Thanks for posting one of the great myths of our time.
It goes back to the start of the sexual revolution, when a concerted effort was made to get rid of the notion that any sexual activity could possibly be "bad."
Since we were all agreed that rape was bad, then obviously it couldn't be sex.
In actual fact, of course, the sexual urge can be turned to evil, as can indeed any human emotion or drive.
The very existence of a thriving BDSM subculture shows very clearly that for many sexual need is entangled with physical violence and domination. Saying it is "A not B" implies that it cannot be "A and B," which is of course nonsense. Rape is of course just BDSM games carried to their logical extreme.
That twisted sexual compulsions, including those for rape and child molestation, have a definite physical/sexual component can be seen by the statistics for chemical or physical castration, in those countries and states where this is permitted. It is generally admitted that recidivism for child molesting is over 90%. I'm not sure what it is for serial rapists.
For those castrated, admittedly usually a self-selected group who do not consciously want to continue these actions, the recidivism rate is generally under 10%.
That's a pretty dramatic difference for something that has "nothing to do with the sexual urge."
And try to tell a pretty woman that she doesn’t attract any more crazy, negative attention than a homely woman. Yeah, right.
Since we were all agreed that rape was bad, then obviously it couldn't be sex.
Very, very well said.