The Swine of Conservatism

UNITED STATES
The New York Times

November 11, 2017

By Ross Douthat

Lately we have been given an extended education in the different varieties of liberal pigs.

There’s the industrial-scale predator who buys indulgences from Planned Parenthood. And the male feminist who respects women so very much — especially when they’re too drunk to resist him. And the Great Man of Letters creeping on his co-workers. And the let-it-all-hang-out artist who thinks it can’t be assault if the only person you’re touching is yourself.

But this week our era of exposure has reminded us that cultural conservatism has its own distinctive swine.

So while we wait to see what becomes of Alabama Senate candidate and professional Christian Roy Moore, who is credibly alleged to have spent his thirties pursuing high school girls with the “I get older, they stay the same age” gusto of Matthew McConaughey’s character in “Dazed and Confused,” it’s worth doing a quick typology of the predators that flourish among the godly and moralistic and traditional.

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