Most sensible Brits have been scandalized by a revelation that a candidate for the London Assembly believes "rape is simply sex." Yes, that's an actual quote, straight from the blog of the British National Party's London leader, Nick Eriksen. So is this: "Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal." And this: "To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that force feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence." (Excuse me for one moment while I return my eyeballs to their sockets.)
There is, thankfully, some good news: After these comments surfaced, the British National Party decided to remove Eriksen as its second-place candidate. But there's also bad news: The party's other senior officials have come to his defense and it's unclear whether he will also be sacked as the party's London leader. BNP deputy leader Simon Darby says the bad press Eriksen received over his boiling-mad blog post is part of a smear campaign that took his comments "completely out of context. So, in context, Eriksen's comparison of rape to force-fed chocolate cake is reasonable, right? Let's take a look at the blog post in question, titled "RAPE: LIES, LIES, LIES":
Rape is simply sex (I am talking about 'husband-rape' here, for those who deliberately seek to misunderstand me). Women enjoy sex, so this type of 'rape' cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal. To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that force feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence. A woman would be more inconvenienced by having her handbag snatched ... Again, for those who are seeking to cause trouble by deliberately misunderstanding me: yes, violent rape by a stranger in the street is a terrible crime, but I am not talking about that -- I am talking about 'husband-rape'.
When taking his comments in context, I can conclude that he believes the following:
1) Choosing to do something and being forced to do it are practically the same thing
2) When a woman is forced to have sex with someone she knows -- which is the case with the vast majority of rapes -- it's, ehh, not so bad
3) Husband and acquaintance rape are never violent
4) A husband deserves total and utter control over his wife's body -- whether he's forcing her to have sex or eat chocolate cake
I'm afraid Eriksen -- who has also called for men to strike their wives "like a gong" -- almost comes off better out of context. News flash to Eriksen and his supporters: It isn't that your critics intentionally misinterpret his argument, it's that they disagree with him with every fiber of their being.
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