Alabama Evangelicals Prove Their Hypocrisy
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by Mark Bear
The fact that we need to have this conversation today, tells us everything we need to know about how far from grace the republican party has fallen. They are now officially morally bankrupt.
Last week, as each of you know, the Washington Post published a story indicating how Judge Roy Moore, then thirty-two years of age, forced a fourteen-year-old into a sexual encounter. No matter what way this is sliced, diced, marginalized, or explained away, Moore should arguably have a public relations nightmare for his campaign. But the problem is he doesn’t.
Oh, don’t get me wrong: there are a few senior republican officials making statements alluding to their distancing themselves, and even a few withdrawing their endorsement from him, but those people do not matter, because you see on that Election Day, the people of Alabama will decide who goes to the United States Senate.
Now, we all know that politics can be dirty, and allegations can surface against a person running for public office, but according to the Washington Post, who did not commence their story on Moore by looking into this issue, but heard rumors about them, over thirty women have come forth since saying the exact same thing while providing details, during their investigative reporting.
Related: Alabama Bible Bangers Likely To Support Roy Moore Despite Allegations
Women in this current climate do not go on public record due to the victim blaming that often occurs when allegations such as these are made. So, why would they be lying? The story, in other words, is quite persuasive and convincing.
Is there something in Alabama’s water, or what?
But don’t tell that to the citizens of Alabama. I saw a recent poll taken this past weekend asking these citizens, fifty-percent of which attend “church on a weekly basis,” as to how this news effects their vote. Are you ready for this folks?
According to that poll, 37% of evangelical citizens of Alabama stated that they “were more likely to vote for Moore in light of the allegations.” And, in addition to this, 33% state that there is no change in their support of Moore. Therefore – as a political writer and analyst – we ought not be surprised should Moore win, despite other polling showing him slipping in the heated contest.
And really, folks: Should we really be all that surprised? Let’s not forget that Donald Trump – who occupies the highest office in our land; the presidency – admitted to sexually molesting women “because he was a celebrity,” and told Billy Bush from Access Hollywood that “they let you do that,” when you are what he is. His admission had absolutely zero effect on the outcome of that election folks. Not to mention that Trump was accused of walking into the girls dressing room, at the Miss Teen USA Pageant, simply saying, “Don’t worry girls, I have seen it all before.” And this was public record before the election. What happened? Did evangelicals do the moral thing by refusing to vote Trump into office? Heck no! Far from it. In fact, eighty-one percent of White Evangelicals threw their support behind Mr. Trump. Worse however, is how they persist in supporting him despite him stating he “has not asked for or felt the need for forgiveness throughout his life,” a cornerstone of evangelical faith, or his persistent lying, setting records never witnessed before in modern-day presidential history.
Related: Top Ten Reasons Why Separation of Church and State Matters
Case in point: NBC News went to Alabama to talk to some of the people to discern their intent when it came to voting or not voting for Moore. You might be surprised that one person – a Pastor Jerome Cox from Greenwood Baptist Church – says “he doesn’t believe the allegations.”
The current evangelical approach to getting outsiders to be interested in our faith; Do as I say and not as I do. In other words, hypocrisy.
You also might be surprised to hear a common church attendee named “Carol,” state the following regarding Moore’s alleged crime, after stating “she does not believe the allegations are true, that;
“There’s a thing called grace — God’s grace,” noting that the allegations are decades old.”
As a licensed and ordained minister, I have no clue who “Carol’s” pastor is, or what church she attends. Perhaps it is Rev. Cox from Greenwood Baptist Church, but apparently Carol and her pastor neglect to understand the “consequences part” of the book they preach from which has been a foundational teaching of the Church since its inception.
Moreover, do Carol and her Pastor KNOW with certainty that Moore has ceased this illegal behavior? Even so, he did commit a crime, didn’t he? I mean it is a crime to have a sexual encounter with a fourteen year old who cannot give consent, even in Alabama. And what crime prevents Moore’s opponent from being elected to the Senate, according to so many citizens from Alabama? He is a Democrat.
Even if he has not committed pedophilia lately, as a Judge in 2014, he sided with a professed pedophile who pleaded guilty to sodomizing two fifteen-year-old girls.
In a similar vein, does Paul not say in the very Book we profess belief in the following in Romans 6:1-2?
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
Let me be clear: It is difficult to believe this number of people made up their stories about Moore, meaning as he was walking around saying he was “a Christian,” his behavior surely did not live up to his word, did it? Additionally, this is the exact same guy who defied a federal judge regarding his placing the ten commandments in his court, has made some of the most hateful comments about those who are of differing sexual orientation, and Muslims. In other words, he acts holier than thou, and is – if those allegations are true – a hypocrite, criminal and pedophile. And still, evangelicals plan on supporting him.
