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Well, at least somebody's paying attention . . . <br><br>While in Tucson a couple of weeks ago, I was chatting outside of Starbucks with an older couple who asked me where I was from. When I said Moscow, Idaho, the woman said, "Oh, that's where Credenda/Agenda is published!" After an awkward silence, she gingerly asked me if I knew of C/A and what I thought. More important than what I said was what she said about Wilson, et al, and their take on various secular or religious topics.<br><br>"Oh, we just found it kind of odd, nothing like the Christian teaching we grew up with . . . "<br><br>Bingo. I just hope this nice lady in probably her early 60s didn't get the C/A with the infamous "romance novel-looking" cover featuring a gorgeous woman looking longingly at a gorgeous man standing over her. He had battery cables attached to his nipples. Forgive me if I'm unable to come up with a context in which that would be appropriate for a Christian magazine . . . <br><br><font style="" color="#8064a2"><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Verdana">Keely<br>www.keely-prevailingwinds.com<br></font></font></font><br><br><br><br>> Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:37:06 -0700<br>> From: thansen@moscow.com<br>> To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> Subject: [Vision2020] In Christian vs. Atheist Documentary, a Bizarre Advocate for Christianity<br>> <br>> Courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center's website at:<br>> <br>> http://tinyurl.com/BizarreAdvocate<br>> <br>> -----------------------------------------------<br>> <br>> In Christian vs. Atheist Documentary, a Bizarre Advocate for Christianity<br>> Posted By Sonia Scherr On October 27, 2009<br>> <br>> In a new documentary pitting atheism against faith, contrarian critic<br>> Christopher Hitchens debates evangelical pastor Douglas Wilson on the<br>> merits of Christianity. “Collision,” released today, has already generated<br>> buzz: Hitchens and Wilson have appeared on National Public Radio’s “All<br>> Things Considered,” CNN’s “The Joy Behar Show” and Fox News Channel’s “Fox<br>> and Friends,” among other programs. Newsweek Religion Editor Lisa Miller<br>> devoted a column to the 90-minute film, which she thoroughly panned: “So<br>> uncinemetic is this picture — two middle-aged white men talking — that my<br>> attention insistently wandered toward anything humanizing and finally<br>> dwelled, for too long perhaps, on a fleck of something on Hitchens’s<br>> eyelash.” Hitchens responded in a column for this week’s Slate, writing<br>> that “the subject of religion is back where it always ought to be — at the<br>> very center of any argument about the clash of world views.”<br>> <br>> What’s missing from the media hubbub are a few salient details [1] about<br>> Wilson. The 56-year-old pastor from Idaho seems an odd booster for<br>> Christianity, considering that some of his views sound downright<br>> un-Christian. Wilson co-wrote a booklet called Southern Slavery, As it<br>> Was, which describes the institution in almost reverent terms. “Slavery<br>> produced in the South a genuine affection between the races that we<br>> believe we can say has never existed in any nation before the [Civil] War<br>> or since,” Wilson wrote with co-author Stephen Wilkins, a founding member<br>> of the racist League of the South. “Slave life was to [slaves] a life of<br>> plenty, of simple pleasures, of food, clothes, and good medical care.”<br>> <br>> The booklet ignited a controversy six years ago that roiled the community<br>> around Moscow, Idaho, where Wilson had established a religious empire that<br>> included a private Christian academy, an accrediting agency for Christian<br>> schools, an evangelical college, and a church with over 1,000 members.<br>> Hundreds of University of Idaho students demonstrated against Wilson, two<br>> local university presidents issued anti-racist statements, and two<br>> academic historians wrote a damning essay disputing the booklet’s<br>> portrayal of slavery.<br>> <br>> In 2004, a retired philosophy professor at the University of Idaho<br>> uncovered another problem with Wilson’s book: At least 22 passages had<br>> been plagiarized from a discredited 1974 academic treatise. Canon Press<br>> issued an updated version of the book that corrected what Wilson termed a<br>> “citation problem” but continued to promote myths about slavery.<br>> <br>> Wilson’s extreme views extend beyond race. He asserted that if a woman is<br>> raped, the rapist should pay the father a bride price and then, if the<br>> father approves, marry his victim. He told Christianity Today that exile<br>> (as opposed to death) might be an appropriate punishment for certain<br>> homosexuals. However, he’d support execution for cursing one’s parents<br>> and, in some cases, for adultery. He wrote in one of his books that the<br>> children of parents who don’t believe in Jesus Christ are “foul” and<br>> “unclean.”<br>> <br>> Wilson doesn’t always practice what he preaches. Although he wrote in his<br>> 1999 book Fidelity that the penalty for child abuse should be death, he<br>> urged a sentencing judge to be lenient on a college student who had<br>> molested young children. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported in 2006<br>> that people were upset because Wilson had failed to promptly notify<br>> families in his church about the student, who had spent time in their<br>> homes.<br>> <br>> Wilson increasingly has found favor in mainstream Christian circles. The<br>> senior pastor of a 6,000-member Baptist church in Minneapolis recently [2]<br>> invited Wilson to speak at a national conference marking the 500th<br>> anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. In June, the prominent Christian right<br>> leader and Watergate ex-convict Charles Colson was on the program of [3] a<br>> conference hosted by Wilson.<br>> <br>> “Collision” had its genesis in a written debate between Hitchens and<br>> Wilson that was published on the website of Christianity Today. The<br>> exchange grew into a book called Is Christianity Good for the World?,<br>> which they promoted in several East Coast cities last fall. Filmmaker<br>> Darren Doane tagged along to shoot the footage for “Collision,” which<br>> premiers tomorrow and Thursday in New York and Los Angeles.<br>> <br>> -----------------------------------------------<br>> <br>> Seeya round town, Moscow.<br>> <br>> Tom Hansen<br>> Moscow, Idaho<br>> <br>> “I’ll just speak for our church, in Christ Church. If I found out that a<br>> member of our church or a church officer was lying to non-believers in the<br>> community, as a way to get by or protect themself or protect his<br>> reputation, yes, he’d be disciplined.”<br>> <br>> - Doug Wilson (January 31, 2007)<br>> http://www.tomandrodna.com/protest/Doug_Wilson_Liers_013107.mp3<br>> <br>> PS - This is just a short advance notice on the upcoming (April/May)<br>> Second Annual Intolerista Wingding (with Roy Zimmerman). However, unlike<br>> last year's Intolerista Wingding, this one is going to be FREE!<br>> <br>> Stay tuned . . .<br>> <br>> =======================================================<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> <br /><hr />Windows 7: It works the way you want. <a href='http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen2:102009' target='_new'>Learn more.</a></body>
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