[Vision2020] Doug or Douglas Farris? (Was: A few Sunday thoughts)
Joan Opyr
joanopyr at moscow.com
Mon Jul 3 12:17:16 PDT 2006
On Jul 3, 2006, at 9:08 AM, Michael wrote:
> Doug,
>
> You misrepresent what Joan said. First, she was speaking to Wilson’s
> practice of stirring up controversies and poking neighbors in the eye
> in order to get a publicizing response (a practice going back more
> than 15 years from what I know); she was not speaking of your “silent
> grace” of planting kingdom seeds. Second, she said she did not care
> about the theological issues; but she noted those issues she did care
> about. I appreciate your attempt to actually interact with what she
> said; this seems an improvement. But perhaps your lack of success is
> in part due to your arrogant insults against her, someone who is
> clearly more educated and experienced with public writing than you.
> She is also the most enjoyable writer to post on V2020 (I’m sure
> others would agree).
>
> Michael
Thank you, Michael. I appreciate not only your kind words but also
your elegant attempt to get Doug Farris to address what I actually
said.
I am puzzled as to why Doug insists on addressing me as Mary. That is
indeed my first name, but only my great aunts have ever called me by
it, and then only in tandem with my middle name, Joan. I'm originally
from the South. Double-barreled names like Mary Joan, Joe Bob, and
Richard Earl are commonplace. I suppose Doug is trying to annoy and/or
insult me. I have said before that I don't care to be called Mary. My
mother calls me Joan, and she has done so all of my life. In light of
this, calling me Mary is a bit silly. No, wait -- it's juvenile. A
marked lack of maturity is the problem I originally identified among
Kirk men who post to this list. Indeed, it was the entire point of the
first paragraph of my previous post, and here we see it fully
illustrated.
[FYI: there was a kid in my elementary school who insisted on calling
me Opyr-goat. That didn't bother me much, either, as it didn't make
any sense. Opyr is the Ukrainian word for vampire. See if you can
make something out of that.]
As for your second point, you may not like it, Doug, but I am just as
much a public figure as your minister. No amount of "get over
yourself" will make this not so. I write; I publish; I have a reading
audience. I exist well outside the bounds of Vision 2020. You know
this, of course. You're just being obnoxious. If I were not a public
figure, I might have some legal recourse when your friend, Dale
Courtney, steals my photograph from New West Magazine and posts it to
his website. I write regular columns for several journals, and my work
is reprinted in many others. That may not make you happy, but it is a
demonstrable fact. I'm not happy that Ann Coulter has a reading
audience, but damn the McCarthy-loving fascist wing-nut, she does --
and a big one, too. I don't claim to have anything akin to Ann
Coulter's reach, but my first novel is in bookstores and enjoying brisk
sales, and a sequel is on the way. I don't expect that you've read
Idaho Code, and I certainly don't recommend it to you. To judge from
your posts, you wouldn't enjoy it. You'd like the sequel, From Hell to
Breakfast, even less.
If you're going to criticize me, Doug, please try focusing on the
genuine rather than the imagined. Try concentrating on what I've
actually said and not on your own wishful thinking. Ignore the straw
(wo)man. You are talking to -- or, rather, at -- a real person with
real ideas, and those real ideas have real consequences. I am not the
bogeywoman of your fevered imaginings. Would that I were. I'd happily
climb back into the closet just long enough to jump out at you and yell
"boo!" And I'd be sure to bring my digital camera.
A few real issues with which to begin? Try explaining your pastor's
"serrated edge." Try telling us how your behavior on this list and on
Dale's blog is exemplary of the true Christian spirit and furthers the
spread of the gospel. Would Jesus call me as Mary knowing that I went
by Joan? If so, would I be justified in calling him Chuck? I have
said that Christ Church has far too many "future men" in its midst, men
who evince a decided lack of maturity and who rely on juvenile insult
rather than reasoned debate. Prove me wrong. Try being mature. If
you don't want to answer me, then why not answer Michael, your brother
in Christ? When you do so, see if you're able to refrain from calling
him "Mike-Dogg," or any other such nonsense. Don't ask him if he has a
fear of being naked. Try to act your age. Try not to make a fool of
yourself.
You've made much of being the father of nine, Doug. It's not fair to
expect your wife to raise a man-child who's in his forties.
Joan
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