Roy Moore's Attack on LGBT People at Baptist Church Yesterday: "They Are the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender" Folks Spearheading Resistance to Him — The Narrative Line We Must Not Miss

There is a narrative line in these disparate textual pieces. A narrative line emerges when you put them together, and it's a narrative line essential to spot for anyone trying to understand why the revelations that Roy Moore has preyed sexually on female minors have resulted in more — not less — support for him among white evangelicals in Alabama. This is a narrative line that implicates the 60% of white Catholics who voted for the moral monstrosity now occupying the White House, and the U.S. Catholic bishops who are the pastoral and moral leaders of those Catholics — though neither the bishops nor white Catholics want to admit that they are in any way implicated in this narrative.

"White Voters Backed a Candidate Who Assured Them That They Will Never Have to Share This Country with People of Color as Equals": White Jesus, White Bible, White U.S. Christians & Trump Presidency

A week ago (plus a day), I shared with you an excerpt from Adam Serwer's outstanding recent essay in The Atlatic entitled "The Nationalist's Delusion." At his Slacktivist site, Fred Clark has been commenting on and sharing pieces from Serwer's essay. Here's a valuable passage from Fred's commentary today:

"It Is THEOLOGY That Makes the Church an Unsafe Place for Survivors & a Haven for Abusers": #ChurchToo Discusses Theological Underpinnings of Churches' Defense of Sexual Predators

To all of you who are wanting us to only call out the individuals who directly abuse people, and ignore the whole theology and culture that enables that abuse - NO. Just no. #churchtoo

— Stacey Midge (@revstacey) November 22, 2017

Kathryn Brightbill, "Evangelical courtship culture normalizes men dating teen girls":

Adam Hochschild: "Klan of the 1920s Strongly Echoes the World of Donald Trump," "Heavily Supported by Evangelicals"

Adam Hochschild in the current issue of New York Review of Books: 

"In Reality, a Gospel without Justice Is No Gospel at All": Implications for the Catholic Church and LGBT People, and for Catholic "Bridge-Builders"

I wish I had realized sooner how some American Christians make social justice into a boogeyman by constantly saying that such concerns "replace" the gospel. In reality, a gospel without justice is no gospel at all.

— Jemar Tisby (@JemarTisby) November 20, 2017

A key implication of Jemar Tisby's statement that, "[i]n reality, a gospel without justice is no gospel at all," is that the gospel itself — the good news of God's salvific, redemptive love for everyone offered in Jesus Christ — is unavailable to those who are not accorded justice. The good news of God's all-inclusive love for the world through Jesus is unavailable to those who are not accorded justice by Christians and Christian institutions proclaiming the gospel to the world.

Miguel de la Torre on How Christianity Has Died in the Hands of (White U.S.) Evangelicals, and a Bunch of Other Good Commentary

From ordained Baptist minister Miguel de la Torre, who was raised both Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist, and who teaches social ethics and Latinx studies at Iliff School of Theology: 

Boston Declaration: A Prophetic Appeal to Christians of the United States

As followers of Jesus, the Jewish prophet for justice whose life reminds us to, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31) we hear the cries of women and men speaking out about sexual abuse at the hands of leaders in power and we are outraged. We are outraged by the current trends in Evangelicalism and other expressions of Christianity driven by white supremacy, often enacted through white privilege and the normalizing of oppression. Confessing racism as the United States' original and ongoing sin, we commit ourselves to following Jesus on the road of costly discipleship to seek shalom justice for the least, the lost, and the left out. We declare that following Jesus today means fighting poverty, economic exploitation, racism, sexism, and all forms of oppression from the deepest wells of our faith.

~ Boston Declaration, 20 November 2017