On Dec. 12, Alabamians will have the opportunity to participate in a special election for the U.S. Senate. The choice comes down between Roy Moore, the twice-removed Alabama judge, and Doug Jones, the United States Attorney who prosecuted the members of the Ku Klux Klan responsible for the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. The choice is clear.

Roy Moore has proven his incompetence as a public official time and time again. He ignored federal court orders twice, first for refusing to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Supreme Court building, and then for ignoring federal court rulings that overturned any bans on same-sex marriage.

With these actions, Moore showed the people of Alabama that he believes his religion should take precedence over the rule of law, a quality that no public official in the United States should possess. Moore has even gone so far as to state that he does not believe Muslim Americans should be able to serve in public office. This discriminatory and dangerous position has no place in our democracy.

Moore plans on continuing this aggressively Christian legislative agenda if voted into office. He wants to ban gay people from serving in the military and opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions. His healthcare plan basically amounts to churches and charitable organizations helping those who can’t afford a plan. His deep Christian faith does not seem to extend to all policy areas, though, as he does not want the United States to support UN treaties like the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Many, many thousands of words could be written about Roy Moore’s shortcomings and regressive policy positions, and this column does not have the space to continue to detail how disastrous his policies would be for the economic, political and social fabric of Alabama. You would be hard-pressed to find a candidate worse for the high office of U.S. Senator than Roy Moore.

Conversely, Doug Jones is a moral candidate with a path forward for the state of Alabama and the country as a whole. He believes all people deserve health care, a living wage and civil rights. He wants to pass sentencing reform in Alabama – something desperately needed, seeing as our prisons are currently at double their capacity. Perhaps most importantly for our country and our world’s future, he is dedicated to fighting climate change and investing in renewable energy and conservation.

Jones does not come without flaws as a candidate. As a blue dot in a deep red state, he has attempted to walk a purple line and appeal to centrist elements in the state. In doing this, he has been sidelining important issues in his campaign rhetoric like healthcare, economic policy and racial justice.

Though bipartisanship is something that many admire and could prove useful in Washington, Jones should not continue to ignore the issues important to the majority of Democratic voters in Alabama: young people and people of color. He should be working to excite these two groups if he wants to accomplish an extreme political upset.

As Alabamians and Americans, it is important that we cast our vote for the rule of law and not the rule of a man’s religious whims, and that we keep our state and country on a path forward and not one beating ceaselessly into the past. 

Electing a Democrat in Alabama may seem like a long shot. In this case, though, it’s the only reasonable option for our state — it’s a Democrat, or a theocrat.