海角大神

When some of Roy Moore鈥檚 defenders seemed to justify the idea of older 海角大神 men dating teenage girls, a number of conservative Evangelical 海角大神s, like a number of Americans, were both outraged and appalled.

The embattled Republican nominee for Alabama鈥檚 US Senate seat conceded Friday that he 聽40 years or so ago when he was in his 30s. He added, however, that he doesn鈥檛 鈥渞emember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother.鈥�

One of Mr. Moore's defenders compared a grown man dating a teen as akin to the biblical Mary and Joseph. While their ages are not given in the Bible, in some evangelical circles they are believed to be an adult male carpenter and young teenage girl. 鈥淭here鈥檚 just nothing immoral or illegal here,鈥� said Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, defending the notorious former state chief justice鈥檚 alleged dates and assault of girls as young as 14. 鈥淢aybe just a little unusual.鈥�

The accusations, and the justifications coming from some quarters, have of many Evangelicals, and the condemnations have been in most cases unequivocal. 聽

Yet such relationships, in fact, may not be as unusual among a certain subsection of American Evangelicalism as people think, a number of scholars and child abuse advocates say. Today, for some supporters of Moore, that deeply ingrained culture of 海角大神 masculinity 鈥� or 鈥渂iblical manhood鈥� 鈥� can even justify the idea that adult-teen relationships are not immoral. (Legality is another question: Alabama's age of consent is 16.)

鈥淚 think these moments, both around [President] Trump and Roy Moore, are so revealing,鈥� says Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a professor of history at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., referencing the 11 women who accused Mr. Trump of sexual harassment before the 2016 election. On Friday, when asked for an official White House position on the matter, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that all the women are lying.

Most of the evangelical critics of Moore, on the one hand, have been well-known Never-Trumpers. Nevertheless, the president鈥檚 most ardent supporters still come from white Evangelical quarters.

鈥淪o a larger swath than I think most people expected don鈥檛 seem to want to condemn Moore鈥檚 past relationships, or critique that,鈥� continues Professor Du Mez, a professor of religion and gender who has traced evangelical ideas of masculinity. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what is really fascinating to me.鈥�

On Wednesday, an attorney for Moore vigorously denied the allegations against him in a press conference.

Child marriage remains more common in the US than many people think.聽About 5 in every 1,000 15 to 17 year olds in the United States are married, according to the Pew Research Center, with child marriage more common in the South.

Over the past few days, have recounted a dynamic in which older Evangelical men have often pursued, or have even been pursued, by young teenage girls.

And many described, too, a vision of gender roles in which young girls are at their most malleable and vulnerable, while older 海角大神 men are understood to be their protectors and providers.聽

鈥淩oy Moore is a symptom of a larger problem in conservative fundamentalist and evangelical circles,鈥� Kathryn Brightbill, legislative policy analyst at the , which advocates for home-schooled children. 鈥淚t's not a Southern problem, it's a fundamentalist problem. Girls who are 14 are seen as potential relationship material.鈥�

The reasons for this are complex, scholars say, but over the past few decades, many Evangelicals have asserted a more muscular understanding of 海角大神 masculinity, one that affirmed traditional '50s-era gender roles 鈥� but in a much more militant and aggressive way.

And in many ways, masculinity and male potency is understood as a kind of God-given and difficult to control force. 鈥淭his is what makes men, there鈥檚 a kind of wildness to masculinity,鈥� says Du Mez, citing her research. 鈥淵ou cannot tame masculinity. Testosterone is God鈥檚 gift to men 鈥� and to women as well, they would say 鈥� but you can鈥檛 really control it.鈥�

Conversely, women are seen as naturally seductive. Young girls are taught that it is a sin, in fact, to cause a man to sin by dressing provocatively or inciting male lust.

Rise of 'biblical manhood'

As Evangelicals came into their own politically in the 1970s, 鈥渢hey did so in a way that really set them apart from the rest of the country,鈥� says Du Mez. 鈥淭hey really set out in a different direction.鈥�

With the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the rise of feminism, and the legalization of abortion, many conservative Evangelicals began to emphasize a particular theology of 鈥渂iblical manhood鈥� and 鈥渕ale headship.鈥�

The Vietnam War, too, only amplified Evangelical calls for an almost militaristic 海角大神ity, even as they emerged as one of the most potent political forces in the Republican Party.

Popular evangelical books on family values, written and promoted by 鈥淔ocus on the Family鈥� founder James Dobson, became bestsellers. Couching arguments for traditional gender roles as determined 鈥渂iochemically, anatomically, and emotionally,鈥� Mr. Dobson wrote in his 1980 book, 鈥淪traight Talk to Men and their Wives,鈥澛爃e claimed that聽feminism was altering the 鈥渢ime-honored roles of protector and protected.鈥澛�

In the 2001 book," still one of the most influential and popular Evangelical books on family values, the author John Eldredge famously wrote that God created men to long for 鈥渁 battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.鈥�

The role of women was conversely passive: they yearned to be fought for. And while they, too, possessed something 鈥渨ild at heart,鈥� it was 鈥渇eminine to the core, more seductive than fierce.鈥澛�

鈥淧atriarchal authority is much easier to come by if there鈥檚 a big age difference,鈥� says Du Mez. 鈥淢en have the obligation to provide and to protect, and with two 20-year-olds, it鈥檚 hard to achieve that differential.

鈥淲hereas, if you have a 35-year-old-man and a 16-year-old girl, he鈥檚 probably already able to provide, and to assert that headship authority 鈥� it鈥檚 easier ... according the rhetoric I鈥檝e been seeing within this particular Evangelical subculture.鈥�

Echoes of this view of masculinity can be seen in other instances, such as 鈥淒uck Dynasty,鈥� one of whose stars advocated dating teens. Last December, Edgar Welch, the gunman who was charged with firing a gun inside a Washington-area pizzeria that was the subject of an online conspiracy theory claiming it was a child sex ring, told investigators that 鈥淲ild at Heart鈥� was one of his favorite books, even as he saw himself as a kind of protector hero for young women.

It鈥檚 a masculinity, too, that many prominent Evangelicals have cited in their support for Trump. 鈥淚 want the meanest, toughest, son-of-a-you-know-what I can find in that role, and I think that鈥檚 where many evangelicals are,鈥澛犅爐he Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas and outspoken Trump supporter.

A shift in thought on personal immorality in politicians

The acceptance of leaders like Trump and Moore also reflects a startling shift in attitudes among many Evangelicals. In a recent study by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), Americans in general have become more tolerant of elected officials who commit an immoral act in their private life, but are able to still behave ethically in public.聽

This has been especially the case among Evangelicals. In 2011, only 30 percent believed that personal immorality did not interfere with governing ethically. In 2016, 72 percent of white evangelicals reported that immoral leaders could still govern ethically.

Ms. Brightbill, the advocate at the聽, and many others describe how ideas of 鈥渆arly courtship鈥� allowed men to take over from the headship of a young girl鈥檚 father, shaping and molding a young girl鈥檚 role as a 鈥渉elpmate.鈥�

鈥淭he evangelical world is overdue for a reckoning. Women raised in evangelicalism and fundamentalism have for years discussed the normalization of child sexual abuse,鈥澛爏he wrote in a column in the Los Angeles Times. 鈥淲e鈥檝e聽聽on social media and on our聽聽and various online聽, but until the Roy Moore story broke, mainstream American society barely paid attention. Everyone assumed this was an isolated, fringe issue. It isn鈥檛.鈥