Moreover, the Committee seeks to discover if there was any corruption involved in the handling of these cases or any subsequent effort to cover up any sins, errors or corruption. . . . However, the members of the Review Committee are fully committed to doing their work diligently and honestly. The Committee is determined to follow the record wherever it may lead and will not hesitate to clearly identify any sins, errors of omission, errors of commission, errors of wisdom, malfeasance, corruption or cover-up that may be discovered in the course of its review. It takes seriously its responsibility for the purity of the church, the care of souls and of fairness to all parties. Randy Booth

Randy Booth uses the word “corruption” twice in his latest dispatch regarding the CREC inquiry. He says he wants to know “if there was any corruption involved” and he states the “Committee is determined to follow the record wherever it may lead and will not hesitate to clearly identify any . . . corruption . . . that may be discovered. . .”

The word “corruption” means:

: dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such as government officials or police officers)
: the act of corrupting someone or something. . . .
a: impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle: depravity
b: decay, decomposition
c: inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery). . . (Merriam Webster)

Accordingly, Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, took the first step to guard against corruption by recusing himself from the office of CREC Presiding Minister. Randy Booth wrote: “Pastor Douglas Wilson is the current Presiding Minister of the CREC Council, and he has recused himself in this matter.” Mr. Booth repeated this point in his second announcement: “Because the Review Committee was to be tasked with reviewing the practices of the church where Rev. Wilson is pastor, he immediately recused himself from participating in the selection and appointment of and any direct involvement in the proposed committee.”

Randy Booth does not say why Mr. Wilson recused himself, though it’s probably because he had a conflict of interest. Mr. Wilson could not inquire into his own misdeeds without a natural predisposition to exonerate himself. And Randy Booth may not like this, but he did previously state that Mr. Wilson appointed the committee who would conduct the inquiry, when he wrote,

. . . the session of Christ Church, Moscow, ID, has invited the presiding ministers of each presbytery to inquire into the pastoral care and counseling ministry of Christ Church, with particular regard to their handling of sexual abuse cases. . .

Randy Booth now denies that Mr. Wilson appointed the committee, but Booth did sign his name to the statement above, whether he wrote it or not, and he did rubberstamp the persons whom Mr. Wilson invited. So if the CREC inquiry commissioners sincerely desire to root out corruption, they could probably start by looking at the way they were appointed. A fish rots, etc., which brings us to another element of corruption in the CREC inquiry — namely, the chair of the committee — Randy Booth.

A Justice Primer
In May 2015, Canon Press published a book called A Justice Primer, which was co-written by Mr. Wilson and Randy Booth. Canon Press is a private company owned by Mr. Wilson’s son, N. D. Wilson. The back cover of A Justice Primer describes the subject matter:

IF GOD IS JUST, and the Bible is his word, how is it that everyone is in such a fog when it comes to actually administrating justice? . . . Randy Booth and Douglas Wilson bring their considerable pastoral experience to the question of scriptural standards for justice, and their observations — that almost nobody has a firm grasp of what justice is or how it functions — are sobering. This is because maintaining a strict definition of justice is essential for any community, great or small. In this much-needed exposition, Wilson and Booth unpack the God’s requirements for witnesses, victims, due process, and the accused and accuser, and take to task some of our favorite injustices in churches and abroad: anonymous assertions, rattling off charges, double standards, judging motives, and the ubiquitous Trial by Internet.

Presumably Canon Press pays royalties to the authors based on net sales; both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Booth actively promote the book for sale on their websites. Booth sells the book on his blog and through his distribution business Covenant Media Foundation. Mr. Booth also uses his business to promote and sell other Canon Press titles written by Mr. Wilson. Likewise, Mr. Wilson sells the book via his blog and via Canon Press. To be sure, more than once Mr. Wilson has exploited the sex-abuse scandals as an opportunity to push the book that he co-wrote with the chair of the CREC inquiry committee:

