Member-only story
Conservatives Need to Stop Pretending they Protect Women and Children
Donald J. Trump. Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. Reality show celebrity Josh Duggar. Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida. What do all of these men have in common? They’re leaders in the modern conservative movement who have been credibly accused of harming women and children.
That’s supposed to be the tradeoff in conservatism: In exchange for women and children ceding all their power and decision making to the men, the men are supposed to protect them. Instead, the conservative agenda ends up empowering abusive, predatory behavior. Please understand I am in no way blaming Christianity or conservatism for pedophilia or spousal abuse. What I am suggesting is that any belief system that puts any one group in the category of absolute moral authority is going to be a breeding ground for abuse and corruption.
Recently my hometown newspaper reported on a lovely human interest story about our local Boys & Girl’s Club’s annual talent show. This year, the event was hosted by a local drag queen, and the local paper shared a photo of the winning team of girls with the host. The drag queen in question is a well-known, respected person in our community who raises a lot of money for charity.
Local conservatives, of course, made hateful, ugly comments under the news story…
