There are some acts that most civilized human beings consider beyond abnormal and one particularly obscene and heinous act is when an adult male sexually abuses a child; unless they are an evangelical fundamentalist from Alabama. A state where political support for pedophiles is justified according to the Christian bible.
After revelations that Roy Moore sexually abused young girls, the alleged super-Christian doing his god’s will by attacking women and members of the LGBTQ community won praise from Alabama Republicans for modeling his pedophilia on biblical characters. Although it is true some Republicans in Congress were less than enthused that another one of their own is as immoral as their hero in the White House when it comes to sexually abusing women, Moore garnered enthusiastic support from his evangelical home-boys back in Alabama.
Apparently, the thought of a 32 year-old Christian man forcing a 14-year old girl’s hand down his pants is not only acceptable in Alabama, it is a holy act that produced icons of the Christian faith such as John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Seriously, no wildly imaginative science fiction writer could make this up. The wild fiction is not that an alleged uber-Christian is a pedophile, but that his vile actions are considered bible approved. These are some seriously sick, twisted individuals and they are running the government.
Alabama’s Republican State Auditor, a seriously sick individual named Jim Ziegler, ardently defended Senate candidate Roy Moore’s sexual abuse of a 14-year old girl and sexual pursuit of at least four other Alabama teens. Ziegler “justified the GOP Senate candidate’s deplorable behavior” by citing examples from the Christian bible and offering proof that they produce good results.
What Ziegler is defending with his bible is what normal human beings consider sexual abuse and pedophilia. It is noteworthy that Ziegler never denied Moore’s guilt and why should he? According to Ziegler, Moore didn’t have sexual intercourse with the 14-year old girl; he is only accused of “kissing her, undressing her, touching her over her bra and underpants, and guiding her hand to touch him over his underwear.” Ziegler said:
“There is nothing to see here. The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls.”
Then Ziegler cited scriptural evidence that Moore’s criminal behavior was “nothing to see” and certainly nothing any respectable Christian fundamentalist would ever consider wrong, immoral, or criminal. He claimed, in fact, that Moore’s pedophilia was practiced in the bible as a means of producing some relatively famous Christians. He continued defending Moore saying:
“He’s clean as a hound’s tooth. Take the bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became parents of John the Baptist.
Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus. There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here.”
Although Ziegler stopped short of saying Moore’s pedophilia was a holy act to be admired because Jesus and John the Baptist, he did the next best thing. it’s not that Ziegler’s defense will impact Moore’s assured victory on Tuesday, it appears that like Trump boasting about grabbing women by the vulva (pussy), Alabama voters will overlook sexual abuse and pedophilia if one of their campaign promises is to continue waging religious war against women and gays.
One Republican county party chairman, Riley Seibenhener, said that “Mr. Moore was not guilty of ‘forcible rape,’” and that “I know that 14-year-olds don’t make good decisions.”
Another party chairman from Bibb county, Jerry Pow, said he would continue to support Moore:
“Even if the candidate had committed a sex crime. I would vote for Judge Moore because I wouldn’t want to vote for Doug [Moore’s opponent]. I’m not saying I support what he did.”
Notice that like the Republican state auditor, Mr. Pow does not deny Moore’s guilt, just that he doesn’t support sexual abuse and pedophilia. He will support Moore no matter what he did, but he didn’t say whether he would change his mind start supporting pedophilia and sexual abuse because it has a scriptural basis.
It is noteworthy that citing the Christian bible to support sexual abuse is highly selective, and blatantly hypocritical. Republicans, particularly Alabama Republicans, are vehemently opposed to legal and medically safe abortions, and yet right there in the same bible that apparently condones pedophilia, the “loving” Christian god commands his followers to “rip open pregnant women’s wombs;” and he commands it more than once.
One never hears an anti-choice Republican cite the bible when they attempt to ban women from legally terminating a pregnancy because there is no biblical justification for opposing a woman’s right to choose, but it is all “Jesus and John the Baptist” when one of their own sexually abuses a 14-year-old girl and who really knows how many others; only four have come forward.
What these dirty Republicans do know is that it doesn’t matter how badly a candidate acts, including being accused of sexual abuse of minors; the voters will still support them. However, citing their alleged holy bible as a precedent, and justification, to defend one of their most ardent fundamentalist Christian crusader’s pedophilia is beyond the pale. No doubt Alabama evangelicals will flock to the polls to vote for Moore despite being accused of sexual abuse by at least four minor girls simply because it cannot possibly be immoral or a crime if it produced a couple of highly-regarded and popular paragons of the Christian religion.
This absurdity founded on the bible is an incredibly dangerous portent of what American women and girls have to look forward to now that the religious right controls all three branches of government. The idea that there are any justifications for an adult male sexually abusing a woman is an atrocity, but it is already gaining acceptance in Trump’s administration. Remember, it was just recently that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos held closed-door counseling meetings with anti-feminist male groups and then made sexual abuse on college campuses the woman’s fault and rolled back protections because the men’s groups complained they were treated unfairly.
That Moore garnered immediate support after being accused by four women of sexual abuse when they were teens is just more proof that there is an ongoing Republican war on women founded on religion. Whether it is forcing women to be perpetual birth machines, or making them culpable for being raped, or using the Christian bible to justify sexual abuse of a minor, women are being assaulted by Republicans and their fundamentalist base will continue supporting them; because Jesus and John the Baptist.