In the aftermath of the Bob Jones University DCMA takedown notice on YouTube, the video of Rand Hummel Demonstrating How to Blame the Victim is now back online with a bit of my own commentary added this time. BJU really should have just left well enough alone.
Untitled from Darrell Dow on Vimeo.
Good luck expunging this from the Internet, BJU. Game on.
Wow, don’t what more can be said other than, I hope BJU will some day find the humility to admit and apologize for their most obvious errors. The thing that has often puzzled me is they teach and preach so hard about everyone else needing to constantly be repenting of every known sin. Yet, they seem to be completely blind to their own. Not only that, but when something like this is pointed out, I somehow doubt it is taken very well. What kind of attitudes and actions are they modeling for their students? This is terrible! I can assuredly say where any kids I ever have will not be attending college. Better yet, I hope places like PCC and BJU are more or less bankrupt by that time. What a shame if they are not!
Personally, I would really want BJU to repent. Honestly!
However, if the racism issue is any indication of how long it would take for that to happen, sadly, BJU will probably go bankrupt or be shut down due to the accreditation issue first.
Sad.
I’d love to hear RAND use a story about RAND being gang-raped, as long as he’s taking a little creative liberties with the facts. Why is it always a teenage girl? So RAND, or anyone that knows/defends RAND, if YOU got gang-raped by a bunch of guys one night, would your first order of business be to go limping straight back over to the fellas to make sure that they knew that you aren’t angry with them for gang-raping RAND???
Good point. And would he be using a horrifying euphemism like “taking physical liberties” to describe sexual assault, which is one of the most damaging acts that can happen to a human being? Would he say, “Oh dear, those men took physical liberties with me. I’ll go apologize to them straightaway”?
I’m also intrigued by the notion that his stories were lies. I guess I was trained to always believe the MOG, but now that I think about it, I have heard some pretty out-there stories over the years that sounded more like urban legends. The stories just wrapped up a little too nicely.
Sounds like they tickled her against her wishes
Love it! Unfortunately in the above scenario he would have to go to a fundy friend of his to get this sort of now obviously bad advice since he would be seeing things in a new light for the first time. And sad that it would take him going through this to see how wrong he was.
Right on! Excellent question that I think most of us can guess the answer to.
Brilliant, by the way.
I am angry and sad at the moronic words of this ignoramus. Isn’t there someone at BJU with a shred of intellgience and ethical/moral backbone to stand up and name this the bullsh** that it is?? Dear BJU – read the prophets and learn something about justice. Then endorse the telling of a victim of sexual assault that they need to go and apologize to their rapist for their anger. God was angry when that rape happened, and every person that cares about right and wrong should be too.
I couldn’t even watch the whole thing *shudder*
The best thing about this post is we got to dissect Hummel’s words one more time. What a creep!
Being a bad public speaker, I understand how easy it is to put one’s foot in one’s mouth and give the wrong impression, especially when trying to get people to reexamine assumptions about controversial issues. So, being provocative and perhaps even a bit outrageous can have its place to snap people out of their normal thinking for a moment. But I don’t know how one could interpret the conscious choice of these “illustrations” except as callous and misogynistic. He presumably at least brainstormed a bit ahead of time, and THESE were the most appropriate and effective cases he could come up with from years (if not decades) of pastoral work??
Darrel deftly analyzed the disturbing attitudes towards rape that seem to be at work here. There’s also the small matter of the complete betrayal of parental responsibility (not to mention criminal acts) about which the gentleman–whom I assume to otherwise champion “family values”–seems not overly worked up. How on God’s green earth can a person concerned about family life and society’s “values” treat parental abuse as if it were a minor detail in a story? It really is astounding.
Also, to cite a person’s emotional struggles after rape and/or child abuse as illustrations of egotism and rebellion against God’s plan is simply monstrous. WWJD? If the Gospels are any guide, absolutely anything other than this!
