May 8, 2017



What We Have In The US Isn't "Rape Culture" But Witch-Hunt Culture

Panties in Oregon were wadded over a teacher's thoughtful three-page paper on so-called "rape culture" -- which, yes, exists, but only in some Muslim countries and cultures.

Some clerics blame rape on the woman. Australian Sheik Feiz recently said a rape victim "has no one to blame but herself. She displayed her beauty to the entire world... to tease man and appeal to his carnal nature." Even his successor, who was brought in to mitigate the backlash, compared unveiled women to "sweet pastries" tempting hungry men. One of the world's most respected Sunni scholars, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, recently told an audience on his al-Jazeera television show that "To be absolved from guilt, the raped woman must have shown some sort of good conduct." Dr. Abd al-Aziz Fawazan al-Fawzan, a professor of Islamic law said that "If a woman gets raped walking in public alone, then she, herself is at fault. She is only seducing men by her presence. She should have stayed at home like a Muslim woman." This was echoed by the imam of a Salafist mosque in Cologne, Germany in the wake of the shocking sex abuse rampage by recently arrived Muslims on New Year's Eve in 2015. He explained that "the events" (which included rape) "were the girls' own fault because they were half-naked and wearing perfume." When it came to light in 2016 that a 13-year-old British girl had been abused by a dozen Pakistani rapists, certain members of the Muslim community said they believed the victim "played her part." In 2013, Syria's chief Mufti, Sheikh Abd al-Rahman Ali al-Dala, issued a statement that gives soldiers religious permission to rape the women they capture.

Or, as it could be put: WWMD -- What Would Mohammed Do?

Meanwhile, the teacher, David Lickey, wrote about so-called "rape culture" (link is to his PDF I uploaded):

"I have never met a person who believes rape is anything other than a heinous crime."

I think most of us share that experience -- and that opinion.

But his sharing it, along with some other thoughtful opinions has led to outrage in the school.

This is the state of schools today. Instead of debating the issue -- perhaps with a panel discussion -- they apologize profusely and offer "support" (counseling?) for the poor teenagers who are apparently too emotionally frail to consider the information in his piece.

Allan Brettman reports on the story in The Oregonian.

On Friday night, Grant High Principal Carol Campbell sent a message to families. The document, Campbell wrote, "included some statements that run counter to the way we approach this important subject. The perspective of the teacher does not reflect nor support our approach to educating students on sexual assault. A strong contradictory argument should be accompanied by counter arguments from credible sources. "In this case, the document was shared with many students and staff with very little context. We apologize for any harm or negative impact. We are working with students and some staff members to organize listening sessions and opportunities for adults and students to get support. It is our primary goal to ensure Grant is a safe place for all."

Note the principal conflating physical safety with being emotionally safe from ideas.

Hope you've enjoyed what America has been.

In short, we're fucked.

via @CHSommers

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