WorldNetDaily: Egyptian rapist blames his victim

(WorldNetDaily gives their hat tip to the Middle East Media Research Institute and especially to their TV project.)

The suspect, Ayman Mahmoud, was found guilty of kidnapping and rape--which rate death in Egypt. (Time was when rape rated death over here.) And in an interview that he gave to Dubai TV (taken by a woman clad from head to toe), he said that his victim, by wearing a dress so short that he wouldn't be able to use the material for a sleeve, has only herself to blame because the very act of dressing immodestly constituted an intractable seduction of him by her.

This is a case study in hypocrisy. If Mr. Mahmoud had one-tenth of the concern for moral behavior that he, as a "good Muslim," is supposed to have, then he would have averted his eyes from her. Right? I mean, isn't a Muslim generally judged on every little thing he did in life? Isn't he supposed to balance out his bad deeds with his good deeds, and then walk a tightrope over a sea of fire in order to get to paradise? (Unless he is KIA in a "holy war"--but that's another debate.) So how can he blame the victim? I haven't even seen anything in the Koran to justify that.

I'll tell you what the Bible says about all this. First, it tells every man to train in his roving eyes. In fact, it even tells you to gouge out your eyes and cut off your hands if that's what it takes not to sin in this area. No place for blaming the victim here.

Now: did that woman conform to a reasonable standard of modesty? No. Now the Bible doesn't tell women to cover their faces. The government even has an interest in people showing their faces so that others can know that they are whom they say they are, and the Bible exhorts us to obey the government in this area. But the Bible does tell women not to display, adorn, or flaunt themselves in public in a manner likely to attract male intimate attention. The reason is simple: if you're not selling, don't advertise. Think about it for a minute: What kind of fashion statement do you really want to make?

Nevertheless, even if a woman is sending a mixed signal, that doesn't excuse the man who follows up on it. And it certainly does not excuse the behavior whereof Mr. Mahmoud was convicted. He can say all he wants, as he actually did, that "she's not human," but that doesn't make her any less human.

Most people don't realize that Christianity puts as much a burden on the man as on the woman. Many other people judge Christianity as no better than Islam. But to be quite honest, I won't even judge Islam by the actions of this excuse-making criminal.