[Vision2020] P A S T O R A L S N A R L

[J Ford]

Not sure what happened the first time I sent this - hope this one is easier to read............................................












Again, I ask you - what is the point of posting this?  You bring up old news that has NOTHING new added and we are to do............................?

With his newest project on N Polk in the toilet, the buying of the Howard Hughes and Goodwill buildings (which are still very empty and un-rentable at the present high rental asking) why would you bring THIS up?

You need to explain what it is you hope to accomplish with this stuff.  Shoot, you don't even include the names of some of the actors, names you are fully aware of - at least THAT would be something new!




J  :]




Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:43:37 -0800
> 
From: news.of.christ.cult at gmail.com
> 
To: Vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: [Vision2020] P A S T O R A L S N A R L
> 
> 
> http://dougsplotch.org/busted.htm
> > 
> B U S T E D
> 
> 

On December 5, 2001, after two months of illegal activities, the Morton Street Casino (MSC) was discovered. Chris Schlect was the first Christ Church elder to be notified. One day later, on December 6, Douglas Wilson learned about the extra-curricular gambling. Five days later he wrote the following email (below), which he carbon copied to all of the Christ Church elders (including Roy Atwood).
> 
> Unfortunately, this blistering rebuke constituted the sum total of pastoral care shown by Wilson to many of the young gamblers. Most of them never heard from him (or any other elders) again.
> 
> Even more unfortunately, this email also includes the pastoral blunder of the millennium. In it we see that Douglas Wilson cancelled all gambling debts owed to the casino house, and at the same time he ordered all the players who won money from the house to pay their winnings back to him. Wilson issued this pastoral bull ex cathedra, apart from any threat of disciplinary sanctions.
> 
> 
> 
> —— Original Message ——
> From: Douglas
> To: —@juno.com; —@hotmail.com; eatwood at hotmail.com; —@aol.com; —@hotmail.com; —@uidaho.edu; —@usa.net; —@juno.com; —@hotmail.com; —@hotmail.com; —@aol.com; —@hotmail.com; —@hotmail.com  ; Patch Blakey; Doug Jones; Matt Gray; Roy Atwood; Chris Schlect; Wes Struble; Stan Miller  ; Bob Hieronymus; John Howell; James Nance; Matt Whitling
> Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 4:00 PM
> 
> Gentlemen,
> 
> I am writing you all this way because you are related in some way to the recent gambling events at the house on Morton. Your relationship might be tenuous or not — the fact that you are receiving this does not mean that you are accused of anything. It simply means that you are connected in some way — whether through personal involvement, residence there, or because you have somehow learned about it afterwards.
> 
> First, you need to know that this situation is not a secret, but neither is it fully public. We don't mind if you talk amongst yourselves about what has happened, or if you pass on what has happened to anyone who needs to know. But if you pass it on, please include the contents of this email in what you say. We are not trying to hush anything up, but if you talk about it, please include this.
> 
> For those who were involved, there were three gross sins in all of this. The first was the grievous lack of love for one another displayed in various ways. Some supposed friends encouraged others to get in serious financial trouble, and helped them to do it. Some just knew about it and said nothing. Some should have known about it. Some others found out about it afterwards, and are now wondering what the elders are going to do. And so forth. Scriptures do not command us all to love our neighbor, except for the young men who get to be irresponsible. The Bible does not say that males in your age group are allowed to treat one another with the kind of contempt you have shown one to another in all of this. No one that I know of is maintaining that the placing of a bet is necessarily sinful — the problem is not penny ante poker, or betting with chips. Please do not think for a moment that we are obsessing over a friendly game of cards. The problem rather is the unfriendliness, the stench of selfishness, the astonishing me-first-ism, the aroma of death that exudes from virtually everything your circle of young men has done. If it came out in the church that your group was now talking junior high girls into a getting tattooed on the rear end, why is it that many of those who know about your behavior the last few years could only say that figures. And somebody over there would probably want to argue about it — "where does the Bible say we can't talk junior high girls into whatever? They were just small tattoos." The answer is that you do not love God, and you do not love your neighbor, and a number of your neighbors know it by now. So the first great problem here is selfishness and a self-willed lack of love.
> 
