Wolhay said:
Where in the book does Mike state that homosexuality is wrong?
In the book I have it's on page 303:
...she (Jill) had explained homosexuality, after Mike had read about it and failed to grok- and had given him rules for avoiding such passes; she knew that Mike, pretty as he was, would attract such...Jill suspected that Mike would grok a "wrongness" in the poor in-betweeners anyhow- they would never be offered water.
True, Mike is not explicitly stated to grok the wrongness (Jill only suspects); however, his inability to grok is an indication that Jill is probably correct. And you didn't read of any 'guy on guy' action in the novel. But there was that one part where Ben gets freaked out because Mike is sitting with him and Jill, and suddenly Mike's clothes are off, so Ben runs away. Now Ben is Mike's water brother, but he is not gay. That's a tough one to reconcile
Wolhay said:
The quote about rape can be interpreted differently. Either as the woman is to be blamed or that the woman contributed with factors that lead to a rape. If someone for example states that it's partly someone's fault that they were raped when they walked naked in the park at midnight it doesn't necessarily mean that that person doesn't think that anyone should be able to walk around naked at any time in public without being harassed. But I agree that the quote is odd in this book.
I don't get how your interpretations of the rape quote are rationalized. Anyway, no matter how you lay it (and I don't want to start a big argument about this) in my opinion the rape statement is offensive and bullshit. And a whole other thread. If I recall, it came about in the part where Jill has a stint as an exotic dancer. And her wish that Mike continue to not "remove" threatening people. I found the quote odd because of its backward thinking, not because of its context.
It was great to read about these intelligent, ration women- but the subservience (is that a word?) is what bothered me. Sure, you read that men cooked in the "church" but the women were always at the men's beck and call, doing everything else. It put me off.
When Jubal joined I had mixed feelings. I figured it was inevitable, though. Could one retain their individuality living in Mike's "church"? Is it just a way of living, like we have now? Hard to say.