Castrating Sex Offenders

My friend "K" often polls his friends to get various opinions on hot button issues. Recently he asked "Do you feel that men who are convicted of rape, should be physically or chemically castrated?" My initial answer was "Absolutely not." When he asked me why I felt that way this is the answer I presented:

As a Christian I say that what is most needed is forgiveness and healing. There must also be understanding. Simply because the state deems a person a rapist doesn't mean they truly raped a person. The system isn't reliable when it comes to getting the complete or even true story of a sexual offender. Trusting the government to tell us who people are is foolish. The government doesn't exist to love or even sincerely know people. We would be wise to meet people and engage in relationships with them, especially sinners and those who Jesus would call "sick" for they are in need of Christ ("the doctor") and it is the Church who is His body doing his work on earth.

It is through relationships that people grow, change, and are rescued from their evil (if this is untrue then our salvation is a lie and Jesus and His apostles liars for they preach transformation is directly connected to our nearness to God). Rehabilitation happens through new environments, experiences, recreations, challenges, and relationships. I say this as a person associated with an organization who, in the last year, has had the most success with sex offenders not becoming repeat offenders in Clark County, Washington. I know several sex offenders and none of them would benefit from castration. Not only that but the community around them wouldn't truly benefit from it spiritually just as society doesn't benefit from putting scarlet letters on sex offenders. It pulls us apart from one another and creates division and enemies. Castration is barbaric, overly extreme, and the too easy answer of fools. It is the answer of fearful people who don't know how to love but only to fear and fight.

A Christian can not hold a position which demands harm be done to a wicked person or that revenge be taken according to the New Testament and popular early church tradition (here are some quotes). We must practice the extension of forgiveness and love even if it demands we suffer in the process for we are concerned with transformation of other's souls and with imitating Christ who dies for sinners/enemies. We are not concerned with freedom from suffering for ourselves. If we commit ourselves to castration os opposed to loving relationships then we go against the way of the gospel, trusting in weapons and the ways of man instead of the Spirit, power, and promises of God and the victory we have in Christ over sin. After all, love covers a multitude of sins and sexual immorality is no exception.

Clement of Alexandria once stated a very popular belief in the early church. In 195 A.D. he stated, "Christians are not allowed to use violence to correct the delinquencies of sins." We have other methods. We employ the methods of self-sacrificing love. We can not support unChristian methods, even when used by others. We must always protest such things by our loving example and words.