Hypocrisy is alive and well in the American evangelical community. It was collectively adamant that President Clinton should be punished for the Monica Lewinski affair, but now, faced with accusations of pedophilia against Senate candidate Roy Moore, the latter is an “upright man” who should be forgiven for his sins. Moore’s election win would apparently help the majority of Alabamans halt abortion, abolish same-sex marriage and prevent child- bearing outside marriage. To win the war for the nation’s soul, Christians apparently have to accept flawed leaders, especially if they say they have repented. “It isour desire to see sinners saved”, to quote a prominent pastor, David Floyd. As long as they are not liberals.
61% of Americans now believe that politicians who commit immoral acts in private can still behave ethically in public office. The percentage of evangelicals who believe this is 72%. Winning elections is becoming the key objective, and it is uncoupled from character – witness Donald Trump, whom 80% of evangelicals voted for, (in no small part, to ensure that a conservative joined the Supreme Court).
Epicurus believed that we should “make agreements with others (laws), so that we do not disturb one another”. What would he make of the nastiness, hatred, vulgarity, crudeness and lack of moral backbone that has sezed the nation? Aside from the Nazi/ Mussolini era, this must be one of the the more disagreeable times in history. I can attest that I am very “disturbed”.
I’ve written a lot about how American politics has become increasingly partisan, with both sides seeing each other as evil and thus refusing to compromise. But perhaps this implied a false equivalency between Democrats and Republicans. While it’s true that Democrats are increasingly partisan, they remain far less so than the Republicans, particularly those on the Christian Right. Were a Democrat accused of the sort of allegations facing Roy Moore, Republicans would be banging on about how the Democrats’ immorality is a result of their rejection of Christianity. Yet Moore is a Republican, so the evangelicals say nothing.
Ultimately I suspect the Christian Right may contribute to the demise of the GOP. On virtually all the social issues- abortion, gay marriage, the role of women in society, transgenderism- the evangelicals are totally out of step with American public opinion. By making Republicans cling on to extreme social conservatism, the party will become less electable when faced with an increasingly liberal and secular public. Having said that, I don’t believe the Democrats’ electoral prospects and the nation’s overall welbeing are synonymous. The Christian Right’s activism may result in more Democrats being elected, but the overall quality of American discourse will have declined. America needs a sensible centre right party to hold the Democrats and government programmes to account, not a Republican Party that espouses hypocrisy in its alleged piety.
Amen!