If BJU has any understanding of damage control, they’ll release the whole recording. (Or is the remainder more of the same? Or, the mind reels, worse?)
Just $0.02 from a Muslim.
To think I went to this school and had to endure this sort of garbage thinking makes me ill.
Oh sheesh, I understand the dangers of bitterness having struggled for a while in my own life with that issue myself, but these people are sick (either intentionally or unintentionally what Hummel said is disgusting). I was sexually abused for years and when my parents found out and through them my church, they all blamed me and let the abuser go scott-free but only after forcing me to stand before him and confess my sin and beg his forgiveness. (Apparently as an 8-year-old child, I was seducing a man many years my senior…)
20 years later, it’s only just starting to come into the open that I wasn’t the only victim he preyed on – I was just the first. Apparently my apology did wonders! 🙁
I was at BJU when Rand Hummel gave this message. Or, as several fundamentalist speaks do, he may use this story in most of his sermons.
I am profoundly disgusted and at a loss for words.
This video literally makes me want to throw up every time I see it. Just to clarify, I heard this message at the opening services BJ holds at the beginning of the 2009 semester (what a great way to welcome in those who are new to BJU!). Seeing as how pastors often tell these stories over and over, I guess I can’t be sure that it’s the same video, but someone said it was posted in 2009 and I definitely remember it very clearly. All that to say, the excuse about him trying to condense things so that the kids could have lunch doesn’t apply. And if I remember correctly, it was actually Friday night because I remember being thankful I had the whole weekend to get over what he said. If he was just condensing things in a rush, he really had no excuse to be in such a hurry or at the very least he could’ve cut out some of his other rantings to make more time for this.
In a twisted way, a lot of the comments I’ve read on here are an encouragement to me because it’s nice to know you’re not alone. I had to go to counseling with Berg as well…it was awful. They actually had no reason to counsel me..I never got in/caused any trouble. They just knew I had a past and felt like being invasive about it. Dr. Berg told me that he was “one of the best counselors in the area” and that PTSD didn’t exist and he would “question the motives of those who had diagnosed me with it”. Not sure what that was supposed to mean. I also had a chat with Dr. Bob III’s wife (Beneth Jones) in which she told me I was guilty because I didn’t actively scream while I was being raped. As for healing, she told me “Well, if you have nightmares all night, you get up and dry your eyes, wash your face and go on with life each morning”. Yeah…because it totally works that way.
Darrell, I can’t tell you how thankful I am that you didn’t just let the matter drop when Bob Jones insisted you take the video down. Hardly ever do you see anyone standing up for victims and sadly I think a lot of people would’ve just let the matter go. I became a fan on your facebook page and I would really like it if you would post this video there…I’d like as many people as possible to see this.
Another question I have is this: Why does BJU care if this video was on youtube? The original video was nothing but a clip of Rand Hummel preaching a message. A message that they invited him to preach and condoned. Usually, they’re thrilled when people share their messages! So why is it that they want this video to be hidden? Hmmmmm.
You probably don’t need to be told this, but anytime somebody tells you he or she is “one of the best _____ in _______ ,” based purely on his/her own assessment, RUN in the opposite direction.
Why does BJU want this recording suppressed? I’m not sure, but the fact that in it, one of their guys openly admits to– no, boasts about– therapeutic malpractice may or may not have something to do with it.
Oh, Ashley, they are beyond despicable! I’m so sorry what they put you through there!! I sincerely hope you’ve been able to get real help (and been able to get out of there!). It makes no sense that they would intrude into your life when there was absolutely no reason – unless it’s just all about control. And that, I think, may be one reason BOB cares about this being on Youtube…
“As for healing, she told me ‘Well, if you have nightmares all night, you get up and dry your eyes, wash your face and go on with life each morning”. Yeah…because it totally works that way.’
Ashley, did you know that Beneth was sexually abused? (Matter of public record, she apparently talks about it in public speeches.)
My guess is that is how that poor woman deals. She has little choice. How sad.
