The Federal Vision Family

“Never tell anybody outside the family what you’re thinking again!” — Don Corleone to Sonny

“Fredo, you’re my older brother, and I love you. But don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever.” — Michael Corleone to Fredo

“Remember that loyalty to good friends is important even when you wouldn’t put it the way they do.” — Douglas Wilson to the Federal Vision Family

A week has passed since James Jordan suffered his complete mental breakdown on the worldwide web and as of today none of the Federal Visionists has said boo about his vitriolic tirades, let alone repudiated him for his reprehensible behavior. And if you don’t understand the reason why none of the Federal Visionists have denounced Jordan for his cataclysmic meltdown, then you don’t understand the Federal Vision. I know, I know, the Federal Visionists coined the mantra “No one understands us” as excuse to maintain their hard hearts; but in this case it’s actually true, though you can be sure none will admit it in public.

The reason that no FVist broke ranks with James Jordan for his sweeping judgments and disgusting railings against the Christian church is because the leading FVists are not Christian ministers; they are a family of ecclesiastical gangsters in the middle of a turf war with the Christian church and years ago, Douglas Wilson — the FV mob boss — established the first rule of the FV family: “Remember that loyalty to good friends is important even when you wouldn’t put it the way they do.” In this respect the FVists are no different from any other crime syndicate. Loyalty to the family is paramount — it is the greatest virtue. Indeed, they place a higher premium on allegiance to one another than fidelity to anything biblical — whether the Scriptures, the gospel, sound doctrine, or even the Savior. Loyalty to the family at all costs — “even when you wouldn’t put it the way they do.”

Wilson understands the importance of a united front. He belongs to the school of thought that says, “Appearance is more important than substance,” which is another way of saying he is well schooled in hypocrisy. This explains why he requires unanimity among his elder board even in absurd circumstances and it accounts for the silence from the FVists whenever one of their own crashes and burns, as Mark Horne has done at least once a month for the past three years. “Loyalty to good friends is important even when you wouldn’t put it the way they do.”

But the point here is neither the loyalty nor the silence. The point is the FV family — the FV racket — that the loyalty and silence represent. These men are not Christians endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; they are a very well-disciplined crew of thugs who recognize that they cannot achieve their objective unless they maintain family discipline. And we can’t forget the FV objective either, which is to raid as many healthy churches as possible and bring them under CREC dominion.

The FV is Wilson’s turf war and it’s no different than the zoning controversy in downtown Moscow. Grab as much land as possible — legally or illegally — and call yourself king. Hence his prediction that the CREC will “be bigger than the OPC in a decade”:

Wilson also has a big-picture view of the future. He sees the CREC being a player in the Reformed world in the next few years, and I have to agree with him. His prediction was that it would be bigger than the OPC in a decade. With this in mind, he urged that we cultivate a vision of peace. He urged that we try to work with as many people as possible and that we not try to simply fill our niche. (“Doug Wilson”)

This remarkable statement from the blog of a second-year seminary student. But Wilson can’t realize that kind of growth without pirating a few churches along the way and pirates capture vessels by utilizing the principles of war.

The Federal Visionists intend to pad the CREC by infiltrating healthy churches and splitting them, if they cannot seize them altogether, just as they did to COTK and Living Word Church. And this cannot happen unless they deploy a well-disciplined team of ecclesiastical terrorists who understand the importance of loyalty. Therefore, none of them discusses family business in public and none of them takes sides against a family member.

So when James Jordan unraveled on a global platform, spewing venom and spite right and left, the FV family stuck together. Business as usual. Just another day in the FV mob because “loyalty to good friends is important even when you wouldn’t put it the way they do.”

Thank you.

Re: “Attack from Moscow”

I lifted this post from an exchange addressing the recent “Attack From Moscow” from the The Warfield List. I rejoice to see that the number of Christians who see through Wilson and his Kirk Klux Klan appears to grow everyday.

Hi Jeff,

I’m currently in NJ visiting with family and trying desperately to get the evening sermon finished before drive-time tomorrow, so technically I shouldn’t even be writing any non-essential email, but I did want to add a few quick comments.

For several years after I became Reformed, I was an avid reader of Doug Wilson’s books and Credenda Agenda. I particularly appreciated his and his wife’s books on marriage and family, and recommended them to others. I frequently got a good chuckle (usually at the expense of others) from his witty but acerbic letters and columns. In time, the chuckling became something I began to feel guilty about, and I became more and more concerned about the acid and the trajectory of his overall theology. In particular, his veneration of all things medieval began to really bug me, and even though I am an opponent of federalism and a fan of southern Presbyterian theology, the pro-slavery kick was much more than I could bear. The various public scandals and then private conversations with ex-Christ Kirkers were the icing on the cake (for documentary and audio evidence of what I’m referring to, please see dougsplotch). “Reformed” is Not Enough only serve to confirm my growing concerns. Today, I neither recommend his ministry or his writings to others.

I have no doubt that a minister in a connectional denomination that had effective oversight, review and control would have either been removed from his position or caused to resign a long time ago. Had not Wilson worked hard to ensure that he is functionally accountable only to himself, that might have already happened. Additionally, the current practice of growing the CREC by “crash landing” (to use another blogger’s apt phrase) churches from other denominations and ministers who have either been or are about to be or have been disciplined by their mother denominations is hardly a safe or advisable practice. Obviously it’s hard for a Reformed church to become cult-like, but sadly Christ Church has already accumulated many of the marks. Unfortunately, Jeff, your comments and the comments of others pointing out the obvious and growing problems with Wilson’s ministry and denomination will only garner you more “attacks from Moscow,” experience has shown that infallibility is merely one of many RC doctrines that Wilson has co-opted.

Anyway, I’m saddened by the recent beyond-the-pale lashing out at Mattes, but not surprised, there is much more where that came from, I just hope that this might precipitate the moment where we finally have the public equivalent of the McCarthy/Welch exchange. Mattes’ best response to Wilson’s libelous blog post might simply be Welch’s famous rejoinder, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”

Your Servant in Christ,

Andy Webb


Hi Andy, all:

First off, I wanted to post a short (1:56) MP3 of an arrangement/orchestration of Bach’s Brandenburg No. 4 in G Major (up until the violin [or harpsichord, depending on which version one prefers] solo) I arranged to offer to the list for a happy Thanksgiving. I’m not sure how to this, or even if I have access to do so. I’ll take a shot at it, bit if you or anyone has sage wisdom as to how to do this before I descend into the time-consuming abyss of the Yahoo cyber-maze, I’d appreciate it. If anyone wants to request it, I’ll send it directly to you. I hope that you enjoy it.

