The NYT’s unctuous religious conservative pundit, Ross Douthat, claims Harvey Weinstein and similar predators flourish because, liberals and consent standards: “If your culture’s code is libertine, don’t be surprised that worse things than libertinism flourish.”
That raises the question of why sexual assault is so common in the very anti-consent, anti-liberal Southern Baptist Conference: “For decades, the findings show, Southern Baptists were told the denomination could not put together a registry of sex offenders because it would go against the denomination’s polity — or how it functions. What the report reveals is that leaders maintained a list of offenders while keeping it a secret to avoid the possibility of getting sued. The report also includes private emails showing how longtime leaders such as August Boto were dismissive about sexual abuse concerns, calling them “a satanic scheme to completely distract us from evangelism.”
One response to that: ” When pastors believe that the importance of their mission — reaching the lost, spreading the Gospel — somehow justifies the concealment of terrible crimes, they have crossed the line into heresy. The Christian message can never be advanced through strategic lies.”Here are some key takeaways. I’ll give the SBC credit for finally dealing with this, but it’s a very small credit compared to the damage they spent years ignoring.
Similarly: “A Warsaw, Indiana, pastor who drew a standing ovation from his congregation after telling them he was stepping down because he committed adultery with one person at least two decades ago drew their wrath minutes later after a woman tearfully alleged she was only 16 when the pastor took her virginity on his office floor while she sported a purity ring.”
Now here’s some insight from a Louisiana senator: “In an interview with Politico, the following words came out of Cassidy’s mouth: “About a third of our population is African American; African Americans have a higher incidence of maternal mortality. So, if you correct our population for race, we’re not as much of an outlier as it’d otherwise appear. Now, I say that not to minimize the issue but to focus the issue as to where it would be. For whatever reason, people of color have a higher incidence of maternal mortality.” In other words if it’s mostly black mothers dying, no big.
Texas continues its efforts to expand its ban to states that don’t think The Handmaid’s Tale is a good role model. Fourteen Republicans have proposed banning any business from the state if they pay for employees to get abortions where it’s legal.
“Overturning Roe v. Wade could have disastrous consequences for the U.S. armed forces, and here’s how I know: When I was 21, I was drugged and raped violently while serving in the military, a crime that resulted in pregnancy.”
To CYA themselves, some doctors and hospitals already turn away miscarriage patients or delay treatment. As detailed at the link, the new anti-abortion laws make it worse. However forced-birth leaders are resorting to even bigger lies than usual, such as aborted fetuses being used as fuel by power companies. That’s up there with the furries in schools bullshit. Or we have Fox News’ Jesse Watters arguing we shouldn’t listen to pro-choice arguments from older women because they can’t get pregnant.
Can victims forgive institutions for sexual misconduct they ignored?
As always, if you want more discussion of the myths around abortion, harassment and male supremacy, Undead Sexist Cliches is available as a Amazon paperback, an ebook and from several other retailers. Cover by Kemp Ward, all rights remain with current holders.
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