(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Contrary to the Opinion of MO State Sen. Moon, There is Nothing Holy or Moral about Child Marriage [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-12 No prayers or healing for the vulnerable. I don’t write a story often but get particularly angry when I see a news story about an extremist politician who shows absolutely no remorse or conscience when it comes to a discussion of child abuse. Missouri State Senator Mike Moon’s comments on child marriage reveal similar sentiments expressed by religious zealots — that women and children are property for older men, to be molded and shaped to obey. Newsweek: ”During a Tuesday debate, GOP state Senator Mike Moon suggested that children as young as 12 should have the right to marry as long as they have parental consent while arguing a bill he introduced to block gender-affirming care for transgender minors throughout Missouri. Criticized by his colleague, Democratic state Representative Peter Meredith, for an earlier vote in which Moon voted against changing state laws to raise the minimum marrying age, Moon asked Meredith, "Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They're still married." Recent news on child abuse crimes within Baltimore’s Catholic Archdiocese get a lot of traction as the reported abuse within the Catholic Church has gone on for decades and continues. Yet not a whole lot is reported among the larger number of Southern Baptist Churches and families, until several years ago, when the Houston Chronicle broke a huge story on the extent and cover-up of the abuse. There were hundreds of victims, with the number most likely underreported. NPR interviewed the journalists who broke the story: “The series titled "Abuse Of Faith" was published in 2019 after a six-month investigation by a team of reporters from the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, a team headed by John Tedesco and my guest Robert Downen, a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. The reporters found that hundreds of Southern Baptist Convention church leaders and volunteers had been criminally charged with sex crimes since 2000. The series also detailed numerous incidents in which denominational leaders mishandled, ignored or concealed warnings that Southern Baptist churches were being targeted by predators.” The Missouri Independent listed the individuals in Missouri churches who were convicted of crimes. The article stated that Missouri men were represented prominently on the list. Quote: “The publication of the list comes after the release Sunday of a 300-page report by an independent investigator that described how leaders of the Southern Baptist denomination for decades have received reports of sexual abuse committed by church workers, pastors and others. But those reports were largely kept secret and, rather than acting upon and investigating reports of sexual abuse, denomination leaders sought to intimidate and vilify victims and their advocates. “The whole thing should be seen for what it is,” wrote former Southern Baptist Convention executive committee member and general counsel D. August Boto in an internal email that was published in the report. “It’s a satanic scheme to completely distract us from evangelism.” I will venture to guess that many of these guys were married and were seen as trustworthy, moral people, in good community standing. It’s also interesting to note that the state politicians who vote against child marriage laws are themselves evangelical. Most child marriage cases are not between children or teens of the same age, but are between a male adult and an underage girl. Salon: “The proposed amendment to existing Kentucky marriage law, SB 48, stalled in committee last week and was criticized by Republican Senator John Schickel because it takes decision-making power away from parents. But the real force behind the bill’s delayed passage comes from Family Foundation of Kentucky. Family Foundation of Kentucky is a conservative lobbying group that has created a website with links of “insights” into several bills before the Kentucky legislature. SB 48 is not one of them. And yet, the group is powerful enough that it can get a bill held up in the Judiciary Committee by simply “expressing concerns to the chairman.” The delay in the Kentucky Senate had many worried, and for good reason. Just this week, a similar bill, also promoted by Unchained at Last, effectively died in the Tennessee legislature when House Majority Leader Glen Casada, R-Franklin, sent it to summer study in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee, a place from where few bills return. The reason? Casada received an email from former state senator David Fowler, who is currently the president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, a conservative Christian lobbying group. Fowler did not want the Tennessee child marriage bill to pass because, he believes, it would interfere with a lawsuit he intends to file regarding same-sex marriage. Whether his theory is correct (it’s an odd one), what matters here is how much power he and his conservative Christian group have over the Tennessee legislature; one email was all it took.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/4/12/2163587/-There-is-Nothing-Holy-or-Moral-about-Child-Marriage Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/