I began a new Carpenter novel today - A Strong Woman. In this book Albuquerque Moreno, who's a new Christian and has newly joined Darvin Carpenter's church, is the victim of a rape in Tijeras Arroyo. She hires Darvin to find the rapist, which of course he does.
Albuquerque - Burque, as her friends call her - is one of my favorite characters. She's the strong woman of the title, though of course Cecelia Carpenter is, as always, not exactly a weakling. I've only known one rape victim, and that was years after the event, but it's surely got to be one of the most traumatic experiences a woman can endure - humiliating, physically painful, terrifying, and with effects that last a long time.
It may not be a Christian attitude, but it wouldn't bother me if the punishment for rape were the removal, without anesthesia, of the offending organ. Of course rape is about power and control, not about sex - sex is merely the weapon that the rapist uses to intimidate, dominate, and control the poor woman in the case.
Darvin Carpenter is a better Christian than I am - he's what I strive to be, and don't succeed in being, though by the grace of God I'm closer to the ideal than I was in 1983 when I first came to know the Lord Christ. And he's a better detective than I could ever be, which is why he's the main character and I'm not. :)