The Virgin Mary is NOT a Rape Victim

The Virgin Mary is NOT a Rape Victim

The Virgin Mary is NOT a Rape Victim

On the morning of December 16, 2016, The Washington Post uploaded an opinion piece entitled

Our culture of purity celebrates the Virgin Mary. As a rape victim, that hurts me.

During the season of Advent before Christmas, the liberal media love to poke us Christian rubes with sticks like this. Come on, you know it’s true. This was one wicked stick.

When first exposed to the title, I had two thoughts:

1. Don’t you talk about the Holy Mother as a victim.

2. That’s so odd. I had just been ranting to my dear hubs about the lies told about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and his family this time of year. Joseph and Mary were not homeless. They were travelling. The rest of the family got there before them and they had to bunk with the animals. Not uncommon back in the day. Jesus was not born poor. Joseph was a carpenter. A skilled trade, in demand then and now.

Then, I saw this article. And, my blood boiled. Isn’t the Bible good enough source material without having to make shit stuff up?

The Washington Post opinion piece was written by a church pastor named Ruth Everhart. Reverend Everhart is the pastor of a Presbyterian church in Bethesda, Maryland. The Reverend Everhart was brutally raped as a young woman and, naturally, it has affected every facet of her life and caused, understandably, a crisis of faith.

But I must say this: I don’t care how much counseling, Everhart has had. She has not had enough. She is a very angry and bitter woman.

First off the title: “Our culture of purity celebrates the Virgin Mary”. This is not Victorian England. This is the United States of America, 2016. The dominant culture celebrates Beyonce and women go about “Shouting Their Abortions”. Purity, nah.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

And, purity isn’t about sex and the body, really. Purity is about your heart.

From the article by Reverend Everhart:

Still, I study her this time of the year — always dressed in blue with downcast eyes — and want to ask: “How was it really? And how do you feel about what the patriarchy has done with you?”

This is an image of Mary. Her eyes are downcast. I thought it was because Mary was humbled that God had chosen her as the Mother of God. Silly rube that I am. Here she was contemplating how the male dominated society had repressed her. I thought she was honored. Nope, according to the Reverend, she was humiliated. Not!

Again, from the article:

I’m convinced of this: Mary is not responsible for what we’ve done to her story. Church culture has overfocused on virginity and made it into an idol of sexual purity. When it comes to female experience, the church seems compelled to shrink and distort and manipulate.

The “church culture”? I have been in Southern Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, AME and Episcopal churches. I have been in Jewish synagogues. I have been in a Baha’i Temple. Each one has its own culture. The doctrines may be different, but each individual church does have its own culture. Blaming “church culture” seems misplaced anger to me, anyway.

The Nativity of Jesus

Another snippet of anger from the Reverend:

Don’t get me wrong — I love having a body. A body is super convenient for getting around in. It is a gift from God.

If you’re a woman, it’s a complicated gift. But why does Mary’s story have to oppress women when it could liberate us? What would it look like if the church celebrated Mary’s story as a hymn to the beauty of incarnation? (Admittedly, we Westerners could learn a few things from the Eastern Orthodox traditions.)

There she goes again. The “patriarchal” “church culture” oppresses women. Maybe, lady, you are in the wrong church or vocation or _________ (fill in the blank).

At Advent, in preparation for Christmas, we contemplate God’s choosing Mary, we contemplate her fiance Joseph and his belief in her truth, we think about how Mary could have been stoned (now that was patriarchy), we contemplate the Wise Men. Some of us contemplate which is our favorite Christmas Hymn (Longfellow’s “I heard the Bells on Christmas Day).

If you are thinking about how The Church oppresses you, time to look for another job.

I love the faces in this one.

One more from the article and then, I promise, I’ll stop.

The fact that God chose to send Jesus to inhabit a body is powerful. Let’s not assume this basic fact. The incarnation is one of the unique aspects of Christianity. Incarnation means that it’s not a bad thing to inhabit a body. Even Jesus’ body was ushered to earth via a birth canal.

