[Vision2020] what next?
amy smoucha
asmoucha@hotmail.com
Fri, 28 Nov 2003 12:02:33 -0600
<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV>
<P>It is as arrogant of you to think you understand those of us who are concerned about your writings and to reduce our bases for concen to "things we hear on NPR, etc . . ." Assumptions and misunderstanding are equally distributed throughout our community.</P>
<P>It is neither slander nor sin to draw a comparison between Irving--a revisionist historian whose writings about the Holocaust are dangerous and alarming--and you--whose revisionist writings about slavery are, in my opinion, dangerous and alarming. If you do not like the comparison, that's too bad. You said yourself that you believe the academic community has misrepresented history in its portrayal of southern slavery, and that somehow everyone is against you for showing us a different way to look at history. You are engaging in revisionist history. Interestingly, if you search David Irving's website and writings, his whinings about slander and about a party line in terms of history are very similar to yours, without the proselytizing. There are lots of comaprisons that can be drawn about you and Irving--about your method, your subject matters, your rejection of the mainstream academia, your publishers, and even the people who read and r!
ely on your work. When you do things like write books, Mr. Wilson, you are inviting people to evaluate your writings and your credibility as an author. My comments are based on evaluation, not slander.<BR><BR>Amy Smoucha</P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>----Original Message Follows----
<DIV></DIV>From: Douglas <DOUGWILS@MOSCOW.COM>
<DIV></DIV>To: vision2020@moscow.com
<DIV></DIV>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] what next?
<DIV></DIV>Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 10:30:54 -0800
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Visionaries,
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Amy says:
<DIV></DIV>>It sure is chilly out there,
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Actually, it really is chilly. There are people out there who use "racism" as the all-purpose category to describe anything they don't like or disagree with. Then they have trouble making distinctions between worldviews that are utterly and entirely different. In this view, there are two basic worldviews: "stuff I hear on NPR and stuff I don't hear on NPR." With this very provincial and naive grid firmly in place, they then proceed to conflate radical Islam, European neo-fascism, resurgent Christianity, and NASCAR stock racing. "I never heard about any of this stuff. It must be all the same."
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>A facile transition from a discussion of David Irving (a gentleman I had never heard of) to the local contrived hysteria over slavery -- as though a professional Holocaust denier is the in the same category as a Christian minister believing 1 Timothy 6:1-5 -- is nothing more than a thinly disguised smear, whether intended or not. Holocaust deniers would be easier to fight, so let's hint that this is part of our general Concern about Christ Church. The only problem with this is that it is what theologians of another era used to call lying.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>We would have been easier to fight if we actually were racists. But we are not, and that tactic has now been generally abandoned. Oops.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>We would have been easier to fight if we actually were holding a conference on slavery. But we are not, and that tactic has now been generally abandoned, even by the Daily News. Darn.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Now, we would be easier to fight if only ("please, let it be true!") we had been the ones to invite Irving to speak. But alas for you guys, I never heard of him. Maybe he is coming here because the word has gotten out that the good folks of Moscow will believe virtually anything. The last two months has given us a great deal of evidence to this effect. If someone came to you and said, "Wilson does this or that," what *wouldn't* you believe? Would you draw the line at me kicking puppies? Cannibalism? Teaching business ethics at the UI? People who are shopping lies about us are certainly operating in a seller's market. "Oooo! Can I have one?"
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>And this brings us to the basic point, yet again. Christ calls us to repent of our sins, and this includes the sin of believing lies. One of the ten commandments prohibits bearing false witness against your neighbor. And like it or not ("Not in our town!") we are your neighbors. If we differ, then let us discuss it. Let's debate it. But breaches of the ninth commandment are always a fundamental corrosive in the community. Let us stop lying about our differences even if it makes a position you reject easier to defeat. All such victories are illusory, and the effect on public discourse is devastating. Jesus died on the cross in order to forgive sin, including this particular sin of slandering those who represent His Word.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Cordially,
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Douglas Wilson
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>_____________________________________________________
<DIV></DIV>List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. http://www.fsr.net mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com
<DIV></DIV>ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
<DIV></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr> <a href="http://g.msn.com/8HMBENUS/2734??PS=">Share holiday photos without swamping your Inbox. Get MSN Extra Storage now!</a> </html>