There is a chilling case out of Port St. Lucie, Florida where a couple allegedly kept a 13-year-old girl as a sex slave while home schooling her in an isolated existence. In a Christian counterpart to ISIS (which has a widespread sex slave system of captive girls), the couple reportedly taught the girl passages of the Bible that they say justified such sexual domination and abuse. Rob Johnson, 44, and his wife, Marie Johnson, 43, have been released on bail (of $60,000 each) pending trial on felony sexual assault charges.
The girl was taken into the home after the death of her mother but was allegedly told immediately that she would have to have sex with both adults and was forced to call the husband “master.” She was beaten for disobeying.
The girl finally was able to leave the home when her grandmother sent her a plane ticket.
The Johnsons have two sons under 10 years old and two adult-age sons.
I am surprised to see only two felony charges for sexual assault and not charges linked to the alleged imprisonment of the girl against her will. The news stories indicate that the girl was kept from the outside world but there is indication of charges related to that aspect of the alleged crime.
It is not clear what passages are cited but the Bible does discuss slavery and the right to beat and have sex with slaves. For example, Exodus 21:26-27 states “And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.”
The most famous examples involved wives who could not have children:
Genesis 16:1-2: “Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.”
Genesis 30:3-4: “And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.”
Genesis 30:9-10: “When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.”
Indeed, it appeared only if the slave or servant was betrothed to another that a master had to make a sacrifice for raping her:
Leviticus 19:20-22: “And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.”
Of course, none of this is admissible as a religious defense in a criminal trial. It could still be entered as evidence of the conditions and underlying facts of the crime. However, if admitted, I would expect an instruction from the court on such claims not being viable defenses to a crime like rape.
Ah, the “segue”, lol. Where is DBQ to scold commenter’s who get off topic? She says it’s “rude to Professor Turley” to veer off topic.
Apparently some people missed the segue into firearms from Isaac’s comment:
“We practice this selective interpretation ourselves daily in much less onerous ways. The 2nd amendment is a prime example. Just as with the ancient texts of the bible, much is left out so that enough can stand to support nonsense.”
I too wonder what wildlife in one’s backyard has to do with the abuse of this child.
Wait a second. What the hell does a deity’s whim regarding production of children via slaves, thousands of years ago, have to do with holding a teenage girl and quoting the Bible whilst using her for sexual gratification ? And, what the hell does having rattlers and mountain lions in the area have to with it? Hell, I can understand the simple safety angle with wildlife. I can understand racking a 12 gauge to chase someone away from your door. Law abiding citizens? Most gun ownership is people believing they need “protection” against people like themselves.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/20/the-sinister-side-of-home-schooling.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/
Fundamentalists believe everything in the Bible is infallible. Fundamentalist belief systems help allow this sort of scenario to happen. Homeschooling also keeps these children out of the view of greater society. I’m not saying that all homeschooled children are at risk, but there are more stories leaking out about homeschooled children from fundamentalist homes that are very disturbing.
http://www.salon.com/2014/09/10/how_christian_fundamentalist_homeschooling_damages_children_partner/
http://prospect.org/article/homeschool-apostates
What about the admonition against homosexuality in the Bible? Wasn’t that also in the Old Testament? Why should people be given an accommodation for such religious belief? If giving accomfation regarding serving gay people because it’s against some ancient Old Testament Bible verses, why aren’t the Bible verses that inspired these deviants to sexually abuse this girl not legitimate religious belief? Do believers who take certain Bible verses literally have the same right to all Bible verses literally? Maybe that’s why we should use common sense when giving ‘believers’ accommodations under the law. If it’s against a secular law, it should remain illegal under any and all belief systems.
Isaac:
Do you oppose the 2nd Amendment?
We use guns here every summer to remove rattlers over 4 feet long. I really would not want to get close enough to try to behead one with a blunt shovel. Would you? I have a little boy who likes to run outside. We welcome the non venomous snakes, but rattlers have to be removed for safety. We’ve found them in our backyard striking at our dogs. My neighbor had his dog taken by a mountain lion while he was on a walk on his property. My friend was stuck in her mom’s house because there was a mountain lion on the front porch trying to drag their cat out from underneath. (It couldn’t get the kitty and left.) Plus, we live in a rural area on a dirt road, and it can take quite a while for police to find anyone out here. My dad prevented a break in during the night simply by chambering a round on the other side of the door. He didn’t say a word. There was a pause, and then the guy clearly said, “I’m really sorry. I’ll be leaving now.”
You might not need a firearm, but other people do. It’s just a tool. Statistically, the vast majority of gun violence is perpetrated by gangs. It’s not the law abiding citizens that are the problem, obviously.
