Why Are So Many Evangelicals Condoning Sexual Assault?

Do evangelicals condone sexual harassment and sexual assault?

Until recently I’d have considered such a question to be absurd. We evangelicals are, after all, committed to bringing justice to the weak and afflicted (Ps. 82:3). We are called to comfort the victims while seeking restorative justice for the assailants.

Of course this is not a universally held standard, especially when the powerful assailants are politicians. Credible claims of harassment and assault by politicians are sometimes overlooked or dismissed by some evangelicals so as not to harm the politician’s political opportunities (or the electability of their enabling spouse).

But for the most part, evangelicals have historically been the ones most opposed to lowering moral standards for politicians and to accepting their sexual indiscretions and crimes. We were the “values voters” who could be counted on to hold candidates to a higher standard and to defend their victims.

That’s no longer true. Recent events have shown that many evangelicals—especially prominent conservative defenders of family and public morality—side with the powerful oppressors over the vulnerable oppressed. Many have shown they are willing, even eager, to overlook admissions of sexual assault if it will lead to their preferred political outcome. Read More