Christianity has been in the news a lot lately – and not for good reasons.
Former judge and Senatorial candidate Roy Moore – who bombastically presents himself as a champion of traditional Christianity – has been publicly accused by five women (so far) of inappropriate sexual advances when they were teenagers. This is the guy who erected a monument of the Ten Commandments in front of the Alabama Supreme Court and refused to remove it under court order. Later, he refused to abide by the Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. Moore believes homosexuality should be a criminal offense. If he had his druthers, all U.S. law would be written to reflect his fundamentalist beliefs.
The accusations against him are far more credible than his denials, especially since he maintains that he is the victim of a conspiracy of left-wing liberals led by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (?) to reject “conservative Christian values.” These women had nothing to gain from speaking out. Most of them are life-long Republicans. They don’t know Mitch McConnell. But they know Roy Moore all too well, and decided the world needed to know about him as well.
But what is worse is how other Christians are defending Moore.
Jim Zeigler, state auditor of Alabama, says the former judge’s dalliances with teenagers when he was in his 30s has biblical precedent. “Take Mary and Joseph,” Zeigler said. “Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter when they became parents of Jesus.” What Bible is he reading? I don’t recall the gospels ever