But what you and Jeff write is not a surprise is it? For years now, it has been apparent that the FV really is just the Reformed equivalent of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Check out the parallels between the agenda of the main cult leaders and Wilson and you can get the flavor (Martin’s Kingdom of the Cults is great for background on these leaders). This is one small reason why, as helpful as the liberal model is in helping to understand the FV (particularly as it affects established conservative denominations), the cult model, with its ability to analyze integrating the post-modern theological syncretism (the FVaries demonstrate with no regard at all for systematic context), will inevitably be more helpful in understanding the error of the FVaries.

Wilson, I have heard, is absolutely irate about having his views marginalized. We can certainly expect more rants from him and his buddies. So far (until the series of reports condemning the FV from conservative denoms and seminaries), the FV existed being viewed by many as somewhat akin to an eccentric cousin within the Reformed family. Now, it is outed as simply a bastard son pretending to be THE heir, a self-deluded pretender to the throne. This is the fount from which the venom spews.

In Christ,

Dan Landis
Church of the Covenant OPC


I find it interesting that the response to Wilson is to attack and discount him rather than even attempt to deal in any serious way with the substance of his arguments. I thought his questioning of basic fairness and burden of proof were troubling and would welcome meaningful interaction with them rather than personal attacks and name-calling.

Jack Wilson
Covenant OPC
Pittsburgh


Hi Jack,

Sorry about the lateness of this reply, I have been incredibly busy of late.

Jack, what I wrote was not intended to be an ad hom against Wilson. I have nothing against the man personally. Rather it was intended to be an appeal to a wise maxim that your mentor R.C. Sproul long ago taught me when considering an assertion: “consider the source.”

As one of the primary promoters and publishers of the Federal Vision, Doug Wilson is hardly an unbiased observer of the current process of church discipline against FV advocates in the PCA, especially given the CREC’s “odd” (to put it very mildly) practice of church discipline and respect for the discipline of other denominations. Additionally, as the scorn liberally heaped on your own denomination’s report on the FV shows, the advocates of the FV have made clear that any action of any church court that condemns them or their theology will be attacked and vilified and the bona fides and intelligence of those who prepared it shredded. For instance, after the OPC report was released, we watched as the men who prepared it went from being scholars to disingenuous buffoons. Simply put, the only way the FV community will consider a report “fair” and the scholars who prepared it “wise” is if it approves of their theology, or at least doesn’t condemn it. So it really doesn’t matter what process is used by the courts of the church to discipline FV advocates, the very fact that the process is underway will always be “unfair” because there can never be merit in a case that attacks their orthodoxy. Under normal circumstances, when a doctrine is overwhelmingly condemned by every orthodox Reformed denomination and seminary that studies it and produces a report, you would expect that assertions that the study process is always unfair would begin to sound hollow even to those promulgating them, but instead we still hear all the time from the FV that the real problem is a “vast TR conspiracy” and not their own unscriptural and unconfessional (to use the declaration of the OPC report) theology.

But setting aside the source of the criticism for a moment, and the impossibility of there ever being a “fair” method of condemning their theology (theoretically, if they all condemned themselves, that might be considered fair) let’s try to lay out some broad outlines of the case against Wilkins with some background that seems to be frequently omitted, please keep in mind that the following is all from memory:

1. Steve Wilkins is a member of Louisiana Presbytery (hereafter LA Presbytery) a tiny Presbytery of 8 Churches with a great deal of theological affinity and considerable support for both the NPP and FV. For instance, Jeff Steel, former pastor of an LA Presbytery church, went on to become Father Jeffrey Steel and an assistant to N.T. Wright. Simply put, this is not a Presbytery where an attachment to the FV or NPP is considered odd.


2. Steve Wilkins own attachment to the FV is unquestionable. Before the FV was called the FV it was generally known as the “Auburn Avenue Theology” after Wilkins church which sponsored conferences promoting it. The name Federal Vision was coined by these advocates and used as the title of their manifesto, The Federal Vision printed by Athanasius Press, the publishing arm of Auburn Avenue PCA. Wilkins has an essay in this book.


3. Despite the size of the Presbytery attempts have been made to bring charges against Wilkins by members of the presbytery. These attempts have never produced a trial because the Presbytery has consistently refused to do so.


4. In January of 2005 Central Carolina PCA Presbytery wrote to LA Presbytery expressing their concerns with the published statements of Steve Wilkins and requesting that his views be formally examined. This was done by means of questioning Wilkins, and despite giving several answers that either contradicted or substantially revised the Westminster Standards, LA Presbytery determined there was nothing chargeable in Wilkins views.


5. Given that no action against Wilkins was available from within the LA Presbytery, several Presbyteries determined that it was time to use the BCO 34-1 clause, this clause presses the General Assembly to assume original jurisdiction because a presbytery has refused to act in a doctrinal case or a case of scandal. (The clause was written into the BCO at the founding of the PCA because of memories of the old PCUS “rotten presbytery” problem were liberals became the majority in a particular presbytery and did whatever they wanted.) They include written evidence from Wilkins published writings showing where he was manifestly out of accord with the Standards. This attempt to use 34-1 failed because the SJC determined that the investigation by LA Presbytery met the requirement to “act” of 34-1.


6. Central Carolina Presbytery however, in its memorial to the General Assembly also memorialized the SJC (BCO 40-5) calling upon them to look into the actions of LA Presbytery regard Wilkins as matters of important delinquency and/or grossly unconstitutional proceedings. This call was taken up and the LA Presbytery was called to account for its actions in re: Steve Wilkins before the SJC.


