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Today’s question is: What is your opinion about the letter written by Margie Zacharias? No matter where we stand on Ravi’s issue, we should pray for his family. I always take a few minutes to pray for his family members. Nathan Zacharias posted this letter on his web site www.defendingrravi.wordpress.com.
When Donald Trump took that escalator down at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for US Presidency, Ravi probably smiled like many evangelical leaders. Little did he know that the Metoo movement which would be ignited as a reaction to Trump’s election would destroy Ravi’s legacy and his organization. It would leave his dear family in pain that would last for a life time. His wife is the first victim.
Margie says RZIM gave her 90 days notice to vacate her home. Ravi’s widow deserves to stay in that home. Michael Ramsden did not build RZIM. He got to keep his sinecure job but Ravi’s wife, who was innocent in this whole ordeal, was shown the door. She worked hard since the inception of that organization. This is not right.
Nathan Zacharias says that the RZIM UK team walked off with 15 million worth of property. We all donated because Ravi asked for the donations. Nathan says, the RZIM UK team waited for months before opening their mouths on the Ravi scandal.
“Wait until the old man dies”: Pretty much this is the story of every rich old man who dies with millions of dollars in his bank accounts. Ravi died with millions in his bank accounts. Rather than continuing Lord’s ministry with that money, these pricks only focused on collecting the money.
They waited until all the legal procedures were done on the transfer of property. That’s a bad example. There is a calculated silence. Throw Ravi under the bus, take the properties and run. If what Nathan says is true, that is not a good behavior. They should not be evicting Ravi’s widow in this manner. That’s my opinion.
Margie wrote, “As his wife of 47 years, I know this more than anyone else. But his failures were not in this area. He was spectacularly self-disciplined in his conduct, especially where it would reflect poorly on the Lord”
She says, since Ravi’s death, I went through all his belongings. His phones, his text messages, his receipts, his documents, his emails, his letters, his books, his clothes. I did not find anything questionable. My husband is innocent. I do not believe these allegations against him.
She wrote, “When Ravi learned his cancer had metastasized he said he was ready to meet the Lord…His conversations at the end when he was seeing things we couldn’t and talking to people we couldn’t see were not filled with angst or fear or guilt. He was talking about strategy for sharing the Gospel with his unseen visitors. So much for Randy Alcorn and John MacArthur.”
This is a great testimony. Margie says, ‘When Ravi was on his deathbed, he was having auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, he was thinking about presenting gospel to his unseen visitors. So much for Randy Alcorn and John MacArthur.
How do you respond in a scenario like this? On one side we have women claiming that Ravi touched them inappropriately. On the other side, we have his wife claiming that Ravi was an upright man in everything she observed in his life.
This is a complex situation. I told you many times before. Don’t jump to conclusions. We should go where the truth is. When sexual allegations happen we often commit Generalization fallacy. Let us say 20 women accuse someone of abuse. Is everyone telling the truth?
I call this CNN fallacy. Remember how CNN reported on Donald Trump before the election. On Monday, 5 women complained about Donald Trump. On Tuesday morning, it becomes 10. On Wednesday morning, it becomes 20. Twenty women are complaining about Donald Trump. By Friday, it will be 50. Fifty women complaining on Trump. Are they all telling the truth? You should carefully evaluate every accusation. If we are not careful, we might commit CNN fallacy on Ravi Zacharias.
I usually put victims into 3 groups:
Group A: Real Victims (Tamars)
Group B: Fake victims (Potiphar’s wife)
Group C: Innocent fake victims (Miss Adela)
The Bible has both good girls and bad girls. In Genesis chapter 39, we come across Potiphar’s wife. She lusted after Joseph, a handsome young man. She wanted to seduce him. So, one day when she found him lonely, she forced him to have sex with her. Joseph declined her advances.
He bluntly told her, “this is a sin against God and your husband. I can’t do this”. He ran away from her. She got angry and shouted, ‘rape, rape. Joseph tried to rape me’. You know how the story ends: Joseph ends up in prison on false charges. Many Ravi’s fans are asking the question, “Was Ravi in a Joseph-like situation?’
Potiphar’s wife belongs to Group B. She was a fake victim.
Then there are real victims. King David wanted to seduce Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, one of the soldiers in his army. He used his power to get her to his palace and premeditated the murder of her husband. I consider Bathsheba a true victim because she was a commoner and David was the King.
