I believe people will fall into one of roughly four categories.
1. People who will re-examine their views on rape & realize they have not understood this issue in the past. Some will learn a little - others will learn alot. View this as progress. Be thankful for any glimmer of understanding, no matter how tiny. Be patient with their feeble attempts to understand. They wouldn't be trying if they didn't care about you.
2. People who will reject you - primarily out of fear and panic. The subject is too horrible for them to even consider, let alone face down. Don't hate these people - feel sorry for them. If they are paralyzed by their fear in this area, they will be shut down in other areas as well. Don't hate them - don't fear them. They deserve your compassion. They are not really living.
3. People who "get it" - your counselors, a precious few others scattered around - many who have been raped or sexually abused themselves. Treasure these people. Thank them. Don't run from them. They may make you feel uncomfortable, but it's the discomfort of a surgeon's knife who brings healing. Trust me - they don't do what they do 'cause it's fun.
4. "Unsafe" people who will view you as having a weakness & are therefore an easy target for further types of victimization. Run away from these people. Don't have anything to do with them.
Understand, though - GOD doesn't view you differently. If anything, He loves you MORE.
God has a special concern for the oppressed. Matthew 9:36 says, "But when He (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, & were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." Psalm 102:17 says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, & not despise their prayer." God looks on your affliction.
I will say this, though . . . . IF someone does look on you "differently" because you've been raped or sexually abused, they're wrong. Someone STOLE from you - security, innocence, safety, privacy, peace of mind. Let's say your purse or wallet gets stolen. Would I say, "You're different 'cause someone stole your purse/wallet. Something must be wrong with you. Why would they have chosen to steal YOUR purse & not someone else's?" That reaction would be crazy! You are a victim of a violent crime & you've been affected because of it. But, you are in no way "damaged" any more than a person who gets their purse or wallet stolen or their house broken into.
