Robert Morris, the founding pastor of a prominent Texas megachurch, has spent years telling congregants about a “moral failure” from his past. The evangelical Christian did not go into details, but he admitted that it was a sexual sin he committed as a young pastor.
This week, NBC News reported, the story took a dramatic turn when Morris admitted to engaging in “sexual conduct” with a child.
After the revelations reached the public, Morris, unsurprisingly, resigned as the church’s senior pastor.
It is important to emphasize right away that the most important thing in a story like this is the victim and the support she is entitled to. That said, there is also a larger context to consider.
This week, for example, my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones described Morris “as a true MAGA movement acolyte” who “has used his platform to support the right-wing attack on school curriculums that acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ people and classroom discussions . about social inequality.” The NBC News podcast “Grapevine” also explained how his church joins the right-wing portrayal of LGBTQ+ people as dangerous to society.
The hypocrisy – or rather: the latest example of such hypocrisy – is overwhelming.
But let us also remember that Morris’s reach was not strictly theological. It was also political.
The Texas megachurch pastor also served as a spiritual advisor for Donald Trump, he joined the Republicans’ spiritual advisory board during the 2016 campaign and was welcomed to the White House during Trump’s term. In June 2020, Trump visited Gateway Church in Texas and praised Morris as a “great” person.
In a statement to NBC News on Monday, a campaign spokesperson for the former president said Trump was unaware of Morris’ abuse, adding that the pastor “has no role in the 2024 campaign.”
I have no reason to believe otherwise, although I do wonder what the Republican response would be if we were talking about a sex abuse scandal involving a spiritual adviser to President Joe Biden.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
