Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Another Quote for Day: "But if the Tetleys Had Lived in Oklahoma, That Sentence [of a British Husband for Raping His Sleeping Wife Over 300 Times] May Have Been Considerably More Difficult to Obtain"



Another quote to share with you as the day goes on, from Samantha Allen at The Daily Beast site:


Earlier this year, a British woman named Sarah Tetley discovered that she had been raped over 300 times in her sleep by her own husband who fastidiously documented his assaults on video. Her husband was sentenced to 12 years in prison but if the Tetleys had lived in Oklahoma, that sentence may have been considerably more difficult to obtain.

All kinds of ways for us to think about this statement:

1. There's, first of all, the fact that Oklahoma, with 79% of its population identifying as Christians (and 47% as evangelicals) is, along with its sister states in the bible belt, one of the most overtly Christian states in the nation.

2. And then there's the fact that Oklahoma (and its neighbor state of Texas) led the pack in the 2014-2015 state legislative session to attack its gay citizens. To defend Christian values and Christian marriage against those attacking those values and those institutions . . . .

3. In fact, to protect the institution of marriage against the gays threats to that institution in the latest legislative session, Oklahoma sought to abolish the institution — that is, to abolish the state's role in recognizing marriages.

4. There's also the fact that, in recent elections, Oklahoma has repeatedly proven itself the reddest state in the nation.

Sort of makes you think, doesn't it, all of this information? About what really threatens the institution of marriage? About what constitutes real Christian values? 

About the radical injustice of targeting and demonizing minority groups in order to demonstrate the clout and virtue of "Christian" majorities . . . . 

Etc.

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