[Vision2020] Wilkins' and Wilson's column in the Statesman

[Nick Gier]

Greetings:

Last night I posted Roy Atwood's response to my Aug. 12 column in  the 
Idaho Statesman, and here are two others that appeared yesterday.  I feel 
as if I'm in a reverse Three Pigs story.  Here the three little pigs are 
huffing and puffing to blow down the Big Bad Wolf's house.  I'm just now 
putting the finishing touches on that solid brick structure, and I will 
post it later in the morning.

Last night I forgot to repost my original column.  You will find it at the end.

Idaho Statesman, Aug. 22, 2005

Opinion piece was misleading and careless

Nick Gier has proven again that zeal doesn't guarantee knowledge. His 
article which appeared in the Aug. 12 edition of The Statesman (topped with 
the sensational headline "Neo_Nazi Christians make presence felt again in 
Northern Idaho") makes clear that factual reporting is not his gift. 
Indeed, his article with its innuendo, misleading statements, and outright 
lies reminds us of nothing so much as some of the old Nazi propaganda that 
was used to raise fear and hatred of the Jews in pre_war Germany. This 
article proves two things at least: First, that Mr. Gier's potential for 
irrational and unfounded hysteria knows no bounds, and second, that Mr. 
Gier has no qualms about utilizing the tactics of the Nazis in spite of the 
disgust he professes toward their beliefs.

The article itself contains too many errors to respond to in a brief space, 
but what was particularly egregious was the identification of me and my 
friends at Christ Church, Moscow, as "neo_Nazi" Christians. This would be 
hilarious if it were not so outrageous and libelous. I have never been a 
"neo_Nazi" and indeed, have opposed such groups and positions both publicly 
and privately for over 30 years now.

To prove his charge, Mr. Gier offers the fact that I was "a founding 
director of the League of the South." This happens to be true (one of the 
few things that Mr. Gier gets right in his article) but he then follows 
this by saying the goal of the League is establishing a "new 15_state 
Confederacy ruled by Calvinist patriarchs" and that the League has "close 
ties" with the Sons of Confederate Veterans  claims which would cause 
members of both the League and the Sons of Confederate Veterans to howl 
with laughter.
The fact is, however, that I resigned from the League's board of directors 
over five years ago. But I did not resign because the League is a 
"neo_Nazi" organization. From the beginning, the League has rejected all 
ties with the KKK and neo_Nazi groups. Its goal was not racialist but 
cultural. It was concerned to restore the constitutional liberties which we 
have progressively lost in this country and to do so "by all honorable 
means" (expressly denouncing racial hatred and bigotry). As far as I know, 
this goal has not changed.

I am an ordained minister in good standing in the Presbyterian Church in 
America (which does not condone "neo_Nazi" beliefs or practices). I pastor 
a church which happens to have black members (I don't think we deserve any 
particular congratulations for this  it seems quite normal to me  but I 
mention it only because I think this would probably be a strange thing for 
a "neo_Nazi" to approve of).
One of the elders of our congregation has, throughout his entire 
professional life as a lawyer, provided legal protection for blacks and 
other minorities from false charges and unjust harassment. Again, he 
doesn't want nor has he ever sought any praise for this, he simply views it 
as part of his obligation as a Christian to seek justice, but I mention it 
because it would be strange for a "neo_Nazi" to rejoice over his work 
(which I do).

Further, for two years we had a black assistant pastor who worked with me 
in this congregation. He was a gifted man and we worked happily together 
during his time here (and again, I don't think this is particularly 
praiseworthy or notable, but I doubt "neo_Nazis" would approve).

