[Vision2020] Southern Slavery As It Was(n't)

[Saundra Lund]

Rose Huskey <DonaldH675 at aol.com> wrote: 
"Moscow need not be embarrassed that Doug Wilson and his deluded followers live
in this area.  But if we foolishly indulge in misguided intellectual generosity
by ignoring him or pretending that this is an issue of religious freedom, we are
giving him legitimacy that he not only does not deserve but that damages the
reputation of our community."

For me, that is the crux of this particular plague.  For years, I bit my tongue
and said/did nothing about the outrageous goings-on within that group, all in
the name of religious tolerance & freedom.

But, there *is* a world of difference between religious beliefs & freedom *and*
wanting the teeth of the law to enforce any particular belief system, religious
or not.  Once any group of any particular religious flavor wants the power of
"secular" law to force *others* who don't share those beliefs to adhere to those
beliefs, I believe we all have the right -- the *obligation*  -- to speak out to
ensure that freedom of religion for *all* is preserved.

Thanks again, Rose, for so clearly reminding us of this important fact.


Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
-Edmund Burke

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On
Behalf Of DonaldH675 at aol.com
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 1:16 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Southern Slavery As It Was(n't)

Visionaires:
 
Well, I've reached the end of my string.  No more Ms. Nice Gal.  I won't even
elevate my feelings to the genteel level of plain speaking.  
 
How unpleasant (but frankly not surprising) to know that Doug Wilson's
historically inaccurate, racist drivel is resonating with a bunch of Southern
bigots.  How nauseating that his Logos spin-off schools are preaching and
teaching the same ill-conceived, poorly written, cretinous garbage.  How
typically chicken shit for Doug to dodge reporters while commanding his lackeys
to front for him.  Of course, I have long since given up on the notion that any
of the Elders or employees of Christ Church, Inc., have the balls to insist that
Doug stand of his own hind legs and take responsibility for what he writes and
says; they're eunuchs, not for the sake of heaven, but for the sake of Doug.
Welcome to medieval Catholicism, Wilson-style.  Soon, he'll have castrati in his
choir.  
 
I know this is an old and tired debate on V2020, but I would remind Visionaries
that this asp (or, rather, ass) is still comfortably nestled in the bosom of
Moscow and as a consequence is to some extent our responsibility.  He's still
spreading his self-aggrandizing gospel, still peddling his perverted version of
Christianity, still buying up Main Street property, and still aligning himself
with neo-Confederate, theocratic hate-mongers.  In short, Doug is doing his
damnedest to preserve the illusion that North Idaho is a welcoming haven for
racist crackpots and religious freaks.  The upcoming Trinity fest (see the
Calendar of Events at http://www.christkirk.com/) is a splendid example of
Doug's latest plot to bilk the moronic yahoos who are foolish enough to pay for
the privilege to hang out with him and his pandering sidekicks. The sad and
sorry folks who pay money to listen to Doug's or Steve Wilkins ignorant
blatherings about history deserve what they get, but what about the rest of us?
I can now begin to appreciate how the residents of Coeur d' Alene felt when
Richard Butler put on his dog and pony shows. 
 
Let me be perfectly clear.  Moscow need not be embarrassed that Doug Wilson and
his deluded followers live in this area.  But if we foolishly indulge in
misguided intellectual generosity by ignoring him or pretending that this is an
issue of religious freedom, we are giving him legitimacy that he not only does
not deserve but that damages the reputation of our community.  We can no more
ignore Doug than Lewiston can ignore the whiff of toilet-paper making at
Potlatch.  The fetid settling ponds are all around us.  
 
Somehow, I don't think Joan and I will be attending the "smoking lesson" tonight
at Bucer's after all.  While it amused us to think of sitting around with a
bunch of bearded, fat-bellied Anglophile losers, as they licked their cigars and
swished their brandy, the fun has now gone out of it for us.  I will take my
hacking jacket and Joan her silk smoking jacket and Shriner's fez elsewhere.
These guys really aren't funny, and the odor of their pseudo-sanctity and
intellectual pretension would be far worse than the stench of cheap cigars.
 
And besides, we all know that contrary to Freud's claim, a cigar is not always a
cigar.  Sometimes, it's a Swisher Sweet.   
 
Rose Huskey
 
"One cannot level one's moral lance at every evil in the universe. There are
just too many of them. But you can do something, and the difference between
doing something and doing nothing is everything." Daniel Berrigan