“Forever Seventeen”
A former member of the Kult once told me that when she looks back at her tenure in Moscow, she sees that they put enormous pressure on her to conform her life to Nancy Wilson’s, and since she believed that Nancy Wilson was the perfect wife, she gladly complied. Now that she’s out, however, she sees the big picture much more clearly. In hindsight she says that conformity was really more like a straightjacket that she daily tailored to her body, so that she could not be herself anymore — she had to be Nancy. She said it got to the point that her straightjacket squeezed the life (and liberty) of Christ out of her — because Doug & Nancy are perfect. Thankfully, that family escaped Christ Church, Moscow, and they have rediscovered true freedom in Christ.
That true story segues to a post by the Iron Rose of Moscow. Once again we see that the Wilsons hopelessly conflict their mind-numbed disciples: Should a woman roll on her husband, as per this instruction, or should the helpmeet play dumb meat? And I wonder what the Wilsons would say about A Christ Church Wife? Actually, I know the answer to that question. Wilson set precedent a couple of years ago when he suspected that a wife was not loyal to the Kult — he executed the family in a high-profile termination.
Anyway, this woman knocks me out: read “Forever Seventeen” and picture in your mind’s eye a “pendulous-bellied, bearded, over-fifty-year-old man engaged in Trinitarian skylarking.” Maybe he’ll be so kind as to draw us a picture.
Thank you.
Post Script: in the last paragraph Rosemary mentions the “backyard turned into a bulldozed subdivision,” which is a highly public scandal that I have not broached yet. In short, Wilson has not limited his empire building to hijacking churches into the CREC or coveting all of downtown Moscow for his glory. He and a few investment partners (which I believe includes his in-laws) had the Wilson’s backyard re-platted to construct a gated community of cookie-cutter shacks on what is currently a bulldozed mess.
6 comments:
Hi Mark,
I followed your link to the subdivision. Those look like tiny lots for the price; but I'm from the rural East Coast and don't understand the market in Moscow. Is this a competitive price or are those parcels targeted to CC members?
Thanks for your 'blog.
Sam
The answer is that that those lots are way overpriced, the planned homes are sardine-like and equally overpriced, and the job site is a disaster zone. He’s offering .2-acre lots to build 1700-square-foot cookie-cutter homes for $230,000 (I don’t know if that includes the lot). If it’s with the lot, it’s WAAAAAAY overpriced. Look at this link. I really feel sorry for the neighbors.
For a number of reasons we don’t know what market he’s targeting with these homes. He originally said it was a gated community for the elderly, but who would want to retire there? We thought he planned to put the hard sell on NSA families, but that hasn’t panned out (by the way, he has not plugged these dumps on his blog, which is interesting). At one time I suspected he would recruit families from around the country to buy these shacks, but that hasn’t happened either. We really don’t have enough information to know what he plans to do. I do know that he made an informal offer on a high-end home in Moscow’s elite neighborhood, so it looks like he doesn’t want that eyesore in his eyesight.
That’s about all I know.
Cheap vinyl floors, no interior trim, carpet running up the walls instead of baseboard moldings. Is this what passes for post-mil beauty these days?
Anon,
Thank you for writing what I wanted to say but didn’t for fear of appearing to pile on. These homes represent the design equivalent of a big-city project in fair little Moscow, Idaho. However, unlike the projects, these are not affordable. I suppose Wilson is the prototype of a post-mill slum lord.
I especially loved the woodwork in the kitchen, with the rotary-cut veneer plywood doors, instead of flitch-cut. With rotary-cut veneer, when you stain it, it looks like it was hit it with lightning.
Flitch-cut veneer, on the other hand, retains the wood grain of regular lumber. And it doesn't cost much more than the cheap stuff.
This work was either done by a novice or by someone pinching pennies with a vengeance.
Hey Towne,
Que pasa?
I’m surprised by the interest this nugget has generated. We’re preparing a few posts with photos to show the disaster zone.
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