Nothing really new.

[Versus]

http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-wo...ncy?source=rss

"It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," he said, referring to conception following a ****. "If it's a legitimate ****, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child."

"It's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are ***** and abused every year," he said.

"I recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of ****, is a very emotionally charged issue. But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action."

He clearly misspoke. I think what he really means is that the punishment ought to go to the woman for being a slut.

[Versus]

Also, I really love The Onion.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/con...egitima,29249/

[Saya]

Some days I know that faith in humanity is illogical.

Maybe he only reads Victorian era medical books, it actually WAS believed once that women must orgasm to get pregnant, and if you orgasmed, it wasn't really ****, was it, you hussy.

They also believed that the vagina was a "quivering sheath" that the penis can't get into without the woman's help. In order for a **** to be considered legit, she had to be gang *****.

[Renatus]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/pre...as-ille,29258/

[MechaSaya]

Originally Posted by Saya

Fixed that for you.

[Saya]

That IS true, but my reaction to this article whether it appears on facebook, twitter, tumblr, or the forums I frequent is always:

[Versus]

[AshleyO]

I really do think the GOP has gone insane.

Legitimately crazy.

The cynic in me though thinks that the GOP does this because they understand that it's what their voter base wants.

I can't think of the right word for it... but their flavor seems nakedly patriarchal. Jingoism? I'm not even sure anymore.

[Miss Absynthe]

Man. I just can't even...

Nope.

[BourbonBoy]

Originally Posted by AshleyO

I really do think the GOP has gone insane.

Legitimately crazy.

The cynic in me though thinks that the GOP does this because they understand that it's what their voter base wants.

I can't think of the right word for it... but their flavor seems nakedly patriarchal. Jingoism? I'm not even sure anymore.

The people voting for the right wing are fanatics, bottom line.

Looking for votes, the right wing will say whatever the ones who'll vote them into office want them to say, but that's if they are not already of that mindset. The voters act that way because their pastor told them to do so, often saying things like, "If we don't do what god wants us to, he'll go to another country" or "Do you want us to be a godless country? If not, vote Republican and take back America!" I

Living in Texas I meet my fair share of people like this, regardless of their denomination and all of them willfully participate in doublethink. "A fetus has a right to life! But once it's born, fuck 'em until they're military age or if they become a criminal!"

[Saya]

After saying he “can’t defend” Rep. Todd Akin’s suggestion that women don’t get pregnant from ****, Mitt Romney stepped up his rebuke on Tuesday when he called on Akin to drop out of the Missouri Senate race. But archives from Romney’s previous presidential bid show that the Massachusetts Republican has historically supported the person who is the source of Akin’s theory, Dr. Jack C. Willke, the father of the antiabortion movement.

A physician and former president of the National Right to Life Committee, Willke was an “important surrogate” for Romney’s 2008 presidential bid. Willke is the oft-cited source of the theory that ****-related pregnancies are “rare.” The theory is sometimes used by antiabortion advocates to argue that abortion laws should not contain exceptions for pregnancies that result from **** or incest.

Willke believes that trauma caused by violent **** causes a woman’s reproductive system to shut down. He presents this belief as fact in educational materials, including a book about abortion and a website called abortionfacts.com. Willke’s views – and his role in promoting a theory that has been widely rejected in modern medicine – appear not to have concerned Romney in 2007, when he touted Willke’s endorsement.

“Dr. Willke is a leading voice within the pro-life community and will be an important surrogate for Governor Romney's pro-life and pro-family agenda,” the Romney campaign said in an October 2007 statement.

“I am proud to have the support of a man who has meant so much to the pro-life movement in our country,” Romney said in the statement. “He knows how important it is to have someone in Washington who will actively promote pro-life policies. Policies that include more than appointing judges who will follow the law but also opposing taxpayer-funded abortion and partial-birth abortion.”

At the time, Willke called Romney “the only candidate who can lead our pro-life and pro-family conservative movement to victory.”

Willke has not weighed in on the presidential race this time around, but he has rushed to Akin’s defense with an open letter declaring that “the pro-life movement and I unequivocally stand with Rep. Akin.”

“How could we not?” Willke wrote of the Missouri congressman. “Rep. Akin will make the U.S. Senate a safer place for the most vulnerable in our nation."

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...,0,80862.story

[ape descendant]

I must say, I what Akin said to be disgustingly and repugnant ignorant, however, I'm glad he said it.

Dialogue has been opened and people are discussing the issue. This open discussion gets secret prejudices and stupid little tidbits people were told as children out in the open to be dispelled as the utter disgusting nonsense that it is.

If we're lucky... really lucky, this will help to hold up a mirror to Republican voters to show them how they're being represented and maybe start a movement for reasonable Republicans to take their party back, from the religious crazies that shine a bad light on their entire party.

