a word before the sermon...

I need to say something about the Alabama special senatorial election, with evangelical leaders advocating for Roy Moore. What we are seeing is the degradation of Christian faith and Biblical morality. Like Esau, they are selling their birthright for “a mess of pottage” (Genesis 25:29ff.). I find it horrifying. And disgusting.
As Charles Blow wrote in the New York Times, “Piety is [mere] postscript. The principal motivation now is anger, fear of cultural displacement, and anxiety about the erosion of privilege and the guarantees it once provided, from physical safety to financial security.”
The accusations against Roy Moore are serious and not easily dismissed. But supposedly good Christians – including pastors – are actually saying, “Even if it did happen …”  That rationale says that pedophilia is acceptable – if you are willing to advance  a certain cultural agenda. Don’t forget that the possibility of pedophilia is the common mythology that religious conservatives use as a bludgeon against gay people.
I am reminded of a book by David Horowitz, whose title is: The Politics of Bad Faith. That is what we are seeing. This is not Biblical faith, despite all the pounding of that book.  What it is is right-wing ideology dressed up in the guise of sanctimony. That needs to be stated bluntly and uncompromisingly.