Take Back the Night. It’s a noble cause. The BG News interviewed organizers and participants in the recent rally, and came up with some fascinating – and disturbing – insights.
One such participant is cited as saying “even those of us who haven’t been victimized are afraid to walk at night ” None of us is safe, and that’s not fair.” And the solution proposed by the rally is, of course, to “raise awareness.”
What does that even mean? A sexual assailant is someone who has no regard for the person he is forcibly taking possession of.
It is a crime so egregious that I fully support extending the death penalty to all cases of pedophilia and premeditated rape. “Raising awareness” does nothing to deter such individuals.
I do, however, respect Take Back the Night because it has a much more valuable – and unambiguous – goal: support.
Reports indicate that the majority of sexually-based violence is not reported. If this event can help change that, I give it my full support.
Other events lack a similarly noble undercurrent. I have seen transgender awareness events which present mock gravestones with the names of individuals murdered for their alternative lifestyles.
But what’s the point? These protesters co-opt the victims of tragedy to do nothing but validate their culture of victimization and secure their spot on the moral high ground.
Two summers ago I worked in Montana for a political research organization. All interns lived on the ranch, isolated from the rest of the world.
Well, one day we were having a conversation about cultural iconography and offensiveness. The inspiration for the topic was one of those creepy-looking “Darwin Fish” car stickers.
I was contending that images that mock Christianity are on a level with jokes mocking gay stereotypes; we should either accept a laugh at our expense every so often, or we’re forced to tiptoe around every subject of merit.
The resident gay rights advocate – a female – was not convinced.
According to her, it was an egregious violation to compare the two. Members of the gay community have been assaulted – obviously true – and that judging by my words she would never again feel safe alone in my presence – also obviously ” wait, what?
I was livid. I had just been informed that, because I am some combination of white, male, Christian and conservative (or, in my case, all of the above) I was inherently inclined toward assault and rape. (If you agree with that sentiment, please don’t reply – I have no interest in or respect for the views of someone so irrational.)
And in one revelatory moment I finally understood why these protests get under my skin.
They aren’t advocating for harsher penalties for violent criminals and only rarely do they advocate for increased powers for law enforcement.
Instead, they assign blame in a carpet-bombing fashion. I don’t support gay rights? I must be a potential rapist.
Take Back the Night claims women should feel safe walking alone after dark. OK, but why are you telling me?
If I were an assailant, your slogans would be meaningless to me, and since I’m not an assailant ” your slogans are meaningless to me, except of course for being implicitly offensive. Are we seeing a problem here?
I know this will come up, so I’ll address it here: This is not the Holocaust, or the genocides of Rwanda or Sudan or even serial killer territory.
Those we study. We learn the patterns – what to look for in individuals that might give us a clue to their darker nature, in the hopes that in the future we can stop such things from happening. We failed to stop such horrid crimes in Rwanda and Darfur, and succeeded in Iraq (unless you want to contend that Hussein was not a homicidal maniac). None of these are viably addressed by picket slogans and signs.
I’ll close on a final appeal: Let the dead rest in peace. Every protest invokes the names of the victims, and no matter how respectful the protesters intend to be, they are still hijacking those persons for their personal gain.
In the wake of school shooting I wanted to write about concealed carry rights. I chose not to because, no matter how fervently I believe in it, I will not invoke the name of victims for my gain.
Yet we see no problem in listing those killed in Iraq to protest the war, and those killed in domestic violence to protest white Christian conservative men in entirety.
I get it, you feel strongly about your beliefs – let’s sit down, talk about it, and try to come up with a real policy proposition.
But first, learn to respect both the living and the deceased.
