Right-wing historian shoots himself in Notre Dame cathedral 'in protest at gay marriage'

[happyslug]

71. You may be close, that is how Rape was treated in ancient times

Now, the writers of the Catechism wanted to avoid the Abortion issue, for at the time of the Ten Commandments it was NOT considered Murder or any other violation of the Ten Commandments (And this was the Catholic Rule till 1869).

Side note: The modern concept of Property is relatively young. When I was young we would call people "Indian Givers" when they took back something they gave to us. The reason for this was simple, by the time of the Settlement of the US, Europeans were slowly adopting the concept that when you owned something, it was absolute. On the other hands, Native Americans did NOT have that concept, when they gave something as a gift, such a granting of a gift included the concept they would take it back and use it themselves without permission. This conflict of definition of gift was noted as early as the 1500s (before European settlement of the US and Canada). It survived in the language of the Children of where I grew up in rural Western Pennsylvania (I lived in a old Coal Patch, that was slowing being surrounded by Suburbia, but it still was a Rural Coal Patch not a suburban development). Just a side note that what we considered "Theft" has NOT always been the rule, in the Code of Justinian (C 550 AD), theft was NOT even a crime, if someone stole from you, you had only recourse was a Civil Suit for the Value of what was taken.

This changing definition of property brings me to the subject of Rape in the Catholic Catechism. Rape, is NOT mentioned in the Ten Commandments for it was covered by other aspects, including "Stealing". I.e. to rape someone, was the same as taking some piece of property from that person, i.e. thief and thus did NOT have to have a separate listing as a sin, for at the time the ten Commandments were written, rape did not have to be mentioned for it was covered by the Seventh Commandment that you should NOT steal.

In the story of Lot in Sodom, the problem was NOT that the men in the town wanted to have sex with the Angels that came to save Lot, but the Sin was the desire of the Townsmen to RAPE those angels (and thus violated the ancient rule of hospitality, i.e. guests were to be protected by the people they were visiting). If you read the story of Lot, it is clearly that the townsmen wanted to do HARM to the Angels that was the problem, not that they were "Sodomites".

Rape was reported over and over again in the Bible and always attacked as a great sin, yet it did NOT make the list of evil sins in the Ten Commandments. The reason for this was simple, it did NOT have to be listed for what was listed included anything where using force to have sex was already a sin. The Seventh Commandment "Thou shall not steal" covers Rape, you should NOT take someone's personal integrity from them, but having sex with them against their will, when someone rapes someone else, the rapist is stealing that person bodily integrity and as such a violation of the Seventh Commandment.

Now the writers of the Catechism wanted to avoid justifying abortion, but abortion, like Rape is NOT mentioned in the Ten Commandments. The reason is since 1869 Abortion has been called the same as murder, even through that was NOT the case when the Ten Commandments were written. Thus the writers were in a bind, if they included rape under the seventh commandment, for it was "Stealing" at the time the Ten Commandments were written, they had to also point out Abortion was NOT murder at the same time. For this reason the Writers of the Catechism decided NOT to mention Rape, as it was seen at the time of the Ten Commandments were written, for that would open the door to view Abortion as it was seen when the Ten Commandments were written.

For the above reasons the Catechism has a hard time with rape, the authors of the Catechism wanted to call Rape a Mortal Sin, but also did not want to say Rape was a violation of the Commandment not to steal, as that commandment was interpreted at the time the Ten Commandments were written for if they did, that opened the door to Abortion NOT being Murder at the time the Ten Commandments were written.

Now, the concept that the Seventh Commandment was intended to cover more then physical property can be seen in 2414 of the Catechism forward:

2414 The seventh commandment forbids acts or enterprises that for any reason—selfish or ideological, commercial, or totalitarian—lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, in disregard for their personal dignity. It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit. St. Paul directed a Christian master to treat his Christian slave “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother,... both in the flesh and in the Lord.”

The above should included rape (and in my opinion does) but rape was NOT mentioned (but implied) for that was a way for the Writers to avoid Abortion, as Abortion was viewed when the Ten Commandments were written.

Just a comment that you may NOT be that far off from the position of the Catholic Church when you mention coveting things "owned" by others.