Multiple sex scandals are rocking the MAGA faith community

[Thiệu Ngô]

Allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct have cast a pall over the conservative evangelical movement, particularly in the past month.

By Ja'han Jones

Many Christian nationalists and fellow evangelicals in the MAGA movement have been known to claim dominion over American society, which they’ve derided for purportedly being run by “godless” leftists and sex predators.

And yet, even a cursory look at some of the headlines that have emerged from the conservative evangelical movement in just the past month suggests the movement is dealing with its own crisis of alleged perversion — one that strikes at the godly ethos its members often tout and use to browbeat liberals.

Pastor and former Trump adviser Robert Morris pleaded guilty to child sex abuse charges at the start of October.

Less than a week later, Covenant Eyes — an anti-porn company that’s been praised by House Speaker Mike Johnson and is responsible for an app that lets users allow their friends or family to monitor their internet habits — released a statement saying it was “devastated” by news reports that its founder’s 38-year-old stepson, Thomas Wideman, had been arrested and charged with child sex abuse this summer. Wideman’s charges include four counts of using computers to commit a crime, three counts of child sexually abusive activity and one count of accosting children for immoral purposes, and he has not yet entered a plea.

His lawyer, Joseph Brugnoli, did not immediately respond to MSNBC’s request for comment.

In another story just last week, authorities in Indiana arrested a 24-year-old member of the state’s National Guard, Jonathan Peternel, on charges of keeping child sexual abuse material on his phone, according to Fox 59 TV in Indianapolis. Peternel has pleaded not guilty to one count of child exploitation and three counts of possession of child sexual abuse material. The Indiana Citizen explained how the story threatens to draw scrutiny toward the Life Church in Indiana, where Peternel’s father, Nathan Peternel, is the lead pastor and co-hosts a podcast with Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith called “Jesus, Sex & Politics.”

Life Church hasn’t responded to MSNBC’s requests for comment from church officials or Nathan Peternel on the arrest.

Beckwith’s office told MSNBC that he “became aware of the allegations on Oct. 23 after the arrest was made” but declined to comment while the investigation is pending.

Beckwith, as it turns out, is also dealing with separate claims stemming from a grand jury investigation into whether staffers in his office shared a deepfake porn video. He told Fox 59 his office had looked into the claim and found no video, further saying the allegation had “the characteristics of a witch hunt.”

On top of all that, The Washington Post reported last Thursday on allegations compiled by the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative offshoot of the Episcopal Church that severed its ties after Episcopalians voted to confirm the denomination’s first openly gay bishop in 2003. The Post’s story highlights Anglican Church in North America members’ accusations that an archbishop sexually harassed a woman in his office and that a bishop allowed men with histories of violence or sexual misconduct to worship or hold staff or leadership positions in his diocese.

The archbishop, Stephen Wood, denied the allegations in comments to the Post. The bishop, Stewart Ruch III, declined through a diocese spokeswoman to comment to the Post, citing a church court directive against commenting to the media as he awaits the verdict of an internal trial.

It should probably go without saying that these stories don’t reflect well on a conservative Christian movement fueled by evangelicals who think it is their destiny to run American society. Donald Trump has also told conservative evangelicals the country would be better off if they were in control.

Call me crazy, but it seems the conservative evangelical movement should at least have to clear up some of these sexual misconduct and abuse issues before they worry about increasing their influence in the U.S.