Pete Seeger wrote the anti-war song “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” about the folly of doing the same thing over and over again and never learning from our experiences. The refrain is, “When will we ever learn?”

If Roy Moore is elected to the U.S. Senate, an updated title for the song might be “Where Have All The Morals Gone?”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday that he believes the women accusing Alabama Republican senate candidate Roy Moore of inappropriate sexual conduct when they were teens. Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite

Moore has been accused of making sexual advances 40 years ago to underage girls, clearly illegal and immoral, yet Alabama Evangelical Christians still support him. Given the extreme Republican opposition to Moore, Evangelical voters think it is awfully coincidental that these 40-year-old charges suddenly surfaced just before the election. Despite the recent accusations and all the money and time the opposition invested to defeat Moore, Alabama voters are still likely to elect him to the Senate.

Moore is unqualified to be a senator not just because he is accused of making sexual advances to minors but because he twice defied federal laws. Doing so clearly shows Moore’s profound lack of judgement, the most important skill every leader needs. Moore, the man the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to as “The Ayatollah of Alabama,” became unqualified by defying a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments statue from the Alabama Supreme Court building and for ordering Alabama justices to not issue same-sex marriage licenses in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Evangelical voters don’t seem to care if the Alabama Supreme Court chief justice makes illegal decisions, just so long as their Christian agenda is held above the law. Even after the two incidents mentioned above, Republican Alabama voters elected him to be their candidate for Senate. That voting record makes it very likely Alabama will make Moore their senator. When will they ever learn?

Most Alabama Republican politicians, including Gov. Kay Ivey, and most of the state’s voters still support Moore. They see Moore as the one person who can advance their Christian agenda. To quote Ivey: “I will cast my ballot on Dec. 12 … I do believe that the nominee of the party is the one I will vote for (because) we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate.”

According to Debbie Elliott, a reporter for NPR, Roy Moore’s wife and other women supporters have rallied to support Moore. Linda Lewis, president of the Capital City Republican Women’s Club in Montgomery, says “Moore has been in Alabama politics for decades and has always been above reproach … As long as he is the Republican candidate, I will support him”.

Nationally, many Republican leaders have stated they don’t support Moore. McConnell, with a slim margin in the Senate, would prefer a Democrat than to have Moore, a Republican. Many Republican leaders who don’t support Moore have decided to remain silent. These are the same Republicans who opposed Trump, remained silent and now wish they hadn’t. When will they ever learn?

Trump, also unqualified, would prefer a Republican who twice defied federal court orders and is accused of sexual misconduct than to have a Democrat. Trump denies the sexual misconduct allegations made against him by at least 13 women, so is it any wonder he supports Moore?

Although Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, correctly assessed that the Alabama election is a referendum on “the character of the country” that transcends partisan politics; it is too little, too late, and amounts to lip service to the emotionally charged sexual allegations. Opposing Moore as unqualified when he refused to remove the Ten Commandments and/or defied the U.S. Supreme Court would have demonstrated real leadership.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, spoke to the real objection Republicans have with Moore; his negative impact on the Republican agenda. According to Graham, if Moore wins the election the sex scandal will detract from the Republican agenda. If he loses, the Democrat winner will vote against the Republican agenda. Apparently neither the character of the man nor the character of the country matter when it comes to opposing Moore.

So where have all the Evangelical morals gone?

Tom Waddell is the president of the Maine chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

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