The Handmaid's Tale was not an instruction manual, dammit!

I sometimes forget how insulated I am in the world of Progressive Christianity from the world of fundamentalism. Never was this more clear to me than when I read what was happening at Bob Jones "University". Nutshell: Women were raped, got the courage to tell someone, and were told to repent their sins. The comments I have read about this have been heartbreaking. A woman told of how her ex-husband beat their 5 year old daughter so badly she had to sleep on her stomach for days because of the welts on her back. She went to her church and was reprimanded for not standing by her husband in a united front. That will stay with me. I can't imagine what it did to her. The stories in the article are shocking to me, and I guess they shouldn't be. Too many comments are "not surprised" for me to feel comfortable asking how I could have known.

I'm too disgusted for a proper rant. This is just me barking in several directions like a dog who can hear the mail carrier but can't figure out where she is. I don't even know where to begin a takedown of these turdfondling fuckwads. I guess we start with WHERE IN THE HELL DID YOU GET THE IDEA THAT RAPE IS GOD'S PUNISHMENT FOR ANYTHING? BECAUSE THAT SHIT AIN'T IN THE BIBLE!

I mean, what the hell is this garbage? And doesn't it strike you that these fuckers must think that God is working through men who rape? Which in turn means they're very likely rapists who think they're doing God's work, because God can't rape anyone himself, right? *puke*

THIS IS NOT WHAT IS MEANT BY "BEING GOD'S TOOL". (Sacrilegious rape joke!)

See, this shit right here, this is why "a Christian nation" is a bad idea. Because what if this was codified into law? Punishments for the victims, perpetrators considered God's hand, laws based on corruptions of scriptures. It's a horrifying thought. These people seem to think that the Handmaid's Tale was an instruction manual for utopia.

So, while I've got you here, this is my message:
I'm sorry. I'm really truly sorry for the harm that has been done in the name of God, the name of Jesus, a man who prevented a legal death of a woman for a crime that was also a sin. I'm sorry that people with whom I align myself in the name of Christ have fucked this up so horrifically, and worse, don't even know that.

I'm truly sorry that we are seeing the wolves in sheep's clothing we were warned about. And they're perfect wolves. They're wolves who think they're sheep. They truly believe they're righteous followers of Christ. Baffling how they can disconnect from his message of love to do such enormous damage.

And I am grateful that there are a bunch of us trying to change it. This is from the theological statement within the Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response manual that we follow:

We affirm: We are not alone, we live in God’s world.

God intends for all life freedom from abuse and injustice; God desires for all human beings, created in God’s image, mutual respect, care, protection, and empowerment.

We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God.

Sexual abuse, exploitation, and misconduct are destructive to God’s people, violating the love we know in Jesus and negating people’s ability to develop and use their gifts of creativity and wholeness. We believe God continues to call God’s people to love and to respect the Word made flesh, and where there is abuse to seek restorative justice and healing.

A little different from Bob Jones, I think.

My hope for today is that the victims of the church someday find healing.