But, but, “grace.” And that right there is the precise problem we all witness – especially for those of us self-identifying as evangelicals, with the current day church. You see grace applies to “our own,” while “those people” incur the wrath of God. Thankfully, I have NEVER ascribed to that opinion, belief, or conviction, and made all my members aware of my position. Or, put another way; when behavior like Moore’s surfaces, and this is our reaction, we are telling those who we want to trust in a God they cannot see, nor hear, that the rules simply do not apply to ourselves, but only to those outside the church. Grace is only for us while we act as though the rest of the world is going to hell. Talk about entitlement, folks?
It really is beyond disgusting that the people of Alabama are likely to steer Moore into office, in light of these allegations, and worse, that those affiliated with the Church in Alabama do not seem to care. A recent article suggests a possible reason: could it be that the modern-day evangelical is sociopathic?
As a person who is licensed and ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention, my response to that question is a resounding, “Yes.”
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Religion is absolutely fine whether Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or whatever.
It’s the hijackers of faith that are the problem.
And I say that as a heathen 😀
No. Religion is the problem.
Well I suppose if there was no religion there’d be no practitioners therefore no religious nuts. Makes sense.
Mind you, if there was no football there’d be no football hooligans – except there would be. They’d just find some’at else.
Religion is daft but not necessarily bad. It’s some of the practitioners who are bad.
Believing in something doesn’t hurt anyone. Enforcing and / or abusing the belief for your own ends is bad and religion doesn’t do that, some practitioners do.
…and trust me, I’m not in favor of religion!!
I did hear you hated the Royals though. Is that true?
Hello Jerry,
Indeed. I do not know that I would argue that ALL are hypocrites but certainly those who yell out about their faith the most, surely do seem to be so. Remember Josh Duggar? He worked on the Family Research Council as a Director for the love of God? And what did they find out about him? He engaged in sexually abusing his sisters. Then, what did the sisters do once that report emerged in the media? They blamed the media for incurring more pain upon them than the original abuse. And, they continue on with their show, Counting On.
To clarify: I do not believe in blaming them as the victims, because after all it was their brother – who worked for the most conservative of advocacy groups – getting his mother to do robo-calls warning the good citizens of Arkansas how “their children would be molested,” should a measure pass the state legislature allowing for bathrooms to be used in unisex manner.
It is this mentality that “THEY” are more moral than “THOSE” people which raise my ire. I have always admonished my congregants to remember that there is NO difference between they and the very people they so easily condemn. I was successful at some churches, and not so successful at others.
I think what does make this particular situation worse, is exactly what you zone in on at the end of your response: “the abuse of a child.” The fact that they find it more of a “sin” to elect a man who has a clean background, only to have a D by his name, than to send a man with an alleged history of pedophilia escapes my understanding. It is, as you say, hypocrisy at its worse.
I do not know whether you clicked all of the links on my article, but near the end of the piece, I added a link for an article whereby the writer states he believes the current evangelical to be sociopathic in psychological makeup. I state I agree with that, but if you click on that article, you will find yet, another example of what we are discussing here. In that piece, the author points to a woman who is self-identified as a “Christian” who wrote a piece about how “she had to give up on her son and extinguish her relationship with him.” Her reason? He is gay. Worse? She published the piece on the internet on the very day her son was marrying. How nice. Why I bring that up is because if you click that link embedded in that article, you will find a response from a person not of faith, but just approaching the subject from a Mother’s perspective. And it is powerful!
Thanks for adding to the dialogue. I always appreciate each of you on Michael’s site.
Trust me folks, if there is a Satan and he has a Hell, his first stop will be Alabama when he starts taking souls.
It’s always been do as I say and not as I do. There is no honor in religion.
They are all hypocrites but in this case they are slimy hypocrites to conscience the abuse of a child.
Hello Jerry,
Indeed. I do not know that I would argue that ALL are hypocrites but certainly those who yell out about their faith the most, surely do seem to be so. Remember Josh Duggar? He worked on the Family Research Council as a Director for the love of God? And what did they find out about him? He engaged in sexually abusing his sisters. Then, what did the sisters do once that report emerged in the media? They blamed the media for incurring more pain upon them than the original abuse. And, they continue on with their show, Counting On.
