Eve was blamed for causing humanity to get kicked out of the
Garden of Eden, and women and even young girls have been being blamed for
actions that are not their fault ever since.
That is what originally happened when fourteen-year-old
Cherice Moralez was raped by her teacher, Stacey Dean Rambold. Rambold was originally given a shockingly
light sentence for raping this student in his care, only 31 days.
Judge Baugh defended his light sentencing with a statement
that Cherice Moralez was “a troubled youth” that looked and acted “older than
her chronological age;” And that she was just “as much in control of the
situation” as Rambold. Despite Judge Baugh’s justifications, according to Montana
state law, Rambold must serve a minimum of two years.Judge Baugh was later
suspended for one month without pay of his last seven months on the bench
before his retirement.
And last Friday, Rambold was resentenced to 15 years with
5 years suspended for the rape of Moralez.
Faith voices should be lifted in defense of young women who
have been raped, but instead carry a theological legacy of victim blaming,
especially blaming women. In some churches today, the doctrine of sin leads to
inherent guilt and shame and to blame the victim, especially women and girls. As a woman religious leader and a mother, I
can tell you honestly that sin in the rape of a young girl by her teacher, and
the original failure of the justice system, was entirely by the teacher and by
a heartless judge. Human beings sin, it
is true, and the story of Adam and Eve is really about that, but we have to be
clear in our schools, our homes, our churches, where to rightly place the blame
and it was not with Cherice Moralez.
Early Christian theologian, Augustine introduced original sin as the blame of Eve because Eve corrupted Adam. He viewed sex as evil and that sex was the
work of the devil with women being the devil’s agents. He said that Eve as representing women was a
temptress that leads men astray. And unfortunately, some of Augustine’s views
about women still hold true.
The bible in certain religions is used to blame victims.
When a woman is being beaten by her husband she is often reminded that
disobedience to her husband is sinful. When children are told that they are to
honor thy father and mother and respect their elders, they often blame
themselves in cases of sexual abuse.
When society often doesn’t believe the victim or blames the
victim, it makes it difficult for people to get help and the abuse to stop. In
the case of Cherice Morales, her struggles within herself ended in her suicide
before the first trial of her rapist was even completed. Her mother, Auliea
Hanlon stated that once the news of the assault became public, Cherice was
“ostracized and bullied and that her mood became even darker.”
A small amount of justice has been done, though it comes too
late for Cherice. In this particular story the societal acceptance to blame the
victim was not tolerated. Hanlon was alerted to the abuse by one of Cherice’s
peers at a church counseling group. The case sparked protests by activists
calling for resignation of the judge. Sheena Rice, the protest organizer
said, “Judges should be protecting our most vulnerable children…not enabling
rapists by placing blame on the victims.” Judge Baugh tried to apologize but in
the same statement defended his remarks by saying it is “horrible enough as
given her age, but it wasn’t this forcible beat-up rape.” Marian Bradley,
president of the Montana National Organization for Women said “such language
and lenient sentences for sex crimes discourage victims of sexual violence from
coming forward.”
The state of Montana has spoken: victim blaming has to stop.
It is time for the church to be the leader in this fight. The church itself needs to be transparent in
its own abuse and then learn how to become an example to society.
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