<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2668" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Joan,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>It is interesting that you post about the flailing of Cult
Master Douglas Wilson of members of his own cult.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Has he just now caught on that his mental health
and imperially dictated wisdom is being questioned by an increasing
number of congregants, and not just women?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Overheard conversations and discreet murmurings indicate that
Wilson's gargantuan egomania and megalomania are finally being realized by
a larger number of congregants of both sexes, and not just as a character fault,
but possibly as a serious disorder. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In fact, some appear to wonder if a breakdown is on the
horizon: He has allegedly become a beleaguered laughing stock nationally
among some of the Trinitarian community; he already is a laughing stock among
many in his own community; certain male congregants are joining a larger number
of female congregants seeing him as a pitiful,
self-absorbed demagogue; <FONT color=#ff0000>given his behavior, some
wonder if he really believes in the alleged god and son whose alleged word he
uses to manipulate people with;</FONT> NSA president Atwood now publicly
claims that Wilson does not speak for members of the cult; the ultra
hypocritical Dickison divorce/remarriage debacle has certainly shaken the faith
and confidence of many congregants in Wilson's (and Dickison's) integrity and
sincerity; etc; etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Wilson can control the upper hierarchy of the cult since
so many of these are economically dependent upon him and need to stay
hypocritically in the cult to keep their and/or their relatives'
jobs. But does Wilson have enough jobs to retain the larger part of
his congregation? What will happen when sales tax investigations reach
into the many shadows of the cult?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Old saying: "Old sins have long shadows." The
payback for extortion is likely to be much greater than the pay-in. I
wonder how many are really aching to really stick that payback in?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Oh, yes. Will Cult Mistress/wife Nancy suddenly take her
half of the accumulated gleanings and migrate to a more joyful, fulfilling,
independent life erelong?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Stay tuned.</FONT></DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV><BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A></DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV></FONT></FONT>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joanopyr@earthlink.net href="mailto:joanopyr@earthlink.net">Joan
Opyr</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020 Moscow</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, August 04, 2005 2:40
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Correction (plus a
fresh, if pointless, rant)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Just noticed that I misspelled Galatians in the post below.
Before Heirloom or Studly hop on me for my glaring ignorance, that was a typo,
son. A typo. Keep your eye on the ball, son. Eye on the ball. Eye. Ball.
Eyeball. That's a joke, son. A funny. A ha-ha. Get it?<BR><BR>Sorry. I've been
possessed again by the spirit of Foghorn Leghorn. It happens all the
time.<BR><BR>Posting to you from Portland, Oregon, I am,<BR><BR>Joan
Opyr/Auntie Establishment<BR>www.auntie-establishment.com<BR><BR>PS: I'm
enjoying Portland, though I have to admit that, in my opinion, there are far
too many men here wearing brightly-colored Ikea rubber clogs. I have a thing
against men in clogs. It's not rational; it's not reasonable; it's none of my
business. I just think they look dorky. Shoes with laces, boys, shoes with
laces! Get 'em on, damn it! Get 'em on!<BR><BR>On Aug 4, 2005, at 2:09 PM,
Joan Opyr wrote:<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Times>Nick writes:<BR><BR>"This column has
appeared in the on-line magazine New West and will appear in the Sandpoint
Reader very soon. My interaction with Pastor Lillback has been a model
of civil interchange. Perhaps the good pastor can teach Pastor Wilson
a few manners during his stay in Moscow. Since the eloquent dressing
down that he received from an anonymous Christian, I've noticed that Wilson
has reduced his name calling dramatically. (I'm now just an enemy rather
than a banshee.) But he has a long way to go to meet the challenge of
his kind Christian critic."<BR><BR>I'm pleased to report that Nick has
become a regular contributor to New West's Northern Idaho node. He's written
a review and analysis of Michael Hayes' documentary "My Town," and his
latest piece is a model of truly appropriate (and constructive) theological
discourse. As New West's Northern Idaho Editor, I am delighted to have him
on board. He has greatly enriched the site with his knowledge and carefully
reasoned arguments.<BR><BR>About models of civil exchange -- on my drive to
Portland yesterday, I happened to catch a Pastor Rogers preaching on the
lower end of the FM dial. His sermon was taken from Paul, 11 Corinthians and
Galations. A few things he had to say interested me greatly -- and, being a
closet fan of Baptist preaching style, I really couldn't help listening.
Pastor Rogers is a master of the form. Every sentence ends with an
exclamatory "ah," as in "Jesus-ah!" Rogers preached about the "real Jesus"
and a "false Jesus," declaring that Paul in II Corinthians warned us of a
false Jesus to be found in false gospels and false ministers. <BR><BR>(For
some reason, Rogers specifically castigated the Jehovah's Witnesses and the
Mormons as worshipping a false Jesus. I can see why a Baptist (or
proto-Baptist) preacher might disapprove of the Mormons -- Southern
Baptists, at least, consider the Mormons polytheists. This has to do with
that telestial versus celestial kingdom business. Also, The Book of Mormon,
"another testament of Jesus Christ," is an insurmountable problem for the
Baptists. It freaks them out like nothing else short of Wicca, Catholicism,
and lesbians wearing jeans, flannel, and Danner steel-toed workboots. Gay
men, on the other hand, are A-okay with most Southern Baptist women: someone
has to decorate their homes and tease their hair. <BR><BR>I must admit that
I am puzzled as to why would Rogers slam the Jehovah's Witnesses. My
understanding is that the JWs are a sort of primitive Primitive Baptists --
very strict, very literalist, not a lot of fun at surprise birthday parties.
