the boy and his parents as blameless?
--
(`'·.¸(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ¸.·'´)¸.·'´)¸.·'´)
«´¨`·.¸¸ ¸¸.·´¨ `»
"As Benjamin Franklin left the State House in Philadelphia
on the closing day of the Constitutional Convention, a woman
asked him what kind of government the statesmen had given America.
Franklin replied: 'A republic, Madame, if you can keep it.'
http://www.boingboing.net/images/Purple-USA.jpg
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/
(¸.·'´(¸.·'´(¸.·'´ `'·.¸)`'·.¸)`'·.¸)
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