[Vision2020] Doug Wilson Interview

[Chasuk]

On 1/19/07, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com> wrote:

> However, as has also been outlined over and over on Vision2020, the evidence that Christ Church and their associated institutions aim to expand influence in the community in a manner that St. Mary's is not, is there

Have you ever heard of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh?  He was an Indian
"spiritual teacher" who (along with his followers) took over Antelope,
Oregon, in the early 1980's. They renamed the town Rajneeshpuram,
after they were able to elect a majority to the town council.

That isn't going to happen in Moscow, Idaho, at least not under the
machinations of Christ Church.  I've read all of the evidence
presented on Vision2020, and I believe that most of it is taken out of
context, and then interpreted in the most alarmist fashion possible.
No, I'm not asking for it to be regurgitated again, I'm just asking
for a little perspective.

Worst case scenario: the alarmists are right, and Moscow gets renamed
New Saint Andrewsville.  Instantly, I get fewer IM's in Russian.  The
streets swarm with well-dressed young people (no visible thongs), who
have vocabularies.  Not much else changes.

Likely scenario:  the alarmists are half-right, and Christ Church and
New Saint Andrews continue to absorb more real estate.  The streets
are minimally populated with well-dressed young people (no visible
thongs), who have vocabularies, and loads of guys in shiny baggy
basketball shorts, and Paris Hilton wannabes.  Not much else changes.

Least-likely scenario: the alarmists chase Christ Church and New Saint
Andrews out of Moscow.  The streets have a few well-dressed young
people (no visible thongs), who have vocabularies, and loads of guys
in shiny baggy basketball shorts, and Paris Hilton wannabes.  Not much
else changes.

> New Saint Andrews excludes those of other faiths from taking advantage of
> their educational offerings.  Correct me if I am wrong.  Name another
> institution in downtown Moscow that excludes offering their services to
> those of other faiths?

If this is the policy of New Saint Andrews, then it saddens me.  I
personally don't find it that heinous, but I still find it unpleasant.
 I don't really have any other comment.  I'll have to cogitate for a
while.

As far as claims of racism are concerned, I say show me the racism.  I
know Kirkers in good standing whose family makeup belies racism.
Trinity Fest has sponsored some objectionable speakers, but I support
freedom of speech.  "Southern Slavery, As It Was" has been superseded,
both in a revised, renamed edition, and by Doug's own words:

****************************************
The following is extracted from my interview:
****************************************

The sin of racial
animosity (what I call racism) is a great personal evil, a sin requiring
personal repentance. Slavery, where it exists, is an institutional evil
which cannot be corrected apart from the progressive work of the gospel
over time, and it should be corrected. So-called benevolent racism --
paternalism -- is not as bad as animosity, but it is still destructive
in other more subtle way.

If these are my views, then why have I been accused of racism? The
problem arises from my refusal to apologize for those portions of the
Bible which provide regulatory guidance for Christians in slave-holding
societies, whether those Christians were slaves (Col. 3:22-23) or
masters (Eph. 6:9). My refusal to apologize for these passages (and many
others like them) is not to be taken as an argument for trying to
/create /a slave-holding society, as though slavery were some kind of
positive good. Rather, the point is to show how Christians should
respond when they are confronted with certain societal evils as "givens"
-- how they should work reformationally and gradually, thinking in terms
of comparative goods. If there is a pagan slave-holding society that
starts to come to the Christian faith, in the interim there will be
slaves and masters both who become Christians. This "Christian
slaveholding" is better than what went before it. In that interim, a
Christian man can be a slaveowner without sinning (a man like Philemon),
but only if he remembers and observes what the New Testament teaches him
about it. And if this thinking takes root in that society, then the
logic of the gospel will necessarily result in the peaceful eradication
of slavery over time.

All this said, the issues of racism and slavery are really quite
distinct. During the same period that the black slave trade was
operating between the west coast of Africa and the New World, there was
also a significant white slave trade between the southern coasts of
Europe and the north coast of Africa. Given the fact of the slavery, the
scriptural requirements for a white slave in Tripoli and a black slave
in Charleston would be identical. So my defense of the scriptural
approach to reformational improvements in society has really nothing to
do with racism /per se/.

****************************************
This ends the extract.
****************************************

If Doug's views were different before, so what?  People change.  If he
is misrepresenting his views in this extract, then I choose to be
charitable.  No one knows what Doug believes except for Doug, and I
believe that it is the Christian thing to do (following the Golden
Rule) to believe Doug, unless his actions prove otherwise.  Doug
hasn't lynched anyone as far as I know.

> Is Chas saying that activism to oppose Christ Church should be stopped?

No, that's not was Chas is saying.  Chas is saying that our activism
should never appear vindictive.  We need to appear more reasonable
than our opponents.  I've been an ass on this forum, and I probably
will be again, knowing my own weaknesses.  However, it has to stop.
The court of public opinion is an important one in battles of this
nature, and we too often are seen with our pants down.  The juvenilia
must stop, regardless of how much our foes test us.  If we respond in
kind, we lose.

> Chas, do you support Hansen's web site?

Tom's website is a useful resource, and I support it in that sense, if
that is what you mean.

Chas