7. The LA Presbytery defense of their actions was unsuccessful, and even the representative they sent expressed his own reservations in regard to the incongruities between Wilkin’s published statements and spoken testimony. The SJC determined that our memorial was in order, and that LA Presbytery had erred both in the methodology of their investigation and in their decision to exonerate TE Wilkins. The SJC then voted unanimously to redress the situation, instructing LA Presbytery to reinvestigate using the new guidelines they were given by February of 2007. The SJC decision on this point was unanimous.


8. LA Presbytery again examined and exonerated Steve Wilkins by a 13-8 vote in January of 2007. The following month 7 members of LA Presbytery filed a complaint (43-1) regarding the decision of LA Presbytery to exonerate Wilkins. This also went to the SJC.


9. In the meantime, the PCA in June of 2007 overwhelmingly condemned the FV theology at its GA by accepting a study report which judged it to be unscriptural and unconfessional just as the OPC, BPC, RPCUS, RCUS, etc. already had.


10. In October the SJC decision in favor of both the members of LA Presbytery who complained against the decision to exonerate AND the original Central Carolina memorial and have indicted LA Presbytery calling it to appear to explain its actions in this matter.

In short brother, this has been a long and by-the-book judicial dealing with a man who unquestionably holds to the FV — a doctrinal system that both your and my denomination have already overwhelmingly condemned in their published study reports. The idea that this is “unfair” can only be cogent if like most FV advocates you reject all processes that have condemned the FV and utterly reject the idea that the FV could ever be unorthodox. But to turn this GLACIAL, plodding, step-by-step, vote-by-vote, reaffirmation-by- overwhelming-reaffirmation process into some sort of modern day Council of Constance is just silly. (Not that it’s relevant but it strikes me that had the Roman Catholics been using this process during the Reformation, most of the martyrs would have died not at the stake but of old age.)

Your Servant in Christ,

Andy Webb

Andy Webb and Dan Landis, to you I wish to say,

Thank you.

Disappeared in the Night

U P D A T E :
Yesterday at this time Google said something to the effect that the owner blocked Google’s access, similar to the message that archive.org gives for hatesplotch.net. I assume that Lawyer has now unblocked the block.

Douglas Wilson’s “personal assistant,” Mike Lawyer, has removed Wilson’s knife from Bob Mattes’ back by secretly pulling his offensive email from his website. And in typical Kirk fashion, Lawyer has not apologized and he has not repented because, in his mind, removing the post makes it as though nothing happened. “What post are you talking about? There’s nothing there.” Welcome to the land of DUMB, where deception is reality.

Last night Andy Gilman posted a link to Mr. Lawyer’s blog, but this morning the link was dead. So another brother posted a link to Google’s cache display of the post, which worked fine for me, but within hours Mr. Lawyer killed Google’s access to it.

Now it’s gone — disappeared in the night — and monkey boys everywhere can rest assured that their Fearless Leader’s assistant did no wrong.

Memo to Anyone with Wilson’s Silverware in Their Backs

As I read the WorldMagBlog thread referenced by Patrick Poole (below), I came across an interesting comment (#74) by Dr. William Ramsey, who co-authored Southern Slavery As It Wasn’t: Professional Historians Respond to Neo-Confederate Misinformation, which was a response to Wilson’s and Wilkins’ Southern Slavery As It Was. Dr. Ramsey also wrote the “The Late Unpleasantness in Idaho: Southern Slavery and the Culture Wars,” which has this quote:

In an angry letter to the university provost, Wilson claimed that the book review was “slanderous” and “defamatory” and demanded disciplinary action and a public apology, while Atwood wrote a similar letter to the president. Failing to get the desired response, Wilson wrote to Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne asking him to step in and “remove the University of Idaho as a launching pad for their mortar rounds.”

Wilson also asked the governor to make the men apologize to him, if you can believe that! What a petulant little child. But I digress. Please notice Dr. Ramsey’s comment:

My opposition to Douglas Wilson began as a naive effort to combat historical misinformation and academic dishonesty with respect to the history of southern slavery. In my experience of the recorded documentary history of the American South, his views were incorrect, and I said so. I have suffered for it in more ways than most people can imagine. I am not a God-hater. But if your pro-slavery literalist interpretation of God’s word demands an earthly enemy, my e-mail address is wramsey@uidaho.edu. I am happy to speak with you personally and anonymously with no regard for public relations. God Damn me to Hell.

Dr. William L. Ramsey
Assistant Professor
University of Idaho

Posted by: Willliam Ramsey at April 25, 2005 01:56 AM

Mark this: “I have suffered for it in more ways than most people can imagine.” If Wilson has you in his crosshairs, then you must understand that you are dealing with a ruthless, hateful, vindictive SOB (Son of Belial), who will stop at nothing to exact his revenge. Be careful.

Thank you.

“A” for “Abuse”

In this post I referenced a man whose employment Wilson terminated after his wife challenged Wilson’s character. During that period of the Kirk’s history, Wilson was searching for a “mole” whom he believed was leaking Kirk information to the general public. So when he got wind of the wife’s remarks (which were really benign), he thought he found his mole. He immediately terminated the husband’s employment at Canon Press and then sent this email to the Christ Church membership. Wilson timed it so that everyone could identify Judas. About a week later the family resigned its membership.

After you read it, please set aside Wilson’s demented Messiah complex and file this under “A” for “Abuse.”

Controversy, Part 12
In our last installment, we considered the fact that the mere presence of controversy does not mean that something has “gone wrong.” Controversy is part of God’s pattern for the church; He tests us with such things to see if we will remain faithful to Him and to His Word. But at the same time, one of the reasons why controversy can be so gut-wrenching for us is that while “things” have not necessarily gone wrong, individual people certainly do go wrong. All things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). But all things did not work together for good for Judas Iscariot, for Demas, for Alexander the coppersmith, for Ananias and Sapphira, for Hymenaeus and Philetus, or for Diotrephes. In the midst of controversy, people do shipwreck their faith, and their families are shattered through their disobedience.

Paul taught us that everyone who names the name of the Lord should depart from wickedness (2 Tim. 2:19), but as he did this, he was talking about controversy in his churches, led by men who were opposing his legitimate pastoral authority. And in this context, he also quoted Numbers 16:5 — “The Lord will show who are his.” So while those controversies were good for Israel, the Church, Moses, and Paul, they were not at all good for Korah and his many descendents [sic].

