I don’t scare easily and am generally very accepting of people. However, I want to introduce you to someone who scares me and see if he scares you also.

* He talks with God. (Which one?)
* He states that the US Constitution was founded on God. (History would contradict that.)
* He rejects the theory of evolution. (I suspect he advocates intelligent design—which is neither.)
* He believes that Muslims should not hold public office. (He must believe all Muslims are terrorists.)
* He recites anti-abortion poetry. (He must believe that women can’t decide what to do with their bodies.)
* He says that 9-11 was God’s punishment for America’s sins. (His theology is awful.)
* He thinks that Supreme Court justices who voted for same-sex marriage ought to be impeached. (Do you think he might be homophobic?)
* He says that sexual anarchy is rampant in the United States. (See “The Crusader” in the October 30, 2017, issue of Time.)
* He was relieved as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, not once but twice, for refusing to obey the law. (Obviously, he thinks he is above the law.)
* He was a leading voice in the charge that Obama was not born in the United States and is a secret Muslim. (The proof of two birth certificates from Hawai‘i did not change his mind.)
* His extreme views would set civil rights in the United States back decades. (See “The Crusader” in the October 30, 2017, issue of Time.)
* He has been accused of financial improprieties on two occasions, the latest being about “loaning” himself a lot of money. (Again, he thinks he is above the law.)
* He has past ties with neo-Confederates and white supremacists. (Sounds like that is where his heart still is.)
* Reputedly, he’s impossible to work with. (See “The Crusader” in the October 30, 2017, issue of Time.)
* His Democratic opponent Doug Jones says electing him would be like bombing Congress. (He might be elected, if his history is any indication.)
* He has been accused of making sexual advances on teenage girls. (If the accusations are true, he’s a pervert and a hypocrite.)
* I have more, but enough negativity is enough. (He’s scary!)

The man I am writing about is 70-year-old Roy Moore, an ultraconservative from Alabama, where he has a habit of always winning elections. He’s a faithful Southern Baptist who claims he doesn’t touch whiskey or beer, has been married to the same woman for thirty-eight years, and has four children. Moore is campaigning to be the next state senator from Alabama in place of Jeff Sessions, who is the present United States Attorney General.

Why does he scare me? I keep thinking I’m a Christian, but if he’s one, I can’t be, and I would have no desire to be one. The scary part is that no one seems to challenge him about being a “Christian.”

Equally scary is the idea that he could be a congressperson in the United States Senate. If Roy Moore represents what our country is about, I am sorry that I proudly served in the United States Marine Corps to preserve our democracy and ensure freedom and justice for all.

My biggest scare is that Moore keeps winning, which means that a majority of people (probably mostly white people) think that his kind of Christianity and his take on justice are what America needs to remain a special place in the eyes of so much of the world.

According to Moore’s definitions, are you a Christian? Do you believe in freedom and justice for all?

Would you vote for Roy Moore?

Visit Bil Aulenbach’s Blog Peace Love Joy Hope
Image courtesy of Howard Lake, no modifications made (CC BY-SA 2.0)