Tuesday, May 05, 2015

People who belong in a convent......

Now this might come as something of a surprise to you, because I am a Baptist, and ordinarily, I think that cloistering is an un-Biblical way of interacting with the world.  But in some cases, I will make exceptions, and here is one of them

More or less, National Review has located a young lady who is doing Antioch College one better by not only insisting on verbal permission before going to the next stage in romance, but is also saying that sometimes when she says "yes", she really means "no", and any man who proceeds on her yes that really means no ought to be liable to rape charges.  Apparently a lack of ESP is not a defense in such a situation.

Now if they go for written permission, you could have the fascinating spectacle of a young lady being tried for perjury while her lover is tried for rape, but I thing the best cure is prevention; young lady, if you're so confused over romance that you're not quite sure what you mean when you say "yes", then maybe convent life is for you.

Or, speaking a little more charitably, the writer is a Yugoslav-American who apparently not only has problems with how to give consent in intimate matters, but even has trouble with traditional Mediterranean-area family greetings.  I'd have to suggest that some time with a competent counselor might be just the ticket, whether her name is "Mother Superior" or not.

8 comments:

Gino said...

heh... cloisters are not intended to interact with the world in a traditional way.
the intent is to keep worldly ways at bay while dedicating oneself to service in The Lord.

Mother Angelica is one such example.

as for being un-Biblical? Sunday worship is unbiblical. as is Easter and Christmas celebrations. you'd have to show me something that says the bible forbids such thing.

but being 'not of this world' is clearly a Bible thing, because Jesus Himself spoke of it... in the Bible.
(and i dont think he meant for you to put a NOTW bumper sticker on your car. talk about unbiblical. nobody in the bible used those bumper stickers).

Bike Bubba said...

:^) Now the question is whether the fellow sisters in the convent would subject the young lady to unwanted affection as well.

I've been in a convent or two (my kids practice handbells at one), and the warmth of the sisters I've met is unmistakeable--some are downright playful, even with strangers.

Gino said...

those convents arent cloisters, though.

Bike Bubba said...

How are you differentiating the two? I just find that a cloister is a covered walk in a convent.

Of course, completely apart from the reality that the big thing here is that the world needs to be protected from people who think that their yes can mean no when that's convenient. :^)

Gino said...

a cloistered nun lives her life with little outside-the-walls contact, if any at all.

some are very, very strict...(and rare)... others less so.

your typical convent of nuns is not a cloister... and far from it.

in my life, i have never set eyes upon a cloistered nun, and i know of nobody else who has, either.

they live as hermits, so to speak, with little to no physical contact with the world, in a life of constant prayer offered up for the sins of all.

Mother Angelica began her ministry in a cloister, but not an extreme one.
every religious order is different, like a college sorority, they make they own rules and set their own mission.(or ministry, to use evangelical terms).

most are focused on the things that you and i see in our life: teaching, schools, hospitals etc... our seeing them in action makes them non-cloisters by definition.

there are very very few truly cloistered nuns in the world today. (maybe a few hundred world wide, if that)

Bike Bubba said...

OK, so now the big question; does the person who thinks her "yes" can mean "no" belong in a convent, a cloister, or neither? :^)

Thanks for the explanation, BTW.

Gino said...

i'd say 'neither'. the nuns dont need any extra drama in the house.

Bike Bubba said...

Agreed--but there is an interesting irony that the nuns will risk HIV for the sake of testing a vaccine, but probably not this gal. Not that I blame them.