For evangelicals, allegations against Roy Moore are 'very big deal'

For many evangelicals, fiery Alabama politician and judge Roy Moore has been a longtime hero.

Others have sometimes cringed at his heated rhetoric and bellicose style. Now, as Moore's U.S. Senate campaign is imperiled by allegations of sexual overtures to a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s, there's an outpouring of impassioned and soul-searching discussion in evangelical ranks.

"This is one of those excruciating decision moments for evangelicals," Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said in a telephone interview.

"These allegations, if true, are devastating. If true, this is a very big deal." Mohler said Alabama voters face a potentially wrenching task of trying to determine if the allegations - Moore has emphatically denied them - are credible.