Though I've never met any "neo_Nazis," from what I hear, they are not 
particularly tolerant of those who differ from them. Despite Mr. Gier's 
affinities with them at this point, I still doubt that even the "neo_Nazis" 
he's apparently familiar with in Idaho would approve of my activities. 
Though The Statesman is not responsible for Mr. Gier's opinion, it is 
responsible for what it allows into print. Printing an article containing 
such inflammatory charges without bothering to check whether there is any 
truth to the charges is irresponsible and unethical. The right to express 
your opinion does not carry with it the right to commit libel or to slander 
others. The Statesman has the obligation to be sure that what it allows 
into print doesn't injure or endanger others. The inflammatory nature of 
Mr. Gier's false charges, given the present climate of mistrust and hatred 
in our country, has the potential to do this very thing.
Thus, the journalistic carelessness demonstrated by The Statesman in giving 
Mr. Gier a platform from which to spread his dangerous slanders is 
inexcusable. For this reason, a public apology from both Mr. Gier and The 
Statesman is due to Doug Wilson, to me, and to the members of Christ Church 
who put on the wonderful three_day celebration (the First Annual Trinity 
Fest) in Moscow this past week. Denouncing "neo_Nazis" is one thing, 
imitating their tactics is quite another.

Steve Wilkins is pastor of Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Monroe, La.

Paper owes apology for inflammatory headline

I am writing this as a minister of Jesus Christ, and I am in a position 
where I need to do this because we live in a time when virtually anything 
can be said about conservative evangelicals. So before denying that I am a 
neo_Nazi, let me therefore state at the outset that I am a minister of the 
gospel, and that Jesus Christ died to secure the salvation of all His 
people, gathered from every tribe, nation, and language. I hate all 
doctrines of racial supremacy, and have consistently opposed them publicly 
over the course of many years. I loathe racism, and always have. My most 
recent book entitled "Black & Tan" has an entire chapter showing the sinful 
and wicked nature of all forms of racial animosity or vainglory. All this 
is a matter of public record, and is easily ascertainable.

Why do I have to make such a statement? In the Aug. 12 edition of The Idaho 
Statesman, Nick Gier published an opinion piece that was egregiously 
reasoned by him, and outrageously introduced with a libelous headline, 
provided courtesy of this newspaper. That headline was false, misleading, 
libelous, defamatory, untrue, and ran like this: "Neo_Nazi Christians make 
presence felt again in Northern Idaho."

The article goes on to argue (if you can dignify this travesty with the 
term argue) that I and a number of my colleagues are in fact those 
neo_Nazis  up here in the Panhandle, making our presence felt. I was 
initially hesitant to respond to this libelous charge in this space because 
I do not agree that this kind of question is a point/counterpoint kind of 
issue. I have never been convicted of bank robbery either, and this is not 
a fact upon which there are two legitimate opinions. I have never been to 
Brazil, I do not pal around with Donald Trump, and I do not have a 
Kerry/Edwards bumper_sticker on my truck. These are things that reporters 
and journalists used to call facts. These are things that reporters, 
journalists and editors used to check on before they would run, say, an 
article that claimed I was wanted for bank robbery in three states. And 
suppose that had been the charge in Gier's column, but it turned out to be 
entirely and completely false. Do you think it would be a sufficient 
response for the newspaper to offer me space to respond, so that I could 
clean up their mess? I didn't think so.
Gier's "argument" that we are neo_Nazis was of the "six degrees of 
separation from Kevin Bacon" type. His article contained a number of simple 
factual errors (e.g. I do not hold the franchise for any schools), but the 
centerpiece of his reasoning was that Richard Butler (a real neo_Nazi type) 
performed the marriage ceremony of someone who belonged to an organization 
that had dealings with another organization which had a relationship with a 
man who is a friend of mine. On the basis of this kind of cracker_jack shoe 
leather reporting, on the basis of this scoop, The Idaho Statesman decided 
to run with the column, and they helpfully provided the inflammatory 
headline for it. But this is bad luck for The Statesman, because they are 
now publishing me, and if this kind of reasoning were valid, that makes The 
Statesman neo_Nazi too. They are only one more degree of separation from 
Richard Butler than I am.

I don't get to supply the headline for this article, but I can still 
request one. If I had my druthers, the headline for this column would be 
"Idaho Statesman Admits Their Own Neo_Nazi Ties." But I doubt they will run 
a headline like that (being more concerned for their own reputation than 
for ours), and so a fundamental fact remains. The Idaho Statesman still 
owes an apology to an awful lot of individuals and institutions who were 
falsely accused by that headline and column, and needs to publish a 
retraction immediately. The Ninth Commandment (the one against bearing 
false witness) applies to newspapers, too.

Douglas Wilson is the minister at Christ Church in Moscow, and is the 
author of number of books including "Reforming Marriage" and "The Case for 
Classical Christian Education."

