[Vision2020] The Nicene Creed (was Atwood letter rewritten)

Tue Apr 4 17:09:48 PDT 2006

This Nicene Creed-affirming Christian thanks Joan for a very well-written, 
reasoned response.

I don't like Doug Wilson, dispute the theology of Christ Church, lament the 
Kirk's public behavior and cringe at their publishing "ministry," and 
believe that the central business district is not the place for a college.  
Period.

And I'm not bigoted toward middle-aged, bearded white guys who drive Ford 
trucks.  On the contrary -- I'm married to one.  So there must be something 
about DW, et al, that I find particularly bothersome, something he has 
control over.  Something volitional.  Something . . . disagreeable, 
willfully done.

At which point "bigotry" is impossible to argue, and "discernment" and 
"indignation" start to look more and more likely.

keely

From: Joan Opyr <joanopyr at moscow.com>
To: Vision2020 Moscow <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: [Vision2020] The Nicene Creed (was Atwood letter rewritten)
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 15:02:58 -0700

Donovan accuses:

>I don't have to speculate it is personal. Just ask  them. Joan, Rose, and 
>her entire household & friends will just tell  you flat out they are 
>bigoted against conservative Christians and have  a personal ax to grind 
>with Wilson.

On the contrary, Donovan, you do speculate, and you speculate incorrectly.  
I've never actually met Doug Wilson.  Melynda has; so has Rose.  But not me. 
  I sat next to him once in Applebee's, but I don't think sharing dining and 
drinking space with someone counts as knowing them.  If it does, then I also 
know the Ramones -- or, rather, I knew the Ramones.  All but one of them are 
now deceased.

My issue is not with conservative Christianity.  I don't give a damned about 
Reformed Christian Theology, either.  I think John Calvin was demonstrably 
an ill-tempered, narrow-minded bastard, but he's been dead for a long, long 
time.  There's not much point in fighting with Calvin; my arms are too short 
to box with ghosts.  As I have said time and time again, I don't give a 
tinker's cuss, a monkey's butt, or a plug nickel what Doug Wilson believes.  
I care about his political agenda and his detrimental effect on the City of 
Moscow -- on our secular government and on our downtown businesses.  In 
other words, Donovan, I'm not interested in arguing theology with Doug -- 
that's his game, not mine.  I'm interested in politics.  I'm interested in 
Doug's willingness to shamelessly play the persecution card in order to 
cover up his blatant, consistent disregard for the law.  This is not about 
Doug Wilson qua Doug Wilson; this is about a business masquerading as a 
church, claiming tax exemptions to which it is not legally entitled, and 
violating zoning law and city ordinance.

Why do you not understand this?  Because you don't want to understand.  This 
scenario doesn't fit in with your own dreams of persecution, your own belief 
that you are "an endangered species."  Endangered species?  Bah!  George W. 
Bush long ago delisted so-called moderates.  You're either with us or 
against us, remember?  You're on your own, moderate man, along with the 
Spotted Owl, the Snail Darter, and the Sawtooth wolves.  Better get used to 
it.

Now, let me try once again (because I'm a fool) to make one thing perfectly 
clear: my wife, Melynda, is a conservative Christian.  She is also a 
lesbian.  There is no disconnect here, as you yourself should know full 
well.  As Keely has explained, the term "conservative Christian" refers to 
theology, not politics.  Melynda holds to the Nicene Creed.  Rather than 
give it to you in Latin or Greek or even the version from the Book of Common 
Prayer, here's a contemporary translation:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became 
truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father (and the Son)
Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. 
Amen.

Melynda would, of course, use gender-neutral pronouns, and by Catholic, she 
means one communion within Jesus Christ.  (If you understand and actually 
make an effort to process the preceding, then I will buy you a Shirley 
Temple complete with an umbrella and a swizzle stick.  I'll leave a gift 
certificate for same at The Garden Lounge -- that is, if the bar survives 
the NSA parking situation.)

One more thing for you to ponder -- it is not I, nor Melynda, nor Rose who 
engage in imprecatory prayer.  That sin belongs solely to Doug Wilson and 
his followers.  They pray regularly for our deaths, for us to be struck down 
by God, to have our bones broken and our teeth smashed out, and all for 
defying them publicly and, dare I suggest, successfully.  Imprecatory prayer 
is a wicked, nasty, vile thing, Donovan, and you spend far too much of your 
good Christian time defending its unsavory practitioners.  Chew on that for 
awhile.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

PS: Now if by conservative Christian what you mean is simply "Donovan J. 
Arnold," then you're right; I have no conservative Christian friends.  I 
don't like you any more than you like me, and I expect we'll go on in this 
hostile fashion until the day we expire.  I can live with that (and happily, 
too).  But my definition of conservative Christian is considerably more 
expansive than yours (see the Nicene Creed again, for reference), and thus I 
count my conservative Christian friends by the score.  I'm lucky to have 
them; their friendship binds and sustains me, and I am grateful to them for 
their wit, their wisdom, and their faith.  They are fine people who deserve 
far better than the narrow representation given by you, Doug Wilson, and 
other shameless self-aggrandizers.  Jesus Wept.

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