Roy Moore no different than right-wing evangelicals media previously overlooked

Roy Moore

So Roy Moore, the fanatic from Alabama famous for putting his religious beliefs above the law, is the GOP candidate for US Senate. And its predicted that he may win.

Naturally, this spotlight is causing the media to dig up his past actions and statements, including his exploits with a Ten Commandments monument and when  he went well beyond the call of duty to viciously attack the LGBTQ community.

This is leading to a lot of shock and hand wringing. Big deal. I'm not fazed in the least. I do, however, have a question.

What makes Moore any different than the religious right groups such as the Family Research Council who happen to have a degree of power in Congress. Or how about the right-wing evangelical circles - which include FRC - who have influence over  Trump?

If you looked at any of Moore's statements and compared them to statements said by any members of these groups, I think you find, at the very least, mildly subtle differences.

1. Moore on the LGBTQ community - A child custody case in 2002 was less of a national cause célèbre, but Moore used the outcome, and his concurrence, to author a vicious attack on same-sex parents. "I write specially to state that the homosexual conduct of a parent -- conduct involving a sexual relationship between two persons of the same gender -- creates a strong presumption of unfitness that alone is sufficient justification for denying that parent custody of his or her own children or prohibiting the adoption of the children of others," he said in one of the opinion's more tame passages. In others, Moore labeled "homosexual conduct" by parents as being "detrimental to the children," writing that it "is, and has been, considered abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature and of nature's God upon which this nation and our laws are predicated."

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council  in 2011 - In an August FRC mailer discovered by Right Wing Watch, Perkins attacked the Obama administration for participating in the “It Gets Better" Project, a campaign launched last year in response to a series of high-profile LGBT youth suicides. According to Perkins, the administration’s support for the campaign is “appalling,” “disgusting,” and an attempt to “recruit” kids into a perverted and “immoral” “lifestyle”


2, Moore about Vladimir Putin and values - Moore told The Guardian (2017) in August that President Ronald Reagan’s declaration that the Soviet Union is “the focus of evil in the modern world” could be applicable to the U.S. today, citing same-sex marriage as an example “You could say that about America, couldn’t you?” he said. “We promote a lot of bad things.” His mention of same-sex marriage prompted The Guardian to note some similarities between Moore and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Well, maybe Putin is right,” Moore said. “Maybe he’s more akin to me than I know.”

Franklin Graham in 2016 -Evangelist Franklin Graham hailed Putin as a hero for taking “a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda” even as “America’s own morality has fallen so far on this issue”

3. Moore  on the supposed loss of American values - Moore suggested that a lack of faith in God may have played a role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as he quoted a passage from the book of Isaiah in a February speech at the Open Door Baptist Church. The passage suggests that because God’s message was rejected, sin will come like a high wall that suddenly collapses. “Sounds a little bit like the Pentagon, whose breaking came suddenly at an instance, doesn’t it?” he said. He steered attendees to a later verse that alludes to slaughters and towers falling “if you think that’s coincidence.” “You know, we’ve suffered a lot in this country,” he said. “Maybe, just maybe, because we’ve distanced ourselves from the one that has it within his hands to heal this land.” He indicated that God may be upset because “we legitimize sodomy” and “legitimize abortion.”

James Dobson - We are witnessing an unprecedented campaign to secularize our society and "de-moralize" our institutions from the top down. The effort, now in its fifth decade, has been enormously successful. Most forms of prayer have been declared unconstitutional in the nation's schools. The Ten Commandments have been prohibited on school bulletin boards. Secular universities are blatantly hostile to Christian precepts, and the media screams "Foul!" whenever someone speaks openly of his beliefs. In this wonderful Land of the Free, we have gagged and bound all of our public officials, our teachers, our elected representatives, and our judges. Since we have effectively censored their expressions of faith in public life, the predictable is happening: a generation of young people is growing up with very little understanding of the spiritual principles on which our country was founded. And we wonder why so many of them can kill, steal, take drugs, and engage in promiscuous sex with no pangs of conscience. We have taught them that right and wrong are arbitrary – subjective – changing. They learned their lessons well. 

If the media wasn't so blase and jaded about evangelical right groups and the power they had in Congress before the Trump Administration, as well as now, they wouldn't be looking at Moore in wonderment.

Moore is not a damn wild card like some folk have said. Nor is he a populist. He is most likely the symbol of empowerment for the evangelicals who support Trump. I wouldn't be surprised if soon they may see it as more advantageous to run candidates like themselves rather than rely on the support of the traditional GOP.

And Moore winning the race over a GOP candidate favored by the party is just the signal they may need.

Bottom line - we probably should keep one eye on Trump and the other on the evangelicals who now support him. And ask ourselves how soon will it be before they break away from Trump or seek to become the alpha in their relationship with him.