> The second sin was the lack of interest in all the issues of reputation and testimony that we have been urging upon you in the proverbial fathead talks for several years now. By now, the pattern of stubbornness in the face of such exhortations shows that a number of you are either really stupid or bona fide hypocrites, and quite possibly both. We know that some of you are hypocrites who will say and do anything to get out of trouble. And we know that others are just simply foolish. In the midst of this, the Bible requires us to take professions of repentance at face value, and so we do (Luke 17). But we want you to know that this obedience on our part does not mean that we are gullible. The fact that you are being obtuse about your spiritual direction and drift and reputation does not mean that we are obtuse about it. The reason we give so many warnings is because we see so many who need them. I am writing to a group, so you may apply this as needed. Your carnal mindset, your lack of spiritual concern, your love of the flesh, are the reasons we give such warnings. Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins, all of whom had the lamp of covenant membership. But not all of them had the oil of grace. Put bluntly, some of you do not understand the warnings we have been giving because you are intent on going to Hell, and I am not speaking metaphorically. Hell is capitalized here, because it is a place, like Seattle. Reputation is the least of your worries, but the fact that many of you are incapable of seeing the problem here indicates a far deeper problem. Take heed to your souls — you are drifting. What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?
> 
> And the third sin is the slander and false accusations that have been made against me, the elders, NSA, and so forth in the immediate aftermath of this. Some of you have participated in this, some of you have just listened. We know the kinds of things that have been said, and the fact that such talk can gain any currency at all shows how twisted your perspective can get when you care more about being cool than about holiness.
> 
> So consider this a severe rebuke from your pastor. Some of you are being rebuked, and some of you are simply observing the delivery of a rebuke to others. And I know that the circumstances have varied, and I do not yet have all the information, and so there may be more coming. But this is where it is right now. And so, what do we do now? Our understanding of the circumstances (since the problems with larger bets started) is as follows. If any of you know of facts that are otherwise than this, please let me know.
> 
> —— served as the bank, or the owner of the mini-casino.
> Ethan Atwood served as the manager. He is currently owed a little money.
> —— owes a little money. I don't know how much.
> —— played very little, never going in for more than five dollars, and is currently owed a little.
> —— played frequently, and owes over $2,000 to Brett.
> —— played frequently, and owes over $2,000 to Brett.
> —— played frequently and is even.
> —— played less frequently and owes $100 or so.
> —— played only once, and played with very little money. He was paid in cash at the time, making $20
> —— played only once, and with cash, not credit. He went down only $8 or so.
> —— played one time.
> 
> What we want is for all of you to do what it takes to get back to the status quo ante — the way it was before the big money betting started. In other words, if you got a check from Brett for three hundred dollars, we want you to get that money back to him. If you cannot do this for financial reasons, please let me know. If you owe money generated out of credit, then the elders have determined that you no longer owe the money. All the betting was illegal in the state of Idaho, a misdemeanor, and as soon as the elders discovered that brothers in the church were treating one another this illegal and unloving way, they determined to cancel the obligations on the basis of the principle contained in Numbers 30. The day we heard of it, we said that brothers in Christ under our charge were not to be permitted to act this way. Therefore, to the extent that real money changed hands, we want it to go back to the original owner. To the extent that bets were made on credit, those obligations are now cancelled. If anyone has any question about what they are to do, please ask me.
> 
> There are other possible ramifications from this which do not concern you directly as a group. Please seek God's forgiveness, one another's forgiveness, and ours, and pray for us that we would have wisdom in the situation. And do not assume that if you do not know about something that it is being covered up.
> 
> I am also willing to meet with you singly or in groups.
> 
> [Douglas Wilson did not sign this email]
> 
> 
> 
> http://dougsplotch.org/detective.htm
> 
> 
> 
> D E T E C T I V E      W I L S O N
> 
> Having already ordered the young gamblers to pay back their winnings to the casino house, Pastor Douglas Wilson took command of the scandal and appointed himself chief investigator of the MSC. Strike that. Pastor Wilson became the only investigator of the MSC.
> 
> Now, for most people, this would seem like an open-and-shut case — a real no-brainer. It's not as though he had to explain the origin of Stonehenge or decipher some mysterious crop circle in the middle of Kansas. He didn't even have to find the one-armed man. He simply had to cross-examine the players; interview the residents who lived in the house (not all the residents were players, but all of them were members of Christ Church); notify the gamblers' parents, etc.; and then crack the whip to make sure that everyone paid up. And of all men, surely the author of Future Men would know how to hold the young bettors accountable. After all, he wrote the book.
> 
> Notwithstanding Detective Wilson's simple assignment, some of the boys' parents complained that Wilson failed to notify them of their children's illegal conduct, and that they heard about the casino through the grapevine. Indeed, it is highly probable that some parents still do not know about these events. (Caveat emptor: it's for good reason that the New Saint Andrews College catalog and its website states, "We refuse to act in loco parentis.")
