I have written a paper previously on the subject of false witnessing and what it is so check that article out first before you continue reading this one, as other passages have been covered and retroactively, the points also apply to what I am going to write here: http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/false-witnessing-what-is-it.html
Sexual Abuse Allegations have been around for many years, it even existed in holy scripture, Joseph himself was subject to a false rape claim, namely by Potiphar's Wife in Genesis 39, to which we need the context:
"39 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate."
Very clear here, Joseph through his hard work by the grace of God was so trustworthy and reliable that Potiphar put him in charge of his own household. This definitely speaks to Christians regarding work ethic but that's another issue.
Then we move on to Potiphar's wife herself.
"Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”"
There is no denying she did fall in love (If you want to use that term), but that doesn't make it right. She advances on Joseph to which rightly he says "We are not married, your loyalty should be to your husband, I cannot do this, it's a sin against God and your master has trusted me with his household to run it, I cannot betray his trust like that". Of course she doesn't take that too well and tries to grab him, Joseph flees away and of course, she falsely accuses him of sexual assault, telling the story to the men of the household and her husband the same story.
"19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed."
The end result was Joseph was placed in prison. What God did to compell the keeper to put Joseph in charge of the prison, we don't know, but nevertheless we still get an insight into Joseph as a man of God.
Now let me be very clear, a sexual abuse allegation is a very serious charge. It is not to be made lightly and it's not be made out of spite. Accusing an innocent man (or even an innocent woman) of rape or sexual assualt or vile practice toward you or anyone else will ruin that person's life, whether it be through business termination, being placed on the sex offenders registry or in prison (both can happen), it is a wicked and vile thing to do.
Not only does it ruin the life of an innocent person, it also destroys true victims of sexual assault confidence that their testimony will be believed. How many are now afraid to speak out because of this? Countless.
False rape claims are one of the many problems in the West and men are rightly terrified by them because when one is on the sex offender registries (the countries that have those laws), they have restrictions placed on them and it's hard for them to get employment or retain their jobs or even their home and of course their families suffer abuse and scorn as a result and even after their removal from the registries, they carry this stigma with them for life. Thankfully there was a case some time back where a man was saved from prison by evidence on a recording device which had the woman who accused him convicted instead. There are cases where the innocent have been cleared and their accuser is the one imprisoned instead.
What makes this wicked and evil these false allegations is that as I have said before, there are feminists who actually defend this practice of deception regarding rape claims with the point "Well that case may have been proven false but it makes us aware of the issues of rape in our culture". I am not kidding, there are people who think this way.
The police are not going to take rape claims like that seriously if you keep using deception to falsely imprison innocent men and ruin their lives. It's wickedness like that which prevent real rape claimants from coming forward.
Rape is treated very seriously in western nations and is wicked in the sight of God. You devalue helping actual oppressed women with these lies about innocent men. Putting aside homosexuality being an abomination to God, even in those kinds of relationships, a false allegation is still bad.
I wouldn't be surprised if this actually encouraged people to rape and get away with it because there are no severe consequences for them to reap. If anything, feminists who use false rape claims are part of the problem they supposedly are trying to stop and making people aware of these issues, while also making claims that all men must be taught not to rape women because apparently all men are predators which is absurd and flat out misandry.
Now, having said all of this, there are genuine allegations out there. Harvey Weinstein of the Weinsten Company himself had allegations brought against him, we all know what happened after that and it was terrible what he did and other allegations were brought to light, some true and some false.
It is right to punish wicked individuals guilty of this kind of deviancy but that doesn't change the fact that if a person is innocent, They should tested before punishment and if there is evidence (not false evidence but true evidence) rather than a "he said, she said" account, proving them innocent of charges, they should go free (as long as they are actually not guilty of course), but if they are guilty after a thorough investigation, punishment may be enacted.
Everyone does have the right to a fair trial and believing the victim or supposed victim right away without considering the evidence is not how to conduct justice. We have to have Equal Weights and Even Measures, punishing the guilty and upholding the innocent.
Why didn't you say anything?
Lastly, I am sensitive to the fact that if an individual was subject to sexual assualt as a child or sensistive to the fear that even an adult has if they are going to speak out. We musn't underestimate a predator's power over an individual (or criminals power in general over the public).
That being said, some cases people come out 20-40 years later to bring their allegation. Why? Why wait that long?
Yes, celebrities or people in positions of power can be very powerful and abuse their status to ruin you or your life, but the police are there for protection. That is why they exist and why their ancient equivalents exist.
"First Romans 13:1-5.
"Romans 13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."
And 1 Peter 2:13-17
"13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor."
Both these apostles, in accordance with Jesus' teaching exhorted obedience to governments, however the only time they should be disobeyed, which can be in the TANAKH, is if they tell you to do something against God's commands. Such an example is in Daniel 2 when Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are thrown into the fiery furnace after refusing to bow to an idol created by Nebuchanezzar and of course the story of Daniel in the lion's den that needs no introduction."
But we also see that the police, governors and authorities were created by God principally to punish evildoers. That doesn't mean the government gets it right, or the police are 100% reliable or should be trusted 100% or the time, but what it does mean is if you are suffering injustice, you can go to the authorities to help you out and they will listen to your case.
In cases on television, namely the news, the victim's faces can be obscured as well as their voices if being interviewed. The police can provide protection from your attacker or someone else's attacker, they were designed to punish evil.
It's understandable if you were very young, but you should tell your parents or guardians to help you sort the issue out and get the abuser arrested. If you are a young adult, you should tell the authorities immidiately if someone is making unwanted sexual advances. Don't wait years later and say it then, you aren't doing yourself any favours, you won't get the proper justice you want and you will live a life of victimhood.
Yes, it's not easy to speak against someone doing evil to you, but your testimony early on will prevent more people suffering at the hands of that individual.
Sadly Hollywood to use one example of where a certain hypocrisy exists (of course immorality has existed in Hollywood for years, we shouldn't be surprised) where the female actresses wore black dresses because of the allegations (Harvey Weinstein and others) and yet some of these celebrities have defended people who themselves are also guilty of such allegations (Roman Polanski).
To Hollywood I say, Call out all the celebrities who have engaged in this evil I say, stop following your idolatry of Oscars, Baftas and your career and do something to stop it.
The point is, the fear of losing your job or any threat should not stop you (if you are telling the truth that is) from speaking out against the abuser. The main girl Casey in the film Split who was abused in the film and spoilers for the film is asked by a police officer whether she would like to return to her uncle, the one who did the deed to her.
Tell the police quickly, don't leave it too late and you can save others from being subject to the abuse you suffered.
False rape allegations themselves destroy actual cases of rape and using the excuse for the case of men "It makes people aware of rape issues in the culture" is nothing more than malicious and spiteful misandry, as well as destroying the credibility of those who actually are subject to rape or sexual assault or sexual abuse or have escaped from it.
Liam Allan, a law student, was cleared of allegations against him and it traumatised him when he was two years on bail. This is what a false sexual accusation or allegation does to a man. Even if he is cleared of all charges, will he trust another woman again? Hardly. That is destructive and selfish what was done to him and others like him. He could have been 12 years in prison and on the sex offenders registry for life. Can you imagine an innocent person going through that trauma? It's tragic.
May God expose falsehood and bring truth to light so more innocent people may be vindicated and the Potiphar's Wives of the world, be incarcerated, for the evil they have commited.
Answering Judaism.