He’s an A$$.
And what is up with that pulpit? Think it’s big enough? Is that the Baptist preacher’s version of a sports car making up for his physical shortcomings? SHEESH. And I thought the pulpit in our church was obnoxious…
That’s the Holy Seat of Blessed Wisdom at Bob Jones University. We used to call it the “rocket ship,” because there was plenty of blasting into orbit going on from it.
I attended Christian counseling that preached much the same message to my broken body and spirit. It took me years to finally tell my parents about the sexual abuse and multiple instances of rape that I suffered through from ages 8-11 (my rapist was a church deacon). When I finally told my parents, I was immediately placed into church counseling where I learned that not only was I sinning for being angry at my abuser, but I should have expected the abuse because there was a demon of sexual immorality attached to me.
You see, I was given up for adoption at birth and what little I know about my back story involves “sexual sins” perpetuated by my sperm donor. This information was given to the church by my parents when they adopted me.
Naturally, the church leaders thought that I was damaged goods from infancy so being sexually assaulted for years was the only logical conclusion. The fact that I was hurt so badly by a “good Christian man” who was well liked had no bearing at all. My abuser was counseled for a time and then suddenly transferred to another church. I heard that he eventually went to jail for hurting another little girl in his new church (hunting ground).
My parents did what they could to help me, without actually knowing what the church leaders were telling me during our sessions. Blame and guilt were running themes in my fundy church. Unfortunately, my mother is genuinely shocked at the fact that I left Christianity years ago and I’m not shy in my denial of god. I’ve told her everything that I went through as a child and her response is to call me out for being “too sensitive” and for not…get this…FORGIVING the church leaders.
“This kool-aid tastes funny”
Thank you so much for all the supportive replies. Really, it means more than I can say because it feels like more support than I’ve even gotten. I certainly don’t go to BJU anymore and I’m happily married, but unfortunately I still live in Greenville and the problem with Greenville is that if you’ve *ever* been submerged in the BJU culture, you can’t escape it. You’ll run into people at the grocery store, you can’t seem to go to any church without some awful rumor about your manipulative and sinful ways preceding you there, and of course there’s always facebook for people to send you messages. Sure, you can block them, but that’s one person and there will just be ten more. Wish I was exaggerating. My husband was actually considered one of the good guys at BJU accepted and adored by BJU faculty because of his hard work as assistant editor to Vintage, (not that he was ever like that). We hoped that when we got married, people would be more accepting of me in the high up circles since they liked him so much. Instead, it went the other way and many people have lost all respect for him because he married a woman like me. We’ve been married for a year and a half but I’d say we still hear about it from someone every few weeks or so. Now it’s not just me they attack, it’s our marriage and my husband because he was “led away from God’s work by a wayward woman”. Some of them try to talk to him as if he hasn’t fallen into sin, but rather is deceived by my manipulative and seductive ways. My question is what is he supposed to do at this point? Divorce me? Would that somehow be okay with them? It’s not that everyone is that way, but the bad seems to far outweigh the good in this town and I’m honestly hesitant to go out in public. I know part of it is just my own psychological mess, it’s not like everyone out there is just waiting to jump on me, but after you get 13 messages on facebook about how you’ll pay twice over not only for your own sin but for the sin of making a man of God fall into sin, (or something along those lines), it just becomes sort of discouraging. I also find it a bit hard to trust anyone else to help. Not really sure what to do at this point. And this is probably overly personal to be posting on a forum, but it seems to me that people tend to be honest on this website.
Unfortunately your story is not unbelievable.
As for the honesty, well, that is commendable, in fact, I have found that one of the basic things that makes this site so beneficial is not the humor and satire (which is great) but the real and profound effect of people being honest about what has been done to them, and getting honest and forthright support instead of blame and assault because they are hurting the reputation of some beloved institution or person. Many of these people and institutions deserve having their true nature outed, and their protestations just make it more necessary. Sunlight is a great antiseptic.