Douglas Wilson

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chris LaMoreaux, Administrative Secretary
Christ Church - Anselm House
205 East 5th Street P.O. Box 8741
Moscow, ID 83843
christkirk@moscow.com
Voice: (208) 882-2034 Fax: (208) 892-8724
Credenda/Agenda: (208) 882-7963
www.christkirk.com

Thank you.

Kutting My Losses on the Kirk Kult

Patrick Poole has given me permission to republish this post (and others), which originally appeared on Existential Space.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2006
Kutting My Losses on the Kirk Kult
The time has come for me to cry uncle. I must say “no mas” to the Wilsonistas. They have won. At this point in time, I cannot continue to endure the Wilsonistas harassment jihad that has now spread to my friends, my clients, and my church in the wake of my posts over the past week. Some are also trolling for dirt on me for what I can only assume would be the basis for ad hominem attacks to avoid answering the very direct questions I’ve put to the Great Leader. In the final analysis, there are just simply too many Wilsonistas starting fires for me to possibly contemplate putting them all out. I must call it quits and admit defeat before they try to burn down everything around me. I must confess that I greatly underestimated how quickly they have acted. I guess what I wrote hit too close to home.

Could it be that this harassment jihad launched by Doug Wilson’s apologists and lackeys against me is entirely unorganized and is in no way connected to the Sultan of Subjectivity? That very well might be the case. I certainly don’t have any iron-clad evidence that it is an orchestrated effort. But if that’s the case, there is certainly a culture of venom and malice that has been allowed to flourish around the Kirk Kult, with the use of destructive and unchristian methods nourished and justified by the writings and sermons of the Bhagwan himself under the guise of “Trinitarian skylarking” and “the serrated edge.” Honestly, the harassment would be more tolerable if the Wilsonistas were in reality as funny or as witty as they believe themselves to be (but aren’t).

In retrospect, the fault is entirely my own. I knew what I was getting into. I thrust my hand into the viper’s nest and got bit. Shame on me. As Blind Willy Johnson used to sing, “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.”

But what the Wilsonistas won’t admit is that IT IS a viper’s nest that they are a part of. The politics of personal destruction I’ve encountered (and my friends and associates have experienced for the crime of being associated with me) at the hands of the Kirk Kult in recent days is standard practice for the Wilsonistas and their Great Leader. Just ask Terry Morin, who dared speak out and had his company suffer at the hands of the Wilsonistas because of it. But even more important than any financial repercussions was the deliberate damage done to Terry’s reputation by the false witness and trumped-up charges filed against him by Doug Wilson and the elders of Kirk Kult, charges that were only withdrawn only because the Great Leader’s documents were shown to be forgeries on the unanimous testimony of everyone else involved. Thankfully, Terry had his church to examine Wilson’s lies and clear his name. Others that have tried to escape the Kirk orbit have not been so lucky.

I realize that any pain and suffering I might have endured at the hands of the Wilsonistas during this very brief affair is minimal compared to what others have experienced. I know; I’ve heard from many of the Wilson-wounded over the past week. I suspect why so many of the “fellowship of the grievance” have gravitated to me is because I expressed in my two posts from two thousand miles away what they have had to live through in real life day to day. They maybe believed that I identified with them because I was willing to say publicly that the drug dens at New St. Andrews, the illegal Kirk elder-approved casinos and the documented payoffs involved, which are just a normal part of the landscape of WilsonWorld, is a demonstration of a thoroughly corrupt culture — all of which is lost on the Wilsonistas and the Wilson apologists. It’s clear that they don’t care. Having been in the PCA for almost 15 years, I can’t remember a single instance of a troubled church having these kinds of problems, which seem to be so commonplace in the Kirk.

In closing, I appreciate that I’ve been warmly welcomed in as a member of the “fellowship of the grievance.” It is a badge of honor. These are kind and sincere Christian people, and I feel like I’m abandoning them to the furies of the Wilsonistas by my rapid retreat, perhaps even encouraging further abuse. They will be the one’s left to clean up the shattered lives when the Kirk Kult reaches its inevitable end. When that day comes, I suspect that they will exhibit extraordinary grace and charity, never once thinking to say, “I told you so.” May God bless them for continuing to bear up.

With that said, this will be my last post on the matter.
POSTED BY PATRICK POOLE AT 6:49 PM 1 COMMENTS

Thank you.

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.

The Beginning of Sorrows

The good news is that Wilson has taken his show national. The bad news is that for Bob Mattes, Jeff Hutchison — indeed, the whole PCA — these are the beginning of sorrows.

“And So It Begins”

“Attack From Moscow”

After you read the two posts above, please read this. Wilson has a well-oiled harassment machine that will seek out weaknesses to exploit in order to manipulate his target. And he will stop at nothing — family, friends, employment, blackmail, extortion, background checks — he will stop at nothing.

False Impression: like pastor, like sheep

Dave Glasebrook left a false impression in a comment at Green Bagginses, writing,

I do not think that Bob’s answer in the previous Post 50 concerning Mark T’s blog was sufficient. Mark T’s blog is not accurate and is so full of gossip and disinformation that a normal reader would not be able to discern truth from that which is not truth.

If anyone so desires I am at:
DaveGlasebrook@netscape.net

I do not work for Wilson. I am only concerned about gossip being touted as truth.

I called this a “false impression” because while he does “not work for Wilson,” Dave Glasebrook is a member of Christ Church and he is rabid Wilson loyalist whom Wilson has used to accomplish some of his dirty deeds. For example, Mr. Glasebrook is the man pictured in this photograph, standing on a street corner with a sign calling three members of City Council “bigots.”

Mr. Glasebrook has written letters and made phone calls to various employers seeking the termination of their employees because they wrote the plain truth about Wilson. For example, Mr. Glasebrook demanded the termination of a reporter for the Spokesman Review after she wrote an article that was not flattering to the Kirk. Mr. Glasebrook wrote letters to the employer of another friend of mine seeking discipline against him because of comments he made in public about Wilson.

