Rape Is Wrong, Right?

Trigger Warning - Multiple mentions of rape.

“Adam, somehow I knew you’d be here.”

“Really? This is supposed to be my secret spot. How did you find me?”

“You’re on Life 360, my friend. Your wife always knows where you are. She sent me.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Can I order you a drink?”

“Sure, I’ll have a Sam Adams.”

“I’m sorry buddy, it’s not that kind of bar. How about a ginger ale or coke with light ice?.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my friend Adam?”

“This is my thinking bar. Alcohol just clouds the mind. I come here when I need to contemplate, reflect, ponder.”

“No wonder Jenny told me I wouldn’t like this place. Fine, gimme a coke.”

“Is she still angry? She wouldn’t even look at me when I left.”

“What do you expect? I’m pretty sure she thought you would change your mind at the last minute. He is your son, after all.”

“He’s my son, Steve, and I love him, but some areas aren’t gray. I know it’s not a popular opinion these days but, to me, this is black and white. Right and wrong. If I was there it would have been like I was endorsing it and I just can’t give them my blessing.”

“You are a dinosaur, brother. You’re fighting a fight that’s already been decided. The Supreme Court said so. Public opinion says so. Heck even Hallmark Movies say so. In a lot of ways I really understand what you’re thinking, but times are changing. People are changing. Love is love.”

“So societal norms are flexible? What is right today may or may not be right five years from now?”

“That’s a pretty simplistic view of it, but yes. Society evolves and you either evolve with it or you become an other.”

“An other?”

“Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. The kind of person who can’t be on the PTA or get into politics.. You stop getting invited to dinner parties and people start calling you the B-word.”

“You mean bigot? Is that what you’re implying?”

“You know I am, buddy. So unless you want your only friends to be the other B’s you hang out with at church on Sunday, I suggest you get with the program.”

“Okay, if that’s what you think, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, shoot.”

“Alright, but first let’s set some parameters.”

“Yep, whatcha got for me?”

“Well, let’s start with something I think we agree on. Do you agree that rape is an awful and morally repugnant crime?”

“Absolutely, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Stick with me here. If we agree on that, then we should also be able to agree that rapists are flawed morally, spiritually, and maybe genetically. Are we still on the same page?”

“I’m right there with you, Adam.”

“With that in mind, what if, sometime in the future, self-identified rapists stood up for themselves, claiming they were born that way and shouldn’t be ostracized for something they can’t control.”

“But…”

“Wait, I’m still getting to the question.”

“Ok, go on.”

“In this scenario, imagine that at first society scoffs at the notion of rapists being even the slightest bit acceptable. There is almost universal opposition to this idea, but a few fringe doctors and psychiatrists publish papers contemplating theories that seem to give support to the idea that rapists might be a product of genetics, that they are born more sexually aggressive than most. They don’t necessarily endorse the idea of acceptance but they do give these people a small amount of legitimacy.”

“Well, that—”

“I’m not finished.”

“I’m afraid to say this, but continue.”

“Now because of this, some rapists and those who have contemplated rape emerge from the shadows. They are prosecuted and I’m some cases, are the victims of vigilante justice.

There is still nearly universal agreement that being a rapist is abnormal but pockets of sympathy start to emerge. Stories of otherwise good people who do selfless and noble things but who also have desires to rape start to change some minds. Small groups of people begin to support the rights of rapists, although most rapists still hide their desires and live in the shadows.

Then, in Hollywood, some of these closeted rapists who own and run movie and television studios start to create characters who are rapists, but in every other way are charming and extremely virtuous. They also start to portray people who find rape morally indefensible as bigots and small- minded.

Now because our children grow up using screens as a babysitter, there is a slow shift as those same children become adults. They begin to embrace this new ideology and societal ideas begin to change. A movement towards an acceptance of rapists as normal members of the community gains traction. This is accelerated as children who grow up in the new culture go into psychiatric fields. Before long the definition of rapist changes from abnormal behavior to normal.”

”You’re going to a dark place, my friend.”

”Maybe, but I’m not done. I’ve never been sure who decides these things, but before you know it R finds its way to the end of the increasing long list of initials. It’s inclusion making it even harder to be anti-rapist.

Eventually there are politicians who run for office on platforms of fairness and equality for all—including rapists. Some members of the government feel free enough to come out as rapists and eventually the first openly rapist politician is elected.

Finally, an altruistic rapist decides it is unconstitutional to discriminate based on genetic sexual aggressiveness and brings a case against anti-rape laws in the whole country.

Once enough judges and justices who are raised in a culture of inclusiveness towards rapists, the tide turns and the Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, codifies, into law, the Constitutional right of all Americans to engage in rapist behavior."

"But Adam..."

"Don't stop me now, I'm finally ready to ask my question, and it's this:

Even though majorities of Americans now support the right to rape.

Even though laws in all states now make rape legal.

Even though rapists are accepted and celebrated in our society.

Even though those who oppose the right to rape are now ostracized.

Even though the Supreme Court has made the right to rape the law of the land.

Can’t we all still agree that rape is wrong? Please tell me we can at least agree on that.”

“Uh, well… I’ll tell Jenny I found you and that you’ll be home soon. When will you be home?”

“I don’t know, an hour or so.”

“I’ll let her know. See you later, Adam.”

“Goodbye, Steve.”