[Vision2020] Atwood and My Town

[Nick Gier]

Greetings:

Because of family obligations I was unable to see the second showing of My 
Town.  I wanted to make sure that I got clear in my mind what Wilson & Co. 
actually said, and I also wanted to hear the panel, particularly Roy 
Atwood.  Assuming that what I heard second hand was accurate, I would like 
to make the following comments:
·       From what we know about the structure of a conservative Calvinist 
church, Atwood must be wrong to say that Doug Wilson does not speak for his 
church.

·       When Atwood said that he did not attend Christ Church he should 
have also said that the pastor of Trinity Reformed Church is under Wilson’s 
authority.

·       Atwood must not have been paying very close attention when the 
camera caught Wilkins answering a clear, unqualified “Yes” when asked 
whether he believed that only propertied males should vote.  Wilson and 
George Grant nodded their heads in agreement, and then Wilson told his joke 
about democracy, the coyotes, the lamb, and their choice for lunch.  No 
historical point about what the Founding Fathers believed; rather, a strong 
contemporary point about what these proud men of the chest believe.

Then there was the comment about me and how Wilson did not have to take me 
seriously.  In a previous post I’ve already listed all the attempts that 
I’ve made to engage Wilson & Co. in serious dialogue, but let me mention 
those that involved Atwood and repeat a few others.
·       In April, 2000, Atwood was in the audience in the Nuart Theatre 
when I gave a presentation on Confucius to NSA students and 
faculty.  Atwood would have remembered the good exchange of views that 
followed and my congratulations to Wilson on the success of his college.

·       My invitation to Atwood for his students and faculty to attend the 
2003 AAR and SBL meeting held in Moscow.  No one showed from NSA.

·       My response to Atwood’s letter to the Daily News in which he 
claimed that NSA was an accredited institution.  I asked him to send a 
follow up letter to explain that NSA was only a “candidate” for 
accreditation at the low level Transnational Association for Christian 
Schools and Colleges, but he refused.  With BAs and BSs still teaching many 
NSA classes, NSA is still a long way from accreditation.

·       In an e-mail dated Nov. 26, 2003, Atwood promised to answer my page 
by page response to the slavery booklet, but he never did. And two days 
later he wrote to me saying that he would never correspond with me again.

·       Let me just repeat the serious and productive exchanges that I had 
with Doug Jones on the Trinity, the good exchange that I’ve had recently 
with Peter Lillback, and the lack of response from Dale Courtney on my 
serious attempts to engage him on the question of Christian “libertarianism.”

At the risk of sounding presumptuous, I would to propose that the 
shrillness of Wilson’s, Atwood’s, and Courtney’s responses is directly 
proportional to the direct hits that I’ve scored on their thin armor.

Nick Gier

"The god you worship is the god you deserve."
~~ Joseph Campbell

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