My title: The Culture Wars Come to Moscow
Neo-Nazi Christians make presence felt again in Northern Idaho

Edition Date: 08-12-2005

"My Town," a new documentary on America's cultural wars, had its premier
June 23 in Moscow, Idaho. The newly refurbished Kenworthy Theatre was filled
to capacity with an enthusiastic crowd of 340 people.

Michael Hayes, an education professor from Washington State University,
worked on the film for about 18 months, interviewing the principal players
in the debate about Douglas Wilson's religious empire.

Wilson is pastor of Moscow's 800-member Christ Church, which has mission
churches across the country. Wilson also holds the franchise for 154
classical Christian schools, his own Logos School in Moscow being the model.

In 1996 Wilson founded New St. Andrews College, and it now enrolls 130
four-year students in a building in the heart of historic Moscow.

The controversy about Wilson exploded in October 2003 over his book
"Southern Slavery As It Was," which describes the Antebellum South as the
most harmonious multiracial society in human history.

Wilson co-authored the book with Steve Wilkins, a Monroe, La., pastor and
founding director of the League of the South, whose vision is a new 15-state
Confederacy ruled by Calvinist patriarchs.

In rejecting the charge of racism, Wilson claimed that it was Christianity,
not genes, that makes a culture superior. He said if Christianity had moved
south instead of west, Africans would now be the most advanced people in the
world.

One might ask how Wilson defines cultural superiority. If it is economic
power, then the Chinese and Indians will overtake Euro-Americans in 20-30
years.

If it is moral superiority, how does Wilson explain that Christian America
now imprisons 2 million people, while Buddhist Japan currently incarcerates
150,000, if you adjust for population?

History appears to disconfirm Wilson's view of Christianity's special
advantage.

Medieval Europe is Wilson's ideal world, but the rest of the civilized world
at that time - China, India, and the Islamic countries - was far more
advanced than these Europeans.

In fact, if it had not been Mongols bringing Asian goods and inventions and
the Muslims preserving Greek philosophy and science and introducing their
numerals and algebra, Europe would have remained stagnant.

In the film, Wilson prophesied that the conquest by Christianity would hit
secular culture like a tsunami hitting a folding chair on a beach.

When Wilson encourages Americans of all beliefs to replace public schools
with their own private schools, his tolerance for their short tenure does
not appear to be much of a virtue.

Wilkins was asked in the film if he really believed that only propertied
males should vote. He answered "yes," while Wilson nodded approvingly.

Always the jokester, Wilson said democracy was just like two coyotes and a
lamb voting on what to eat for lunch.

Wilkins and Wilson were asked about slavery, but neither of them condemned
the owning of one person by another. Wilson said slavery is a sinful
institution, but rebellion is just as sinful. Slaves who have Christian
masters will at least be treated with love and respect.

Since 1998, Wilkins' League of the South has had close ties with the Sons of
Confederate Veterans, who in 2000 elected Kirk Lyons to its national
executive board.

An outspoken racist, Lyons was married by neo-Nazi Richard Butler in 1990.

The League and the Sons of Confederate Veterans organize public protests
with the Council of Conservative Citizens, whose Web site decries "negroes,
queers and other retrograde species of humanity." (Try replacing the "Cs" in
their acronym with "Ks.")

One League leader said that we "need a new type of Klan."

People in North Idaho applauded when the neo-Nazis were forced to leave
Hayden Lake, but now Wilkins is telling his friends that Moscow would be a
fine place to live.

Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31
years. For more on the Wilson controversy see
www.tomandrodna.com/notonthepalouse.





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

"Abstract truth has no value unless it incarnates in human beings who 
represent it, by proving their readiness to die for it."
  --Mohandas Gandhi

"Modern physics has taught us that the nature of any system cannot be 
discovered by dividing it into its component parts and studying each part 
by itself. . . .We must keep our attention fixed on the whole and on the 
interconnection between the parts. The same is true of our intellectual 
life. It is impossible to make a clear cut between science, religion, and 
art. The whole is never equal simply to the sum of its various parts." 
--Max Planck

Nicholas F. Gier
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/home.htm
208-882-9212/FAX 885-8950
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm

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