And Mr. Glasebrook has also been used by Wilson to file numerous public-records requests on employees of the University of Idaho and Washington State University who have commented in public about Bhagwan Wilson. Most of these requests were frivolous, however, in two instances Mr. Glasebrook successfully stopped university professors from using their university accounts on the local listserve to criticize Wilson. The other request sent the signal to the employee, “I’m watching you.”

Finally, Mr. Glasebrook has called my site “full of gossip.” I have welcomed him here to help me disseminate truth, which offer still stands. Therefore, if I missed anything here, Mr. Glasebrook, feel free to correct it. But apart from than that, I’m sure you won’t blame me for not giving my name.

Thank you.

Dougzilla vs. the PCA

The more I think about it, the more I am amazed that Douglas Wilson has arrogated the authority (despite admitting his ignorance of the PCA’s BCO) to criticize the PCA for its constitutional process in the matter involving Louisiana Presbytery. I am amazed because of all people, he is the last man who should ever complain about constitutional issues given his lawless conduct in the matter of Church of the King–Santa Cruz. If you read the record, you’ll see that constitutional process meant nothing to him. Even worse, his CREC monkey boys sanctioned his lawlessness.

Wilson’s defiance of the PCA becomes even more hypocritical when you consider the following resolution, which the fourteen churches of the OPC’s Presbytery of the Dakotas unanimously adopted on Wednesday, April 3, 2002. Read it carefully because Wilson has pulled this number before:

A motion, presbytery directed its clerks to send copies of the correspondence read by Mr. Wallace to all OPC presbyteries with the warning that the attached correspondence illustrates some grave dangers with the practices of Douglas Wilson and Christ Church, Moscow, ID. They undermine the discipline of Reformed churches and refuse to support it, assuming that it is unbiblical without even hearing the case. On motion, presbytery will also send the material to the 69th general assembly and overture the assembly to forward it to their denominations and ecclesiastical fellowship.

Moreover, I am gob smacked that any CREC confederate has the nerve to comment on PCA disciplinary and constitutional matters while they allow Dougzilla to blogstomp all over the universe, completely unchecked, deliberately endeavoring to create chaos where decency and order prevail. As Robert K says, “Self-awareness level: minus zero.”

Anonymity Part I

Please meet Patrick Poole, a man of whom Douglas Wilson said, “I have known Mr. Poole to act with integrity in the past,” and who is a friend of mine. I know Pat well enough to guess that he probably does not want to get dragged back into Kult Kombat, but I must invoke his testimony (for a short period) as my first witness for the reason why I conceal my identity.

In February 2006, Patrick posted a couple of hard-hitting essays critical of Doug Wilson and the CREC on his blog, and less than a week later he uploaded this post, which he has since removed. Nevertheless, his testimony stands:

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2006
Kutting My Losses on the Kirk Kult
The time has come for me to cry uncle. I must say “no mas” to the Wilsonistas. They have won. At this point in time, I cannot continue to endure the Wilsonistas harassment jihad that has now spread to my friends, my clients, and my church in the wake of my posts over the past week. Some are also trolling for dirt on me for what I can only assume would be the basis for ad hominem attacks to avoid answering the very direct questions I’ve put to the Great Leader. In the final analysis, there are just simply too many Wilsonistas starting fires for me to possibly contemplate putting them all out. I must call it quits and admit defeat before they try to burn down everything around me. I must confess that I greatly underestimated how quickly they have acted. I guess what I wrote hit too close to home.

Could it be that this harassment jihad launched by Doug Wilson’s apologists and lackeys against me is entirely unorganized and is in no way connected to the Sultan of Subjectivity? That very well might be the case. I certainly don’t have any iron-clad evidence that it is an orchestrated effort. But if that’s the case, there is certainly a culture of venom and malice that has been allowed to flourish around the Kirk Kult, with the use of destructive and unchristian methods nourished and justified by the writings and sermons of the Bhagwan himself under the guise of “Trinitarian skylarking” and “the serrated edge.” Honestly, the harassment would be more tolerable if the Wilsonistas were in reality as funny or as witty as they believe themselves to be (but aren’t).

In retrospect, the fault is entirely my own. I knew what I was getting into. I thrust my hand into the viper’s nest and got bit. Shame on me. As Blind Willy Johnson used to sing, “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.”

But what the Wilsonistas won’t admit is that IT IS a viper’s nest that they are a part of. The politics of personal destruction I’ve encountered (and my friends and associates have experienced for the crime of being associated with me) at the hands of the Kirk Kult in recent days is standard practice for the Wilsonistas and their Great Leader. Just ask Terry Morin, who dared speak out and had his company suffer at the hands of the Wilsonistas because of it. But even more important than any financial repercussions was the deliberate damage done to Terry’s reputation by the false witness and trumped-up charges filed against him by Doug Wilson and the elders of Kirk Kult, charges that were only withdrawn only because the Great Leader’s documents were shown to be forgeries on the unanimous testimony of everyone else involved. Thankfully, Terry had his church to examine Wilson’s lies and clear his name. Others that have tried to escape the Kirk orbit have not been so lucky.

I realize that any pain and suffering I might have endured at the hands of the Wilsonistas during this very brief affair is minimal compared to what others have experienced. I know; I’ve heard from many of the Wilson-wounded over the past week. I suspect why so many of the “fellowship of the grievance” have gravitated to me is because I expressed in my two posts from two thousand miles away what they have had to live through in real life day to day. They maybe believed that I identified with them because I was willing to say publicly that the drug dens at New St. Andrews, the illegal Kirk elder-approved casinos and the documented payoffs involved, which are just a normal part of the landscape of WilsonWorld, is a demonstration of a thoroughly corrupt culture — all of which is lost on the Wilsonistas and the Wilson apologists. It’s clear that they don’t care. Having been in the PCA for almost 15 years, I can’t remember a single instance of a troubled church having these kinds of problems, which seem to be so commonplace in the Kirk.

In closing, I appreciate that I’ve been warmly welcomed in as a member of the “fellowship of the grievance.” It is a badge of honor. These are kind and sincere Christian people, and I feel like I’m abandoning them to the furies of the Wilsonistas by my rapid retreat, perhaps even encouraging further abuse. They will be the one’s left to clean up the shattered lives when the Kirk Kult reaches its inevitable end. When that day comes, I suspect that they will exhibit extraordinary grace and charity, never once thinking to say, “I told you so.” May God bless them for continuing to bear up.

