“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” Philippians 3:2
On Friday, January 4, 2013, Natalie Rose Greenfield wrote this about the man who sexually abused her:
I once watched him hold a dog by the neck and smash its head repeatedly against a concrete wall because it didn’t lie down when he commanded it. Minutes later he embraced the dog and madly licked its mouth and tongue. (Perpetuating Abuse)
Exactly two months later, on March 4, 2013, Latah County Sheriff’s Detective Ryan Weaver swore an affidavit that makes a similar point about the man who abused Natalie. However, in the abuse in this case involved his wife:
“In a counseling session Jamin has admitted to using anger as a teaching tool for [redacted] like you would train a dog.”
Neither person indicates they compared notes or spoke with each other, while both independently describe a process called “grooming” — the technical term for training a victim to endure abuse. Predators systematically prepare their prey in advance for the abuse they plan to inflict on them. They win their victim’s trust and ultimately seduce them into submission. They groom them. And according to two eyewitnesses, Jamin Wight treats women and girls the same way he treats dogs. He uses anger to groom his female victims; he uses anger to groom dogs. This is a documented pattern.
However, two-and-a-half years after Detective Ryan Weaver swore his affidavit, Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, accused Natalie’s father of helping Jamin Wight groom his daughter Natalie:
“The problem was, you can’t accuse Jamin of grooming someone, when you are helping him groom her. And that was — so we were in a collision with her dad — because, uh, Jamin didn’t get there all by himself.” (October 27, 2015, Christ Church HOH Meeting)
Mr. Wilson’s false accusation dodges the real issue. Namely, Douglas Wilson consistently excused Jamin Wight’s lawlessness: The 13-year-old girl in Moscow — pass. The inappropriate relationship with a married woman in California while he filled pulpit supply — pass. The constant liquored-up probation violations — pass. The terrifying abuse of his wife — pass. Even now Mr. Wilson treats Jamin Wight as a credible witness in the matter of his criminal exploitations of a minor — pass.
As with the plagiarism, Doug Wilson is the common denominator in all this. If you remove him from the equation, it’s likely that none of the post-Natalie pain would have occurred. Or at least it would have been delayed. If Mr. Wilson had not pressured Natalie’s father into going easy on Wight, and if Mr. Wilson had not injected his false “secret courtship” narrative into the testimony, it’s possible that Jamin Wight would be in prison right now, where he could no longer harm innocents.
“Beware of dogs.” — Philippians 3:2
Doug Wilson is the alpha predator. He groomed Jamin Wight to act without regard for man or God. He planted the culture that welcomed Wight’s predations. He set the example for kirkers to treat Wight like a martyr for going to prison, as though he suffered for righteousness’ sake. He cultivated the environment that encouraged kirkers to ostracize Wight’s victim, like a false accuser. Read the perjury affidavit. Kirkers never took his crimes seriously. They got lit with him — even Kirk officers sloshed a few down with the felon.
St. Paul was right: “Beware of dogs.” Beware of Jamin Wight. Beware of his mentor Doug Wilson. And beware of the dog on Mablog. It has rabies and just as the logo warns, it bites.
Does anything disqualify a man from being a pastor/elder/deacon in Doug’s world? The list of sins “covered up” for many, many ordained CREC leaders is disturbing. Hardly the qualities described in 1 Timothy.
Hi Rachel — The answer to your question is, Yes, there is one sin that will DQ an elder faster than you can say duck: Namely, the sin of disloyalty to Doug Wilson — and I am not being facetious. It is the unpardonable sin in Moscow.
The practical outworking of this sin means that when you catch him violating Scripture, which inevitably happens, you must choose between loyalty to him or loyalty to the gospel. Loyalty to him obligate you to approve of his behavior; loyalty to Scripture obligates you to call him on it. The elders in office have made known their choice. Likewise those whom he has creamed.
Yeah, I know. I meant actual sins. The kind the Bible warns about. Not slights to the Pope of Moscow.
Again, not being facetious — but it’s important to see the teaching behind the teaching. I know you know this, so I’ll write it for others: The unstated assumption that drives Doug Wilson and his followers is that he is an infallible messianic figure. That’s the only way you get from the real world to Krazy Acres, Moscow. Pick your scandal, it’s this way every single time: Plagiarism isn’t plagiarism, unless he says so. Pedophiles aren’t pedophiles, they’re men who suffer from the temptation to rape babies. Same-sex marriage is an abomination, but pedophiliac marriage is normal & lawful. Jamin didn’t rape Natalie — her father groomed her.
If this happens anywhere else, the proprietor of said insanity — that is, the pastor — would not have a platform and would likely be institutionalized. But in Moscow, this is normal whereas all things normal anywhere else are bizarre. (This really is a remarkable sociological phenomenon that deserves the attention of experts — after they lock up Wilson.) And the only thing that allows this to happen is the unstated assumption that Doug Wilson is an infallible prophet-like person, who speaks and acts by divine inspiration.
I still say that the feds need to be involved in this. Has anyone in Moscow tried reporting Kirk members to the IRS for unreported income tax gains due to boarding NSA students? I plan on filing a report myself but I don’t live there, so I’m not sure if they’ll look into it on my recognizance. If the IRS gets involved, rest assured that all Hell will follow in its wake. The government might overlook all manner of criminal activity due to the murkiness of First Amendment privilege, but where there is money to be gained there is no stopping the tromp of federal boots.
@Dash —
In 2004 (maybe 05), two women (Rosemary Huskey & Saundra Lund, both have commented on this site) challenged some of the Kirk’s property tax exemptions and won. The county revoked the exemptions when they saw documented proof that the Kirk used the land for for-profit ventures. The hearing room was standing-room only and people filled the hallways of the courthouse trying hear the proceeding. The commissioners waited a few days to make their decision and — boom — they dropped the hammer. It was a spectacular front-page headline. Then about a year or two later Canon Press lost its tax-exempt status I think for similar reasons. Wilson was skimming royalties off book sales, which is another way of saying he committed tax fraud. More specifically, he used the Kirk as a front to line his pockets. But to my knowledge, the IRS does not know about the network of illegal boarding houses and I suspect that the kirkers who run those “under the radar” enterprises do not report their income. If I am wrong, I welcome a law-abiding kirker, if one exists, to correct me. I’ll put you on the front page.
To review:The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 3:1-13 ESV