{"id":190,"date":"2017-12-07T13:27:06","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T17:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/?p=190"},"modified":"2017-12-07T13:27:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T17:27:06","slug":"evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Disgraced former judge and alleged pedophile Roy Moore. Imaged obtained through Creative Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
\u201cIn the street, men were calling for the little girl whose bear was dead, for she was lost.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A reader\u2019s eyes might skim over this sentence while rushing toward the nihilistic conclusion of Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian<\/em>, a gore-soaked examination of the violent and depraved nature of the human soul. \u00a0In the next two pages, the lost child is subsumed in the anti-climactic murder of the novel\u2019s protagonist, the nameless \u201cKid,\u201d as he is crushed in the preternaturally hairless arms of the book\u2019s chief villain, the diabolical Judge Holden.<\/p>\n
While this allusion to a child\u2019s disappearance seems unimportant compared to a man\u2019s brutal death, it captures one of the true horrors of McCarthy\u2019s masterful expos\u00e9 of the dark recesses of men\u2019s hearts. For by saying that the girl is lost, McCarthy emphasizes another terrible truth about Judge Holden: he is a pedophile and serial child killer.<\/p>\n
Judge Holden\u2019s perditious preying on children is hinted at or exhibited elsewhere in the novel. After massacring a camp of Native Americans, Judge Holden \u201crescues\u201d a Native child, keeping him uncomfortably close before eventually snapping his neck. Earlier, he is in the vicinity when a child goes missing from a Mexican village. At times, he is observed creepily enticing youngsters with offers of candy. Most revealing, he is caught naked in a bedroom with a 12-year-old girl.<\/p>\n
Judge Holden is a fictional character (though some argue he is based on a real-life outlaw). However, when I now review his appearances in Blood Meridian<\/em>, I can\u2019t help but picture an individual who resides firmly in the realm of non-fiction: the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Alabama, Judge Roy Moore.<\/p>\n
Though he bears the title \u201cJudge,\u201d Roy Moore is demonstrably undeserving of that honorific, if for no other reason than he has twice been expelled from the judiciary. In 2003, when he refused to obey a federal court\u2019s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from an Alabama court building, he was forcibly removed from his position as Chief Judge of the Alabama Supreme Court. Later, he was again removed from the bench when he ordered state probate judges to refuse to grant same-sex marriage licenses, in direct defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s ruling such practices unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
Moore\u2019s disdain for the rule of law pales in comparison to his bankrupt moral character. Nine women have now accused him of sexual misconduct<\/a>, one of whom alleges that he molested her when she was a 14-year-old girl and another who claims he tried to force her to perform oral sex when she was 16. A former police officer from Moore\u2019s hometown of Gadsden told MSNBC that cops were tasked with keeping the Senate hopeful from harassing high school cheerleaders<\/a> at football games and that he was banned from the local mall for harassing teenage girls.<\/p>\n
Despite his depravity, many Alabama voters are still committed to supporting Moore. Most recent polling<\/a> puts his support in the 42-49% range, while some polls even see him topping 50%. It\u2019s entirely conceivable that, though he is patently unqualified for office, Roy Moore could emerge as a U.S. Senator after Alabama\u2019s December 12 special election.<\/p>\n
Before Alabama voters cast their ballots for a credibly-accused pedophile, they should pause and consider the fate of those who align themselves with such morally bereft individuals. In Blood Meridian<\/em>, Judge Holden, like Moore an apparent pedophile, convinced a band of around 15 men to follow him into the abyss, leading them on a campaign of murder, rape, robbery, and torture while promising them riches and prosperity in exchange for their sins. But in the end, though he promised them the world, one by one he left them to suffer ignominious deaths, strangled by the hangman\u2019s noose, marooned to die in the Mexican desert, or snuffed out with his own unnaturally strong hands. After he dispatched the last of his hell-bound posse, Holden celebrated in a saloon, maniacally dancing as he reveled in the con he had pulled. One can easily envision Moore\u2019s recent waltz across a stage while waving a pistol as a similar tribute to the gullibility of those who believe that supporting evil will ultimately work in their favor.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIn the street, men were calling for the little girl whose bear was dead, for she was lost.\u201d A reader\u2019s eyes might skim over this sentence while rushing toward the nihilistic conclusion of Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian, a gore-soaked examination of the violent and depraved nature of the human soul. \u00a0In the next two pages, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2542,"featured_media":191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[167,27,166,24,165],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-blood-meridian","tag-lds","tag-literature","tag-mormon","tag-roy-moore"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Moore\u2019s waltz across a stage while waving a pistol is a tribute to the gullibility of those who believe that supporting evil will work in their favor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Moore\u2019s waltz across a stage while waving a pistol is a tribute to the gullibility of those who believe that supporting evil will work in their favor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Mormon Politico\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-07T17:27:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/782\/2017\/12\/Judge_Roy_Moore.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"456\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"439\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gary A.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gary A.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/\",\"name\":\"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-07T17:27:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-07T17:27:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#\/schema\/person\/bb6436a934fb593a60f0f0ab2f160139\"},\"description\":\"Moore\u2019s waltz across a stage while waving a pistol is a tribute to the gullibility of those who believe that supporting evil will work in their favor.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/\",\"name\":\"The Mormon Politico\",\"description\":\"Politics through a left-leaning Mormon's eyes.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#\/schema\/person\/bb6436a934fb593a60f0f0ab2f160139\",\"name\":\"Gary A.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10ed9b89d5637ee99b10c7c30528bab2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10ed9b89d5637ee99b10c7c30528bab2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gary A.\"},\"description\":\"Gary works on national security issues for a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. He has a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law and a B.A. in International Relations (with a Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic emphasis) from BYU. He is an active member of the LDS Church.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/author\/gashcroft\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian","description":"Moore\u2019s waltz across a stage while waving a pistol is a tribute to the gullibility of those who believe that supporting evil will work in their favor.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian","og_description":"Moore\u2019s waltz across a stage while waving a pistol is a tribute to the gullibility of those who believe that supporting evil will work in their favor.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/","og_site_name":"The Mormon Politico","article_published_time":"2017-12-07T17:27:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":456,"height":439,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/782\/2017\/12\/Judge_Roy_Moore.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gary A.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gary A.","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/","name":"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-12-07T17:27:06+00:00","dateModified":"2017-12-07T17:27:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#\/schema\/person\/bb6436a934fb593a60f0f0ab2f160139"},"description":"Moore\u2019s waltz across a stage while waving a pistol is a tribute to the gullibility of those who believe that supporting evil will work in their favor.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/2017\/12\/evening-redness-alabama-roy-moore-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Evening Redness in Alabama: Roy Moore and Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/","name":"The Mormon Politico","description":"Politics through a left-leaning Mormon's eyes.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#\/schema\/person\/bb6436a934fb593a60f0f0ab2f160139","name":"Gary A.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10ed9b89d5637ee99b10c7c30528bab2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10ed9b89d5637ee99b10c7c30528bab2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Gary A."},"description":"Gary works on national security issues for a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. He has a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law and a B.A. in International Relations (with a Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic emphasis) from BYU. He is an active member of the LDS Church.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/author\/gashcroft\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/themormonpolitico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}