If there is one thing that Christians need to learn more about in this “click to convict” era, it is the importance of due process, presumption of innocence, hearing both sides argued, and so on. Those interested can learn more about it in A Justice Primer, a book I wrote together with Randy Booth. Here is Andrew Sandlin’s blurb for the book, on our understanding of justice:

“Liberals love to prattle about “social justice” while conservatives often marginalize “justice” and prioritize love. Both are wrong. Liberal justice is usually injustice, parading as sentimental moralism, and contrary to much conservative belief, justice is an exhibition of love. In this book, two seasoned, Bible-believing pastors delineate the Bible’s frequent and wide-ranging teaching on justice and show how it is to be achieved in both church and culture, from blogs to juries. It is a welcome antidote to the pervasively sentimentalist — and unjust — moralisms of our time.” (Click to Convict)

Mr. Wilson published this post on September 29, 2015, a week or two after the CREC began its inquiry.¹ Meanwhile Randy Booth continues to sell the book on his two websites even after he appointed himself chair of the CREC inquiry committee. This business relationship between Randy Booth and Mr. Wilson raises the question of a conflict of interest for Mr. Booth.

A conflict of interest is

a situation in which a person has a duty to more than one person or organization, but cannot do justice to the actual or potentially adverse interests of both parties. This includes when an individual’s personal interests or concerns are inconsistent with the best for a customer, or when a public official’s personal interests are contrary to his/her loyalty to public business. An attorney, an accountant, a business adviser or realtor cannot represent two parties in a dispute and must avoid even the appearance of conflict. He/she may not join with a client in business without making full disclosure of his/her potential conflicts, he/she must avoid commingling funds with the client, and never, never take a position adverse to the customer. (law.com)

Randy Booth entered into a business relationship with Doug Wilson when he co-wrote A Justice Primer with him to sell. Randy Booth entered into a business relationship with Doug Wilson’s son — N.D. Wilson — when he contracted with him to publish A Justice Primer. Randy Booth promotes and sells other books for Doug Wilson and for N.D. Wilson, for which he receives compensation. And despite these things, Randy Booth chairs the CREC committee responsible for inquiring into the personal ethics of his business partner Doug Wilson. He claims the committee “seeks to discover if there was any corruption involved.”

“Coincidence? Or a masterpiece of publishing guile and cunning? You decide.” — Douglas Wilson

Lofty claims aside, Randy Booth suffers from a profound conflict of interest. On the one hand he has a duty to his business associates Doug Wilson & N. D. Wilson, and on the other hand he has a duty to chair an ethics committee charged with inquiring into his co-author and business partner Doug Wilson. But as the Lord Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matt. 6:4).

This is Corruption 101. This is why judges recuse themselves. This is why Doug Wilson recused himself. Randy Booth cannot possibly conduct an impartial examination of Doug Wilson because his loyalties are split. He has a financial interest in vindicating his co-author. His interest is palpable. And even if Randy Booth is that one man in the universe who could walk this tightrope without falling to one side or the other, he would still violate the principle of 1 Thessalonians 5:22 — “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” It just looks stinky.

Here are two questions that everyone in the CREC should ask their pastor: If Doug Wilson had to recuse himself from the office of CREC Presiding Minister because of his conflict of interest, then why shouldn’t Randy Booth have to recuse himself for the same reason? After all, they are business partners. And if the CREC commissioners cannot see corruption when it sits in front of them as chair of their committee, then why would anyone expect them to identify corruption when Mr. Wilson presents it to them in the form of the record he created?

So read it again: Doug Wilson founded the CREC to provide a denominational front for his unethical activities. He handpicked these men to conduct this inquiry because he knew he could rely on their honor. Honor among thieves. And Randy Booth seconded Mr. Wilson’s appointments to the committee because he and Mr. Wilson are partners. They share the same business goal.

And the irony here, which I am sure is lost on Mr. Booth, is that the book A Justice Primer presumes to instruct others on the subject of biblical justice. But now we know exactly what justice is in the CREC. It’s corrupt.

¹ Note that Mr. Wilson kept Andrew Sandlin’s blurb on his blog even after Mr. Sandlin publicly stated his concern with the way Mr. Wilson used the quote.