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.
And maybe she has.
It appears that between to commenter’s he
Well, I got the song Imaginary Lover out of my head, but now the Billy Idol hit, DANCIN’ W/ MYSELF is playing over and over again. LOL! At least it’s a better song. A good workout song. People who exercise are happier people.
Inga – Darren took care of the problem because JT was on vacation. However, JT’s comment was that he would have banned you.
I just don’t think it helps things to not allow each other to move on. We all have our weaknesses and strengths. I appreciate many of I. Annie’s posts, she seems to come from a place of zealous mercy, and you justice. I heard that is the definition of wisdom. mercy and justice combined. Maybe you should have coffee…?
Jane – wisdom is knowledge plus experience. Experience comes from learning from your mistakes.
Jane I think Bam Bam and BarkinDog are attorneys, according to what they’ve said about themselves here on RIL. Can you imaging a BarkinDog, Esquire? Or a BamBam Esquire? Neo is an interesting guy, I wonder what he does for a living, I could see him as a CIA agent or some such covert job, LOL. 😎
LOl Jane, I actually thought of using Jane Doe at one time.😆
oops, Eyre, typo.
Jane, Paul is referring to a day in which I played a joke. I think perhaps he needs to hold up a mirror before accusing other people of things. Professor Turley does not say we cannot use pseudonyms. He respects our privacy, unlike some of his commenters. I suggest Paul review the civility rules.
Ah, apparently he did not like the joke. Pseudonyms are a common and accepted practice on the Internet. I am sure Barkin Dog, bam bam, and Neo are all pseudonyms. 🙂 I, of course, use a psuedonym also. I like Jane; Plain Jane, Jane Doe, Jane Erye, that is sort of how I view myself.
The Bible passage you quote to support your assertion that “the Bible does discuss slavery and the right to beat…slaves” states just the opposite: that if someone physically harms a servant, “he shall let him go free” for the harm he has inflicted. This so clear, it seems impossible you could have mistaken this honestly. The only defense you might have is itself less than honest: i.e., that you didn’t say the Bible “advocates” slavery, only that it “discusses” slavery. Of course, every antebellum abolitionist meeting also “discussed” slavery and the *supposed* (but wrong) “rights of slave owners”, but the implication of your statement is that the “discussion” in the Bible was an endorsement of slavery, and that the “right to beat slaves” was being approved by the Bible, rather than being denied.
For some odd reason, the song IMAGINARY LOVERS keeps playing in my head. Why is it that good songs never get caught in a cycle in your head. Just horrible songs like, IMAGINARY LOVERS. Sad.
Thanks Jane, I’ll check it out.
I. Annie, we went to an Assembly of God church, too for awhile. So, yeah, we know fundamentalism. When you need a rest from the vitriolic of this community, come over to http://maryreynoldsthompson.com/
I just finished an online course with Mary Reynolds offered by Treesisters.org and the resulting community that I am a part of is SO refreshing.
Raven, that was horrible about your snake. Cotton mouths don’t like to stray from their homes, typically cypress swamps, creeks, dams, rivers, sloughs, and bayous. If they live on dry land it would be below logs, or in thickets, but still close to water. If a snake comes out of a cornfield it was probably a Southern Black Racer, which do sometimes chase people! A bit disconcerting to most folks, (but not inquisitive children.) Believe me, the men, and women where I lived on Sand Mountain knew a rattler or copperhead when they see one, and what time of year, and days they are likely to come out. And they knew the value of black snakes. Besides, who wants to waste a bullet? Only those who like to kill for sport.
jane: “They stopped and killed rattlers in the road for me too, knowing I had young children nearby.”
When I was a young boy, staying for awhile with my aunt in rural Missouri, one day I was walking home down a dirt road between cornfields when an animal came casually out of the corn and began following me home — a large black snake, keeping pace, not even trying to catch up with me. So I didn’t run and exhaust myself (not a good idea to have to stop and catch my breath, I thought), but just kept an eye behind until in sight of my aunt gardening, then ran to tell her what had followed me. She shooed me onto the porch, picked up a hoe by the wall, walked to meet the snake and calmly chopped it apart.
Well, I was impressed… and a bit sorry for the snake.
“Black racer,” she told me. I learned that was a non-venomous constrictor, dangerous only to animals the size of frogs or birds (though it might strike at humans if frightened). The thing was, until you had a chance to look at it close (i.e. when it was safely dead), it resembled a black moccasin — which is venomous — so best not wait to examine it before killing it.
Poor snake.
Jane, I thank God that you commented. I’m sorry to hear that you went through all the trails and tribulations you did with ATI, that your life is being mended and I’m happy that your daughter turned out well! Giving you a virtual hug. I was raised in a fundamentalist home, Assemblies of God. While my parents were strict they were loving and sometimes actually even bucked the church on some things as we got older. I left the church as soon as I was 18. After my father’s death, my mother left the Assemblies and went back to her Lutheran roots. As an adult with young children I was a member of the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod for ten years before becoming disillusioned once again. For quite a few years I attended different churches on occasion, or no church at all. This past year I started attending a Presbyterian church and have found it to be to something I’ve been looking for at this time in my life. As for the so called “Christians” here, I can only say that if they are representative of their personal faith, they are indeed poorly representing it. Human decency is sometimes in short supply in church pews, as well as on blog comments sections. Thanks for the kind words. There should be more commenter’s like yourself and Believer on threads like this. As for them calling me Inga, that’s my real name. I used to use only Annie as a psuedonym, but some not so nice person decided to publish my real name here, so I used it instead of Annie for a while. I don’t really care which one they choose to use. Professor Turley sometimes deletes the more egregious stuff some of them post, some of it slips by. I won’t stop commenting here as these folks need an opposing voice, desperately.
Jane, sometimes the swine just need a good roll in the mud to feel good about themselves.
And what is up with those who insist on calling you Inga when you are posting as I. Annie? I alwys thought that was so rude. It does not matter whether you have posted before as Inga or your christian name is Inga. You are posting as I. Annie and that should be respected.
:-/ I don’t see the harm in addressing her as she wishes.
Oh, okay, point taken.
I. Annie. I was an ATI mother… for ten years. (That is part of the reason I have seven children. 🙂 We all went to the Basic and Advanced Seminars. Our teens went to different trainings, my oldest daughter actually worked serving Gothard up in Chicago for a year at age 17 with other (attractive, female) teens. She is now 37, happily married with three children. The other girls with whom she dormmed did not fare so well. Abuse, abortions, early unsuited marriages that your Dad (alone) decided on. I believe my children did so well as adults and escaped their fellow ATI children’s fate and hypocrisy is because when they were still teens, and my oldest was 19, I broke, literally broke down from the whole load of being “a godly mother and wife.” Rebuilding my mental and physical health included jettisoning my church and husband. That was 15 years ago. I have been brutally honest (and compassionate in the extreme) with myself and with the children since that time, and it has been our saving grace. The abuse you take here on this blog Annie is ridiculous. The hallmark of a christian is supposed to be love, compassion, kindness, all of the fruits of the spirit. “I am meek and lowly, learn of me.” – Jesus. But you are being flayed on this blog by…the Christians. Don’t throw your pearls before swine. They don’t have the ears to hear. They are a stiff-necked people.
This is what Cutting Edge Ministries thinks of Catholicism. Is this what you too believe Lisa?
http://youtu.be/wawyhwsFLTQ
“Inga – that you call yourself a Christian made me spit up my coffee. You owe me a new keyboard.”
Lol, exactly. She’s the know it all of everything! All she does is sit and attack people on this blog all day. Leftwinglunatic.com was founded by her. Hahahahaha