Thank you, Karen S. This is a big country with all sorts of urban and rural places in it. I have never owned a gun but like that we can. I never felt so safe as when I was in Alabama where the neighbors would stride by with their guns. They stopped and killed rattlers in the road for me too, knowing I had young children nearby.
Isaac – LOL !Yes, stoning is an appropriate biblical sentence.
But don’t anyone think they were only using the Old Testament to bolster their authority.
In Ephesians wives are enjoined ” Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church.” and
Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.”
1 Timothy 2:11,12 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection…
Titus 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their husbands…
1 Peter 3:1-6 Likewise, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands;
These admonitions carry A LOT of weight in these families, and are obeyed in toto.
Only the most depraved minds enjoy reading the old Testament. Reading the new Testament still requires depravity, but not quite so much. For a more accurate broader perspective of ancient history read Will Durant’s Story of Civilization. It’s much better written, much more inspiring, and much more accurate.
doglover – you know Will Durant married his student, right?
davidm2575
The Bible, along with the other enduring religious books are society’s rules to govern with authority coming from the WTF answers. That they were written in a time where most of what we endure no longer exists but much of who we are does, allows these words to be perverted. A brief look at history will illustrate this.
The over riding values of any and all of these books/religions is common sense and common morality. The perversion of sacred texts to suit a select few is a common method illustrated daily. We read about it with ISIS and other countries in the Middle East where ‘religious states’ pervert the common denominator to suit a specific type to varying degrees of agony and death for those that don’t go along. We practice this selective interpretation ourselves daily in much less onerous ways. The 2nd amendment is a prime example. Just as with the ancient texts of the bible, much is left out so that enough can stand to support nonsense.
This is a human trait, to find authority in precedent instead of looking at the situation as it is, in context. In context, these two people perverted the Bible for sexual self gratification and should do some serious time. In a Biblical world, they should have been stoned.
David is correct. This is Old Testament, reflective of a time thousands of years ago in antiquity when slavery was ubiquitous. It was considered advanced for its time in which it encoded standards on how to treat servants and slaves. The New Testament was used by abolitionists in their argument to free the slaves.
The Old Testament also discusses stoning, burning bulls as sacrifice, and any number of activities that were considered good family fun when it was written 4,000 to 2500 years ago.
Throw the book at these people (heck, throw a nice, heavy, leather bound King James Bible at them), charge them with everything possible, get their children away for them, and get that poor little girl into counseling.
These people have the mark of extremists – those who take fanaticism to the level of violence and imposing their view on others.
I sense some anti-Bible, anti-religious rhetoric in this article by Professor Turley.
It might be prudent to point out that all the passages about the Bible encouraging “sex with slaves” mentioned in the article are not really that at all. These examples were from a time period BEFORE the law of God was given to mankind. The people lived under the Code of Hammurabi. There was a provision in the Code of Hammurabi that forced barren wives to provide wives for their husbands. In each of these situations, the servant was elevated to the status of wife for the purpose of producing children. This was not the Bible endorsing a hedonist philosophy of masters having sex with slaves.
Why aren’t these people labelled evil like those who join ISIS?
They are labelled as “chilling”. Ethics is an interesting study… Especially when applied to law professors…
FFS died and now people are coming back over here to kill this site.
Awful, but not uncommon in fundamentalist circles. Tom Kizzia wrote a book on one family’s devolution. The awful grip the father has when citing scripture for his authority. http://www.tomkizzia.com/pilgrims-wilderness.html
Paul
“She wasn’t imprisoned against her will….” She was beaten for disobeying.
“And when the grandmother sent the ticket for her to leave, they let her leave.” This kind of tells the perps that someone else is now involved.
“Home schooling is not against the law.” This sort of sex education is.
“I just cannot imagine what is going on in their brains.” Not much if anything. This is indicative of that part of the brain near the spinal cord which operates pretty much on stimuli only. You want something and you get it, regardless.
The bail should have been so much they could not get out, if there was sufficient evidence that they had done this.
This sort of activity is a level or type of criminality that seems to be ‘understood’ by our society. If proven guilty these two should do a minimum of thirty years without parole. They will probably be out in less than five.
Need a tough old testament judge for this trial. How about Samson?
Judges 15:16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
She wasn’t imprisoned against her will because she was sent there. And when the grandmother sent the ticket for her to leave, they let her leave. Home schooling is not against the law.
I have difficulty understanding these husband/wife pairs where they sexually abuse a child. I just cannot imagine what is going on in their brains.
i can visualize how this thread will devolve.
OMG! After I finish puking, I may have more intelligent things to say! Why was the bond so flipping low???