Then again, I might be asking too much.

[Blue_Ballerina]

Originally Posted by Saya

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...,0,80862.story

Going to make this nation a safer place?! You know it's exactly this kind of thinking that makes men believe that it is okay to **** a women. "Oh her body will shut down. I can have my way with any woman I want without worrying about a thing!"
Although I am a firm Christian, I must admit I have one serious problem with the **** issue in the bible. Nothing in there about how men shouldn't **** women but there is a passage in the Old Testament about how if a woman doesn't cry out she is a shame to her father's household and should be stoned. I was so upset when I read this because I have been ***** repeatedly throughout my life. I cried out the first time and my other cousin just stood there and watched. She fucking did nothing. The next time I went into shock, not knowing what to do so I couldn't scream. Upon reading this verse in the bible I felt so ashamed and ruined that it was all my fault. I was considered a slut by God. The only thing that gave me hope to carry on is that Jesus said "cast the first stone." Had he not come to correct this error in judgement, and this had been about 5,000 years ago, I would have been dead.

They don't realize what kind of damage this does to the women who are *****. It's almost like we are constantly being told to be so strong that even if we're ***** and told by God and men that it was our fault, it's not supposed to break us. Yet, we are thought of as weaker than men. HA! The irony behind that one kills me. I half believe that Adam ***** Eve in the garden of Eden and that's why she was in a weakened state to listen to what the snake said and take the fruit. If he did that would explain part of the reason why God blamed Adam for sin coming into the world and not Eve.
Just my thoughts on Christianity and ****...

[AshleyO]

Originally Posted by Versus

http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-wo...ncy?source=rss




He clearly misspoke. I think what he really means is that the punishment ought to go to the woman for being a slut.

You know... he did say that all life should be protected. CLEARLY this means he's obligated to giving a shit about dismantling the prison industrial complex, ending US imperialism, and making sure that our future children are well prepared for the challenges they'll face when they grow up. But you know? I bet he's just lying.

[Miss Absynthe]

~~redacted~~

[Miss Absynthe]

Originally Posted by Blue_Ballerina

Going to make this nation a safer place?! You know it's exactly this kind of thinking that makes men believe that it is okay to **** a women. "Oh her body will shut down. I can have my way with any woman I want without worrying about a thing!"
Although I am a firm Christian, I must admit I have one serious problem with the **** issue in the bible. Nothing in there about how men shouldn't **** women but there is a passage in the Old Testament about how if a woman doesn't cry out she is a shame to her father's household and should be stoned. I was so upset when I read this because I have been ***** repeatedly throughout my life. I cried out the first time and my other cousin just stood there and watched. She fucking did nothing. The next time I went into shock, not knowing what to do so I couldn't scream. Upon reading this verse in the bible I felt so ashamed and ruined that it was all my fault. I was considered a slut by God. The only thing that gave me hope to carry on is that Jesus said "cast the first stone." Had he not come to correct this error in judgement, and this had been about 5,000 years ago, I would have been dead.

They don't realize what kind of damage this does to the women who are *****. It's almost like we are constantly being told to be so strong that even if we're ***** and told by God and men that it was our fault, it's not supposed to break us. Yet, we are thought of as weaker than men. HA! The irony behind that one kills me. I half believe that Adam ***** Eve in the garden of Eden and that's why she was in a weakened state to listen to what the snake said and take the fruit. If he did that would explain part of the reason why God blamed Adam for sin coming into the world and not Eve.
Just my thoughts on Christianity and ****...

I just don't even... afjdskjnfrn;

[AshleyO]

Originally Posted by Blue_Ballerina

Going to make this nation a safer place?! You know it's exactly this kind of thinking that makes men believe that it is okay to **** a women. "Oh her body will shut down. I can have my way with any woman I want without worrying about a thing!"
Although I am a firm Christian, I must admit I have one serious problem with the **** issue in the bible. Nothing in there about how men shouldn't **** women but there is a passage in the Old Testament about how if a woman doesn't cry out she is a shame to her father's household and should be stoned. I was so upset when I read this because I have been ***** repeatedly throughout my life. I cried out the first time and my other cousin just stood there and watched. She fucking did nothing. The next time I went into shock, not knowing what to do so I couldn't scream. Upon reading this verse in the bible I felt so ashamed and ruined that it was all my fault. I was considered a slut by God. The only thing that gave me hope to carry on is that Jesus said "cast the first stone." Had he not come to correct this error in judgement, and this had been about 5,000 years ago, I would have been dead.

They don't realize what kind of damage this does to the women who are *****. It's almost like we are constantly being told to be so strong that even if we're ***** and told by God and men that it was our fault, it's not supposed to break us. Yet, we are thought of as weaker than men. HA! The irony behind that one kills me. I half believe that Adam ***** Eve in the garden of Eden and that's why she was in a weakened state to listen to what the snake said and take the fruit. If he did that would explain part of the reason why God blamed Adam for sin coming into the world and not Eve.
Just my thoughts on Christianity and ****...

