How can it be that Hollywood has claimed the moral high ground when compared to some in the Republican Party?

When allegations of sexual abuse roiled the movie and television industries, consequences followed. The accused lost jobs, money and positions of power. The accusers were lauded as brave for coming forward.

When it happens in Alabama to a well-known Republican, the accusers are vilified and the accused gets a pass. Why? Because many in the party would prefer a man who is alleged to be a sexual predator over any Democrat. It’s that plain and simple. (The other party’s record on this is just as bad, as evidenced by Sen. Al Franken’s deeds.)

Roy Moore will vote with the Republican party on issues that matter to most Republicans. That he may have assaulted teenagers when he was in his 30s is of no consequence to them.

Some have said as much.

Dottie French, a Moore supporter from Alabama, told CNN that she will continue to support him even if the allegations are true.

“I think that would just be between him and his good Lord,” she said. “Even if they prove to be true, I still would support Roy Moore because I feel as if that happened in the past. I would power forward and keep on supporting him, just like I have with Donald Trump as our president.”

David Hall, Marion County GOP chair, said that the allegations were irrelevant because it happened so long ago.

“It was 40 years ago,” he said. “I really don’t see the relevance of it. He was 32. She was supposedly 14. She’s not saying that anything happened other than they kissed.”

Should people be able to overcome past mistakes? Of course. But that doesn’t mean someone facing what appear to be credible allegations like these should be a United States senator. Our actions should have consequences, even if we have been forgiven, and it doesn’t matter which party you belong to. We should hold our public officials accountable for moral failings.

Could these allegations be untrue? Of course.  But they have the ring of truth, and Moore himself admitted to dating “young ladies.”

That some are accepting of Moore shows just how far the Republican Party has fallen when it comes to morality. 

Instead of speaking out against sexual predation, or at least waiting until more facts are known before blindly supporting Moore, we have supposedly conservative Christians dismissing the allegations as irrelevant or worse — making the accusers out to be the bad guys in this story.

If Christians cannot denounce sexual predation as wrong in all circumstances, no matter who the accused is, then they have no business complaining about moral relevancy.

The church should be a place where women and children who have suffered abuse can seek shelter. But the message from some in the church has been the opposite: accuse the wrong man and we will seek to discredit you, or ignore you, or convince you that you have no place here.

Moore has denied the worst of the allegations, that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old and that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old. And some in the church have supported him, despite having no way of knowing what happened almost 40 years ago.

You do not have to be a parent to teen daughters to be outraged over these allegations. You simply have to be someone who believes that young women do not deserve to be preyed upon, and that no voting record is worth this. Moore has a history of standing up for Christian values, and the U.S. Senate needs more Christians. But we should not ignore these allegations simply because of his past stands or his future votes.