Hatred would be the wrong word for how I feel about supposedly Christian people who would treat anyone the way you describe being treated, because I don’t believe hatred is an appropriate response, but also because its not a strong enough word.
I’m responding 2 years later, but if you read this … GO WEST! That’s what I did. In Colorado, many don’t have a clue what fundy is. It’s much easier to start fresh and let God be God, no longer does He have to fit into the box just so. There are different religious issues out here, but the new ones can sometimes be refreshing.
If you go to Colorado to get away from Fundies, by all means avoid Colorado Springs.
Wow. If the whole city is really like that, this would probably be a great time to move.
You’ll find that in most of the world, people couldn’t care less what Bob Jones University and the community around it think of you.
Away from Greenville would seem to be a great idea at any financial cost if you asked me. The badgering they are able to inflict on you in that close proximity is not worth it, IMHO. Hope you find some people you guys can trust. I felt that same “can’t trust anyone” thing at PCC many many times.
Fundamentalism is incredibly brutal to those who are honest & trusting.
You all missed Rand’s point. I am not a fundy but with out trying I can come up with 2 instances in the Bible of people asking God to forgive their tormentors/executioners, Stephen and Jesus. Rand is not okaying the rapists, nor is he “blaming” the victims. He is saying as a PART (just a part) of the aftermath (healing?) forgiveness must be applied. Yes i know you are going to say, “But he didn’t say that!” Maybe he did, maybe he should have made it clearer, I thought the part where he said this is what the Bible says to do was pretty clear, I don’t know. Nobody should have to go through what these girls or these poster have gone through and I don’t know if I could, but if there is anywhere to find peace the Bible is truly it. And yes Fundy’s make some of the worst counselors because they think their ignorance is wisdom, like most people.
Chad, I understand where you’re coming from. I do. But I think you’re missing something here: did he ever tell the girl that she had every right to be angry, that anger is a normal and healthy response to something unfair that happens to us? In fact, if someone harms you and you don’t feel *any* anger, that’s unhealthy. What you do with your anger after that is another story.
Also, it is terrible to tell someone who has been violated in this way that they just need to forgive. Forgiveness isn’t something you just pull out of a hat, magically, out of nowhere. It takes time. It sometimes takes counseling and prayer. Sometimes, it takes a miracle. And it’s not something that one person can tell another person that they have to do, at least not when they’re all adults. It’s something that person has to be ready to do.
You’re also missing the distinction between forgiving someone and asking their forgiveness.
Stephen said “forgive them.”
Stephen didn’t say “guys will you forgive me? I was a little upset with how much these rocks hurt and I don’t want you to think I”m bitter.”
Your choice of examples is very interesting…
First, in both cases, the individual being killed asked *God* to forgive their killers. Certainly, this would be very difficult to do if the person had not forgiven their attacker already, but Jesus’ and Stephen’s forgiveness is not mentioned. I would take the modern day version of this to be that we should pray that our abusers would get saved – but getting to that prayer is absolutely a process!!!
Secondly, “they know not what they do”. Stephen didn’t get to saying that phrase, but he may have died before he could complete his quotation of Jesus. In both examples, the attackers believed they were acting justly, according to their religion. They *should* have known better, but they *didn’t*. Sexual abuse of minors does not exactly fit. 👿
Thirdly, taking the whole counsel of Scripture, Jesus didn’t exactly hesitate to show anger when people knew they were doing wrong – he had very strong words for the Pharisees, and a whip for the temple sellers/cheaters.
Finally, I love “random post”, especially when I’m feeling “preachy” 😀 😳
Finally! A good point!