Christianity does seem to have a shit history with women. Though I think it's a good thing that there's a lot of modern Christians out there that are realizing that truth and trying to improve the faith. I hate that you had to go through that. Saya on here can point you to some really interesting information about the history of Christianity as far as how many Christians in the past had believed in God. It's interesting to say the least. I would recommend "A History of God" by Karen Armstrong, but I've been told that it misses the mark a bit by modern theologists.

[Saya]

Yeah, I read that post this morning and I had to wait until tonight to come back and say I'm so sorry you went through that. I'm not Christian but as a religious feminist I can relate to the frustration of dealing with misogyny in religion.

I do Religious Studies in school though, and learning historic criticism has really made me appreciate some things I used to think were unforgivable, like the Old Testament. When you realize its a religious historical record compiled by several people who had very different views, it makes more sense. Its also super super super tricky reading it in English. The Bible is written as a literary work of art and a law book and a religious book and as a history book so it can be really hard translating and understanding properly. For example the Hebrew text doesn't use the word "rrape", it uses "forces" in the context of the betrothed woman crying out. Is crying out really a standard for ****? Suppose she was bludgeoned across the head? What about Dinah or Tamar, who didn't cry out, but were avenged by their male relatives righteously? Is that scenario where the betrothed woman cries out an example but not the only scenario? Are they just being somewhat poetic and not literal?

This is why I think Jews and Muslims have it right in valuing so much learning the original language of their respective texts. It saves a ton of trouble, the English Bible mistranslates in the very first sentence.

There's a lot of great feminist Christian writers who critique sexism and find empowerment in faith, but in regards to the Old Testament I totally recommend Judith Plaskow, of course she's Jewish so she also tackles the Talmund and Jewish tradition, but she gives plenty of attention to the Hebrew Bible.

[AshleyO]

Saya is technically right. You COULD try to find a "correct" interpretation so that it makes it sound like it's a friend to women. Or you know, you could do what I and many others have done. Abandon your religious indoctrination and forge your own path without the Abrahamic baggage. For example; there have been times where I had thought I may actually be a Christian Anti-theist. Reason being; I do in fact find Christ's message about being good to your fellow human being and uplifting the poor to be very very palatable though I thoroughly disagree with vicarious redemption and do not think Jesus was the son of any God or even remotely divine. To me, the Christ worship in Christianity is basically a cult of personality. Besides; Christianity is pretty much a cafeteria anyway. You can pick the stuff you like and ignore the inconvenient stuff.

But both approaches can work.

[Versus]

What fucking cafeteria let's you pick the food you get. That's amazing.

[AshleyO]

Okay then... More like a buffet.

[Saya]

Originally Posted by AshleyO

Saya is technically right. You COULD try to find a "correct" interpretation so that it makes it sound like it's a friend to women. Or you know, you could do what I and many others have done. Abandon your religious indoctrination and forge your own path without the Abrahamic baggage. For example; there have been times where I had thought I may actually be a Christian Anti-theist. Reason being; I do in fact find Christ's message about being good to your fellow human being and uplifting the poor to be very very palatable though I thoroughly disagree with vicarious redemption and do not think Jesus was the son of any God or even remotely divine. To me, the Christ worship in Christianity is basically a cult of personality. Besides; Christianity is pretty much a cafeteria anyway. You can pick the stuff you like and ignore the inconvenient stuff.

But both approaches can work.

Its not finding the "correct" interpretation, its recognizing its all interpretation of a text that when written wasn't meant to be taken literally in the first place. We do this with factual books too, its all written for white men and the rest of us have to get by and glean what we can from it because most "history" books are androcentric and white supremist. We even have to do this with science and biology, since women are banned from most medicine trials we have to assume that what works for the male body will work for us.

And yeah, I think its pretty shitty to proselytize a rrape victim after she's disclosed something that personal to us.

[AshleyO]

Originally Posted by Saya

Its not finding the "correct" interpretation, its recognizing its all interpretation of a text that when written wasn't meant to be taken literally in the first place. We do this with factual books too, its all written for white men and the rest of us have to get by and glean what we can from it because most "history" books are androcentric and white supremist. We even have to do this with science and biology, since women are banned from most medicine trials we have to assume that what works for the male body will work for us.

And yeah, I think its pretty shitty to proselytize a rrape victim after she's disclosed something that personal to us.

You said there was one way to handle something and understand it and I offered another way.

[Saya]

I let her know how Christian and Jewish women tackle the issue. I didn't offer my own views and religion because I try not to be an asshole to assault victims.

[AshleyO]

Fine.

I'm sorry.