Warren Jeffs = David Koresh?
Ilana Mercer draws a comparison between the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Branch Davidians, and in the process demolishes the rape charges against Jeffs.
Yes, I think they're freaking weird. But it's their religion. It's not like they're out kidnapping Catholic schoolgirls to serve as supernumary wives.
But does urging someone to engage in what one perceives to be marital sex amount to being complicit in a rape?Only if you're Catherine MacKinnon. This muddying of the notion of rape can only result in less prosecution of real rape.
As Court TV has reported, "Under state law, it is a crime to have sexual relations with anyone under the age of 18 unless the parties are legally married to each other. Because a polygamous marriage can never be legal, the men marrying teenagers as second, third or fourth wives [are] guilty of statutory rape, or sexual conduct with a minor." Thus a determination of rape here rests not so much on whether evidence exists that a woman was forced to have sex against her will, but on her position in the harem!
Katie Couric is going to need a ratings boost Real Soon Now. I'm waiting for the rabbit screams, the tanks, the fake meth lab, and finally the auto-da-fe'.
Comments