> 
> Furthermore, there is no evidence showing that Wilson bothered to interrogate any witnesses at all. In fact, several young men who lived at the house said that he never even asked them one question. Perhaps this explains the reason why two weeks into his investigation, Detective Wilson still didn't have a clue. He was flat out of leads. The trail ran cold. Therefore he listened to a tape-recorded telephone conversation between the casino manager (Dr. Atwood's son, Ethan) and the casino house (Brett).
> 
> In the following email (below), Detective Wilson admits listening to a secretly recorded telephone conversation between Ethan and Brett. Dr. Atwood's son recorded the conversation without asking Brett's permission and without informing him of the covert operation. The conversation took place after the casino was discovered, when both men were members in good standing at Christ Church, and, as noted, Wilson had no problem with Ethan's behavior. He also had no problem listening to the tape.
> 
> Detective Wilson justified his unethical conduct by saying, "he told you that someone was potentially listening." Of course Wilson couldn't know that Ethan said this unless he first listened to the tape. But that doesn't matter. The phrase "someone is potentially listening" is not the moral equivalent of "I'm recording you so that I can play it for Detective Wilson." It's not even close. No, Wilson couldn't wait to feed on this tasty trifle, and "someone is potentially listening" gave him all the "plausible deniability" that he needed. Unfortunately, Detective Wilson gained no new information from the tape, and once again he had no more leads.
> 
> The propriety of Detective Wilson's conduct is a matter for others to worry about, unless of course you're a member of Christ Church. Then you have good reason to believe that eavesdropping is your pastor's standard operating procedure. If he did it once, then he would do it again — and there's no reason to believe that he hasn't done it before. Worse yet, if he's willing to invade the telephone privacy of a member in good standing, then what other violations would he commit at the drop of a hat? Put another way, if he seared his conscience here, then where else has he seared it?
> 
> (Please note that the unidentified "companion [who] was listening in unbeknownst to [Wilson]" was Dr. Atwood's son, Ethan.)
> 
> 
> 
> From: Douglas <dougwils at moscow.com>
> To: brett 
> CC: nsadean at nsa.edu
> Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 10:15:46 -0800
> 
> Dear Brett,
> 
> This letter is to follow up on our last phone conversation, and to tie up some loose ends.
> 
> First, in our conversation you indicated some confusion about your status as a member. I checked on this, and in 1999 you signed a statement with the same vows now taken by those new members who go to the front of the church. You are in fact a voting member of Christ Church, in good standing. At the same time, our Constitution requires that when a member moves out of the area that we give them six months to find a new church home to which we can transfer them. If they have not done so, then we drop them from our membership roll with a strong exhortation to find a church. Since we are at that place with you, could you let me know if there is a church there you would feel comfortable joining? And if not, then you can consider this our exhortation for you to find one. In short, if you would like us to transfer your membership we will do so. If not, then please find one soon, and this email indicates that you have been dropped from our membership.
> 
> Second, I know that you know how unhappy I am with your role in the recent events. This unhappiness, however, is not church discipline, or a part of church discipline.
> 
> Third, I told Ethan he needed to break off his friendship with you. This was not church discipline of you, formal or informal. It was the result of a pastoral judgment on my part that given Ethan's state of spiritual immaturity, and your unfortunate understanding of Christian liberty, a friendship between the two of you is a bad mix, not only for the two of you, but also for the whole church.
> 
> Fourth, Ethan told me after the fact that he had recorded his phone conversation with you, which I had not asked him to do, and did not know that he was going to do. Because he told you that someone was potentially listening at the start of the conversation, I felt free to listen to it. If he had not done so, I would not have listened to it — a standard which you apparently do not share. The line you took in our phone conversation was mystifying to me at the time, but the fact that your companion [Dr. Atwood's son, Ethan] was listening in unbeknownst to me makes more sense of the situation. The deceptiveness involved is revealing to me. At the same time, this was not disconcerting to because of anything I said. I want to reiterate what I said there — you are playing the fool in this.
> 
> Fifth, we still need to sort out the financial details. You should soon receive checks from those or on behalf of those that you paid out money to. If you believe that you have not, by two or three weeks from now, please contact me.
> 
