Evangelicals & Culpability

Where have all the Intellectuals gone?

That is the question presently vexing my spirit today, as I rise early on November 21, 2025.

Stupid me (one dissenter referred to me as a Republican stupid ass late last night) had the unmitigated gall to postulate that the females abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein still retained some level of culpability for their entanglement with Epstein.

First, let us ensure we define and understand the term:

Google AI says the following regarding the nature of culpability:

Culpability is the state of being blameworthy or guilty, especially in a legal or moral sense. In criminal law, it refers to the degree of a person's legal responsibility for a crime, encompassing mental states like intent, recklessness, or negligence. Beyond the law, it can simply mean being deserving of blame for one's actions

So, for my thesis to be factually and materially incorrect, the females in question would have to have been kidnapped or snatched off the streets and taken by force to Epstein’s lair.

Of course, there is no evidence of anything of that nature. The females were recruited by Epstein’s girlfriend, who is now in a federal prison for her deplorable duplicity. The females in question, though duped, freely acquiesced to the wiles of Epstein.

Yet despite all of this, my Facebook feed was full of the following:

You’re kidding, right...

I have questions.

QUESTION 1: What free pass does the girls have?

QUESTION 2: Has the girls asked for a free pass?

QUESTION 3: In respect to the Epstein scenario, what is a free pass?

Keith Battle they were still minors and victims. No matter how else you label them or who else you blame for their abuse

Please stop blaming the victims. I was a victim myself as a child, who was in the home of a family who were like our relatives, and my mom was at work. I was in an environment that was supposed to be safe and at the mercy of the abuser. Btw, Epstein was not the only abuser of these minors

Ma'am I love how you worded your question. It' seems the male figure can not articulate without criticizing and belittling others. I "love" how asking a simple question about his interpretation caused his own mental frustrations. 😆 🤣 blessed day to all

The last person who shares my last name does not in any way share my intellect.

Without any direct knowledge of any special inside information, I know without fail that Epstein and his girlfriend approached untold other females who were repulsed and never entertained or considered the opportunity.

I can make this bold postulation because I understand human nature. Predators always play the long game. They know many will reject their advances, but all they care about is the small number of people who will gladly and gleefully take their bait.

This is the same philosophy that salesmen rely upon to be successful. They understand that the sheer volume of people they can deliver their spill to will eventually reap a bonanza.

So, why would some females reject Epstein while some females fell for the banana in the tailpipe? Well, if one is honest, and I always seek such, no one can state with absolute certitude why, yet we can make some reasonable assumptions:

Parental influence

Stable environment

Moral compass

Healthy self-esteem

Positive peer pressure

Yet, at the end of the day, all human beings, despite being tainted by Original Sin, still retain their faculty of Personal Agency.

I love the logic and teachings of the late great Dr. R.C. Sproul. RC was a great storyteller par excellence, and he often employed light-hearted humor to educate others about a otherwise weighty teleological subject. RC cleverly used the example of a person being robbed of their money. He astutely pointed out that even under extreme duress, the person being robbed still retains personal agency.

Even though the options left to person being robbed are wholly undesirable, the person being robbed can still respond negatively to the demand, “Hand over your wallet.”

Yes, Epstein and his girlfriend: most vile and repulsive

Yes, Epstein and his girlfriend are guilty and should be held accountable and prosecuted to the full extent of the law as they were rightly and duly so.

Similarly true: the females could have said NO!!! Some females did, in fact, did say no.

So to criticize me for daring to say the females in question do not get a free pass should not be controversial in the slightest or register any dissent whatsoever.

I speak as a father. I raised my two daughters to respect themselves and their bodies. Thankfully, I did not see my daughters get pregnant while they lived under my direct authority. I am not foolish or naive enough to believe my girls were sinless. Still, they understood the difference between right and wrong, and I can state with relative, but never absolute, certainty that a Jeffrey Epstein-type slickster could have never seduced my two girls.

While I understand our culture has shifted dramatically to the Left, Jesus Christ is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow and forevermore.

I still submit to you that there is no way in the world I would have voted to convict Mike Tyson for the rape of Desiree Washington. Tyson called Washington at 2 AM at her hotel room. We all know what a 2 AM phone call means.

There was no discernible evidence of physical trauma, which would lead one to believe Washington was physically assaulted. Tyson was convicted principally based on Washington's testimony. I submit that Tyson was convicted based on his negative public reputation, which should have had no bearing on his guilt or innocence.

But back to the females that Epstein assaulted, their lack of maturity does not excuse their poor decision-making. I believe it is not unreasonable to assert that they naively and recklessly bought into the allure of fame and riches that someone in Epstein’s orbit could offer. As one of the great thinkers of our time, Shaquille O’Neal opined recently, “All money ain't’ good money.”

Yet these girls were vulnerable, and yes, they were manipulated, but none of these realizations ameliorates their agency.

I know it is controversial, but I still firmly believe a female who dresses provocatively opens herself up to sexual assault more readily than a female who chooses to honor God by dressing modestly. Now, don't get me wrong, because I appreciate a stylishly dressed female like the next full bloodied man, especially one who displays excellent body proportions, but I digress and risk the scorn of many.

Now, I know that such a bland supposition should qualify me for the Thanks, Captain Obvious award. Still, public opinion would accuse me of shaming the victim, or, as one interlocutor does of me, of blaming the victim.

A proper understanding of culpability is precisely why, in our judicial system, we have degrees of murder because the culpability behind why someone takes another’s life matters.

Again, I ask:

Where have all the Intellectuals gone?

Why has the ability for one to display critical thinking practically vanished from the public square?

Why are most responses laden with emotional rants that very rarely properly apply to the subject under consideration?

My post about females not getting a free pass was not the opportunity for people to use their prior negative experience to come to my Facebook post and pee in my cereal.

The two events are unrelated and unwarranted. I was in no way impunging the tragedy of someone’s negative past experiences, so why interject that into the discussion?

I will tell you why, thank you very mucho for asking. They do so because they have been conditioned to argue or respond emotively as opposed to intellectually or cognitively.

Again, back to Dr. Sproul, who lamented because many of his students would respond with statements that began with “I feel,” rather than “I think.”

When I am engaging with someone, especially about moral issues, I know I have won the debate when I get “I feel” or some other emotional foolishness as part of their rationale.

In conclusion, two things can be simultaneously true. Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable human being and is likely suffering in eternal hellfire as we speak, AND His victims still bear some level of culpability for their involvement, period, full stop, and end of story.

As usual, let me know what you think. Until then, keep your hands to the plow and seek to serve for an Audience of One.

With fear & trembling,

Ricky V Kyles Sr. DEd.Min