Monday, November 13, 2017

"In the Darkest Timeline, Where Republicans Have No Shame": Top White Evangelical Leaders Stand by Their Man in Alabama





We need to talk about the segment of American culture that probably doesn’t think the allegations against Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore are particularly damning, the segment that will blanch at only two accusations in the Washington Post expose: He pursued a 14-year-old-girl without first getting her parents' permission, and he initiated sexual contact outside of marriage. That segment is evangelicalism. In that world, which Moore travels in and I grew up in, 14-year-old girls courting adult men isn't uncommon. . . . 
The evangelical world is overdue for a reckoning. Women raised in evangelicalism and fundamentalism have for years discussed the normalization of child sexual abuse. We've told our stories on social media and on our blogs and various online platforms, but until the Roy Moore story broke, mainstream American society barely paid attention. Everyone assumed this was an isolated, fringe issue. It isn't.







No, goddammit, it’s not okay to molest children because you're potentially interested in marrying them like the supposedly older Joseph did with Mary, except he didn't, and he wasn't Jesus' biological father in any case and gah, my brain just exploded having to explain that Joseph wasn't a 30-something prosecutor preying on vulnerable teenagers and Mary was not a potential harlot in need of a man to disciple her awakening sexual lusts. In any sane world, anyone using such a line of reasoning would immediately die of shame. 
But of course, we don't live in a sane world. We live in in the darkest timeline, where Republicans have no shame, least of all Roy Moore, who was seemingly attempting to fundraise off the story just hours after it broke, claiming in bold print that "the forces of evil are on the march in our country."

In response to a tweet from Franklin Graham, son of noted American evangelical leader Billy Graham, stating, "I'm praying for Roy Moore and his family," Tea Pain tweets, 




What animates this movement is a sense of persecution; after all, you can't be part of a faithful remnant unless you are surrounded by enemies. This is such a bedrock belief for some evangelicals that little can change it; the claims of mere women do not suffice. 
A general disdain for women is another reason evangelicals will continue to defend Moore.


Nearly 40 percent of Alabama evangelicals said in a new poll that they are more likely to vote for GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore following allegations of sexual misconduct against him. 


Prayer and repentance were among the themes Sunday at Moore's home church in Gallant, Alabama. Moore himself wasn't present at First Baptist Church. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Tom Brown, prayed during the service for "the entire Moore family" and urged congregants to trust in God and believe that adversity could lead to a positive outcome. 
"He's always been a man of character, of integrity, of honor, and there’s nothing in those 25 years that I’ve seen that would challenge that," Brown said. "That's all I can go by." 
Also declining to break with Moore in the wake of the sex allegations was Jerry Falwell Jr., president of evangelical Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. 

Responding to a childish tweet by the man evangelicals and white Catholics and Mormon chose as the leader of the United States, in which that man taunts the leader of North Korea, Hemant Mehta tweets,  Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen! 




In the Bible, females are created for the benefit of males. A man’s right to expect that females will serve his needs and desires is established on literally Page 2 of the Bible, in the second creation story in the book of Genesis.

Ex-evangelical musician David Bazan tells Chris Stroop what he thinks about the "massive white Evangelical support" for Donald Trump: 

Until this election I personally had quite a bit of hope that the white American church was not a "lost cause." I saw it as being capable of maturing and evolving while still retaining its basic form and identity. And even if I couldn't participate as a "believer," as I've said, I wanted to be a helper in that process if I could. But the fruit that appeared on the tree last November was, for me, the "cut the damned thing down and throw it in the fire" kind of fruit. 
So clouded by magical considerations that the vast majority couldn't see the absurdity of what they were doing (forgive them…). For all the things they claim to believe, the election laid bare the actual, actionable loyalties of most white Christians in a way that one can't unsee. Far too many of them still don't even recognize it. They cannot be trusted. They can't be taken seriously. As a group the correlation between their stated values and their real behavior is worse than random, they reliably champion evil and work against the best virtues of their own faith traditions. 
There is simply no way around it at this point; the racism, misogyny, and disdain for the poor are out in the open now.

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