which seems to be pretty counter to what we as Christians believe in.”

We may soon look back on Roy Moore and ask what hath God wrought?

First, Alabama Marion County GOP chair David Hall told a reporter, "It was 40 years ago, I really don't see the relevance of it. He was 32. She was supposedly 14. She's not saying that anything happened other than they kissed… It wouldn't affect whether or not I'd vote for him.”

OK, really? Did he really just say that?

Let’s be clear, she is saying a lot more than that they kissed. But, seriously, a 32-year-old even kissing a 14-year-old is OK with you, David Hall?

Hint: it’s not.

But the most widely reported comment came from Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who told the Washington Examiner, “Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became the parents of Jesus… There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.”

So…after I got over my initial shock of this statement, I admittedly got angry.

If this is evangelicalism, I’m on the wrong team.

But it is not.

Christians don't use Joseph and Mary to explain child molesting accusations.

I agree.  Interesting, though, that somebody had to say it; and had to say it in defense of evangelicals who are not Roy Moore or rabid supporters of Roy Moore.  And lines must be drawn:

So, let’s be clear. No. Normal. Evangelical. Believes. This. About. The. Bible.

Furthermore, and addressing evangelicals:

We should be angered, first that politicians think they can lie to us so easily by appealing to biblical language and characters. Second, that we so easily fall for such tactics.

For the past decade, evangelicals have been easy marks, and I hope that people won’t fall for these things.

Whether they do or not, two points need to be made:

Either way, Jim Zeigler needs to read his Bible quite differently.

And to all you reporters out there, THIS IS NOT WHAT EVANGELICALS BELIEVE.

Scripture, you see, is read by a community of believers; or it is utterly useless and used only for harm.  Mr. Stetzer here speaks for that community, against those who would abuse that community and its beliefs.

These defenses of Moore may leave a mark:

Asked by host Witt, “You have Roy Moore’s defenders comparing what he did to the Bible, most notably the parents of Jesus Christ — Joseph and Mary — even though one of his accusers was just 14 at the time. Where are these responses coming from? Is this the evangelical wing of the party speaking here? Is it the anti-McConnell wing or is it something else?”

“I think it’s a combination of a few things,” Setmayer began, “I’ve been very open in my criticism of evangelicals, even back to the presidential election with the support of Donald Trump and all of his transgressions and his openness in being an indecent human being, which seems to be pretty counter to what we as Christians believe in.”

“I just find it really abhorrent that the evangelical community is even going this route, particularly now in Alabama,” she stated. “It’s shameful that they’re perverting Biblical Scripture to try to normalize or rationalize the actions of someone that possibly molested a teenager. They’ll have to reconcile that when they hit the pearly gates, I guess.”

“As far as what’s going on here, using other aspects of the media and the Senate Republicans and Senate leadership as scapegoats, this seems to be what the Bannon-side of the political spectrum is doing,” she explained. “This is straight out of their playbook. It’s everybody else. They’re persecuted by the media and by Senate leadership. It becomes more about sticking it to them than actually upholding standards, which we used to have.”

“As Republicans, we used to be the Moral Majority party remember that?” she ruefully added. “I’m old enough to remember those days when Ralph Reed and the Family Research Council, they were very adamant about family values and common character and decency and that mattered. What happened to that? Now it’s some kind of weird tribalism going on here and us versus them —  establishment and media versus what? I think this is a very dangerous precedent and potentially irreparably damaging for Republicans.”

Editor's note:  if you're appealing to the example of Ralph Reed, who escaped by the skin of his teeth from the scandal that took down Jack Abramoff and others, as well as the extremely sketchy Family Research Council, you're actually on pretty weak ground and much as you're being cited approvingly, we can't let that slide.  Chickens coming home to roost, as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright famously said.

And I'm pretty sure Frank Schaeffer doesn't even consider himself a Christian anymore, but:

“Back in the day when my dad and my were going around the country establishing the religious right based on our anti-abortion stand, one I’ve moved a long way from since,” Schaeffer explained. “The whole idea was bringing America [back] to some moral stand.”

“Think about the Republican Party now,” he continued as his voice rose. “Throw some words out that are associated with them: mass shootings, Milo, Trump, Moore, Bannon, rape, child molesting, neo-Nazis, white supremacy. What the hell is going on with the Republican Party?”

“I’m not shocked by Donald Trump, he’s an ass. I’m not shocked by Roy Moore. he’s a loud mouth, a gun-toting fool,” he exclaimed. “What I’m shocked by is the complicity. We are in a political climate that’s built on one lie after another. I just want to say for the record, by the way, I believe a woman who stands up, which is very difficult to do and comes forward with a story like that. She was a Trump voter. She’s a Republican.”

“I believe her,” he added. “I just want to say that as a father and grandfather and someone that respects women that I believe her.”

Yeah, at some point you can't call everything you do "moral," and everything your opponent does "evil".  We may finally be seeing the whip crack on that one.