UNITED STATES
Patheos
October 4, 2018
By Kristin du Mez
So, it turns out close to half of all white evangelicals think Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed even if Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault are true. (An NPR/PBS NewHour/Marist poll conducted last week, 48% of white evangelical Christians believed he should be appointed to the highest court regardless; an additional 16% were unsure, leaving only 36% of white evangelicals who would apparently have a problem with an unrepentant perpetrator of sexual assault serving on the highest court of the land.)
To be honest, there’s nothing all that shocking here. The same white evangelicals looked the other way when the Access Hollywood tapes were released, when twenty-two women accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, when allegations surfaced of Roy Moore preying on teenage girls, and when an alarming number of their own faith leaders have been caught up in sexual abuse scandals.
It’s not clear that evangelical Christians are more likely than others to abuse women. (Although certain factors such as gendered power differentials have been connected to patterns of abuse, and many evangelical women themselves have testified that evangelical teachings of male authority and female submission perpetuate cultures of abuse, and constrained their ability to confront that abuse). What does give one pause, however, is the unwillingness on the part of so many evangelical Christians to condemn abuse when it does occur.
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