[Vision2020] The Inner Schwaller

[Glenn Schwaller]

Mr Herodotus,

I apologize for a bit of "venting" on my part.  Admittedly it has been
the current postings dealing with Steven Sitler, Christ Church, and Dr
Weitz that has raised my shackles, er hackels a bit.  Be assured that
I am at peace with my inner self.  However, I stand by my assertion
that there IS venom on this site.  And I suppose that is to be
expected considering human nature and the that pesky free speech
thing.  But as I stated in an earlier post, it seems odd to me that in
a community with such a large percentage of intelligent, well-read,
tolerant, broad-minded people, they don't seem to be represented in
these postings.

Maybe it's just the surly, disparaging, derogatory remarks a few
individuals make about others' beliefs, actions, or writings on which
I have focused.  I have no problem with disagreements about issues.  I
have a problem with those who use contempt and childish namecalling in
a misguided and inappropriate attempt to make their viewpoint valid.
Can we just stop it?

I don't care that someone doesn't like an individual, their beliefs or
their lifestyle - we can still be respectful, civil, and "be
grown-ups" in our comments.

I appreciate that you have found my comments helpful and consistent
with the goal of this site.  And I appreciate the additional
perspective on the Christ Church / Steven Sitler issue.  Being
relatively new to the community, I'm still educating myself on the
history of this rather unfortunate mess, MSD's woes, and many of the
other community issues at large.  And I will attmept to make any
comments I have on these and other issues helpful and consistent with
the goals of 2020.

In answer to your question "How do you think the victims feel knowing
that Steven Sitler is roaming the streets on probation, and that his
freedom may be due in large part to Pastor Douglas Wilson's letter to
Judge Stegner?", I don't know how ALL of his victims feel.  I do know
there are those who welcome him back into the community, offer
forgiveness, and carefully guard the henhouse.  I don't know if this
is a misplaced, or a Christlike idealistic attitude.  One might ask
the same of the response of the Lancaster Amish community towards
Charles Roberts.

Schwaller
"even if he didn't like them he should have been civil"- W.S. Maugham

On 5/16/07, Bob Herodotus <bherodotus at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Dear Mr. Schwaller,
>
> Given the wide variety of contributors on this board as well as the broad range of subjects broached on any given day, I am not sure how you conclude:
>
> "Moscow Vision 2020 seems to be a very partisan group of Moscow residents designed to discourage public information unless it meets that partisan viewpoint, and debate seems to be limited to name-calling, mudslinging, shin-kicking and eyeball-gouging."
>
> Unlike you, I do not presume to condemn this whole list based upon a limited sample addressing an isolated subject, unless, of course, things are not as you represented. I must confess that your shrill response indicates that I touched a nerve. It's as though you're personally invested in things pertaining to Douglas Wilson, despite assuring us otherwise.
>
> Therefore, Mr. Schwaller, I encourage you to slow down, take a deep breath, and reach down to touch that inner you. Be at peace with the real person inside of you. Identify the man within and say, "Be still, Glen, there is no venom here. No one has called me any names; no one has slung any mud at me, kicked me in the shins, or gouged my eyeballs out. I'm going to be A Okay. Everything's just fine."
>
> There you go, Glen, everything will be just fine.
>
> Perhaps it will help if I give you some more perspective. You recall how Douglas Wilson ran from this listserv after he proved to the whole community that he did not live by his own standard, which he had previously maintained was fixed and unmovable. Well, this time last year Mr. Wilson rejoined this list for a short period after a local blogger notified the community about Steven Sitler's predations. And it's important to note that the blogger's information relative to Sitler was much like yours — just the facts.
>
> The strangest thing, though, was that while the blogger focused on points of community awareness, Wilson immediately dragged the victims into the conversation, saying that any talk of Sitler reopened their wounds and forced them to relive their tragedy; and Wilson used this pretense to demand silence from the community regarding the subject of Steven Sitler: "The victims, the victims, the victims; THINK OF THE VICTIMS!"
>
> It was a remarkable display of cowardice for a pastor to use victims of a serial pedophile as human shields to protect himself from answering for his failure to warn the flock of predation. Think about. He never warned his congregation that a serial pedophile dwelled among them for 18 months. Talk about negligence. As you said, Mr. Schwaller, "Doug Wilson could have handled things in a better way."
>
> But my point is that you have provided some very helpful information with your posts, and your contributions are consistent with the goals of this list; however, you should be thankful that you're not dealing with a madman constantly screaming, "THE VICTIMS! THE VICTIMS! THE VICTIMS!" You seem to understand much better than Pastor Wilson that serial pedophiles create horrible prospects for a community. In fact, even though you still have not answered my question ("by what standard do you ask Messieurs Fox and Hansen to apologize?"), I believe that if had been here last year, you would have demanded an apology from Pastor Wilson to the entire community.
>
> Anyway, I have carried on much too long here. I simply wanted to help you get composure after your last outburst and I hope I offered you some perspective in much the same way you have tried to offer "facts." Before I let you go, though, I have one more question. How do you think the victims feel knowing that Steven Sitler is roaming the streets on probation, and that his freedom may be due in large part to Pastor Douglas Wilson's letter to Judge Stegner?
>
> Herodotus
>
>
>
>
>
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