Healing the wounds of rape.

[elshiva]

What is the best way to comfort a victim of rape from a Christian viewpoint?

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Assuage his/her guilt and shame, and affirm their value and worth as a human being

and a daughter/son of God who loves him/her dearly, who despises rape, and who seeks only right relationships between people, and between people and God.

Mostly, just listen to his/her story, share their pain, don't treat them as abnormal or something fragile, don't tell then not to share their story or be offended by the candor of graphic details of it, let him/her share his/her pain in all its forms and affirm it all as natural, okay, and nothing to be ashamed of.

[elshiva]

2. Thank you. Could you please talk to me more about this.

Why would God let this happen?

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Well, as I see it, God never "lets" anything happeN

Rape (or any other bad thing, whether a hurricane or murder or theft) is caused by the person who did the raping. Period.

God is present in the suffering, not in the act of rape (or other crime or bad thing). God is present in the tears, sharing them and holding the discomforted through their pain and suffering. God cries with the sufferer, mourns with the mourner, celebrates with the joyful, and so on.

But God does not cause evil things to happen, nor does God "let" them happen.

[elshiva]

4. Thank you. That makes a lot of sense to me.

My mother and grandmother are both survivors of rape. (Well, my grandmother just died a couple of months ago, but she lead such an inspiring life.)
We all still believe in God and that He loves us.