Chad, I understand what you’re saying and forgiveness is something you have to work to eventually, but it is *not* the starting point. Furthermore, one of the biggest tactics that rapists use is to make the victim feel guilty as if it was somehow her fault or that she did something wrong. So I hope you can understand that a Christian counselor starting off by telling her she needs to ask for forgiveness is a very bad idea. You have to work through the fact that it’s not your fault and get to a point where you don’t feel utterly worthless first. Furthermore, there is a *huge* difference in *asking* for forgiveness, (what Rand told her to do), and forgiving someone. There is absolutely no reason that this girl should have been told to apologize. That’s the issue here, not that we think she doesn’t need to forgive. By telling a girl that she needs to apologize, it’s saying she did something wrong. Saying she did something wrong = blaming her. I know the Bible says to forgive, but I don’t see anywhere where it says to ask forgiveness for righteous indignation. I mean, call me extreme, but by telling her to ask for forgiveness for being angry, I (as a rape victim myself) get the impression he’s telling her she was wrong for being angry. So he’s promoting a society that only responds with tender mercy/forgiveness towards rapists and no anger? I see many instances in the Bible where anger was used to motivate a great change. Even Jesus got angry. I don’t know, I guess I’m straying off the topic at this point, but all I’m trying to say is that I don’t see what Rand said as being Biblical at all. He took one verse and totally twisted it to be about a situation that it should’ve never been about.
Word.
I spent several years as a member of a IFB church in OH. Heard Rand Hummel preach, toured BJU, and then saw what they were made of. A 15 yr old female that was in the youth group I was leading revealed while at camp week at the WILDS that she had been sexually molested by her stepdad, who was a church leader and Sunday School teacher. I, foolishly, believed that the “church leaders and Pastor” would pursue this legally while my roll was to minister to this girl. What a joke, the church went in to cover up mode from beginning to end. Fast forward, she is now married and has 3 children, the offender is still in the church, (I am not). Tina’s story on 20/20 could be the story of this girl from OH. Cult is completely correct in describing IFB churches
As the husband of an abuse victim that has found great help and comfort in the ministry of Dr. Rand Hummel, I can only say that your video presents a gross misrepresentation of him and Bob Jones University.
Hummel does not discourage counselors from calling the police or social services in cases of abuse. Quite the opposite, and if you’ve read his testimony about his own personal history, you’d understand this.
In the context of the message above, which I’ve listened to in its entirety, he presents every person on earth as an individual sinner that can be redeemed by God’s grace, no matter what may have happened in his or her past, no matter what abuse. He encourages victims of abuse to look inside their hearts and let go of hate and bitterness, regardless of how much their step-fathers or boyfriends or husbands or pastors or whoever deserve it.
Yes, those who instigate abuse should be nailed to the wall. I feel that more strongly than anyone I know, and I’m certain Rand Hummel agrees. But more important than even that is the effort to give victims the emotional and spiritual tools they need to move on with their lives. Victimology only perpetuates the despair.
I can only assume this is an ignorant attempt at self-promotion. It doesn’t come close to helping those of us that have personal experience with abuse.
I guess if this is an “ignorant attempt at self-promotion” then the fact that you’re here accusing me of stuff means that it’s working.
How diabolically clever of me.
I’m afraid that many of us who watched this video missed the part where the 1st girl said, “God’s not fair!†. . . “I hate my sister! And I hate that kid! And I’ll never, ever forgive them!†No doubt, this is the statement that registers with Rand and causes him to turn to Matthew 6:14-15. Instead of pacifying the girl and instead of allowing her to continue stewing in her sin, he goes straight to the heart of the problem – her bitterness, anger, and hatred. She was sinned against, yes. But she was not angry at her sister for being drugged and raped she was angry at her sister for how her family was humiliated. Her family name was dishonored and their name was dragged through the mud. Who wouldn’t be angry (I know I would be)? But instead of dealing with her anger, bitterness, and hatred according to what the Bible says, she justifies it and allows it to take deep roots in her heart. “God’s not fair!†She accuses God of being unjust – is that not a sin? “I hate my sister and . . . that kid!†Is hatred not a sin? “I’ll never, ever forgive them!†Is unforgiveness not a sin? Rand doesn’t use some “method†of counseling that he conjured up; he points the girl to Scripture.