God’s judgment enters David’s family for what he did to Bathsheba and Uriah. In 2 Samuel chapter 13, we see a beautiful virgin named Tamar, King David’s daughter and Absalom’s sister. Her half-brother Amnon lusted after her. How to seduce Tamar? Amnon comes with an evil plan. I will feign sickness. I will lie to everyone that I am sick and I will ask for Tamar to come and assist me.
When Tamar comes to my room, I will attack her. Amnon lies in the bed, I am sick, I am sick. Get me Tamar to help me. The plan works out. Poor Tamar goes into the room. Amnon gets from the bed and attacks her. She begs him to stop but he won’t listen.
Did Ravi behave like Amnon? Did he feign sickness to trap these women? He always said he had back pain. Did he use back pain as a pretext to approach and assault women? ‘I got back pain, come and help me’, and then attacked the therapist who went to help him.
One of the accusers said that Ravi gave her money and gifts over many years and assaulted her. Tamar did not take any money or gifts from Amnon. She was heartbroken and left.
If someone comes to assault you, you don’t ask for money, you run. If someone comes to abuse you, you don’t ask for gifts. You call the police. If she felt like Ravi was abusing her, why didn’t she call the police? He abused me but I took his money anyway.
I want to know more details on this story before jumping to conclusions. When I looked into this matter, it appears to me that Ravi sinned by touching them inappropriately. He might have had consensual sex with some women. I would not go that far to accuse him of rape. The whole saga sounded like sugar daddy stuff to me. When you are alone with a good looking woman in a dark room for hours, sooner or later, you will fall in sin. Ravi was no exception.
Also, Ravi’s problems started after he became close to Trump and Mike Pence. Billy Graham’s brainchild magazine Christianity Today desperately wanted to defeat Trump. Ravi went to Trump WhiteHouse and made himself a target of Anti-Trump Christians. Otherwise, why did CT showed so much enthusiasm into digging up dirt on Ravi from the spas he closed many years ago? Why did they release their report just before US Presidential election? Why are they silent about big payments from RZIM to all Ravi’s ‘victims’? Why no one questioning the accusations of women who came out after the death of the accused and collected big checks?
In Group C, we have Innocent fake victims. There are women who claim they were abused when no one abused them because of mental health problems. E.M.Forster wrote the novel A Passage to India. In this novel we see four characters.
The story happens during the 1920s when the British were ruling India. Mr.Cyril, Mrs.Moore, and Miss Adela were from England. They visit India. An Indian doctor, Dr.Aziz joins them. They all go on a trip to the nearby Caves.
In one of the caves, Adela thinks she was alone with Dr.Aziz, she gets anxious and flees, later she says Dr.Aziz attempted to assault her. Dr.Aziz gets arrested, and goes to trial. At the trial, Adela says she had a shocking experience inside the cave and interpreted it as an assault by Dr.Aziz. That’s an innocent fake victim. But the novel explores the prejudices and jealousies the British harbored towards Indians. In the entire Evangelical world, not one Christian leader said a single word of defense for Ravi, at least after condemning his sins. No one wanted to listen to Margie. There was a rush towards judgments. Underlying jealousy towards Ravi cannot be ruled out.
Group A: Real Victims (Tamars)
Group B: Fake victims (Potiphar’s wife)
Group C: Innocent fake victims (Adela)
There are 3 possibilities here. We should carefully identify who belongs to Group A and who belongs to Group B, and who belongs to Group C. Everyone in Group A should get the justice and even reparations for the injustice they endured.
Yesterday we saw Derek Chavin get convicted for killing George Floyd. Derek deserved a fair trial. Prosecutors and defense attorneys, both presented their testimonies and evidence. Derek Chavin invoked the 5th amendment, the right to remain silent.
The jury convicted Derek Chavin of murder. Ravi is silent because he is dead. But he also deserves a fair trial before we convict him of rape and assault. Ravi’s civil rights were violated all along that his personal computers and phones were searched without his consent or the presence of defense counsel. That is a clear violation of 4th Amendment.
So many people were happy to see the fall of Ravi because he kept a flawless record all his life. Instead of giving into our emotions and biases, we should respect truth. Defender’s Voice is all about going to where the truth is. There are good women on both sides, on Ravi’s side and on his accuser’s side. We need more evidence to settle this matter. Every woman who accused Ravi and collected a big check/cheque after his death should face scrutiny. If their stories are true, they should not fear more investigation into their testimonies.
That’s my opinion on this matter. Please share your comment. Don’t forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel. Thank you. God bless.