See, there’s “birth canal” in the same sentence with Jesus. To some that will be a problem. Why? Because to some people, vaginas are inherently dirty. They can never be purified. And isn’t that the definition of hopelessness? Does it bother you that half of the human population is condemned to hopelessness because their body parts can never be pure?

I think that’s called “projection”, Madame. Jesus came into the world through the birth canal. Slid right out of Mary’s vagina. No problem. Maybe a woman, a midwife, caught Jesus, maybe Joseph caught him on the fly. Offended, nope. Funny, yes.

I was angry and then I felt sorry for Reverend Everhart. Now, I am really, really angry. The Reverend has written a book about her rape experience called “Ruined”. I am not going to link to it. I am sure that it is violent and gripping and heartrending.

Reverend Ruth Everhart is “ruined” in her own mind. I pray God’s healing for her. It seems that she is wound tighter than Hillary Clinton’s Spanx. However, since God tends to be a male presence (Father), he is probably oppressing her and making her think her vagina is impure right now. Bless her heart. I’ll pray for her.

I cannot leave y’all like this. Enjoy my favorite Christmas Carol performed by Mercy Me.

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20 Comments
  • Kate says:

    I’m sorry she went through such an ordeal but she seriously needs love and forgiveness in her life. And maybe a new career.

    Nice post, Toni.

    • Toni Williams says:

      Thank you.. She doesn’t seem into religion much.

      TW

    • VALman says:

      “New career.” Most definitely. Given the statements shared by Toni, I wonder how she could effectively be a pastor to men, especially if any of them invoked painful memories.

      Her “wounds” are not, presently, a means for her to be a “wounded healer.” I see them as an impediment to Chrisitian ministry.

  • VALman says:

    Two approaches to interpreting texts: exegesis and eisegesis. A simple description of them: “Exegesis, in short, is to dig out from a passage what it inherently is stating. Eisegesis, on the other hand, is the approach of interpreting passages by reading into them a particular belief that is not at all evident or clear.” Ruth Everhart has an agenda, one which informs her eisegesis of Holy Scripture. Such practitioners as her are responsible for much of the turmoil within Christendom, for the falling away of those incapable of withstanding the progressive assault of Christianity, and are ones about whom we are warned against.

    Not to get into a rant here, which I easily could because this is a subject too familiar to me. I simply say that whatever “tools” we might have in our study of Holy Scripture Mary’s humility is an example for us. That is, when we take to discern the Lord’s Word, we might begin by praying in her words, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Thereby, let God’s Word work on us and not the other way round.

    May our intercessions for healing be heard by the Most High.

  • Gail Boer says:

    I feel nothing but pity for her. I see Mary as a role model and an amazing woman of faith. Her purity is of soul not of body. And that is what God offers all of us with His Grace. My favorite carol sang by high school kids would be alien to this poor soul.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOIDfsVZ58

    Ruth I am praying for you to know the Grace of a Loving father God and to heal and be able to go from victim to survivor and never see yourself as ruined. the title of your book is heartbreaking and that you see yourself as unworthy is sad and not what my God teaches. You may want to visit a nice ECO or PCA or RPCUS or ARP or OPC and find out what my sisters believe. We would welcome you and happily share what God has done with us and through us.

  • Toni says:

    Go Gail.

    TW

  • Deb says:

    I weep for the women who have been so damaged, they cultivate gardens of mental misery. Even the most wonderful things in life are spoiled by the jaundiced eye of those for whom the evidence of a rape culture, patriarchy, or oppression is everywhere.

  • […] Victory Girls Blog: The Virgin Mary is NOT a Rape Victim. […]

  • formwiz says:

    Lefties have no God and they must destroy other’s belief in one.

  • GWB says:

    why does Mary’s story have to oppress women when it could liberate us?

    I’m still trying to figure out how on Earth her story does this? I’ve always thought it did liberate women. *smh*

    See, there’s “birth canal” in the same sentence with Jesus. To some that will be a problem. Why? Because to some people, vaginas are inherently dirty. They can never be purified.

    Huh?!? Whence comes this crazy talk? Not from any Christian I’ve ever spoken with. This is more than projection, this is flat out delusional.

