[Vision2020] Public statement of protest regarding Michael Metzler's slandering of the CREC and COTK

[Christopher Witmer]

Visioneurs,

Greetings from the sunny side of my computer screen! This is a rather 
unusual way to introduce myself, but I am already known to some of you. 
I would like to use this forum to put a statement of protest in the 
public record, so to speak, with regard to Michael Metzler's Dec. 17 
post titled "COTK, CREC, & Tyranny: Part 14" 
(http://poohsthink.com/?p=1052), where an unnamed correspondent makes 
the following slander:

"In November 2004, Douglas Wilson began sowing discord among the COTK 
brethren, consciously intending to split the church, because he had a 
personal disagreement with one of its elders. Wilson committed this sin 
while acting in capacity of his office as moderator (bishop? pope?) of 
Anselm Presbytery, and by May 2006 he achieved his goal of dividing the 
congregation. In October 2006, CREC leaders had an opportunity to 
redress COTK's injury during Anslem Presbyery's annual meeting; however, 
they chose to sanction Wilson's treachery, retroactively, contrary to 
their lawful authority and in violation of every principle of justice 
taught in Scripture. These are facts that no CREC official has denied."

Lacking my own blog, I would have responded to Michael Metzler directly, 
off-list, if I had felt that I could trust him to manifest fairness and 
charity in his dealings with me, but I am unable to maintain any such 
trust in him. Posting to this forum is cheaper and easier than taking 
out an ad in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. I doubt very much that I 
will be posting here in this manner with any frequency (if ever again), 
and I certainly hope I never feel it is necessary to do so.

The above post slanders ministers that I consider to be god-fearing and 
worthy of respect. In that regard it is not much different from the 
usual fare at Mr. Metzler's blog. However, since this time I am in a 
position to be able to speak out against Mr. Metzler's public statement 
on the basis of my own knowledge, I have taken it upon myself to 
register this protest. I have neither run this protest past anyone in 
any church, nor consulted or even informed anyone else about this 
statement in advance, so I alone take full responsibility for it. 
However, since I am a member of a church in the CREC, I can of course be 
subject to church discipline if necessary.

I am in possession of an email addressed to me by an elder of the Church 
of the King (COTK) which seems to clearly contradict some of the key 
claims made in Mr. Metzler's post referred to above. I am not going to 
quote the email here at any length, but I am prepared to stand by what I 
state here. Any plain, straightforward, common-sense reading of the 
email I received makes it impossible to accept at face value the 
assertions made in Mr. Metzler's post.

First, contrary to the assertion of Mr. Metzler's post, my correspondent 
stated that personal disagreements had "zilch" and "zero" bearing on 
anything regarding COTK's exit from the CREC.

Second, although my correspondent did not mention this aspect, it stands 
to reason that short of Doug Wilson explicitly stating his motives for 
what he does, any conjecture as to what motivates him must be 
necessarily just that -- conjecture -- and nothing more. I recently made 
a public apology to Michael Metzler for having conjectured in public 
about what motivates him to say and do the things that he does. It was 
wrong for me to state my conjectures concerning Mr. Metzler as if they 
were objectively established facts, and it is wrong for him and his 
unnamed correspondent to do that to Doug Wilson. (Metzler does this sort 
of thing regularly: he seems confident that he can peer into men's 
hearts, sometimes people he has never even met, and divine their inner 
motives. Thus he frequently ends up violating the Ninth Commandment.) 
Even the elders of COTK would never be in a position to "know" that 
Wilson sowed discord with the conscious intention of splitting COTK, 
unless Wilson had come right out and said as much.* Short of that, one 
can only speculate. So everything mentioned by Michael Metzler and/or 
his unnamed correspondent regarding Doug Wilson's motives should be 
recognized as their speculative opinion, and nothing more. I submit that 
as such it reveals more about them than it does about Doug Wilson.

* I am not privy to the details of what happened -- and I'm sure the 
sheer amount of detail must be huge, and would be exceedingly diffiicult 
to sort through -- but apparently there were some people in COTK who 
wanted to start a separate church and apparently Doug Wilson supported 
them in that. Rather than charitably cutting people some slack 
concerning things about which he is ignorant, Metzler's unnamed 
correspondent leaps to the conclusion that Wilson sowed discord with the 
conscious intention of splitting COTK, all as part of a personal 
vendetta against COTK's leadership. But this view is not supported by 
the communication from my COTK correspondent.