With that said, this will be my last post on the matter.
POSTED BY PATRICK POOLE AT 6:49 PM 1 COMMENTS

A local columnist wrote a follow-up article to Patrick’s piece, which you can read here, and please notice Douglas Wilson’s comment; he wrote: “Joan, could you help me out here? Who is Patrick Poole? I am a little behind the curve.” Of course, Wilson was lying because the only thing that happened between that comment, dated February 26, 2006, and this comment, dated June 15, 2007, is the passing of time. In fact, Patrick nailed Wilson several more times from another blog (which I commend only as far as it comments on Wilson, Moscow, and the CREC).

So at one time Wilson pretends he has no knowledge of Patrick Poole, and at another he declares him a man of integrity. Patrick, however, is not a man easily flattered. He replied to Wilson’s sweet talk with this comment. I for one am thankful for Patrick’s integrity.

In Part II I will provide more testimony from local witnesses whom Wilson and his goons attempted to silence through bullying harassment. It’s just more of the same, only the names are different. But the lesson I would have you learn from Patrick Poole’s testimony is that if you want to criticize Wilson in public, you better not give him any handles such as your name. Witness Patrick Poole. After all, Douglas Wilson says that he is a man of integrity.

Thank you.

POST SCRIPT: Very shortly I will pull Patrick’s essay out of respect for him. I will not drag him back into this; I am sure he’s had enough. I post it because his testimony is compelling.

One Year Ago Yesterday

One year ago yesterday the Church of the King–Santa Cruz (COTK) announced its withdrawal from the CREC with an exceptionally well-written statement that left no room for anyone to misunderstand its meaning — or its point. Accordingly, pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, consciously and deliberately connived behind the backs of COTK’s leadership, over the course of two years, to split their congregation into two churches, because he had a private beef with the pastor, P. Andrew Sandlin.

And, not surprisingly, Douglas Wilson responded to COTK’s statement right on queue, according to his built-in algorithm, which drives him to chill any kind of negative criticism about himself or his institutions. Consequently, he dispatched his monkey boys to pressure COTK into removing the statement from their website. COTK obliged its former fellow confederates by redacting Wilson’s name from the statement and offering the unabridged transcript to anyone upon request. Moral of the subplot: “Be careful what you ask for.”

Ironically, while Wilson may have succeeded partially in stifling COTK, he could not stop Google whose cache had stored COTK’s original statement. Within days several bootleg sites appeared on the web, taking the edge off the chill. This website has the best documentation; this website has the best graphic. Moral of the subplot: “Google bows to no pope.”

However, in honor of this anniversary, I want to note the CREC’s account of Wilson’s pastoral care for COTK as recorded in their annual meeting minutes. You will recall that the elders of the COTK asked their fellow confederates in the CREC to redress Wilson’s actions against COTK, hoping that their fellow confederates would fulfill their biblical and constitutional charge by checking Wilson’s sinful behavior — if not disciplining him altogether. And on the surface, COTK had a slam-dunk case against Wilson for up and down violations of the CREC Constitution, in addition to Holy Scripture. Think about it. The man knowingly exploited the powers of his office to subvert the COTK elders’ biblical and constitutional charge in order to split the church because he had a personal vendetta against Andrew Sandlin. Sounds like a no-brainer — especially when you consider the vows that all confederates must promise prior to joining the CREC. And we all know that CREC boys are covenant keepers, not covenant breakers:

Do you, with all the officers of your church, commit yourselves in faithfulness to the churches in this Confederation: to keep with them the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, to pray for them, to comfort them, to encourage them, to admonish them, and to rule with them in accordance with the Constitution of this Confederation and in full submission to the Word of God? (CREC Book of Procedures, Article V/3/b)

But when COTK appealed to the CREC, they neglected to consider the monkey-boy factor, i.e. monkey boys live to please the Little Man Behind the Curtain (LMBC) regardless of vows, creeds, confessions, constitutions, or Scripture. Furthermore, monkey boys intrinsically understand their obligation to smooth over the rough spots created by the LMBC whenever the fallout from his sin spills into the public arena and raises questions about his character.

Please read the CREC account of the COTK affair and try to make sense of it. Better yet, try to harmonize it with COTK’s statement:

Moderator Wilson distributed a written report issued by Moderator Booth of the CREC Council on his work with Christ Church, Moscow and Church of the King, Santa Cruz. . . .

4:31 p.m. — Presbytery recessed for the day.

Friday, October 27, 2006

8:04 a.m. — The meeting was called to order by Moderator Wilson. . . .

Elder James Ratliff offered a report on Church of the King, Santa Cruz, CA, with commentary on the actions of the Moderator of Anselm Presbytery [Douglas Wilson].

In his capacity as Moderator of Council and as chairman of the committee mediating between the sessions of Church of the King, Santa Cruz, CA, and Christ Church, Moscow, ID, Pastor Randy Booth offered a response to Elder Ratliff’s concerns.

Moderator Wilson responded to Elder Ratliff’s concerns with special reference to the question whether the CREC is a “church.”

06/10/27:3 Motion (Schlect/Tuuri) to receive the report of the Moderator of Council with commendation.

The maker and seconder of the motion restated the motion as follows: “Motion to acknowledge receipt of this report with commendation.”

Motion (Ewert/Jones) to amend the motion to read as follows: “Motion to receive this report and commend the action taken.” The motion to amend carried.

The main motion carried as amended.

Elder James Ratliff reported that the session of Church of the King had complied fully with the requirements made of them by the mediation committee.

Pastor Garry Vanderveen led the Presbytery in prayer.

10:27 a.m. — Presbytery recessed for a short break.
10:39 a.m. — Presbytery reconvened.

06/10/27:4 Motion (Schlect/Hatcher) to specifically acknowledge our moderator’s constitutional and pastoral prerogative to advise formation of a new mission church in the Santa Cruz area if he believes it prudent, urging him all the while to act with due charity toward Church of the King and, in light of the present situation, in regular conference with Joost Nixon, Garry Vanderveen, and Ralph Smith.

