[Vision2020] Community Values

Fri Jul 25 07:44:28 PDT 2014

It wouldn't surprise me if yet another scandal at Christ Church is about to come to light and this post is Doug's 'duck and cover' way of trying to let the air out of the balloon slowly.  The last paragraph sums it up:

'Once the spirit of accusation has taken root, accusations are often 
leveled at more than the offender. One thing I have noticed about such 
meltdowns is that they often occur in churches in such a way as to 
provide someone with the opportunity to accuse the pastors and elders 
who are trying to clean up the toxic waste in the aftermath. 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.'

From: donaldrose at cpcinternet.com
To: v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm; vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 22:25:15 -0700
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Community Values

Thank you, Saundra.  I have never read this Maya Angelou quote before, and it is incredibly insightful.  I remember, as though it  were yesterday, the community “discussion” on equality for all  Idaho citizens more than ten years ago.  Doug Wilson and his devoted acolyte, Greg Dickinson, were panelists and up to their elbows in  Leviticus 20:13.  Shortly thereafter I ran across the self-published Christ Church rag, Credenda Agenda.   The article “Thy Not Shall Not Pity,” Credenda/Agenda Vol. 3, No. 9  by Greg Dickinson  has been removed from the Credenda archives (given the hateful ignorance it contained that action is  understandable).  Luckily, reprints of it are still available on line.  Better yet, if you run across Doug or Greg ask them  why they removed it from the archived on-line copies of Credenda/Agenda and if they are willing to publicly disavow the sentiments expressed in the article.   They aren’t.  And then reflect on Dr. Angelou’s quotation below.Rose From: Saundra Lund [mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm] 
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 8:47 PM
To: 'Rosemary Huskey'; 'vi
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Community Values Wow, Rose.  At first, I was puzzled by your choice of subject – Community Values – but then I realized you are absolutely spot on:  Wilson’s screed exposes the beliefs of those who want to control our community.  And, I was immediately reminded of the sage advice of Maya Angelou:When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.Regrettably, that’s a lesson far too many in this community have failed to heed with respect to Doug Wilson and his local fan club members.Thanks for the warning about the nature of “Pastor to Sex Abusers” Wilson’s latest dangerous screed rife with lies  “straight out of the pit of hell.”  For those who missed it, here’s the link again:http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/sexual-justice.html#more-107268 Were it not for the dangerous nature of his latest foray into the “sex sells” category in a desperate attempt to regain some relevance, I’d laugh and keep moving.However, the lies he posts are dangerous perversions that threaten the safety and well-being of us all.  Warning:  unlike Rose, I’m going to include some of Wilson’s text others may not wish to read.  It is without a doubt graphic and ugly, but I think to expose the fatal flaw in Wilson’s latest culture war attack, we have to call a thing a thing.  We can’t dance around the twisted perversions of a so-called pastor – we have to shine a light on the ugly lies that are Doug Wilson.According to Wilson,There is no way to pornify a culture the way we have done without making porn far more available to kids than it used to be. And kids obviously learn from what they see, monkey see monkey do. This includes what we call “mainstream” entertainment, and not just the triple-x stuff. We now have young kids who have seen, or who have heard about on the playground, practices that previous generations learned about in their second year of med school. Nobody should be surprised when when (sic) some junior high boy tries out some of what he has seen or heard about on his younger sister. When sexual corruption becomes ubiquitous, many more kids are going to get swept up in it. Call it the collateral damage of the sexual revolution. Wilson’s claim that the “pornification” (what a clever boots!) of this nation plays any role whatsoever in sexual abuse is utterly specious.  As much as Wilson would like to have us believe otherwise, the fact of the matter is that tragically widespread sex abuse in “Christian” American existed long before his culture war-esque claim of some supposed “pornification” ever occurred.  Widespread sex abuse in this country occurred long before his shrill insistence that feminism, homosexuality, and abortion lead God to abandon America, too.  Sucks to be Wilson, but he’s never been one to be concerned with facts.For the rest of us, though, the fact of the matter is that any junior high boy who incests his little sister has serious problems completely unrelated to Wilson’s desperate “pornification” theory.  That’s always been the case and will always be the case.Certainly, what has changed during Wilson’s undefined “pornification” period is the reporting and prosecution of sex crimes.  While we still have miles to go, much progress has been made.  We now recognize, for instance, that the old jokes -- with a sad basis in fact -- that the definition of a Southern virgin is any 10-year-old who can outrun her male relatives aren’t funny.  We’ve rejected the horror that rape victims “ask for it” by wearing short skirts or by being out after dark or for being the wrong color in a part of town.  Bone fide experts in the field – and not wannabes like Wilson and other charlatans – find no factual basis for any belief that the actual incidence of sexual abuse has increased in any meaningful way but rather that reporting has improved and prosecution is improving.Now, why might it be that progress has been made over the last several decades with respect to the reporting and prosecution of sex crimes?Hmm . . .  well, one key explanation might be the wholesale rejection -- by the overwhelming majority with functioning brains -- of the notion that women, children, and people of color are mere chattel property without basic human rights.  That’s the status quo Wilson and those of his ilk who came before him fought so hard to maintain.  Once the inherent injustice of that backward way of legislating was rejected, it was only a matter of time until abuses were no longer to be ignored.  It was also only a matter of time until the practice of naming, blaming, and shaming survivors of sexual abuse who dared to speak out no longer had any place whatsoever in decent society no matter how loudly and how hard people like Wilson yelled and stamped their petulant feet like two-year-olds having tantrums . . . and continue to do so.In a very real sense, any “Culture War” was lost – and lost in a huge way – when patriarchy in general and white patriarchy specifically was outed for the inherently abusive system it is.So, since Wilson is indisputably wrong out of the gate, need we look any further at his vile and dangerous drivel?Regrettably, yes:  we must continue because as outrageous at that beginning is, it gets worse.  