Conservative writer calls out FRC head Tony Perkins for role in Wes Goodman scandal

FRC head Tony Perkins

Well at least we have one religious conservative in America with a shred of integrity.

Rod Dreher in yesterdays edition of American Conservative diidn't play favorites as he scolded Family Research Council president Tony Perkins for his "judgement" in the Wes Goodman sex scandal.

Goodman, a former Ohio state legislator and a religious right favorite, recently resigned from office after getting caught while "dallying" with a young man in his office. After his resignation, over 30 men have come out accusing him of harassing them for sex. In addition, it also came out that in 2015, Goodman allegedly sexually assaulted an 18-year-old as he slept and that FRC president Tony Perkins knew of the incident but didn't alert authorities.

Perkins and FRC have refused to comment on the situation.

And Dreher took Perkins to task:

I spoke this afternoon to a Christian source well-placed in DC conservative political circles. He told me that it’s emerging in conversations among Washington conservatives today that a lot of young conservative men knew about Goodman’s proclivities — he was rather indiscreet — but none of them said anything. 

Again, neither did Tony Perkins, so why should they have? Remember, it was only two years ago that Perkins, in his capacity as head of the Family Research Council, got sandbagged by the Josh Duggar scandal. What, if anything, did he know about Duggar’s sex life before he signed Duggar up to be an FRC national leader? Maybe nothing, but the Goodman fiasco is the second prominent example of Perkins’s bad judgment — and in the Goodman case, we have documentation (in the form of a letter from Perkins) that Perkins knew about Goodman’s homosexuality and habit of coming on to young men, and let him go into politics as a conservative, pro-family Christian anyway. 

To be clear, Perkins did say in that private letter to Goodman that he (Perkins) cannot endorse his entering politics, given that he had not shown that he (Goodman) had dealt with his sexual disorder. But why did Perkins remain silent when Goodman entered an Ohio statehouse GOP primary — and won?  . . . As an Evangelical pastor friend texted today, in deep frustration, “This is what people think Christianity is.” Yes, that is what people think of it: overlooking or excusing serious personal sin for the sake of advancing power. . . .

Huge hat tip to Joe Jervis.