Motion (Ewert/Broesamle) to amend the motion by assigning the moderator of council to be chairman of the new committee, instead of the moderator of Anselm Presbytery. The motion carried 14–11.

11:12 a.m. — Presbytery recessed for a brief discussion among the moderators of the Presbyteries and Council.

11:13 a.m. — Presbytery reconvened.

Motion (Stoos/Nixon) to table the main motion. The motion to table the motion carried.

Pastor Dennis Tuuri, Moderator pro tempore of Anselm Presbytery, assumed the chair.

Pastor Douglas Wilson spoke about the issue of the moderator’s personal involvement in the business of Presbytery, and the practical difficulty of a moderator being asked to recuse himself precisely when he is the one most in position to solve certain problems.

Douglas Wilson resumed the chair.

06/10/27:5 Motion (Schlect/Hatcher) to specifically acknowledge the Anselm moderator’s constitutional and pastoral prerogative to advise formation of a new mission church in the Santa Cruz area if he believes it prudent, urging him all the while to act with due charity toward Church of the King and, in light of the present situation, in regular conference with Joost Nixon, Garry Vanderveen, and Ralph Smith. The motion carried. . . . (2006 Anselm Presbytery Minutes, pages 7–9, emphasis original)

From reading this account you would never know that “Moderator Wilson” actively divided COTK in half. In fact, it leaves the distinct impression that Wilson helped plant a CREC “mission church” in Santa Cruz and that whatever happened relative to COTK, the confederates received Moderator Wilson’s account of the event “with commendation.”

But you would never know that the CREC monkey boys ratified by vote the complete surrender of their constitutional authority to one man, authorizing him to sin with impunity, so that he may walk about, seeking whom he may devour. Moral of the story: “Be careful whom you let devour, because it’s only a matter of time before he devours you.”

Fire

After the PCA adopted the Ad Interim Committee’s report on the Federal Vision, I remember reading this post, “Of Wolves, Wildfires, and Combat: What Members Can Do To Encourage Their Ministers,” by Dr. R. Scott Clark on The Heidelblog:

Members, in the Federal Vision our congregations face wolves and wildfires. The FV spreads like a wildfire. It is blown by the wind and devours all it touches.

This witness is true. As I write a pack of CREC wolves meets here in Moscow for their third Triennial Church Council of the Most Holy Confederate Presbytery of Saint Anselm. Or something like that. And as I write wild fires rage out of control in Southern California, burning everything to the ground in their paths. The blazes are so huge and propelled by such fierce winds that firemen look like children holding garden hoses as the put their lives on the line to extinguish the flames.

Think of your home, with all of your possessions that you collected over a lifetime — including those items dear to your children — and tell yourself you have less than an hour to get out. What would you grab? How would you pack it? Why this article and not that one? Then tell yourself that in three hours the fire will reduce your home to ashes and you will have to find new living arrangements when the day is over: first temporary living, then permanent. Hopefully you have insurance. But insurance or not, you have lost everything in minutes, and there’s nothing anyone could do except run. Now magnify your loss by thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands. How do you quantify tragedy of this magnitude?

Natural disasters are terrifying events, and in Southern Cal this is the “shake and bake” season. But at least one of these fires is manmade — i.e., arson. Someone deliberately set a fire, in the Santa Ana winds, intending it to destroy something (we don’t know if the arsonist had entire neighborhoods in mind), which brings us back to the Federal Vision.

The Federal Visionists are bad men with bad intentions. They are theological arsonists. When they see a church animated by lively faith, they want to hijack it to the Federal Vision and ultimately to the CREC. If it opposes, they will try to split it. When they see an upright minister of the gospel, they want to corrupt him with perverse doctrine. And if he opposes them, they put fire to his reputation with innuendo or abusive ad hominems.

These are lawless men who know no authority but their own, which they centralized in one man. Confessions, creeds, and constitutions are documents without meaning to them. They have no concept of submission, unless you submit to them. They ransack decency and order to impose FV on peace and purity. They have defied the courts (or “councils” to use their parlance) of seven Reformed denominations, because they are the men and wisdom will die with them. They are self-willed reprobates who revel in chaos and they are determined to wreak havoc in the Church of God. These men don’t even possess the virtue of honor among thieves, if there is such a thing. Don’t forget what Wilson did to Sandlin’s church and how the CREC covenant breakers sanctioned his wicked, subversive conduct.

So, now that the Federal Visionists have refused correction and hardened themselves against the truth, what should the Church do with them? Now that we know they intend to pillage the household of God, if not burn it down, what is the next step?

Reject them. Put them out. Isolate them. Drive them into the Federal Vision’s natural habitat — the CREC — and let it continue in its cultic agenda. But fence the Church from them and warn the flock against them. Protect the house of faith from these arsonists; let them not come near. Indeed, leave them alone and let them prepare themselves for eternity, for God has prepared a special place for them — He calls it the Lake of Fire.

Finally, pray for the poor souls burnt by Federal Vision and the homeless souls in California. These are awful tragedies.

Federal Covenant Breakers

The Federal Vision places enormous emphasis on “the Covenant,” and consequently members of the Federal Vision sect (known as Federal Visionists) pay great lip service to those who “keep covenant” and, likewise, they heap tremendous contempt on “covenant breakers.” For example, the Federal Vision manifesto states:

We therefore receive all baptized individuals as covenant members. “[Y]et it must be emphasized, that until the Church acts to formally remove someone from the covenant by way of excommunication, all baptized persons are to be considered full covenant members.” (FN: Randy Booth, “Covenantal Antithesis” in The Standard Bearer: A Festschrift for Greg Bahnsen, ed. by Steve Schlissel (Nagadoches: Covenant Media Press, 2002), 40.) When we do this in the case of covenant breakers, we are treating their baptisms with greater respect than they do. . . But we are saying that baptism provides the faithful covenant member with the means to exhort disobedient Christians in terms of their baptism: “Why do you despise your baptism the way you do?” (Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” Is Not Enough [Moscow: Canon Press, 2003] 106, 107)

Now, I don’t buy the premise, so I reject the argument. In fact, whenever you read anything by Wilson, it behooves you to sniff once and think twice before you proceed. But that said, let’s just apply his conclusion to the Federal Visionists in the PCA.

