It never seems to occur to anyone that young women often objectify themselves. They often put themselves out there as "party hearty girls," wear revealing clothes, flirt, tease, etc. These young women never seem to bare any responsibility. Here's an idea, get wasted and trust that idiot teenage boys will take care of you. The young men involved are appalling, but so is the young woman who put herself in that position...the position of getting so drunk, and around total strangers at that, that she couldn't remember much about that evening. She may have been drugged, so she claims. Women are labelled "victims" no matter what they do, and this young woman seems to be the victim of her own bad choices.

So many aspects suggest themselves in this case, one of the least discussed yet most obvious is that of alcohol (now there's a neglected topic, despite the astonishing and overwhelming statistical links between alcohol and crime of all violent varieties). But make no mistake, the victim is not the guilty party here. Let's cut to the chase. For me, this case amplifies the criticisms of our culture leveled by intelligent feminists from Andrea Dworkin to Naomi Wolfe re porn culture -- the systematic devaluing of women except as peripheral devices for men. And yes, the church is central in playing an overall obstructionist role here. We're more male bourgeoisie than we are dynamically egalitarian disciples of Jesus, tranformed into a church where "there is no Jew nor Greek, male nor female." We're fascinated by the culture wars yet blind to the log in our own eye; our refusal to recognize women as fully called and gifted to lead alongside (and sometimes out in front of) men.

Thank you to all who submitted their opinions on this issue. I must agree with Katelyn Beaty’s comment, “On a visceral level, I have no sympathy for Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond, the two young men convicted of raping a 16-year-old woman, then recording and posting their actions online as a sort of victory cry.” A time will come to talk about mercy, but the current issue is justice. Thankfully, that is where most of the guest bloggers focused. From a biblical perspective, mercy has meaning only in light of justice. Without justice, mercy is just lenience. (See my comments on the ruling at DouglasKnox.com.)

People do realize that the victim didn't consent to these acts, right? She wasn't participating in porn or trying to "hook up" or otherwise engaging in some sort of sexual display. She was unconscious. Unable to give consent. It's sad that people would seemingly wish to pornify the victim. THAT'S one of the terrible things about this society. Just another way to objectify a human being. It's sad and terribly inappropriate.

Re "Clearly, men in our country still believe it is okay, or even fun, to see women as objects and violate them accordingly." Could this have something to do with the many variations of "Girls Gone Wild", young women willingly participating in porn, young women on college campuses (and elsewhere) picking up "hook-ups" in bars night after night? And not only young women -- older women do these things too. As long as people love to sin, have no reverence for God, they will do these things -- guys and gals alike. As our society continues to give official approval to immorality in any form, such things will only increase. 2 Timothy 3

David J - thank you! I was thinking the same thing. Overt sexism such as that is sin. This is not different if we replaced 'men' with 'women' and made the context the objectification of men as fleshly ATM's where women demand meals to be paid for, expensive jewelry to wear and be paid a dowry (to the woman herself) through an engagement ring that is supposed to cost 6 months worth of your earnings. Are all women such gold-diggers? Of course not but we know SOME are. If either one of us made the comment that 'women do this' we would be rightly accused of being hyperbole-spouting sexists.

Mourning for the rapist being the position he (or she is many cases) is not the same as making the rapist a victim or insulting the victim of the crime. Nor does it make mourning for the victim any less in intensity or volume. This does NOT make the crime any less, the need for RESTORATIVE (not just punishment) justice any less needed or make it 'OK." We mourn more for the victims of crimes and the victims need our support but not mourning for those who not redeemed is not virtuous but a sin.

"Clearly, men in our country still believe it is okay, or even fun, to see women as objects and violate them accordingly." Um, can we at least modify "men in our country" to "some men in our country"?

Thank you for this wonderful, balanced, honest and refreshing article. You said something that needed to be said. You spoke for the TRUE victim. The rapists, who are portrayed as victims by some media outlets, are anything but. They CHOSE to rape her. If their lives are ruined, they have no one but themselves (and perhaps those who raised them with a selfish nature, and a lack of value for other people's lives and feelings). They showed a cruel disregard for her, a callous lack of feeling for her value as a human being. Redemption doesn't equal letting people off the hook, not nolding them accountable. Redemption is about a spiritual relationship, not about people not being held accountable. In fact, if you will think about it, Jesus did NOT set the repentant thief on the cross free. Yes he "redeemed" him; the thief went to Heaven. But he also paid for his crime.

As Christians, we believe that God lent dignity and worth to humanity by the Son of God taking on human flesh - permanently! This message, and all the implications that flow from it, is worth proclaiming and living out in this world.