Third, despite Mr. Metzler's constant reference to Doug Wilson's 
"tyranny," my correspondent stated flatly that "tyrannical leadership" 
was never experienced by anyone involved in any way, shape or form, and 
that discipline of COTK leaders or CREC leaders likewise was never an 
issue. He referred to such thinking as a red herring that should be put 
to bed.

Fourth, the assertion that CREC leaders acted contrary to their lawful 
authority and in violation of every principle of justice taught in 
scripture is, to put it midly, a real stretch even from the perspective 
of COTK, given the tenor of my correspondent. If by "lawful authority" 
you mean the constitution of the CREC, then yes, the position of COTK is 
that the CREC leaders acted contrary to the constitution of the CREC. My 
correspondent said they should have amended the constitution first, 
before doing what they did: apparently, that would have made what they 
did "lawful." What we are talking about here, from the perspective of my 
correspondent at least, is largely a procedural error. Which is not to 
say that COTK saw it as a MINOR or PETTY error, obviously, since they 
felt it justified their leaving the CREC. But that is a long way from 
claiming that what CREC leadership did was in violation of every 
principle of justice taught in Scripture. Another elder of COTK has said 
that "we understand how reasonable people on all sides may disagree with 
us," and yet another COTK elder has described it as "an honest 
disagreement among brothers." I see no reason to doubt the honesty and
sincerity of the leadership of COTK when they refer to the leadership of 
the CREC with such language. Sharp disagreement that leads to a split is 
one thing, and dissing as scoundels the entire leadership of the 
denomination that one belonged to until just yesterday is quite another 
thing. The opinion of Michael Metzler and his unnamed correspondent on 
this subject should not be confused with either the public stance of 
COTK leadership or with reality. Despite the fact that they feel they 
were wronged, and despite their differences with the CREC's leaders, 
COTK's leaders are incomparably more filled with graciousness and 
charity toward the CREC than Mr. Metzler and his unnammed correspondent. 
(Mr. Metzler and his unnamed correspondent are also decidely lacking in 
grace and charity toward COTK's leaders.)

Fifth, given the slimy way these so-called "facts" have been formulated 
and presented, it is little wonder that no CREC official has denied 
them. They do not deserve the dignity of a direct response. PCA pastor 
Mark Horne hits the nail on the head when he disagrees that "Doug needs 
to answer to the internet because of allegations being made there." He 
also adds, "As someone who has respect both for COTK and Christ Church, 
I think they are both wise not to get involved in a fight, especially 
not a public one." (http://www.reformedcatholicism.com/?p=822) The 
existence in cyberspace of even a few people like Mr. Metzler, seemingly 
incapable of exercising good judgment or charitable restraint where 
anything pertaining to Doug Wilson, Christ Church, or the CREC is 
concerned, is ample reason for both sides to stay mum about this matter 
beyond what has already been said. Former Metzler bedfellow Harry 
Seabrook (http://littlegeneva.com/?p=490) pegged Mr. Metzler well as the 
fat blogger in this hilarious video: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9pPZs4aTcU . . . you will note that the 
fat blogger in question has "Divide church" on his to-do list next
to his computer, and that is exactly what Mr. Metzler and his unnamed
correspondent seem to be aiming for. I admit that this is MY analysis 
and not something that can be objectively proven. If Mr. Metzler ever 
gets interviewed in front of his computer, I doubt we'll see "Divide 
church" written on his to-do list. No doubt Mr. Metzler and his unnamed
correspondent will protest that they are only motivated by an overriding
love for the truth . . . except that it just happens to be a "truth" 
that foments ill will toward both the CREC and COTK (which Metzler and 
his unnamed correspondent have severely criticized for having "enabled" 
Doug Wilson).

 From my perspective it is in some ways regrettable that this split has 
taken place, but I firmly believe that ultimately God will use it for 
good. I think both CREC and COTK leaders are to be commended for not 
allowing themselves to be goaded into a public fight by Internet 
scurrilorists who harbor ill will toward both sides. In spite of what 
has happened, the leadership of the CREC and the COTK seem to have not 
forgotten what Michael Metzler and his unnamed correspondent have either 
forgotten or never understood, "above all things have fervent charity 
among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." I call 
on Mr. Metzler and his unnamed correspondent to repent of their sins and 
to stop their unconscionable public slander of Christian ministers.

Sincerely,

Christopher Witmer