According to the PCA’s “Questions for Ordination,” found in BCO § 21-5, all PCA ministers must take the following vow:

Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of this Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and do you further promise that if at any time you find yourself out of accord with any of the fundamentals of this system of doctrine, you will on your own initiative, make known to your Presbytery the change which has taken place in your views since the assumption of this ordination vow?

And all over RINE Wilson badgers us with the principle of how a marriage vow makes a husband and how breaking that vow makes a covenant-breaking husband, which brings us to those ministers in the PCA and their vows. Four months ago, the PCA GA voted by an overwhelming majority to adopt a report condemning the Federal Vision as not conforming to the Westminster standards. Moreover, the same overwhelming majority voted to remind all ministers

That the General Assembly recommend the declarations in this report as a faithful exposition of the Westminster Standards, and further reminds those ruling and teaching elders whose views are out of accord with our Standards of their obligation to make known to their courts any differences in their views.

In other words, PCA ministers who hold the Federal Vision have an affirmative responsibility to uphold the vow they made at ordination and inform their presbyteries that they no longer “receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of this Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures,” or else they are “covenant breakers” according to the Federal Vision. To be sure, they have an absolute obligation to make known to their courts any differences in their views, or else by their standards they disdain their baptism. This brings us to Wilson’s declaration about “covenant breakers.”

I wonder why CREC founder Douglas Wilson has not berated his fellow Federal Visionists in the PCA for “despising their baptism the way they do!” Indeed, I wonder why CREC moderator Randy Booth has not called upon the PCA to honor the baptisms of his fellow Federal Visionists in the PCA by excommunicating them from the Church for covenant breaking? These inquiries are fair enough given how much the Federal Visionists hector us about “covenant keeping.”

And I suspect the reason we don’t see any CREC dignitaries howling about their fellow Federal Visionists’ flagrant covenant breaking in the PCA has more to do with their subversive agenda than their professed high ecclesiology. Either that or they are the men described by Ambrose Bierce in The Devil’s Dictionary:

HYPOCRITE, n.
One who, professing virtues that he does not respect, secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises.

Thank you.

Schism in the Pacific Northwest

As the PCA’s Pacific Northwest Presbytery has made the blog headlines this morning, I want to point the Reformed world to one church where the PCA’s “Report of Ad Interim Study Committee on Federal Vision, New Perspective, and Auburn Avenue Theology” came about two years too late — Living Word Presbyterian Church, now a former member of the Pacific Northwest Presbytery.

Four years ago, its pastor, Rev. J. Michael Kohl, challenged Douglas Wilson’s bizarre revision of Southern slavery in a letter to the editor (Spokesman Review), writing,

Doug Wilson is not teaching the Bible accurately. Rev. Jack Davidson, Pastor, Cascade Presbyterian Church, has pointed out that

Exodus 21:16 forbids the foundation upon which American slavery rested. “He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.” The laws given to Moses regarding servitude forbid kidnapping, the chief point of origin for slave trade in the ancient world and the singular source of American slavery. Notice the condemnation is two-fold: the one who kidnaps and sells the man is condemned but so is anyone found in possession of such a man. A man taken against his will could never be considered the rightful property of anyone. Someone found in possession of stolen property is never condemned outright to death in the Bible, but someone found in possession of a human soul is put to death. The sentence of death therefore indicates there are no circumstances under which a kidnapped man can ever rightfully become anyone’s property.

The foundation of American Slavery was outlawed in the Old Testament. Let’s be careful with the Bible.

Rev. J. Michael Kohl
Living Word Presbyterian Church.

Rev. Kohl was not alone in his sentiments. In October 2003 Wilson outraged most of the state with his absurd notions of history and the letters to the editor in all the major newspapers reflected this. But Wilson doesn’t take criticism well and he generally pursues means to retaliate against critics.

So he exacted revenge against Pastor Kohl by dispatching a squad of monkey boys to infiltrate the church and make a stink (LWPC is a little more than an hour away from Moscow). Accordingly, they insisted that Living Word Presbyterian Church adopt, or at least welcome, the Federal Vision; but the elders at LWPC called it heresy and would have none of it. Wilson — who instigated the whole affair behind the scenes — feigned concern by offering to mediate between the parties; LWPC declined. So the monkey boys pushed their demand all the way to Presbytery, who landed with FV — and the Pacific Northwest Presbytery ordered LWPC to allow Federal Vision within its sanctuary.

LWPC immediately withdrew its membership from the PCA and removed the troublemakers from their fellowship. They also removed one word from the name of their church, changing it to Living Word Church.

Federal Sanctions

One last comment regarding Douglas Wilson’s horrible treatment of his brother Evan, and then a connecting thought: Evan taught at Logos School for many years (I’m guessing more than a decade) and one day Doug proposed that the school board amend its statement of faith to prevent it from employing anyone who held Open Theism. At the same time, Doug assured Evan that he was not making a move on his brother’s job; rather, he was simply taking care of loose ends. And after the board adopted Doug’s proposed amendment, they terminated Evan’s employment. Naturally, Doug is a lifetime member of the board.

Connected to this is one of Doug’s primary weapons that he uses against his perceived enemies (anyone who effectively criticizes him): economic sanctions. Take this to the bank — whenever someone nails Wilson in the public forum, the first place he looks to seek revenge is money — economic sanctions. It’s a natural reflex. Sadly, several people in the Moscow–Pullman community have learned the hard way that Douglas Wilson exacts a high price from those who criticize or oppose him.

College professors, administrators, politicians, and your everyday regular Joes — it doesn’t matter — Wilson dispatches his goon squad (aka “Doug’s Thugs”) to initiate a complaint campaign against the target, and they begin writing letters and making phone calls to the person’s employer, complaining about some exaggerated or fabricated act committed by the target. The goal is always to silence the target through intimidation or termination, and Wilson has succeeded on more than one occasion. These facts are all true and many people in town will testify to it (and have; I hope to write more on this in greater detail, i.e. with documentation, in the near future).

This is one reason I conceal my identity. I refuse to give Wilson the inside track on harassing me or my employer, and I intend to develop the subject of anonymity in the near future as well.