{"id":25631,"date":"2015-05-24T05:00:03","date_gmt":"2015-05-24T09:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=25631"},"modified":"2015-05-23T12:25:21","modified_gmt":"2015-05-23T16:25:21","slug":"josh-duggar-and-the-tale-of-two-boxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/05\/josh-duggar-and-the-tale-of-two-boxes.html","title":{"rendered":"Josh Duggar and the Tale of Two Boxes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the wake of revelations that Josh Duggar sexually molested five girls in two families as a teenager, I\u2019ve seen some Duggar supporters argue that progressives and liberals don\u2019t have any room to criticize Josh given that . . . well, let me just show you:<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

Text as follows:<\/p>\n

If this boy had been experimenting with girls in a non-Christian family, then he would have been encouraged. I know a family that were proudly showing photos of the their teenage son on a trip to Disneyland unchaperoned with his girlfriend. It\u2019s \u201cnormal.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sexually molesting prepubescent girls is wrong whether the family is Christian or not. I know an awful lot of non-Christian families, and\u00a0none of them<\/em>\u00a0are okay with preteen girls being sexually molested. Also, sexual\u00a0molestation\u00a0is\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0the same thing as two teens playing around. Yes, there are boys and girls who start dating and experimenting sexually as young very teens (though this is rare\u2014a full 70% of high school students are virgins<\/a>), but\u00a0that is not what we\u2019re talking about here<\/em>. We\u2019re talking about a teenage boy sexually molesting prepubescent girls while they are sleeping.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the only place we\u2019ve seen this, either:<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

Text as follows:<\/p>\n

Case you hadn\u2019t noticed there are a few articles on the subject today. Hit pieces masquerading as \u201cI want you to have reliable information\u201d pieces is another.\u00a0It\u2019s astonishing how promptly and completely the whole Progressive cannon gets discarded when the perp is a Christian White Man\u2014even if that man is child<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This \u201cprogressive cannon,\u201d presumably, is progressives\u2019 acceptance of sex outside of marriage. In other words, this\u00a0commenter appears to believe\u00a0progressives take an \u201canything goes\u201d approach to sex but hold white Christian men to a different standard. The assumption here is that progressives wouldn\u2019t have a problem with, say, an atheist sexually molesting children\u2014but that could not be further from the truth<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What is going on here, exactly?<\/p>\n

In short, there seems to be an assumption among some social conservatives that because progressives do not see premarital sex as sinful and wrong, they\u00a0aren\u2019t in any position to criticize Josh Duggar\u2019s actions. In other words, because (in their view)\u00a0progressives take an \u201canything goes\u201d approach to sex, they argue, progressives\u00a0are being hypocrites when they\u00a0condemn Josh Duggar. This assumption is based in a\u00a0serious<\/em>\u00a0misunderstanding of progressive sexual ethics.<\/p>\n

This goes back to my \u201ctale of two boxes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Social conservatives tend to divide sexual acts into \u201cmarital sex\u201d and \u201cnon-marital sex.\u201d For social conservatives,\u00a0child sexual molestation is in the same category as gay sex or consensual premarital sex.\u00a0When divided in this way, sexual molestation doesn\u2019t look all that different from consensual premarital sex\u2014though both are considered sin. This is why the Duggars can talk about Josh\u2019s \u201cmistakes\u201d the way they do\u2014as though it were simply him going too far with a girlfriend, or viewing pornography. Because for them, they\u2019re in\u00a0the\u00a0same category<\/em>\u2014sexual contact\u00a0before marriage.<\/p>\n

Progressives do not have ethical or moral problems with premarital sexual intercourse\u2014but they very much have a problem with child molesting. To conservatives this\u00a0can look\u00a0like an inconsistency\u2014even hypocrisy\u2014but it\u2019s not.\u00a0Progressive\u00a0sexual ethics\u00a0center around\u00a0consent<\/em>. Sexual contact that is consensual is okay. Sexual contact that isn\u2019t consensual is\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0okay.\u00a0And because\u00a0children below a certain age do not have the necessary understanding and lived experience to be able to consent, child molestation is de facto nonconsensual.<\/p>\n

There are all sorts of problems with putting\u00a0any sexual contact\u00a0outside of marriage in the same category. For one thing, victims of sexual assault, including children,\u00a0may\u00a0end of feeling that they are in some way guilty of what happened\u2014after all, sexual contact outside of marriage is considered sin. For another thing, a teenager sexually molesting children\u00a0may be\u00a0treated\u00a0as a similar offense to a teenager having consensual sex with his girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Over the last few days, I\u2019ve seen numerous Duggar fans\u2014primarily social conservatives\u2014defending Josh Duggar. \u201cLet him who has no sin cast the first stone.\u201d \u201cWe all make mistakes sometimes.\u201d \u201cHis sisters forgave him, so we should forgive him too.\u201d \u201cChrist\u2019s blood covers a multitude of sins.\u201d \u201cThis should have remained a private matter.\u201d \u201cWho are we to judge.\u201d \u201cBut for the grace of God go I.\u201d \u201cWe all have a past.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems it\u2019s\u00a0social<\/em>\u00a0conservatives<\/em>\u00a0who are quick to make excuses when children are sexually molested\u2014and yet somehow they think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0progressives<\/em>\u00a0who don\u2019t have a problem with\u00a0child molesting.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems it’s conservatives who are quick to make excuses when children are sexually molested—and yet somehow conservatives are arguing that it’s we progressives who don’t have a problem with child molesting? <\/p>\n

What sort of upside down world is this?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,12],"tags":[519],"class_list":["post-25631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","category-purity","tag-sexual-ethics"],"yoast_head":"\nJosh Duggar and the Tale of Two Boxes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It seems it's conservatives who are quick to make excuses when children are sexually molested---and yet somehow conservatives are arguing that it's we progressives who don't have a problem with child molesting? 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