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From: quint@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Amqueue)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: Something NEW...
Message-ID: <4102@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Mon, 21-Oct-85 01:53:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.4102
Posted: Mon Oct 21 01:53:19 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 22-Oct-85 07:03:05 EDT
References: <5986@cbscc.UUCP> <5@uscvax.UUCP> <6032@cbscc.UUCP> <1333@ihlpg.UUCP> <590@linus.UUCP> <917@utcs.uucp> <2232@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Reply-To: quint@topaz.UUCP (Amqueue)
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 36

In article <2232@brl-tgr.ARPA> matt@brl-tgr.ARPA (Matthew Rosenblatt ) writes:
>
>Yup.  And "we" abhor it so much that "we" made it illegal, subject to
>heavy punishment.  WHO made rape illegal?  Well, rape was outlawed
>in England and the U.S. long before women had any say at all in the
>government, so it must have been MEN who made rape illegal, after
>seeing the suffering it brings.  Men didn't want their wives, sisters,
>mothers and daughters to suffer.  The victims of rape could not speak
>for themselves in a legal forum, so "merciful men, the sons of merciful
>men" had to speak for them.  (Forced sex, even with one's wife, has
>ALWAYS been against Jewish religious law.)
>					-- Matt Rosenblatt

     I know nothing about Jewish law, but I do know something about general
history, being in a Medeival Recreation Group... The more probable reason
that MEN outlawed rape was because 

a) when done to a virgin, it decreased the girl's value on the
marriage market, and so the girl would have to have a larger dower,
or would fetch a lower bride-price (depending on the culture) 

b) since there were no common contraceptives (once Christianity got
rolling  and any knowledge of herbs was considered witchcraft, aside
from the vatican's opinions on contraceptives) the woman was most
likely to get pregnant, and there would be a mouth to feed that would
be useless...   what man wants to break his back feeding someone
else's kid, especially one not wanted?    And think of the disgrace
to the nobility!   And it obviously proved the woman was a slut,
cause what man would do that without provocation....  

So while Im sure there were men who took into consideration the
things mentioned by Matt, I think it was mostly cause Rape was
'damaging the merchandise'; women were considered property till a
depressingly long time into this century...

/amqueue