Rape: not so bad?

From the IAmAnAtheist feedback form:

You made fun of what I said about Christian women rather being raped than commit murder by saying that I haven’t asked a lot of women about this. That was snide but it didn’t answer my point, which is that rape doesn’t justify murder. Rape is nasty and it’s a sin (it’s adultery because they aren’t married and if the woman is a virgin or married it’s theft) but you can’t kill someone because of adultery or theft. Would you kill someone who your husband had relations with? That’s murder. Would you kill someone who stole your car? That’s murder. If killing for rape is murder than killing for just attempting to rape is even worse. The person’s dying for something they haven’t even done. Atheists always use rape as an argument for justifying killing because they want to justify abortion. But is rape really that bad? It’s a horrible experience but you get over it with time. If you use it to justify murder you’re never going to get over it. Imagine you have a painful divorce. Would you murder your children after because they remind you of your ex husband? Of course not. I think any woman would easily tell you that a painful divorce is worse than rape but it’s not an excuse to kill your baby, so why is rape? Christian women can also take a lot more than atheist women. Maybe this is part of the reason that atheists get so hung up about this. Christian women can turn to Christ or worship God in their hearts and endure great suffering. I’m not belittling it but think about it, no amount of suffering from rape is as great as the suffering our Lord suffered on the cross for our sins. You are the one who has to ask more true Christian women about this. You’re out of touch and trying to make a big deal out of something just for shock value.

Wow. I don’t even know where to start responding to this. You, frankly, seem to have no idea how bad rape is. Comparing it to something as impersonal as an auto accident seems to highlight your lack of understanding. Your implication that I’m getting “hung up” on something that’s not “a big deal” doesn’t earn you any sympathy points, either.

Your closing remark about how much more a Christian woman can withstand is just bizarre to me. Are you saying it causes less harm to rape a Christian woman because the Christian woman can take it? I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me I’m wrong about this.

I’d also appreciate your telling me that I misunderstood part of your justification for rape being a sin. You say it’s a sin because it’s either adultery or theft, but wouldn’t that mean that it’s not a sin if a man rapes his wife?

Please spend some significant time thinking over opinion on this subject. Even better, talk to a pastor or a number of women about it. Honestly, I find your point of view creepy.