By Oluwaseyi Ige

Rape has a number of things that falls into its definition. But simply put, it is any sexual carnal knowledge of a person without the person’s consent.
I believe in Christian values so I’ll rely heavily on the Bible in my submissions.
It’s not a strange concept in our world. In fact, 2 examples jumped into my mind right now,from the Bible.

FUN FACT: Sodomites attempted to gang rape an angel.

But this one I want to show us.actually happened.
It is in Genesis 34, about Dinah, Schechem and the Israelites.

Ok. So this guy had a crush on Dinah and could not wait to marry her, he decided to have his way with her. Note that he actually loved her. In verse 3 of Genesis 34, we read, “His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.”

The problem is that he put the cart before the horse. In some rape cases, this is what happens. Going after the coochies (as @solaadio would say) without paying due attention to process. You know Newton said in his third law of motion that action and reaction are equal and opposite.

Every action carries consequences. Dinar’s brothers tricked Schechem and his people, and after cutting their penises (foreskin), ran them over when they would have the least resistance. They even took their women!

I think that nothing justifies rape. Not even love. Nothing. Jesus was clear about these things. He said if you think of having sex with someone you are not supposed to, it is a sin. “But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28.

Before anyone will think of forceful sexual encounters, such must think of the consequences. Both spiritual and physical.

Recently, we have heard of many ladies coming out to accuse their abusers, years after the incident had happened. These things don’t just ‘die’.

Some of them were on good terms with the perpetrators when the act took place. Some were even trusted friends and family. But time and chance happened. Those indiscretionary acts returned to haunt the perpetrators. What was that thing they called karma again?

The victim may not speak out today, but care must be taken because of the future. Schechem would’t have done it if he had a premonition of what will happen later.
In this case, cause is Unbridled Passion, consequence is Untimely Death

Another case that comes to my mind happened in 2 Samuel 13. It was a case of incest taken too far. Tamar’s half brother, Amnon wanted her so bad that he couldn’t rein in his thirst for pleasure. He devised all sorts of means to lay with her sister. Rape sometimes takes some planning.

Actually, almost all forms of sexual sin needs some sort of planning . At the end, he had his way and forcefully had sex with Tamar. Immediately after that, He lost all interest in her! Such is the danger of infatuation and lust.

One moment it seems as if if the sex didn’t happen, Armageddon will occur instantly. As soon as the act is over and the spongy tissue releases all the blood that had strengthened it, it will look as if the man’s emotions have evaporated with his brain.

The reality of the act then dawned on him. Amnon could not stand Tamar’s presence again! Someone he pretended to be sick for just so she can come over to his place. Anyway, such is the satisfaction of pleasure – fleeting.

So everything was back to normal, or so we think, until 2 years later when Tamar’s brother decided to carry out his revenge. Not every Tamar has an Absalom. Infact, most societies will rather have a David, a king, who knew about the matter but decided to keep quiet because he felt the consequences of his action might worsen an already bad situation. He was avoiding a civil war under his roof. But again, time proved to be a judge as when everyone had forgotten about the issue, vengeance struck. Death was the result.

Romans said the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). But it doesn’t have to be so. Adherence to Christ’s principles will help any man avoid the ‘had I known’ that follows such act. The latter part of Rom. 6:23 says “the gift of God is eternal life”.

Christ, God’s gift to mankind (John 3:16) says he came to bring that life (John 10:10). I believe that adhering to His principles is the solution to avoiding rape in all its forms.

Sex must be with consent, and consent for me is within the context of marriage, after publicly declaring “I do” or any other form of societal acceptable way of formalizing a union.

Every man must circumcise his phallic member. Please, dear men, don’t let your penis lead you, let your brain do. Don’t let your heart dictate what you will do, let the word of God do. The moral standards in our world today is ridiculously low.

There are many things that will trigger a man to want to have a carnal knowledge of a woman forcefully. If one’s heart has not been circumcised by the word of God, the consequences will come and cut his foreskin! When this happens, the man will be vulnerable to attacks.

We must strive to uphold the dictates of the Word of God. It is in so doing that we can influence the world against rape. Force of law is not producing the desired result. Human moral codes are not effective. We need to spread Jesus’ formular, beginning with ourselves.

We must be willing to cut down practices and socially acceptable behavious that have the tendency to encourage rape. We must be firm in the resolve to eliminate this menace from amongst us. It is not only about hashtags and protests. Let’s dig deep within us for wholesome change.

Our tastes in what constitutes entertainment and pleasure must be checked. The society is too hypocritical to decide what is good and what is bad. Every citizen must find a way to self-examine and ensure they’re not encouraging rape through their choices.

Which is why I will encourage wholesome practice of Christ’s values.
We all must live as examples and teach others to do the same. I believe that is the way to go. It is not an easy task, but it is what we must do. Shalom!