> And sixth, please bear with one last exhortation from me. The fallout from all of this is not yet complete. Roy Atwood has now submitted his letter of resignation from the board of elders, and that process is working its way out. Ethan has been suspended from NSA for Nicea and Chalcedon terms. I am probably going to lose one of the best elders I have ever had, and not because I have demanded it. And a good part of the reason the consequences are so significant is the attitudes displayed in the first few days after it came down. Please consider your ways, your demeanor, your heart, and your encouragement of those patterns of thought and speech that have created so much trouble here. The oath you signed, and apparently had forgotten, said that you promised submission to our government and discipline, while pursuing its purity and peace. I wish you had taken all this more seriously than you have, but I still encourage you to it now.
> 
> I am very unhappy with you, but still wish you the best.
> 
> [Douglas Wilson did not sign this email, and Dr. Atwood withdrew his letter of resignation because he believed that another Christ Church officer gave Ethan permission to open the casino.]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://dougsplotch.org/snarl.htm
> 
> 
> P A S T O R A L      S N A R L
> 
> When Detective Wilson took command of the MSC investigation, he had one single priority: protect Roy Atwood at all costs. Wilson knew that Roy was a moral vacuum. If the poor guy came with an electrical cord, you could plug him into an outlet and use him like a Hoover. To be sure, the dean of NSA is so empty that he actually blamed the casino's existence on another Christ Church officer, saying that Ethan "received permission" from that officer to open the illegal casino. And Wilson countenanced this horse manure. But by letting Ethan and Roy abdicate their responsibility, Wilson put Christ Church between a rock and a payoff.
> 
> Of course Wilson's dilemma was the direct result of his own blunder — canceling all debts owed to the house ($4500) and commanding the young bettors to return their winnings to the house ($1000). Certainly he hoped that everyone would pay their bills. If they did, then the ledger would be even and the scandal would disappear.
> 
> But things didn't go as planned. Six months after Wilson's pastoral bull, the casino house still hadn't received a dime from his debtors. It turns out that the young gamblers called Wilson's bluff. They had all the cards, and they knew it. So they refused to pay back the house and suddenly Pastor Wilson found himself in "a pastoral snarl, a tangle," created by Detective Wilson.
> 
> This was his dilemma: If he pressed the debtors to pay up, then they could say, "Why should we? We did nothing wrong. Dr. Atwood says that his son had permission to open the casino." And if Wilson threatened them with church discipline for not paying their debts, they could say, "Oh, do you mean the debts that you created when you took away our winnings — money we won at a casino managed by Dean Atwood's son? If you discipline us, then you have to discipline Atwood." Wilson had no leverage and he knew it. He was completely compromised. So when the casino house asked, "Where's my money?" Detective Wilson could only wish that Lieutenant Columbo had been assigned to the case.
> 
> Douglas Wilson exchanged the following emails with the casino house. It was the first communication between them since Wilson's December 19th email.
> 
> 
> 
> From: "Brett Bauer " 
> To: <dougwils at moscow.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 3:37 PM
> Subject: Casino
> 
> Doug,
> 
> It was my understanding from your earlier email, pasted below, that we were going to return to the status quo with regard to the money that was transacted in the casino. Doing this would require various people paying me a total of a little over 900 dollars. Ethan should know the exact amounts. It is my understanding that a couple of months ago you were informed that the people owing this money had not paid me yet. As of today no one has paid me any money nor have they contacted me or even acknowledged that they owed me anything. How would you suggest that I proceed in this matter?
> 
> Brett
> 
> "What we want is for all of you to do what it takes to get back to the status quo ante — the way it was before the big money betting started. In other words, if you got a check from Brett for three hundred dollars, we want you to get that money back to him. If you cannot do this for financial reasons, please let me know. If you owe money generated out of credit, then the elders have determined that you no longer owe the money. All the betting was illegal in the state of Idaho, a misdemeanor, and as soon as the elders discovered that brothers in the church were treating one another this illegal and unloving way, they determined to cancel the obligations on the basis of the principle contained in Numbers 30. The day we heard of it, we said that brothers in Christ under our charge were not to be permitted to act this way. Therefore, to the extent that real money changed hands, we want it to go back to the original owner. To the extent that bets were made on credit, those obligations are now cancelled. If anyone has any question about what they are to do, please ask me."
> 
> 
> 
> From: Douglas <dougwils at moscow.com>
> To: "Brett Bauer " 
> Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 4:05 PM
> Subject: Re: Casino
> 
> Dear Brett,
> 
> I had checked on this once or twice, and will do so again. But my understanding is that you told — — (who is one of those who owes you money) that you did not want him to pay you. Is that an incorrect understanding on my part? As for me, I do want those involved to pay you back, and will continue to pursue it.
> 
> [Douglas Wilson did not sign this email]
> 
> Revealing tale of corruption and hypocrisy continued at:  http://dougsplotch.org/payoff.htm
> 
> --
> 
> 
> Juanita Flores
> Advocate for the Truth from Jesus

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