The only thing worse than ignorant internet trolls

Is brilliant leaders who are ignorant.  So my old classmate Russ Moore has jumped in on the sexual assault purge.  He was quick to call on Roy Moore to be punished, and all Christians abandon their support of Moore.  Not surprising.

Nonetheless, I saw this tweet.

It's in response to a tweet by Geraldo Rivera.  For the record, I put little stock in Mr. Rivera's opinions.  I remember him from the Al Capone's tomb debacle, and never really got over thinking of those empty beer bottles whenever I see him.

But Rivera merely reflected what an increasing number of people (women included) seem to be saying: Where exactly is this going to stop?  I mean, we're having guys taken out based on anonymous women saying that they did some anonymous thing that they decided was assault.  Given that a recent poll found millennials who believe a man asking them for a drink is tantamount to sex harassment, it's a legitimate concern that we've put the cart before the horse in terms of going straight from accusation to sentencing based on standards that have no consistency.

Russ, however, misses it.  So bent on making sure he's on the right side of the prevailing winds, he misses the concern that this, if not tempered by clear standards and an honest appraisal of the accusations and the proof behind them, could lead to some pseudo-puritanism where the only hope to avoid accusations is arranged marriages.  Witch burnings without the fire.

I know he can't be stupid enough to miss this.  In fact, for all he is, Russ is very, very intelligent.  And hard working.  I never begrudge him the time he put into his studies when we were in school together.  But this is the dangerous time, when even intelligent people in a society, who are looked to by millions, appear to miss the obvious.

Let it be known, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of this or that individual.  Since Harvey Weinstein, I've said we need to wait for confessions, proof, evidence or something.  We can't go about lopping off heads (post-modern version, destroy careers and reputations) based on 'she says so.'  Likewise, we can't act like every man who approaches a woman is now potentially subject to accusations because he approached a woman.  We certainly can find ways to protect women, and perhaps walk back the damage done by the Outback generation*.  But caution is needed, lest innocent lives be wrecked and ruined. 

*No rules, just right.