This week a fresh new wave of sexual assault and harassment allegations were leveled against prominent men. The comedian Louis C.K. was accused by five women of masturbating in front of them without their consent and eventually admitted to these allegations. While of course this is important, disturbing, and disgraceful, it was strangely reported much more widely than the accusations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. Moore was accused by four women (most minors at the time of said incidents) of sexual assault; one allegation made by a woman who was 14 at the time of the assault. But perhaps more galling than the details of the assault itself was the defense of Roy Moore offered by Jim Ziegler, the Alabama State Auditor, who said “Take the Bible … 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.” Aside from the fact that Mary supposedly was, quite famously in fact, a virgin, Ziegler’s statement is not only factually incorrect dangerous. Using the Bible to excuse sexual assault sets a precedent: that the most devout can use the Bible to avoid the social, moral, and legal consequences of their actions.
Roy Moore is accused of forcibly kissing a 14-year-old girl and encouraging her to touch his genitals. This was, and remains illegal. Moore is also accused of kissing three women who were between the ages of 16-18 at the time of the encounters. Moore was in his 30s. These incidences are at the very least extremely questionable. But to hear Jim Ziegler tell it, the encounters are nothing more than “a little bit unusual,” and the only evidence cited is the Bible, which no more qualifies a legal document than a library card does as a driver’s license. The problem with Ziegler’s justification is just that; it’s a justification. It excuses the activity in question, causing it sound like a lifestyle choice instead of a crime that has a victim. If Jim Ziegler was alone in his views this would be less of a problem, but he isn’t. He is a product of society, and society will reflect his views. These views taint the decisions of prosecutors and jurors, judges and lawmakers. The likelihood that perpetrators will be prosecuted, let alone convicted, dwindles until only .6% of rapists are incarcerated. Statements like Ziegler’s muddy the waters of a supposedly unambiguous institution, making it more difficult to achieve justice for victims.
Morality is less clear than the law, but statements like Ziegler’s absolutely fall out of the bounds of a normal morality, far outside of the bounds of “a little bit unusual.” Sexual assault of a minor isn’t a gray area; it isn’t debatable. But by creating a gray area where none exists, Ziegler increases the possibility that Moore will face no social consequences for his moral transgressions. Moore will likely be elected to the United States Senate in December. He will likely be accepted by his Republican colleagues with open arms once this news cycle washes away. These accusations will likely nothing but a blip on an otherwise bland Wikipedia page. Every time society buries sexual assault allegations under the rug, it is complicit in Jim Ziegler’s worldview. Every time Donald Trump sidesteps a question on Roy Moore, he is complicit in Jim Ziegler’s worldview (of course Donald Trump is far past complicit, he’s an active participant in Jim Ziegler’s worldview). And every time an Alabama voter votes for Moore despite the mounting evidence against him, they are complicit in Jim Ziegler’s worldview, a worldview that leads to a culture of sexual violence.
Roy Moore, Louis C.K., Harvey Weinstein, these men are individuals whose actions should rain down upon them, but they are also products of a society that taught them that sexual violence wasn’t immoral and that they would never be punished, socially or legally for their actions. This is not a justification for their actions, but an explanation. Jim Ziegler is a product of the same culture, as are his comments. Ziegler’s comments are reprehensible and wrong in every way imaginable. In the end, the most erroneous of Ziegler’s claims may not be those on immorally or illegality, but on the abnormality of Moore’s actions. If there is anything that the past weeks have taught us, it is that sexual violence is anything but “unusual.”
Liberal Talking Head 