Dear Commons Community,
New York Times columnist, Frank Bruni, analyzed in today’s edition, Jim Zeigler’s comparison of Roy Moore to Jesus’ parents Mary and Joseph. Earlier this week, Ziegler, the state auditor of Alabama and ardent Moore supporter, drew from the story of Mary and Joseph to justify Moore’s having sexual contact with teenage girls. Here is an excerpt from his Bruni’s column:
“When Zeigler was asked by The Washington Examiner about an allegation that the Senate candidate Roy Moore initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32, Zeigler cited the biblical couple to say, essentially: No biggie! This is as old as Christianity.
“Take Joseph and Mary,” he explained. “Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus. There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.” He made it sound as if Moore were some religiously inclined analogue to those military-history enthusiasts who dress in the uniforms of yesteryear to travel back to the Revolutionary War. Moore was merely re-enacting the New Testament in the name of lust.
It’s worth pointing out that there is something illegal here: A 14-year-old girl is below the age of consent in Alabama, and that was true as well four decades ago, when the incident is alleged to have occurred. It’s also worth pointing out that Jesus supposedly arrived via virgin birth, so Joseph’s interactions with Mary up until that point may have been considerably more G-rated and gallant than in Zeigler’s version.
It’s further worth pointing out that millenniums ago, girls were treated as chattel and sold off as child brides, a practice that no one in his or her right mind would regard as inspirational and cite as an exonerating precedent.
But such fine points tend to elude people insisting on the most convenient, self-serving narrative available, and Zeigler was rationalizing his sustained support for Moore.
Besides, logic and moral consistency aren’t prevalent among Bible-thumping scolds.
Moore has vehemently denied the allegation, which was detailed in a Washington Post article on Thursday that was reported and written meticulously. Part of what made it so persuasive was that the girl — now woman — spoke on the record and has repeatedly voted for Republicans, including Donald Trump. She’s putting her name to her accusation and risking the harassment that could come with that, and she’s not easily cast as a pawn of Democrats trying to buoy Moore’s opponent, Doug Jones.”
Bruni concluded:
“On Thursday, Moore tweeted that “the forces of evil will lie, cheat, steal — even inflict physical harm — if they believe it will silence and shut up Christian conservatives like you and me.” So this is a war waged on him and his kind? What about the war that his breed of conservatives has been waging on the rest of us? It is arrogant and without empathy, and some of its generals use their cause as camouflage.
They also read the Bible selectively.”
These holier than thou hypocrites such as Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and Pat Robertson have a special place reserved for them in the afterlife where it is hotter than…………
Tony
