Christians, if the bible is a moral guide, why does it tell rapists to marry their victims?

"That is the Old Testament" and "Jesus changed that " and "we are under grace now" is what they say. Unless there is something in the Old Testament that they like as a moral guide, then it is one of "god's laws."

Even the Old Testament writers recognized different forms of rape. A violent rapist-the kind most people think of when they hear about rape-incurred the death penalty. The girl was considered innocent, so much so that the OT writer (possibly Moses) said that she was the same as the victim of a murder: blameless.

The statutory rapist was another matter. The Jews had outlawed cult prostitution, but no moral law takes away any man's horny tendencies. Then, as now, men would seduce young girls. We would call this 'statutory' rape; technically the young woman was not legally permitted to consent to the act, BUT it wasn't actually violent. Boy meets girl under the apple tree and VA VA VA VOOM...and they get busted by the girl's father. You get the idea.

Now, a Jewish man had the 'right' to prosecute his wife-and have her executed-if on their wedding night, she was not 'proved' to be a virgin. She would have faced a public trial and her parents would have to prove that she had not been loose or immoral. The bloody sheets from the wedding night were proof of her virginity. If, however, the man had seduced the girl prior to the wedding night, then of course there is no 'proof' of her virginity. Hence the statutory rape/guess-what-horny-dog-you're-married-now law. The girl was generally given the benefit of the doubt, since there were (usually) no witnesses to the act, but "Daddy, guess what Benjamin did to me in the hayloft last Sabbath?" was pretty damning. The Horny Dog had to man up and pay the 'bride price' for the girl he had seduced, which gave her family back her honor. He was also publicly lashed, b/c seducing young girls was frowned upon.

Ultimately, the girl's father got to say whether or not the girl married the guy. Dad had the right to refuse. Horny Dog was still fined and whipped whether or not he ended up with a wife. The girl marrying her seducer was an option, not an automatic sentence.

They can't answer w/o taking things 'out of context' and/or ignoring other beliefs. For example, if a woman was raped, you would think that either her father, or another male relative, or even a concerned male that liked her, would step up to help out. But according to Fireball (who has blocked me from replying), it's OK for the tribe to view her as damaged goods and leave her no other choice but to marry her rapist.

Women were basically chattel at that point in time. By raping a young woman, a man would ruin her value to potential spouses. In order to make the victim's family whole, he would be required to marry her and take her off their hands.

It's a good Samaratin/charitable works thing. Who would want her after she's been defiled. Seriously though, there is nothing funny about rape and certainly nothing holy. That these people never had the good sense to edit this crap out after all these years just shows how important it is for young people to reject this nonsense. Can't save the older ones. Well most of them anyway.

If she cried out in the city- he was to die!

If he was accused of raping her in the country he was to die!

If she failed to cry out in the city- it was considered a seduction and not rape.

The closest relative was given the job of being "the avenger" and this was considered (in some places still is) a position of great honor.

Now the man might try to claim it was "consensual" and offer the brides price to the father. It could be accepted or rejected. There were cities of refuge for the accused to flee too in hopes of getting a fair hearing.

It does not tell rapists to marry their victims. It is not a simple instruction Manuel in which the reader is to assume that every command is meant for him and every "you" means the reader.

Did you see what she was wearing? She was probably asking for it, needing to find a husband and all.

In that time if a woman was raped she lost her chances of financial support of any potential future husband. But yea that society had many flaws and many misogynistic ideas.

come into the NEW Testament and it will all become crystal clear