The Destroyer

Mr. Hoover,

You make excellent points that every one of Wilson’s targets would probably affirm, because from a distance it is impossible to reconcile the charming persona that comes across in his books with the cunning and abusive beast who engineered the attack on Bob Mattes. And let there be no illusion: no one does anything in the Kirk without Wilson’s express permission. And since Mike Lawyer is Douglas Wilson’s “personal assistant,” you may rest assured this was coordinated. You may be equally assured that this was only a first strike.

Back to point: Wilson recruits devotees through his popular writings, and many of them move to Moscow, where they find themselves trapped when they discover his wickedness. I know firsthand because I have counseled many of them face to face, which is no small task. For example, how do you comfort a man after Wilson counseled his wife to abandon him because he left Christ Church calling it a cult? How do you console a grandfather after his grandchildren no longer visit him because he called Christ Church a cult? (Wilson instructed the parents to take this action as retribution.) Or how do you comfort three families to whom Wilson threatened, “There will be firestorms in your households!” and then he delivered? I mean, really, what words suffice? What do you say to a couple after Wilson terminates the husband’s employment because his wife wrote an email questioning Wilson’s character? Or what do you say to a husband and wife whose employment Wilson terminated because they refused to sign the “Christ Church Commitment to Loyalty”?

I could cite countless episodes of Douglas Wilson’s pastoral abuse and none of them will make sense to you because they don’t square with the jovial man behind the popular writings. But this does not remove his malevolence; it simply makes it more evil because he takes advantage of it. He knows he’s charming. In fact, his brother Evan says that Doug has mastered the ability to consciously work his pheromones. I don’t doubt it. People fall for it every day. Look at Dave Glasebrook. The poor fool lives his life for the glory of Doug, which he has confused with the glory of God. Read the fawning comments on Wilson’s blog; they adore the man. But he would cut their throats in a heartbeat, if it serves his purpose. And he would cut yours too. As a friend of mine says, “Everybody has to go through it themselves to learn.” I trust that Bob is learning.

These are simple facts, Mr. Hoover, and if you do not believe them, then please do yourself and your family a huge favor — don’t believe them but don’t move to Moscow either. It would break my heart to have to meet you after you suffered a similar circumstance as described above, because it will take you years to pick up the pieces of your life that Douglas Wilson deliberately shattered.

Thank you.