Hi dears
To my followers in the USA, I pray this harvest season is good for you despite the challenges of staying home. Blessed Thanksgiving.
Today’s Holy Nougat is, unfortunately, a bit heavy; but having challenged others to address the real issues; I opt to practice what I preach.
“But Hamor spoke with them saying, “My son Shechem—he’s very attached to your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.” Genesis 34:8 TLV
Considering that Jacob was raised by parents who believed in cultural purity; and whose value system strongly contrasted with Shechem’s family – how would we advise Jacob?
Please bear in mind the following:
1 – In several countries today, marrying the person who one has raped is normal. I’m not quite sure of the logic behind it; but it happens. What would it do for the mental health of the one who had been raped though? There is documented information suggesting that most persons are traumatized by the act of rape and that the trauma often affects their sense of self. Marrying the rapist would probably exacerbate the issues.
2 – Most cultures are agreed that rape carries a measure of shaming for the one who was raped. The person, most often a female, is often shunned as though being raped is contagious. Ironically, the rapist is not always held liable for their actions; and in some cases, it is punishable only by marriage (to the one who was raped). I suspect that the practice is intended to give ‘legitimacy’ to any child born of the rape; and to secure the female’s future.
3 – Some may argue that Jacob was in a foreign land and was thus subject to the laws and practices of the new country. And it seems, the laws there were empathetic to Dinah marrying her rapist.
So here we stand-sit-drive; in 2020, a century all on its own, where the global numbers on domestic violence has skyrocketed and rape has proportionally increased. We are asked to offer advice to Jacob on the offer of marriage from Shechem, who raped his daughter. How, as people of faith in Jesus, do we respond?
May God guide our deliberations on behalf of ALL the Dinahs, whose lives hang in the balance until their fate is determined.
May God grant peace of mind to all whose bodies and minds still bear the trauma of rape.
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
