There are a number of practical and societal reasons why someone (male or female) might resist reporting a sexual assault, from the fear of not being believed, to the very real possibility of retribution, to the tendency of many to victim blame. If these were not enough, and of course we must add to them the often ridiculous back-log of untested rape kits, there has emerged in connection with recent events in America, a theological/moral argument to refrain from reporting/prosecuting sexual assault and rape that is being drawn from the Mosaic Law.
My introduction to this viewpoint came from a Christian apologist/writer whom I have expressed admiration for in the past, and whose writing on issues of Biblical Criticism are well researched and first rate. Unfortunately, James White, of Alpha and Omega Ministries, took it upon himself to offer a political commentary regarding the controversy surrounding the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. As you know if you read my blog, I will refrain from making any political commentary, but the use of the Bible by James White (and others as well, he's just the most well known) to advocate for the silencing of those who have been the victims of sexual assault (or by extension, any crime without corroborating witnesses) deserves a response. I reached out to Alpha and Omega Ministries a week ago with my concerns by email, but received not response.
Please watch the relevant portion of the video before proceeding, the link is below:
James White, Alpha and Omega Ministries, from 9/25/18
The relevant passage of the video begins at the 7:00 mark and last until the 19:29 mark...It references Deuteronomy 19:15-21 and Deuteronomy 22:23-27
19:15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
22:23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.
25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her.
"If you can't prove it, you don't report it" (at 11:30 mark)
My rebuttal to the assertion of James White is not a dismissal of the Mosaic Law, nor is it an abandonment of the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" (both of which he accuses those with a differing view of doing in the video). It does not come from a secular viewpoint and a liberal agenda, I can't imagine anyone who knows me at all accusing me of either. This issue is not a case of all-or-nothing as those with a political axe to grind on both sides would have us believe. Our choice is not between
always reflexively believing the man (no matter how many individual women make an accusation, each as the only witness to their alleged assault) or always believing the woman (no matter the collaborating evidence). James White said that it is our task to "approximate" the justice of God, and he is absolutely correct in that, but then makes it quite clear that because he believes we are incapable of doing anything of the sort, thus any victim of a crime that was not witnessed by others ought to be told, "wait for God's justice, we've got nothing for you here." Will God judge in the end with absolute truth and justice? Yes, indeed, but that does not preclude us from doing our best here and now, nor does that excuse us as Christians or as a society from our moral obligation to fight against the evil that exists in humanity.
Is our criminal justice system capable of making mistakes, of letting the guilty go free and convicting the innocent? Of course it is, sadly often based upon the poverty/wealth and/or skin color of the defendant. The failure of our system to never convict the innocent does not give us the excuse to throw our hands up and stop trying to prosecute those who are truly guilty.
If a single victim should be
morally prevented from
reporting the crime which has been done to him/her, if those victims should be dismissed, even threatened with jail for speaking up (by making the assumption that as a single witness it must be a false allegation), we would still have an epidemic of predator priests raging in our nation, and around the world, we would still have Jerry Sandusky, Larry Nassar, and Bill Cosby preying upon their victims {of course, we know how many times attempts to report their heinous crimes were dismissed by those in authority, both in the Church and in the government, allowing the toll of victims to rise ever higher}.
I will continue to defend the need for the people of God to view the Bible as completely authoritative in their lives for both faith (theology) and practice (morality). I will continue to defend its absolute relevance to us today, as it was to our ancestors in the faith. I cannot, however, see that in this case, James White, and those who echo his words (more examples in the links below) are showing us the only way to do that.
A criminal justice system must presume innocence, and it must have a high bar of evidence to convict those accused, but it cannot tell the most vulnerable among us that they have no avenue for justice, and it cannot threaten victims with reprisal simply for asking to be heard. As a society, and as a Church, we have failed to protect the weak and vulnerable from the strong and the privileged, we have far too often allowed politics to color our sense of justice, and we have been complicit in the heaping of shame upon those who have been victimized. This cannot be what God expects of his people, our call to righteousness demands more.
A perfect system of justice is indeed unattainable, but we've got to do better than to say, "if you can't prove it, you don't report it." May the LORD spare me from having to ever counsel my daughter about whether or not she should report being sexually assaulted, but I for one would not tell her to be quiet.
(Below are a few examples of Deuteronomy 19 being applied to the current political drama, simply there to show that the commentary of James White is echoed by others.)
AFA commentary: What Should Be Done About the Kavanaugh Nomination?
Engage Magazine: Brett Kavanaugh: Innocent till proven guilty
{Update 11/21 The James White that I used to listen to while working no longer has the same ministry. In the past 3-4 years he has followed Eric Metaxas down the road of political 'sky is falling' conspiracy theory laden hysteria. I no longer recommend listening to his messages with the exception of the older material related to textual criticism}
