Joan, do you or Michael or Terry have any suggestions for where NSA and CC should start recruiting. It seems that their borders are not nearly tight enough. If I didn't know better, I'd think that they just let sinners wander in go to church with them and attend classes unchecked. What a mess!
<br><br>I bet you all are glad that you don't have to put up with sinners in the churches that you labor for, and the schools that you teach at for free, or the various ministries that you've sacrificed your time and energy to, must be nice.
<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">Thanks again V2020 - you keep things interesting around here. Keep up the good work, I think the cult will pick up and leave town any day now. You can hear the outraged cries rising from cult homes all over town - "Thank you Joan, Michael, Terry! - Burn Wilson Burn!" One day soon, I think one more "scandal" will probably do it!
<br></span><br>
I just got a great image: One of Opyr's sinless friends shows signs of sexual
perversion and she blows the whistle on them! I'm sure she'd notify us on
V2020 first (or else!). <br><br><br><span class="gmail_quote"><br>On 6/8/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Douglas</b> <<a href="mailto:dougwils@christkirk.com">dougwils@christkirk.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Joan,<br><br>It wasn't until the last paragraph that I realized that this was a peace<br>offering. I have to say that the trajectory was well-hidden throughout.<br>I hope you don't do that in your novels.<br><br>Douglas Wilson
<br><br><br><br>Bill London wrote:<br>> Sent from Joan Opyr to Vision2020 at her request:<br>><br>><br>><br>>> Stop, Doug; stop spinning. Put out the kick-stand, get off the<br>>> gyroscope, and stand on the solid ground. Bite the bullet. Accept
<br>>> responsibility for the part you played in this whole shameful,<br>>> disgusting mess. Apologize. Make amends. Tell your congregation, and<br>>> the broader community, that you made a terrible mistake, that you have
<br>>> learned from it, and that it will not happen again. Humble yourself.<br>>> Ask for forgiveness. Expect the worst, but hope for the best. You<br>>> write, talk, preach and lecture extensively about being a "Man of
<br>>> Chest." Why not practice being a simple adult?<br>>><br>>> A serial child molester attended New St. Andrews for 18 months. He<br>>> boarded with a Christ Church family. He was welcomed into Christ
<br>>> Church homes, homes full of vulnerable children. Sitler confessed his<br>>> crimes to you -- or sins, if you prefer -- but for eight long months,<br>>> you did not see fit to alert more than a few select members of your
<br>>> church. Some in the Christ Church family are only just now finding<br>>> about Mr. Sitler, and they are finding out in the worst possible way:<br>>> through an unmoderated Internet chat group. They should have been told
<br>>> by you, their pastor. While you dithered and you strategized and you<br>>> waited, children who may have been in need of counseling and assistance<br>>> were neglected. Your negligence is inexcusable. Don't try to excuse
<br>>> it. Don't try to change the subject. Own up. You broke trust with<br>>> your congregation, Doug, and you broke trust with the broader Moscow<br>>> community. At this point, you may not be able to fix things, but you
<br>>> might at least accept the responsibility you bear and repair what<br>>> damage you can.<br>>><br>>> You tell us that Jamin Wight is a hypocrite, and that he was expelled<br>>> from Greyfriars. Spin, spin, spin. When Wight committed his crimes,
<br>>> he was a student in good standing. But you tells us that none of this<br>>> is your fault. This is all about your "enemies," about people who out<br>>> to get you; who are out to bring you down; who are out to destroy the
<br>>> saints of Christ Church. No, Doug. This is not The Pastor Wilson<br>>> Show. This is not the time for you to play bride at the wedding and<br>>> corpse at the funeral. It's time to play focus on the families, Doug.
