I have been asked how do we communicate what I wrote about yesterday – Welcome to the Sexual Counter-Reformation
The following is an example from this week – I letter I had published in the Courier.
Society reaping what it sows
Sir, – The collective moral panic that is now gripping the chattering classes is becoming ever more shrill and irrational. Alex Bell (Thursday’s Courier) tells us that all men in all trades and professions are the problem. While this sounds very humble, it is just simply not true.
It is not the case that it is all men who are to blame, nor is the abuse of sex and power reserved just to men – although the majority is. In the past year in England and Wales, there were 31,886 sexual assaults of women and 4,635 of men. Women can be as guilty of men in terms of using power to abuse.
In the simplistic narrative which says that it’s just a male problem, there is a danger that we miss the elephant in the room. We reap what we sow.
When our society desacralised sex – removed it from any connection with marriage, family and children – and thought that we could have what we want, when we want, without consequences, what did we expect would happen? Did no one foresee the increase in sexually transmitted diseases, the broken homes and the sexual abuse of power?
The idea that by just passing laws or making pompous, virtue-signalling, self-righteous comments we will solve this problem is a dangerous and delusional fantasy.
When will we wake up to the fact that if we have rejected the roots of Christianity on which our society was founded, we cannot long expect to retain the fruits? Repentance is an old-fashioned word but it’s a concept and practice that is sorely needed in modern Britain.
David Robertson.
St Peter’s Free Church, 4 St Peter Street, Dundee.
This is one of the reactions it got:
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
A good letter from David and an even better reply. Wonderful to see rational Christian debate which puts proper perspective on these huge issues facing us.
In case the Courier does not print my letter, here is my response:
David Robertson sees a dubious connection between sexual freedom and the sexual abuse of power (Society reaping what it sows) He fails to mention that domestic abuse, child abuse, rape, incest and sexual harassment have been with us from the beginning, including some appalling examples from within the Christian church. The real problems are misogyny and patriarchy. One would hope that the Christians would be leading the campaign against these abuses, but perhaps it is not surprising that their voice is so weak, given the continuing homophobic and sexist teachings in some of our churches.
As I said a nasty and vicious letter seeking to denigrate and misrepresent Christians. Do you get pleasure out of lying about what people say in order to further your own ideology?
No, I did not lie, nor would I take pleasure in doing so. Nor do I have any wish to denigrate or misrepresent Christians. I simply want you to truthfully situate what you say about sexual abuse of power within its historical context, rather than implying it is purely a result of 1960s sexual liberation.
I’m afraid that you did ‘misrepresent’. And I did point out the consequences of 1960’s sexual liberation (within the wider context) which has turned out not to be liberation at all. Its what happens when we decide to go our own way, rather than follow Christs.
“there were 31,886 sexual assaults of women and 4,635 of men. Women can be as guilty of men in terms of using power to abuse.”
These two sentences don’t really follow. (also where did those states come from?)
Do you mean 31886 sexual assaults by women?
I ask because you seem to be making the assumption that 4635 men were victims of sexual assault by women. Which of course seems to reject the notion that men can rape and assault men. Whilst your preference for thinking about sex is binary male/female the world isnt like that. Men get raped by otherwise straight men.
Whilst women do abuse and do abuse power the numbers are far lower and it does make me wonder why you brought it up. I mean, I know you arent a great fan of women having a position over men but that doesnt make them behave in the same way as men in power over women.