On Monday I was sitting having morning tea, when one of my colleagues, who as a 14-15 year old daughter who goes to a single sex elite school, had let it be known that one of her classmates is pregnant, and it is all over facebook. The young women (who is well under the age of consent in NZ, which is 16) has been transferred to one of the state schools which has a unit for teenage mothers.
The discussion turned to the frequency of teenage abortion (including at that school. There are some unwritten rules in NZ, the most common one is the unofficial eleventh commandment “Thou shalt not get caught”. Our hypocrisy is showing.
The unshriven Fallen sin ipso facto, and know it; so this dynamic of sin, ritual purification, and fitness for the liturgy of redemption cannot ever disappear from history for any but those who have been washed perfectly clean in the blood of the Lamb (i.e., the saints). Thus wherever Christian belief is weak, or errant, or partial, or poorly understood – almost everywhere – or a fortiori where it is explicitly rejected, the dynamic appears and operates. It is seen in the phenomenon of the witch hunt, which is a search for expiatory scapegoats. Where there are no witches to be found, any Other will do: the deformed, the mad, the stranger, the Jew, the schismatic, the odd, the eccentric. Where the use of such Others is forbidden, scapegoats must be obtained on other terms from among the people.
This leads us back to hate, and back to the snark that hits anyone who tells the truth in this day.
24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.”
You can see the dynamic of this at work in the Christian blogosphere. Look at the most recent post at SSM. A man has written asking a serious question: should he marry a woman who has slept around. The author made this comment.
When my husband was reading this post over my shoulder this morning, he remarked, “Well, I married you.” Dang. Ouch.
B-b-but I wasn’t as slutty as all those other college girls! I was mostly a good girl but I was just…you know…misled! It wasn’t my fault. I had no idea that I would react to tequila like that. Etc.
He was joking. I’m pretty sure he was, anyway. But I’m going to fret about that comment all day now.
However, this comment was then offered in the spirit of feminist snark.
Nope. She made her choices. Throw her to the wolves. Maybe spraypaint a big ‘S’ on her front window, as well, as a warning to other men.
[ssm: Your feminist sarcasm is duly noted.]
So, while this woman (Dear, you have your photo on your gravatar) is assuming we will be judgmental, this comment was given seriously.
I’m not as concerned about her being a frequent flyer, as I would say they tend to out themselves in other ways, many of which render them conspicuously unmarriageable. Honestly I worry more about ltrs and the timeline – did the relationship end badly, or unwillingly on her part, and where does that fall on the repentance timeline? If she’s a post-relationship sanctuary seeker, I’d say that’s trouble, unless it’s been at least a couple of years. If she broke up with ltr, or stopped her casual sluttiness, because she came to repentance, that’s a little more promising.
I wouldn’t say it’s a dealbreaker, but certainly demanding of caution – for both of them. The only thing worse than an unhappy marriage is an unhappy divorce. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, slut or otherwise. He’ll have to decide what he can live with, and set aside, and what he cannot.
The dynamic flows back to that of scapegoating. Christians are assumed to be harsh and judgmental. But the two quotes I have given from known people in the tradosphere are thoughtful, reflective, and acknowledge their own mistakes and doubts. It is the trollette who judges others and not themselves.
For Christians know that the eleventh commandment cannot be obeyed. We will always be caught. What we do will become known. If we are unfaithful, it will show: as it will if we are repentant and faithful. The discerning judge — Christian and not. And in the final age the ancient pagans will damn this generation, for they will not take responsibility for what they have done, or the consequences of their actions.
