'Dinah Gets Into Trouble' - Does Story 20 Mean Rape = Fornication?

by sd-7 47 Replies latest jw friends

  • nugget
    nugget

    I always found this story very disturbing. Dinah makes a poor choice of friends and ends up being raped. It is all her fault , the man is not responsible for his actions in fact becomes the victim when her brothers seek to take vengence for what was done. She is seen as damaged goods for the rest of her life unsuitable for marriage. It is no wonder that sexual predators are active in congregations since with lessons such as this one young girls are constantly expected to take responsibility for their own rapes and sexual abuse. This book should be withdrawn.

  • jemba
    jemba

    As a child I found my book of bible stories disturbing, anxiety causing, of course I didnt understand why.

    When I gave it to my own two kids neither of them liked it, one child cried when he saw the picture of Jesus on the stake and the other child would sit and stare at only the most gruesome, sad and graphic photos in awe ( I frequently found myself turning the page duriing meetings) - dying in the floodwater, Abraham about to cut his sons throat, Nephilim beating up the little fella and of course the bloodied dying Jesus. I dont let my 7 yr old play violent video games so why do these parents continue to raise their children on this crap.

    Jemba

  • jemba
    jemba

    Oh yeah, my Mum always used to say to us girls, 'youre asking to be raped going out in that skirt' etc. Dubs actually believe that crap.

    BTW the skirt had to be below the knee... lol

  • Band on the Run
  • vanyell
    vanyell

    Again, our so-called "modern" thinking and mores affects our interpretation of the above narrative (WTBTS interpretation trumps all). For another look at Dinah's story, http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/dinah-bible. What if the "rape" of Dinah is not really rape? Remember the ancient "barbaric " custom of raiding other villages to get wives? Was that wrong in the context of that culture and time?

  • Mr. Falcon
    Mr. Falcon

    Dinah was the Snooki of her day.

  • DilemmaGF
    DilemmaGF

    Genesis 34
    Dinah and the Shechemites
    1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl as my wife."

    5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

    6 Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Meanwhile, Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in[a] Israel by sleeping with Jacob's daughter-a thing that should not be done.

    8 But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade[b] in it, and acquire property in it."

    11 Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife."

    13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go."

    18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. 21 "These men are friendly toward us," they said. "Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23 Won't their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us."

    24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

    25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where[c] their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.

    30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed."

    31 But they replied, "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"

    Can't find a sentence where it says it was Dinah's fault...

  • wha happened?
    wha happened?

    as shocking as this is, and it really, is by painting a scenario where the woman had it coming, as if there is such a scenario. I've seen that type of attitude of "u had it coming" in other teachings or viewpoints of the WT. I received a "well u had it coming" type counsel from Bethel once when the brothers were trying to help me locally.

  • trebor
    trebor

    Here are the quotes straight from Jehovah's channel of truth from the one true organization serving him:

    Watchtower, January 15, 1964,page 64:
    “Thus if a Christian woman does not cry out and does not put forth every effort to flee, she would be viewed as consenting to the violation. The Christian woman who wants to keep clean and obey God’s commandments, then, if faced with this situation today, needs to be courageous and to act on the suggestion made by the Scriptures and scream. Actually this counsel is for her welfare; for, if she should submit to the man’s passionate wishes, she would not only be consenting to fornication or adultery, but be plagued by the shame. There would be shame, not only from the repulsiveness of the experience, but of having been coerced into breaking God’s law by having sex connections with one other than a legal marriage mate.”

    Watchtower, June 1, 1968:
    Would it be different if the man had a weapon and threatened to kill you if you did not submit? No, the Scriptures plainly state that Christians are under obligation to ‘flee from fornication.’ (1 Cor. 6:18) It is true that you face the possibility of death in this case.”

    Awake! March 8, 1974, page 14.
    If she did not scream she would be as good as dead anyhow…Also, that if she did not scream she would ruin her relationship with Jehovah God and the Christian congregation; that then she would be disfellowshipped or excommunicated from it and that this would be worse than being killed as far as she was concerned.”

    October 15, 1980, Watchtower, page 7:
    She told him that if he touched her she would scream as he had never heard anyone scream before. She explained that if she did not she would ruin her relationship with Jehovah God and the Christian congregation….A Christian woman is under obligation to resist, for the issue of obedience to God’s law to ‘flee from fornication’ is involved.”

    February 22, 1984, Awake!: "Treat Him Respectfully – The intended victim should remember that the rapist is a human. No doubt there are circumstances in his life that have precipitated his behavior. So although a woman should not cower in fear and permit a rapist to intimidate her, at the same time she should treat him understandingly as a fellow human.”

    Awake!, February 22, 1984, page 25:
    But if I gave in and he raped me, I would eventually die and have no hope of a resurrection.”

    May 22, 1986, Awake!,page 23:
    “Why you should resist an attacker from the first moment...Your conscience will be clear. (Even if you are raped, you will not sacrifice your self-respect or cleanness before God)”

    August 22, 1989 Awake!, page 24:
    “It was then that I remembered the scripture in Deuteronomy chapter 22. It says that if a woman does not cry out when attacked, it indicates she is submitting to the man and is committing a sin against Jehovah.”

  • therevealer
    therevealer

    @trebor's posting - those citations from the mags just go to prove that the vast majority of witnesses never read the mags. If the women/sisters read those with their brains engaged there would be far, far fewer women in the org. I know that most of those mags were published/came out, while I was active but I either didn't read those articles or my brain was in park. Those citations show just how bat shit crazy they are. Whew!!!

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