<br>>> Focus on your flock and, if you can find it in your Grinchly heart, you<br>>> might try to spare a thought for the rest of Moscow as well.<br>>><br>>> This is a town of only 21,000 people. According to
<br>>> <a href="http://www.watchdog.com">http://www.watchdog.com</a>, there are 20 registered sex offenders in the<br>>> 83843 zipcode. You're not responsible for any of them, except insofar<br>>> as we are all responsible for one another. We all have an obligation
<br>>> to our children and to ourselves to be protective and vigilant. When<br>>> it comes to Jamin Wight and Steven Sitler, however, you do bear a<br>>> peculiar burden. No one could or should blame you or Christ Church for
<br>>> what these men did, but you are open to fair criticism in your response<br>>> to their actions. Why the eight month delay in telling (select)<br>>> members fo you congregation about Steven Sitler? Why did you not
<br>>> mention of Jamin Wight? If you failed to mention them because you were<br>>> worried about bad press, you sadly miscalculated. You've now got bad<br>>> press in spades. You could have avoided that. You could have avoided
<br>>> all of this by the simple expedient of justly serving your flock and by<br>>> having a care, however slight, for the Moscow community. Instead, you<br>>> sat and you fretted, waiting for the other shoe to drop. You plotted
<br>>> and planned and strategized not like a minister with a trouble flock<br>>> but like Donald Rumsfeld with Abu Ghraib.<br>>><br>>> The penitent man is humble before God; he kneels before God. (No, I'm
<br>>> not quoting the Bible. I'm quoting from "Indiana Jones and the Last<br>>> Crusade." If Jesus is too turn-the-other-cheeky for you, Doug, then<br>>> perhaps you'll listen to Harrison Ford. Or Chuck Norris.)
<br>>> Technically, I am off Vision 2020, but I will ask Bill London to<br>>> forward this letter to the list. I left the list several weeks ago<br>>> without writing one of those annoying public farewells, AKA the Cartman
<br>>> "Screw you guys, I'm going home" letter. Instead, when the level of<br>>> noise-to-content on Vision 2020 reached intolerable, I exited, stage<br>>> left, and got together with my friend Chasuk to begin work on a
<br>>> moderated community blog called Liberal Moscow. It should be up and<br>>> running next week. Chasuk will make an invitation/announcement on this<br>>> list, and I do hope many of you will join us.
<br>>><br>>> But that's for next week. To get back to the issue at hand, I don't<br>>> know how others feel, but friends have forwarded me some of the<br>>> insensible back-and-forth on Vision 2020. It comprises the inevitable
<br>>> mix of a few seeds of truth, a lot of misinformation, disinformation,<br>>> and far too much rank speculation. You say, Doug, that your concern is<br>>> primarily for the victims of Sitler and Wight. If that were so, you
<br>>> wouldn't have made such a dog's dinner of the whole damned thing. You<br>>> would have addressed these matters up front, clearly and forcefully.<br>>> Instead, eight months of silence suggests that you instead worried
<br>>> about how to spin this so that your "enemies" didn't use these cases to<br>>> rain down shame and disrepute on your college and your seminary.<br>>><br>>> You sat behind me in court at Jamin Wight's sentencing, Doug, and you
<br>>> and my mother-in-law exchanged some harsh words afterwards. What then<br>>> did you do? This was on May 12th. A look at the archives on your blog<br>>> (<a href="http://dougwils.com">http://dougwils.com
</a>) indicates that you beetled down the hill from the<br>>> courthouse to Anselm as fast as your legs would carry you. You did not<br>>> pass go; you did not collect $200. You immediately posted a paranoid
<br>>> and cryptic warning to those in know that you anticipated a hostile<br>>> broadside against the Church from its infidel enemies. You said that<br>>> "the Intoleristas" would be eager to take this tragedy and use it to
<br>>> bring you down, the victims be damned. You were wrong. Again. This<br>>> story broke on Michael Metzler's blog (<a href="http://poohsthink.com">http://poohsthink.com</a>). Michael<br>>> is (or until very recently was) a Greyfriars' student himself and a
<br>>> member in good standing of your own flock. It was from Poohsthink that<br>>> this story exploded onto Vision 2020. Those of us you call<br>>> Intoleristas, and against whom you direct your imprecatory prayers,
<br>>> have known about these cases for weeks. I have known about them for<br>>> months, but I have said nothing. I didn't write about Sitler and Wight<br>>> on Vision 2020, nor yet on New West. Perhaps I should have done the
