Apparently rape is all part of God's plan...

[CailinDana]

Now isn't that reassuring. Lie back and think of god all ye victims, and feel blessed by the fruit of your suffering.

Sigh.

[AThingInYourLife]

I must admit, from what I know of God, that does sound like something he would do.

[TheHeirOfSlytherin]

in cases of "legitimate" rape, "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" and avert pregnancy.

What the actual fuck?

[TheHeirOfSlytherin]

The scary thing is that there are people who will vote for him because he says things like this.

[CailinDana]

People who justify rape in any way, no matter how stupid, are very likely to be rapists themselves, in my eyes. Why on earth would they justify it otherwise?

[GrimmaTheNome]

trying to make out people misunderstood because of 'lack of clarity in my words'. They seemed clear enough to me.

[CailinDana]

Agreed Grimma. His actual words were "I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."

How else could that be read only that God intended the rape to happen??

[BlingLoving]

I disagree with everything he says. And some of the tape apologists have been unbelievable recently. But, if he genuinely believes that abortion is killing a life because of genuine religious beliefs, I think his statement was understandable and not pro rape.

I loathe religious reasons for being abut abortion etc but I also think its a slippery slope for the rest if us to then start putting words and thoughts in that person's mouth. I gave deeply religious friends who I know grapple with issues like this - in their eyes rape is wrong but abjection after rape is punishing the children for dibs of the father and all that.

[Exogenesis]

Sorry, What! I am actually speechless!

[CailinDana]

Bling, IMO being religious does not give you the right to spout any old shit. That is especially true if you are a politician.

I might have the wrong end of the stick, but do you believe that a rape survivor would abort a baby to "punish the child"? Do you not think it's more complicated than that?

[GrimmaTheNome]

I wouldn't say this was 'justifying rape' exactly- he was trying to justify his absolutist anti-choice stance. In doing so he was grossy dismissive of the effect of rape on the woman.

[CailinDana]

Perhaps justifying is going too far - maybe minimising is more accurate.

[GrimmaTheNome]

I would guess what he meant is that God meant the conception to happen...something good out of bad type of shit...but failed to spot that this logically meant that god also intended the rape.

[FrothyDragon]

What a fuckwit.

I'm not sure I like the Republican's "God" too much...

[recall]

I wonder if he would express these views had he been raped himself ???

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

But bling there is no need to bring god into it in the way he did.

He can believe

• life starts at conception, which he can say he has taken from the tenets of his religion
  
• there are no circumstances therefore in which abortion is acceptable
  

That is a logically consistent position.

But to say that god is looking down on every act of sex and rape and determining whether conception occurs is surely beyond bonkers for anyone who has ever opened a biology book for ten year olds.

[SardineQueen]

I just saw this on the BBC and was shocked.

Not shocked at his views, to be honest, but shocked because he has come out with this AFTER the massive outcry about what Akin said, and women's votes are apparently important in this election.

I mean, just how stupid is he.

[SardineQueen]

Snatch his statement is quite clear. He believes that part of god's plan is women being raped. That is what he said.

[SardineQueen]

I really can't see another way to read it.

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

I don't think he does say that, SQ.

Let's be clear - I think he's a misogynistic wanker who isn't fit to hold political office. But he is saying if a pregnancy results from sex, including rape, that pregnancy is god's plan and should proceed whatever the circumstances.

The fact that conception is a sperm-meets-egg consequence and has fuck all to do with god seems to have passed him by.

[grimbletart]

So if it was God's plan for a woman to become pregnant and she would not have become pregnant if she had not be raped then being raped must have been part of God's plan. Either that or God's plan is an almighty fuck-up. In which case, God is not as clever as he is made out to be.

[BlingLoving]

I think that if you aren't religious it's very difficult to understand how religious people bring it into every facet of their lives. I grew up with a lot of religious people with whole I am not really Friends any more but I see them in Facebook etc and I am always struck by how central it is.

I think whether he meant to or not he does seem to suggest that the rape was gods plan but I genuinely don't think that's what he meant. He meant that life is sacred.

Personally, I do t understand how anyone can choose to elect someone who makes political and other decisions based on their interpretation of religion, but I get the sense it's a big deal for some people in places like America.

[Xenia]

He certainly shoots himself in the foot but his point was just his believe that a life is a life however it started. I don't that's hard to understand even if your own position differs from that. If you think life is there from conception it's pretty mean to kill a baby just because its parent did something it shouldn't.

[NotGoodNotBad]

And aside from the idiocy of the comments about "God's plan" for children born of rape, where does it leave those of us who believe God does not exist?

[SardineQueen]

He may have meant that all life is sacred (really? is he against the death penalty then???) but what he said was that rape is part of god's plan.

This man is a US republican on the religious right. I see no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt, personally.