To clarify: I do not believe in blaming them as the victims, because after all it was their brother – who worked for the most conservative of advocacy groups – getting his mother to do robo-calls warning the good citizens of Arkansas how “their children would be molested,” should a measure pass the state legislature allowing for bathrooms to be used in unisex manner.
It is this mentality that “THEY” are more moral than “THOSE” people which raise my ire. I have always admonished my congregants to remember that there is NO difference between they and the very people they so easily condemn. I was successful at some churches, and not so successful at others.
I think what does make this particular situation worse, is exactly what you zone in on at the end of your response: “the abuse of a child.” The fact that they find it more of a “sin” to elect a man who has a clean background, only to have a D by his name, than to send a man with an alleged history of pedophilia escapes my understanding. It is, as you say, hypocrisy at its worse.
I do not know whether you clicked all of the links on my article, but near the end of the piece, I added a link for an article whereby the writer states he believes the current evangelical to be sociopathic in psychological makeup. I state I agree with that, but if you click on that article, you will find yet, another example of what we are discussing here. In that piece, the author points to a woman who is self-identified as a “Christian” who wrote a piece about how “she had to give up on her son and extinguish her relationship with him.” Her reason? He is gay. Worse? She published the piece on the internet on the very day her son was marrying. How nice. Why I bring that up is because if you click that link embedded in that article, you will find a response from a person not of faith, but just approaching the subject from a Mother’s perspective. And it is powerful!
Thanks for adding to the dialogue. I always appreciate each of you on Michael’s site.
I’ve no use for the Xtians. People are people and no made up deity is going to change their nasty ways.
Hello Caroline,
While I fully understand your position, and am in no way trying to change your mind about a deity, I do want to say something that Allan Simpson once told Bill Maher, after George W. Bush won re-election in 2004. Maher as he is wont to do, began bashing those of faith, and Simpson while he was visiting via Satellite heard Maher’s audience cackling with laughter as Bill mocked evangelicals and their belief in a “phony God.”
What Simpson said that night kindled a thought in me which has never left when he said to Maher, “Go on ahead Bill and keep joking, and chiding that there is no deity. Because you know why you lose elections? Right there. That behavior makes those people living a life of faith overly concerned that people and folks in your audience will sooner or later make it impossible to identify as a Christian in this nation, through your mockery.”
Let me be clear Caroline: I am in NO WAY accusing you or anyone else on this discussion board of doing what Maher did that night, but Simpson has a point. For whatever it is worth, I myself AM a Believer and have been a man of faith for over 30 plus years. This in no way means YOU have to believe a deity exists, but then the respect should be a two-way street. That is, I should not be told I worship a “made up deity,” and NOT be allowed to respond to that allegation. The truth of the matter is I cannot prove a deity exists, and we both know that.
I will say however, that the weakest experience overcomes the strongest argument, and I can with no hindrance tell you from a personal experience, that I attribute my living right now to this deity. I do so through faith. Not science, not anything that is a reasonable hypothesis to be tested, but then again, those who do NOT believe a deity exists, cannot do so either.
This is where – as a liberal who does believe – want all to know that those loonies on the farthest right, as Michael appropriately point out do not constitute a good chunk of us, and do not represent our views.
I personally write about matters of faith for one purpose: I believe a solid wall should exist between matters of religion and matters of government. In addition, I also believe that a strong wall should exist between my being able to believe and not be told I am worshiping something fake. In other words, the first amendment should rightfully protect both positions.
Again: I in no way am attempting to proselytize anyone on this discussion, but printed a piece to hold those who SAY they are Christians to the standards they place upon others. They act like modern-day Pharisees. And the best part? I can do so because I am licensed and ordained by one of their most conservative of denominations. In other words, I use against them what they use against others.
I thank you for expressing your opinion, and hope you see my point and why I feel it a fools errand for us as liberals to tell others who do believe that they are worshiping a fake deity. Truth is? They might be. But we all won’t know that, will we, until we are dead and gone from this planet.
Thanks for taking the time to respond Mark and I take your points, but as an avowed Atheist I don’t believe in the existence of a god however you and millions of others do and that’s ok too.
To be honest Mark I’ve known a lot of christians, and most, not all of them, have been nasty, self-righteous hypocrites.
Hi Michael,
You know, I thank you for bringing up that point. I had engaged in portraying ALL evangelicals in Alabama as hypocrites and that is obviously painting them with too broad a brush stroke. However, I will say that when that state has 55% of their citizens on record as attending church at least “one time per week,” and the resilience of Moore remains state wide, I must believe as a statistician that there is a good chunk of those supporters being evangelical. But your point is well taken and received. Thanks again.