    This woman has no business being a pastor. And she needs to be working out these issues on her own time, not the church’s. Please, Ruth, go and get help.

    As far as Mary goes, I recall that she wasn’t afraid to be at the foot of the cross when so many of His followers were afraid, and that she was confident of His ability and compassion in Cana (“Do whatever He tells you to do.”). I’d call that empowering.

  • GWB says:

    I binge-watched an old tv show this weekend, because it was “expiring” on Hulu. One of the episodes concerned a vengeful mother who was portrayed as oh-so-pious. It occurred to me that even 20 years ago (or maybe 40 or more), Hollywood only portrays two types of religious people (Christians, anyway): the fallen syncretist (noble) and the pious sinner (ignoble). Both make a mockery of the actual beliefs of doctrinal Christians.

  • Danielle Stryker says:

    This is disgusting. She makes some wonderful points and I look forward to studying more of her work. I will say the one positive of this insanely hypocritical, misogynistic, rape culture supporting, hate mongering monstrosity of a rant (which they seem to think is the right answer to a matter of opinion, and the author can speak her mind but anyone who disagrees with her is broken and wrong), it did introduce me to the wise and strong Ruth Everhart. If not for this article I would not have known about her, would not have been able to support her, and not been able to show my support by buying all her books. You can take pride in that if not for this hate article, she would have one less fan and a few less dollars. Mazel Tov for that!

    • GWB says:

      Wow, is this an AI crawling the webs looking to rehabilitate Ruth?
      Or is this some friend come to do the same?
      Or just some Progressive activist come to make hay?

      The presence of the string of apotropaic buzzwords is what makes it hard to tell: AI or NPC.

      Your bit about rants and opinion is absolutely ludicrous. If it is opinion, then opinion is exactly the response you get. Except for the parts where the opinion assumes or states fact as a premise for their opinion. THEN you get factual rebuttal. As above.

      You want to follow her, fine. But understand, she is not strong. She is instead projecting – she is placing her guilt onto others so she can point fingers instead of dealing with her psychological ruin herself. It is a common psychological coping mechanism, and is healed only by looking forward with the help of God and/or some serious psychological counseling. Since she’s actively pushing God away, I don’t foresee a good end to her problems.

      • GWB says:

        Let me state that when I mention her “guilt”, I’m talking about the guilt she feels.
        I am NOT blaming the victim.

        I am, however, saying the victim has internalized blame and guilt, and because of that now projects it out of herself onto others who are not at fault. In this way she compensates for her feelings by making them the fault of others.

  • Danielle Stryker says:

    Also, you mention “This is not Victorian England. This is the United States of America, 2016.” Besides how weird it is that you have to bring up England, as if sexual assault and purity rape culture is more prevalent there than in the US, which it is not, according to the laws of the United States of America, in both 2016 and 2023, this is by definition rape. Your entire point, from the title to the bigotry of the article are entirely undone by the same “logic” you use to say she wasn’t a rape victim, are the very things that show by todays standards, she is a victim of rape. For real, it’s not a matter of opinion, by the definition of the law of this country, as a statement of unarguable fact, this country would categorize what happened to Mary as rape.

    • GWB says:

      as if sexual assault and purity rape culture is more prevalent there than in the US
      What in tarnation are you talking about?! Can you even read?
      Ruth was talking about a supposed “purity culture” in the US, and Toni was responding to the absurdity of that claim by declaring we’re certainly not Victorians here. Do you know anything about Victorian England? Any facts, that is? You have the whole word picture entirely backward – for both of them.
      And you say that Mary’s situation is the legal definition of rape? Hoo boy. You need to go back to law school and back to Sunday School. What happened was outside the realm of both law and materialistic reason. There was no intercourse, so how could it ever be rape? And since God is her creator, He has rights outside the law (that He wrote, anyway).

      a statement of unarguable fact
      I also don’t think you understand what that phrase means.

      I still can’t tell if you’re AI or NPC. If you’re AI you might want to get better inputs. If you’re a NPC… well, the same. Because whomever fed you the claptrap you’re disgorging here is not interested in your actual well-being.

      I am impressed you dug up an almost 7 year old post and came to comment on it.

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