The second situation is much more sobering. Another girl comes to Rand who has been mistreated (to say the least), abused, raped, and we don’t know the extent of what else she went through. I am not foolish enough to say that the fact that she was grossly sinned against (to put it very lightly) was her fault. On the contrary, the sin of her mother, father, and step dad was not her fault but their own and they WILL answer for their sin if they have not already. What is important to remember is that the sermon was not about rape, it was not about sexual abuse, it was not about “easy steps to effective counselingâ€, and it was not about those girls. His sermon was about forgiveness. What was he NOT saying? – “You were raped? Oh, clearly you seduced that man so you need to apologize for what you did to him.†He was saying that despite what they did to you, God says that we all are sinners in need of forgiveness. She had become bitter, angry, and hateful toward those who sinned against her so he pointed her to Scripture. Did she have a reason to be bitter and angry? Of course! Did she have a reason for that hatred? Absolutely! But, please, do not forget that she admitted that she was in sin and later made things right without the pleading and prodding of “Uncle Rand†hovering over her shoulder.
I’d like to use an illustration of my own if I may:
I personally know a man, a very dear friend of mine, who was accused of a crime he never committed and was taken to court. He was slandered against and liars said all kinds of horrible things about him, the likes of which you or I would not believe! He was found guilty of that crime. After leaving the courthouse, he was beaten up, spat on, stripped naked, abused, made fun of, and harassed by everyone around him! Even the law enforcement officers joined in. After that, he was beaten even more and then brutally murdered and no one did anything to stop them! Not the judge, not the law enforcement, not his best friends, not even his own Father did anything to stop them: they looked the other way! He was sinned against more than you or me or that poor girl in Rand’s illustration. He had every right and reason in the world to be angry, bitter, hateful and resentful. Yet, through the whole process He never sinned. And His name was Jesus Christ.
You see? The point of Rand’s illustration and sermon was not to give counseling advice to the future preacher boys, or give a step-by-step counseling tutorial. It was to show the transforming power of forgiveness! I admit, I have never been sinned against the way that poor girl was. And, please, don’t misunderstand I don’t mean to belittle what happened to that girl or what happened to anyone else who has experienced something similar. But, please, DO understand that Jesus Christ (our ultimate example) can and will forgive us of our heinous sin against Him and we need to forgive those who sin against us. The real issue here is not Fundamentalism the real issue is forgiveness. Jesus Christ died for you who are reading this, me, that poor girl, Rand Hummel, and even that disgusting rapist. Why? Because no matter what our sin is whether it be rape, anger, pride, or anything else, we are ALL in need of His forgiveness.
Put aside for a moment the colossal pulpit, the whack rules, the self proclaimed “wonderful†counselors, the “Fundy†label, or any of the other things that BJU is so very infamous for and focus on God’s transforming grace. Does BJU have its problems? Yes. Is Rand Hummel a perfect counselor? No. Am I perfect? Not at all. Do I have trouble forgiving people? Of course. But, all glory to God, He forgave me and He can forgive “whoever will call on the name of the Lord . . .†(Rom. 10:13). I know you all won’t agree with me, but you cannot disagree with God and His Word!
Actually plenty of people both can & do disagree with God & His Word, and your opinion of it, isn’t the same as God & His Word, just for a starter.
It’s funny how people leave Fundamentalism and yet retain the same judgmental spirit they (rightly) criticize fundamentalism for. As a former fundamentalist, former evangelical, and now former Christian (also former teacher at a Christian college Rand is associated with), I keep noticing this pattern. I attended Rand’s summer camp many times and worked there a few summers, and anyone who knows Rand can tell you he is the kindest, most genuine man alive. Nowhere in the video does he blame the victim. As “I Have Decided” pointed out, the story is about forgiveness. Rand helps broken, f*****-up people learn how to forgive and live again and not be consumed by rage. Give him the benefit of the doubt before assuming the worst. I dislike Christianity and despise Fundamentalism and even then can recognize a good guy when I see one. If I can do that the least you can do is give Rand the benefit of the doubt instead of automatically assuming the worst.
Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. I’ve attended several events at the WILDS. Rand is a genuinely great individual who demonstrates great humility and transparency. He has helped a tremendous number of people, and I’m certain the story is much more involved that he relates. In speaking, we tend to edit stories so that they complement the main point we are trying to make.
Having said that, I’ve heard him use this illustration numerous times. It’s obviously a fave. And it’s always made me feel a little creepy. Personally, I wish he would remove it from his repertoire. Surely in his many years of ministry, he’s had other dramatic cases of bitterness. (He often shares one about issues he had with his own father, if I recollect correctly.)
Wow. The way those Fundy Mental pastors can weave their manipulative stories, and still call it preaching the Bible? Apart from the Scripture he quoted–which was rightly quoted–it had NOTHING–NOTHING–to do with the points he was making and those passages had no bearing on what he was saying. They were completely mis-applied. 👿
I want to apologize. For being in the dark! Until today, I had no idea about this stuff. Not that I have been part of BJU or any fundamentalist church or anything. Don’t watch too much TV or read news, so I feel like I am a hermit. But now I know and my eyes will be watchful for any of this stuff in my ‘world’.
WOW! I belonged to a IFB church, and I can’t believe this! Now, I agree with part of where he was going — she needed to get to a point where she could forgive her attacker — but APOLOGIZE to him? What was this man thinking — oh yeah, he wasn’t he was just following the “good ole’ boy’s script”! 👿
It is obvious to me that the whole message is about bitterness. Mr. Hummel did not, I’m sure, share with us all of the details of his counseling session (as you also noted). He is trying to help people with bitterness. His message is based on the Bible, not psychology. Neither he nor she can change the past. He was trying to help her with her bitterness. God worked in her heart and she gained peace.
We should all be satisfied with the fact that she gained victory through the power of God, not techniques. Skeptics of the Word of God will be skeptics of the people of God who live by the Word of God. That will never change unless one repents of his skepticism (unbelief) and receives God at His Word, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as his Savior. Have you?
If you continue to mock God and His Word you will regret it. Please turn from your way to God’s way.
A Christian does not allow monsters to prey on the innocent.
Call the cops, present your evidence, throw the fucker in jail.
Then, =after= the rapist can no longer harm other victims, the rape victim who turned ’em in can forgive them.
I expect them to counsel this way. It’s consistent with their low view of love in contradiction to 1 Cor. 13:13. They prefer “faith, hope and love abide, but greater than these is our view of how things should be viewed, because true faith, hope, and love are found only in our system of thinking.” However, I am still shocked repeatedly by how right, proper, and spiritually astute they are in there own illustrations of themselves.
i do think that the principle of forgiveness, or rather should i say being forgiven, is dependent upon us forgiving others. mostly letting go of the bitterness and hatred towards the perpetrator. having said that, i do not think that it is necessary for a victim to approach his/her attacker personally and publicly announce it. it is a private matter between the person needing to do the forgiving and god. i heard a great analogy regarding holding on to the bitterness of unforgiveness. it is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. blessings~!
Let’s remember: Women in fundamentalism are not allowed to be pastors. They’re not allowed to be deacons. They’re told from the pulpit that they are not equal to their husbands but must obey them. They’re told that they are the weaker vessel and that their judgment isn’t to be trusted. Is it any wonder that they would also be told that they have to ask for forgiveness for being angry at their oppressors? In this case, their rapists? Fundamentalism, by its very nature, is a misogynistic belief system. So we can be disgusted but shouldn’t be surprised that the sort of thinking demonstrated by Hummel gets dispensed in fundamentalist circles across this country every day.
Your commentary on this atrocious sermon was very insightful. Thank you, Darrell.