If anyone can enlighten me about this, please do so offlist. Keely? Scott?)
<BR><BR>Okay, where was I? Ah yes, Pastor Rogers and II Corinthians. He
quoted Verse 4: Am I therefore the enemy because I tell you the truth? There
has been a lot of talk coming from Christ Church and the Christ
Church-affliated blogs lately about Doug Wilson's "enemies" and the "battle
to come." Doug launched an astonishing attack on the members of his own
congregation (http://dougwils.com) last week that beat all I have ever seen.
He accused members of the church of being traitors and turn-coats, weaklings
and cowards. He castigated them for not supporting him in his battles; for
daring to have opinions and ideas of their own; and for not being what Rose
would call "lock-step toadies" to his particular (and frequently peculiar)
interpretation of the Bible. He talked about enemies existing both within
and without the church, but his focus was on those within. <BR><BR>"Am I
therefore your enemy because I tell you the truth?"<BR><BR>I recently
re-read "Labour of Love" (which is available on Tom Hansen's website,
http://www.tomandrodna.com/notonthepalouse) and was struck by the difference
in tone between its gentle but firm Christian remonstrance and Doug's
flailing about, his girding up his loins for battle, his turning up rocks,
searching behind trees, and looking under the bed for heathen enemy
boogeymen. I doubt Pastor Rogers and I would enjoy one another's company.
He's anti-choice; he's anti-gay; and he probably has hair taller than the
Empire State Building, with Fay Wray and King Kong shellacked to the side,
but yesterday he said, "When looking for the devil, fail not to look in the
pulpit."<BR><BR>Doug is welcome to attack me. So, too, are his minions -- my
dear blogstalkers, who give Brother Carl and I a good fifteen minutes of
free radio material every Sunday -- but when a shepherd begins to assault
his flock, I begin to worry. I begin to worry a lot. I fear for those who
cannot escape the onslaught for whatever reason, social, spiritual, or
financial. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Doug
recently announced that his son, Nathan, was his best and wisest advisor.
Nathan is a foolish and sheltered 26 year-old. He edits Doug's magazine,
Credenda Agenda, a nightmare publication of hateful bigotry, willful
ignorance, and distasteful, snotty, immature arrogance. He acquired a few
years of nearly-real life experience at the margins of the wider world by
attending a couple of small, sheltered liberal arts colleges, but he came
home and entered his father's employ. On the whole, he knows about as much
of the world as a novice in a nunnery. Nate's father is his be-all, end-all,
his boss and his minister, his teacher and his guide, and yet Nate is now
the man to whom Doug turns for his best and wisest advice? Nate is a filial
echo chamber. This is a sad case of the snake biting its own tail . . . when
it's not biting its own flock.<BR><BR>"Am I therefore your enemy because I
tell you the truth?"<BR><BR>The answer, clearly, is yes. I don't expect Doug
to listen to me. Doug doesn't believe I have access to the truth. I'm not
saved. I don't believe in Jesus Christ, and if I did, I wouldn't be a
Calvinist. I wouldn't buy into the notion that God created some of us to be
saved and the rest to be damned. That's not a god worthy of worship; that's
a capricious god worthy only of fear and contempt. But Doug believes in this
god, and so too, I must assume, do his followers. When Doug attacks those
followers -- when he calls them enemies and traitors -- they must fear for
their salvation. How extraordinarily cruel their minister is -- how cruel,
and how contemptuous of his flock. I am sick and sad and sorry for them, and
I pray for their deliverance.<BR><BR>(Jerry Falwell says that God doesn't
answer the prayers of Jews. Jerry Falwell is a jackass. God answers the
prayers of all of us, just as surely as the staff at the Wendy's Drive-Thru
answers Jerry's late-night Frosty orders.) <BR><BR>Joan Opyr/Auntie
Establishment<BR>www.auntie-establishment.com<BR><BR>PS: Though I will
continue with the blogstalker update on The Auntie Establishment &
Brother Carl Show (when and if any of their bloggy nonsense amuses Brother
Carl and me), I am hereby unilaterally declaring a Sunday night blackout on
Doug Wilson and Christ Church. No news, no jokes, no nothing about the BM
(Big Man) of New St. Andrews, Anselm House, Logos School, Credenda Agenda or
Christ Church. If you tune in expecting to hear it, you will be
disappointed. For the time being, I am done. Finished. Finito. The sign is
up: Do Not Feed the Bear of Moscow. He doesn't want our secular berries --
he's got parishioners to eat. <BR><BR>PPS: Another reminder that Brother
Carl's and my show is now on KRFP, 92.5 FM from 3 to 5 PM on Sundays, rather
than 5 to 7 PM. This is because Carl is an old man. Don't let his youthful,
sexy voice fool you; he's actually 107 years old, and not only does he want
1.7 more beers before dinner, he wants to be in bed and asleep by 7:30. This
is so he can get up at 4 AM and wake all the area roosters. Without a nudge
from Brother Carl, they might forget to crow. <?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_____________________________________________________<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
<BR>
http://www.fsr.net
<BR>
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>/////////////////////////////////////////////////////<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>