<br>>> latter; New West is, after all, paying me. But to be honest, I didn't<br>>> think I could do the story (or the families involved) justice. I<br>>> didn't think I was qualified to break this case to the public because I
<br>>> am not a trained journalist. This was a story for a professional. I'm<br>>> still waiting for one to step up to the plate -- preferably a real<br>>> hard-ass with a strong investigative track record. Attention any
<br>>> budding Woodward or Bernstein: this one's all yours. Please, do it<br>>> justice.<br>>><br>>> That's my story and my hope. Now let's ask why none of the<br>>> "Intoleristas" made this public? Perhaps it was because they each came
<br>>> to conclusion that doing so would hurt the victims. Some things are<br>>> more important than the desire to kick your ass up between your ears.<br>>> The families of Christ Church and the victims of Sitler and Wight are
<br>>> real, live human beings. They are not a backboard for scoring<br>>> three-point rim shots off the great Douglas J. Wilson. You thought<br>>> that's what the families were to us, didn't you? Because that's what
<br>>> they were to you. (Please, prove me wrong on this. It would be a<br>>> relief to me to think that you cared for your flock more than you care<br>>> for your reputation and your lofty ambitions. I honestly don't want to
<br>>> think as ill of you as I do. I don't want to believe that a man of<br>>> your abilities, your intellect, and your obvious charm is as<br>>> self-centered as I've come to fear that you are. I don't enjoy being a
<br>>> cynic; I consider it a moral failing. What I want is to believe in the<br>>> perfectibility of humankind.)<br>>><br>>> I've written before on Vision 2020 about the double-entendre in the<br>
>> title of your book, "Future Men." I'll soon be writing about it again<br>>> -- this time for New West. I'll repeat myself here and rehash what I<br>>> said in that earlier post, just in case you missed it. In my many
<br>>> written exchanges with the male members of the Kirk, I've come to<br>>> understand that all of the men who follow you, Doug, are "future men."<br>>> None of them are men, meaning adults, in the here and now. You all
<br>>> operate in a kind of Peter Pan Neverland. You play-act at being Oxford<br>>> dons; at being professors, or seminary students, or poets,<br>>> philosophers, theologians, theocrats, great writers and great thinkers.
<br>>> As you puff on your cigars and swill your fine brandy, you also play<br>>> at being jolly Victorian patriarchs. You claim authority and status,<br>>> respect and power that you have not earned and do not deserve. You
<br>>> claim omniscience. There is nothing that you will not pretend to know<br>>> and no subject on which you will not speak with the blustering<br>>> inerrancy of a precocious 14-year old. Back when you started Logos
<br>>> School, Doug, you advertised a full classical curriculum. At the time,<br>>> you were taking beginning Latin at the University of Idaho. What<br>>> qualified you to teach it at your school? Sheer hubris, that's what.
<br>>> You wanted to teach Latin because you wanted to offer a full classical<br>>> curriculum and so, by God, you did. No wonder you are so dismissive of<br>>> public education and university teaching credentials. If you admitted
<br>>> that there were such a thing as genuine qualifications, you'd be up<br>>> Brown Creek without a paddle. I suppose we should consider ourselves<br>>> lucky that you didn't decide that you were self-qualified to perform
<br>>> brain surgery -- but then Granny Clampett of "The Beverly Hillbillies"<br>>> had already beaten you to the punch with her pioneering work on the<br>>> head transplant.<br>>><br>>> I know that you are an admirer of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," Doug. So
<br>>> am I. "The Art of War" is a masterpiece of strategy if what you want<br>>> to do is conquer. I don't want to conquer; I want to abide. I want to<br>>> survive and thrive and live a genuinely good life to the best of my
<br>>> ability. I sincerely wish that you would (or could) do the same. I<br>>> recommend to you Yagyu Munenori's "The Life-Giving Sword." I've taken<br>>> to reading it instead of Sun Tzu, paying special attention to "the art
<br>>> of the no-sword." Once you've internalized the strength of your sword,<br>>> you need never use it again. Think about that.<br>>><br>>> Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment<br>>> <a href="http://www.joanopyr.com">
www.joanopyr.com</a><br>>><br>>><br>><br>> _____________________________________________________<br>> List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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