Moloch

The Evangelical preachers I grew up with in the 1980s often referred to Moloch in their sermons. They believed that Moloch was an ancient Canaanite god whose worshipers sacrificed children to him.* They preached that abortion was a modern-day Moloch, and that our nation (at least, the godless liberals of our nation that were to blame for abortion) would be judged harshly for sacrificing children on the altar of convenience.

 

And looking at Evangelicals, then and now… the irony of them accusing others of sacrificing children to ensure their own convenience and comfort is rich.

 

Who pushes hardest to defund every government program that feeds, educates, treats, or houses children - because they want to lower their own taxes a bit?

Who fights for children to be kept in our broken foster system rather than *gasp* be adopted by gay couples - because if they admitted that gay couples can be good parents then they would have to admit they’ve been lied to by their pastors? Who pushes the idea that a kid is better off with zero parents than with two dads?

Who supports taking children away from their parents to punish the parents for crossing an imaginary line - because they have convinced themselves that if those parents stopped coming to this country then their own employers would pay them more?

Who attacks the teenaged Greta Thunberg for reminding them that their refusal to do anything about climate change is dooming their children – because they would rather have products cheaply and conveniently today than have drinkable water and breathable air for their kids tomorrow?

Who continues to vote for people like Roy Moore and Matt Gaetz despite knowing that they are predators who target children – because they would rather have even a child molester in office than a Democrat?

Who spent two years insisting that their own children, and everyone else’s by extension, should be sent back to school unvaccinated and unmasked during the deadliest pandemic in living memory?

Who fights tooth and nail against doing anything at all to make it less likely that children will be gunned down at school - because they want to make sure there are no limits on the type or number of hunting rifles they get to have?

Who gives their full-throated support to a military that routinely sends teenagers to die for the interests of oil tycoons? And that routinely bombs children in other countries? Who shouts “Support the troops!” no matter what those troops actually DO? And then works tirelessly to defund all the programs that support those same teenaged troops when they return home as injured and traumatized adults?

Who gives their full-throated support to all cops, always, everywhere - even cops who gun down unarmed teenagers?

Who is it that truly worships the god of death and destruction, sending countless children into his maw to be consumed? Who sacrifices children on the altar of their own comfort and convenience?

 

I’ll give you a hint: It’s not those godless liberals who support these child sacrifices.

It’s Evangelicals.

 

 

*Modern scholars are divided on this, and many think that “Moloch” actually refers to the type of sacrifice rather than a sacrifice to any specific deity – the passages should be interpreted “Moloch-sacrifice” rather than “sacrifice to Moloch”. In which case, Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac to Yahweh would be a “Moloch-sacrifice” of the type that is forbidden by Mosaic law. This idea isn’t new – Biblical scholars have been talking about it since 1935 when scholars of ancient languages realized there were other possible interpretations that evidence showed were more likely. But of course, Evangelicals don’t actually study the Bible or listen to scholars - they just use the book to confirm their existing beliefs. So I never learned this till I looked up Moloch on Wikipedia just now.