Writing on his personal blog, a self-professed Traditionalist Catholic bishop in Florida absolved fellow Catholic Brett Kavanaugh of his alleged sin of allegedly attempting to rape Christine Ford, saying he was a teen at the time who was reportedly drunk and therefore not entirely culpable.
As pointed out by Hemant Mehta at the Friendly Atheist, Bishop Donald J. Sanborn who currently serves as rector at a seminary he purchased in Brooksville, Florida, from which he travels around the country to meet with other clergymen to spread God's word.
In his post on Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh, Sanborn curiously begins by professing that he knows little about the embattled federal judge, before saying he's not a fan because "Although he comes highly recommended in conservative circles, the fact that liberal neocon George W. Bush supports his nomination is disquieting."
However, the Catholic cleric found a reason to appreciate the nomination of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court by adding, "On the other hand, the hatred that the Leftists have for him is reassuring."
With that Sanford said that he didn't find Christine Ford believable, writing, "I found Dr. Ford’s testimony against him to be very unreliable and inconsistent... Secondly, I find it hard to believe that she would have said nothing about the incident to anyone for thirty-six years."
Attempting to put that controversy in theological terms, the bishop turned to "the law of God."
"Moral theology — indeed the law of God — requires us to not think any evil of him beyond what is evident. If there is insufficient evidence to make a certain judgement [sic] of guilt, then we must hold him guiltless. If there is sufficient evidence to cause suspicion of guilt, then we may lawfully suspect him," he wrote. "In this case, however, it is Judge Kavanaugh’s word against Dr. Ford’s word. Moral law requires us, in that parity of contradictory testimony, to take the word of the superior, which in this case would be that of Judge Kavanaugh."
After saying everything Ford said should be discounted as false, Sanford allowed that even if the alleged assault did happen, it was excusable because of Kavanaugh's age and possible inebriation.
"I do not believe that the qualifications of any human being should include actions which he or she performed when seventeen years old. Teenagers do many imprudent, foolish, stupid, and sinful things, but in many or even most cases they recover from these bad actions or habits and act like responsible adults," he explained. "Furthermore, what the judge is accused of is not even a complete act. It was not a rape. Even as it is reported, the prosecutor said that it is not actionable even from the point of view of prosecution as a crime. Furthermore, Judge Kavanaugh is supposed to have performed this act while drunk, according to his accuser, which would reduce culpability, if the incident did indeed occur"
The Catholic bishop did have the good graces to concede, "If Judge Kavanaugh had done something like this in more mature years, then I would say that there would be reason to block his nomination."
You can read his moral rationalizing here.
