[Vision2020] Doug Wilson, & a Few Observations About Dialogue

[Andreas Schou]

> 4.  Douglas Wilson is not a psychopath.

I agree with this as well. However:

There is a totally different standard of what is said within the
church about their beliefs and what is said outside it. Much of the
church's doctrine has been moderated for outsiders, once it was clear
that outsiders were listening. But while I would be pleased if they
had repudiated their support for slavery, their demands that the state
commit genocide against gays and lesbians, and their wholesale
relegation of non-Christians to dhimmi status, I see no indication
that they have actually done so -- only that they have claimed they
never said what they clearly said.

I am not going to pretend, for the sake of getting along better with
certain of my neighbours, that it is reasona ble that they call for
the executions of gays and lesbians, and I am not going to pretend
that, in a democracy, it is perfectly irrelevant that their
interpretation of their religion calls for the suppression of every
last one of my rights. Until and unless they either renounce their
beliefs or their use of political action in order to enact those
beliefs, I have to take them at face value.

I would also note that, frankly, getting along well with Christ Church
is a privilege. It is a privilege I have, because I am straight,
white, and, in their interpretation, Christian. This is not a
privilege that gays, lesbians, non-Christians and descendants of
slaves have. Until those people have a seat at the table and can speak
without being under threat of extermination or enslavement, I choose
not to engage in dialogue -- because to do so, I would have to voice
my objections on the behalf of people who cannot engage Christ Church
themselves.

I realize, C, that this may come off as a little harsh -- but it's not
a criticism of you, just an explanation of why I don't choose to do
exactly the same thing.

-- ACS