[Vision2020] Does size matter?

[Carl Westberg]

Joan, I'm outraged.  You didn't mention my church, The Church of Pure 
Liberty.  We worhip golf?  My church has grown 100% since last Friday.  I 
converted a friend Friday night, but I'm not sure he remembers it.           
                                                                             
                                                                             
                                                                             
                                        Carl Westberg Jr.


>From: Joan Opyr <auntiestablishment@hotmail.com>
>To: vision2020@moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Does size matter?
>Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 14:14:07 -0800
>
>In a response to Donovan Arnold, which I've unfortunately deleted, Eric 
>Engebretsen observes that Doug Wilson's followers represent the "largest 
>church movement" in Moscow, or on the Palouse, or some other such regional 
>claim of enormity.  My question is, on what exactly does Eric base this 
>claim?  Doug's famous "I speak for 850 people" speech at city hall during 
>the fight over the breast ordinance?  I hope not because, by my estimate, 
>more than half of that number are in fact the children of church members 
>and, as such, not yet old enough to vote.
>
>Or is Eric basing his claim on percentage growth?  If so, then that's 
>tricky, too.  The Church of Auntie Establishment has one member, me.  But 
>say I managed to convince Melynda and Rose to leave the Quakers and join 
>the C of AE -- then my church would have grown by 200%.  Surely that would 
>make me the fastest growing church movement.  Now, if I could just convert 
>my sisters, my mother, and my agnostic border collie, I could terrify you 
>all with my religious take-over plans.
>
>It's claims like Eric's that push people over the edge.  They skew reality, 
>for both community members concerned about Doug's agenda, and for the 
>Kirkers themselves, who might wonder when big enough will finally be big 
>enough.  Just for a change of pace, I suggest we stop for a moment and take 
>a good look around us.  Judging from the steeple, it looks to me like a new 
>Mormon stakehouse is going up on the hill behind Wal-Mart.  Moscow's two 
>Catholic churches seem rather full and vigorous; the Lutherans, the 
>Nazarenes, and the Presbyterians are no slouches.  We have at least three 
>Baptist churches, and possibly more.  (Given the old Baptist penchant for 
>splitting the congregation and having the splinter groups meet in living 
>rooms and warehouses until a new church can be built, they can be hard to 
>count.  The same is true of Evangelical churches.  They rise, they grow, 
>they split.)  We have Christian Scientists, Scientologists, the Impact 
>Church, the Rock Church, the Ba'Hai, the Pagani, Seven Drums, Muslims, 
>Jews, Congregationalists, Unitarians, and my old friends the Quakers.  We 
>have atheists, agnostics, and those who worship every Sunday at the Church 
>of the NFL.  The Palouse is a broad place, religiously and philosophically 
>diverse.
>
>So I think we should try to keep that ongoing and vital diversity in mind 
>as we continue our debate about the future of this town.  I don't care 
>about Doug's religious movement; I care about his worldview, and his use of 
>religion as a platform from which to launch what is self-evidently a 
>political agenda, all disingenuous claims to the contrary.
>
>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
>
>"I say I'm cutting, boy, but you're not bleeding."  -- Foghorn Leghorn
>
>
>
>Auntie Establishment
>Serving Idaho's liberal elite since 1993
>
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