[Vision2020] Community Values

[Rosemary Huskey]

It is a painful irony when Doug Wilson co-authors a book on justice which
includes a segment written by him entitled "Sexual Justice." The unintended
consequence of this effort brilliantly illustrate the risk a pretentious
bully takes when he feeds off the encouragement and "judgment" of
financially depended sycophants.  Surely, anyone who cares a fig about
Doug's diminishing status in the world of Reformed Calvinism (or the smaller
world of our community) would counsel him to avoid blithely scampering
around this exceptionally perilous (for him) minefield.   Make no mistake;
it takes a strong stomach to read the article in its entirety which can be
found here <http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/sexual-justice.html>
.  It contains language and examples of sexual crimes which could trigger
anxiety responses in those previously victimized by sexual abuse, and
consequently, I will not repost them in this venue.  The following quotes
will more than amply demonstrate the tone and worldview of the man.  I would
also encourage readers to be mindful that Doug leads a sizeable congregation
in Christ Church and that his former student, Toby Sumpter, who shares his
both theology and worldview, pastors a Christ Church clone in Moscow,
Trinity Reformed Church.  Since no intellectually mature person sits under
the pastoral care of men with whom they have significant disagreement, we
must consequently admit that Doug's  prejudices, cheap jibes, and ignorance
is carried forward in our community by minimally six hundred dutiful
communicants.  How do you suppose the following sentiments will shape Moscow
politically, socially, and legally in coming years?  The editorial bolding
below is mine and do not appear in the original text.

Rose Huskey

 

"When I am providing pastoral counseling, I never promise absolute
confidentiality. I do promise discretion, but I don't ever want to say that
I "will never tell a soul" and then have somebody tell me where they buried
the body. I reserve the full right (and moral responsibility) to call the
cops, depending on the circumstances. But it is important to note that
ministerial authority means that whether or not I am going to do this is a
decision that rests within the church, and not with some bureaucratic
functionary who has no understanding of the biblical principles of justice
and mercy, and how they relate."

 

"Accusation is not conviction. One of feminism's many lies is that women
"don't lie about rape," and the appropriate response to this is that "women"
don't do anything, but that some women do lie about rape, for the same
reason that some men do. Some women will lie about anything. Men, ditto. The
fact that she is a woman and the subject is rape is meaningless, and tells
us nothing independent of the facts. Potiphar's wife lied about rape (Gen.
39:14 <http://biblia.com/bible/kjv1900/Gen.%2039.14> ). This same problem is
heightened when you are dealing with children who are testifying about
something - particularly when the child witness is being "coached" by some
expert with a head full of nonsense."

 

"The thresholds of proof in the Bible require independent confirmation of
guilt (two or three witnesses), which is where we get our "beyond all
reasonable doubt" standard. This means that, according to Scripture, in a
world in which terrible things happen, the terrible thing of a guilty man
going free is to be reluctantly preferred to the terrible thing of an
innocent man being convicted. In addition, we find that cultures in
rebellion against this standard are soon in the position of inverting other
biblical standards as well - as a prelude to leveling accusations against
many innocents."

 

"In our experience, such accusers frequently take the silence of pastors as
an admission of complicity, or worse. But these snarls frequently involve
many people with varying degrees of complicity, humiliation, shamed
innocence, stupidity, and guilt. And it is far better for shepherds to be
falsely accused than for shepherds to defend themselves by unnecessarily
humiliating the sheep any further. In some situations, everything is out on
the table, and a pastor can talk about it freely. But in other situations,
there is no way to talk about it, and no way to explain, without doing a lot
more damage. To those who say that in doing this, I am "covering up," I
would simply respond that I am a pastor and I cover things up for a living."

 

 

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