And these are the people who are supposed to be the moral arbiters of the country?

Hypocrisy, thy name is "conservative Christians."

Via Pam comes this story from the Oregonian, about a Christian Coalition leader who molested three family members as pre-teens:

The Oregonian talked to three of Beres' female relatives, including two who told reporters that he molested them. All three said they have been interviewed for several hours by detectives.

"I was molested," said one of the women, now in her early 50s. "I was victimized, and I've suffered all my life for it. I'm still afraid to be in the same room with (Beres)."

Beres, 70, whose group champions socially conservative candidates and causes, confirmed he is under investigation for alleged molestation. He blamed "personal and political enemies" for the reports and said, "I never molested anybody."

Two of the alleged molestations occurred decades ago and likely would not result in criminal charges because state law limits prosecution of certain crimes. For example, the statute of limitations on sex abuse expires after six years.

One case, however, may fall within statutory timelines, authorities confirmed. That investigation involves a female family member who was allegedly molested by Beres when she was in elementary school, authorities said.

Beres family members told The Oregonian that they called the child abuse hot line last month after several women in the family said they openly discussed for the first time what happened with Beres. The names of the family members have been withheld because The Oregonian generally doesn't identify alleged sex abuse victims.

Another family member said she does not recall being abused by Beres, but said she would often wake at night and see him in bed with another young female family member.

Rich Galat, 41, of Oakland, Calif., is Beres' nephew. He said he told detectives that Beres has molested several female family members over two generations.

"My family has gone through hell," Galat said. "Lives have been ruined. Those of us who have come forward have been ostracized, verbally abused and the victims of character assassination. . . . It must stop."

Beres, of Clackamas County, is state chairman of the Christian Coalition, a political action group that endorses candidates and causes, publishes voter guides, lobbies the Legislature and Congress, and campaigns for and against ballot initiatives.

Its Web site describes the group as "Oregon's leading grassroots organization defending our Godly heritage." The group opposes abortion, gay rights and stem cell research.

[snip]

Beres is also former chairman of the Multnomah County Republican Party.

Here's the deal, see? I'm a nonreligious American. I work, I pay my taxes, I'm nice to old people, if there's a bell pepper in my cart when I get out to the parking lot, I go back into the supermarket and pay for it. I've never cheated on my husband, I buy my own pens for home at Staples instead of filching them from the office, I'm kind to animals, and I donate to the charities of my choice.

In short, I live a pretty goddamn virtuous life. I don't need some closet case or pedophile telling me I can't be virtuous without Jeebus just because he or she can't. These people ought to be tossed out of public life for good. That means the Dobsons, the Falwells, all of the moral scolds who think they know better than we do what's good for us. Because every last one of them has a skeleton in the closet. We may not know about it yet, but they all do. I'm talking to you too, Little Ricky with your obsession with bestiality. So work on your own damn issues and leave the rest of us the fuck alone, OK?

Mote, beam, eye, etc.