Wilson starts from a flawed premise and ups the ante by using his flawed argument to reach a fatally flawed conclusion justifying the rejection of the “secular” justice system’s role in the adjudication of sex crimes: So why make the point about pornification then? What this is intended to do is point out that those who promote and advance such corruptions in one area ought not to be entrusted with adjudication of crimes and offenses of a sexual nature in another area. Our establishment no longer knows what sex itself is supposed to be, and so cannot know what sexual justice is supposed to be. We therefore ought not to rely on their “wisdom” about sexual justice as it relates to children. They don’t have any wisdom. Our cultural milieu tolerates and teaches courses in our universities (!) which solemnly maintain that all instances of PIV (penis in vagina) are rape by definition,  dogmatically pronounce that TMI sex education for grade schoolers is a moral necessity, say that doing the anal honors should be considered a high privilege, and now with much of the legal resistance to same sex mirage out of the way, has already been preparing to mainstream pedophilia. The last thing in the world Christians should do is join in with any stampeding opinions about any of this from the secularists. They don’t know what sex is for, and they therefore don’t know what sexual justice is.First, what on earth is Wilson’s fixation on anal sex?! Seriously!  For a man who detests the sin (except when holding sexinars) while loving the sinner <snort>, he sure spends a lot of time thinking about it, visualizing it, fantasizing about it, writing about it, and talking about it.And, my university educations clearly were lacking because not once in any of my classes – including in the devil state of California -- was I ever taught that all heterosexual intercourse is rape.  What nonsense!  And, Wilson’s connection of same sex marriage with pedophilia is beyond contemptible and flatly factually wrong.Again, though, Plagiarism King Wilson has never cared about facts:  when actual facts conflict with his worldview, he simply makes up his own “facts.”In addition to being vile and ugly and graphic – not to mention just plain factually wrong – the conclusion Wilson reaches is dangerous . . . very, very dangerous.  It is indisputable that all those fine “Christian” religions were more responsible than any other single institution – including that cursed secular government – at keeping sex abuse swept under the rug for generation after generation after generation after generation, and at naming, blaming, and shaming survivors who “told,” long before any feeble claims of “pornification” were even a twinkle in Wilson’s eye.In fact, a pretty solid argument can be made that had it not been for the utter failure of all those fine patriarchal “Christian” churches and “pastors” to do their job of controlling their men’s sexual behaviors throughout American history, the secular authorities might never have needed to trouble itself with those pesky laws and punishments with respect to sex crimes.  Because, after all, as Wilson and his ilk so frequently shrilly insist:  America is a Christian nation founded on Christian principles!  Yeah, right.  I would certainly agree that there has been no shortage of Christian posers like Wilson in this nation’s history.  Indeed, it is the inherently abusive nature of the white patriarchal system advocated by so-called “Christians” that’s the best proof that this nation absolutely was not founded on the teachings of Jesus.Perhaps it would be easy to simply dismiss Wilson’s vile and obscene ranting as silly rhetoric and foolish hyperbole.  But, we cannot forget that Wilson lusts after nothing so much as a theocracy – even if only locally – with him at the head where he can impose on the rest of us his twisted ideas of morality and justice.  He’s not content to live and let live – he wants to have control of the teeth of the “secular” law he professes to despise to force the rest of us to conform to his peculiar flavor of “Christianity.”Short of that, Wilson wants to put himself in the driver’s seat of whether or not sex abuse needs to be reported.  Do not miss the significance of the following:One other preliminary point needs to be made, and that has to do with ministerial confidentiality. 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.And, that is where the genuine danger to this community enters the picture.  Charlatans like Wilson have no place -- morally or otherwise -- to determine which cases of abuse to report and which not to report.  As much as it chaps his hide, Wilson is not God – he’s just another wolf in sheep’s clothing, which are a dime a dozen.  In no small part, it is the role of churches in usurping the role of the actual judicial system that is has allowed the perpetuation of sexual abuse of all kinds.  And that blatant “Wilson knows best” notion is what makes him a vile and dangerous man for this community.  Of course, given Wilson’s intimate experience with sexual deviants and predators, we can certainly understand why he wants to keep such horrors – and his role in them – hidden from the general public.Wilson starts with a factually flawed premise to make a fatally flawed argument to reach a dangerous conclusion that Christians are the proper authorities for sex abuse justice except when they decide otherwise.  Wilson wants a return to the good old “Christian” days  when sex abuse was swept under the rug by those who “know best,” and when naming, blaming, and shaming survivors who dare to speak out are the tools used to shut them up.Perhaps, though, something good can come from Wilson’s warped view of “Sexual Justice.”  Perhaps each one of us who attends any house of worship needs to take this opportunity to have a chat with our church leaders to make sure those leaders don’t share Wilson’s dangerous ideas regarding “Sexual Justice.”  Do those spiritual leaders pledge to protect women and children by reporting all known and suspected cases of abuse so that they can be investigated by the proper lawful authorities and those with expertise?  Or, do they – like Wilson – long for the days when the abuse of women and children was kept quiet and thus put the entire community at risk? Saundra LundMoscow, ID To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards out of men.~ Abraham Lincoln From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Rosemary Huskey
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 6:06 AM
To: 'viz'
Subject: [Vision2020] Community Values 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.  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). 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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