“Now the works of the flesh are manifest. . .” Galatians 5:19
Review
We need to review some facts to lay the foundation for today’s post:
- Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, tried blackmailing Natalie Greenfield into silence by threatening to publish the court-sealed diary that she kept as a teenager. In an email, Mr. Wilson reminded her why the court sealed the document: “those documents contain highly intimate and potentially embarrassing facts or statements, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to reasonable persons.”
- Natalie did not cave to Mr. Wilson’s threat. Instead, she told the story of her abuse in the Kirk to Jezebel.com.
- Doug Wilson retaliated against Natalie with a post called Jezehellsbells, wherein he placed Natalie and her husband in a false light. Specifically, Mr. Wilson misrepresented the meaning of two videos that Natalie’s husband produced as components of a body of work he submitted to complete his master’s thesis. Mr. Wilson isolated the vids out of their academic context to allow his readers’ imaginations to fill in the blank.
- Doug Wilson took heat for Jezehellsbells, so he wrote another post to rationalize his reasoning. He summarized his argument thus:
“And it is in just this way that the videos are extremely relevant. There are many details of application, to be expanded on below, but here is the center of it, the hinge. Natalie has said that the sexual outlook of Christ Church is suspect, not normal (A). I linked to the videos to show that here is something demented that Natalie does believe to be normal (B). Now, given B, do you still want to trust her on A?” (Justice and the Ad Hominem)
- Contra Doug Wilson, Natalie never claimed “the sexual outlook of Christ Church is suspect, not normal.” She has consistently maintained Doug Wilson mishandled her sexual abuse by defending her assailant and shaming her. As she wrote on JoryMicah.com:
To this day, Doug Wilson stands by his decisions to defend my abuser and blame my family for the abuse I suffered. He continues his attempts to silence and shame me as I tell my story publicly. With a grave misunderstanding of abusive relationships and an unhealthy view of gender roles, he has created an environment where abuse can thrive in the shadows.
Normal
These unhappy facts bring us to the subject of today’s post, which is “normal” as Doug Wilson embodies it in his day-to-day life. Merriam-Webster defines the word “normal” as —
: usual or ordinary : not strange
: mentally and physically healthy. . . .
Questions
With this definition, I ask my friends in the Kirk and the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC): Does Doug Wilson’s meme contest, where he encouraged his readers to caption Melania Trump’s breasts, constitute “normal” behavior? Did this contest promote a “usual or ordinary” “sexual outlook”?
I ask my friends in the Kirk and the CREC, does this quote from Blog & Mablog, where Mr. Wilson encourages young men to “nickname these breasts of other woman as the ‘principalities and powers’” — does this constitute “normal” behavior?1 Is the “sexual outlook” fostered by this instruction “mentally & physically healthy”?
Now let’s broaden the scope: Doug Wilson knew that Steven Sitler was diagnosed as a fixated pedophile and Doug Wilson knew that Steven Sitler planned to father children if and when he got married. Despite this, Doug Wilson presided over the wedding ceremony. And now, even after the Idaho Department of Correction removed Sitler from his home because he admitted (during a lie detector test) that his 6-month-old son sexually aroused him, Doug Wilson insists he “would do so again next week.” So I ask, Is Doug Wilson’s “sexual outlook” as represented by the Sitler household “normal”?
Conclusion
This is a reworded version of the question that Doug Wilson framed in Justice and the Ad Hominem:
Here is the center of it, the hinge. Doug Wilson has said that his sexual outlook is healthy, normal (A). I linked to Doug Wilson’s meme contest; I linked to his exhortation to name the breasts of other women; and I linked to his role in the marriage of serial pedophile Steven Sitler, to show that Doug Wilson believes these three demented things to be normal (B). Now, given B, do you still want to trust him on A?
Given these three facts, I don’t trust him on anything.
1 To those who argue that Mr. Wilson waxed facetious, I ask, is it “normal” to sarcastically encourage young men to “nickname these breasts of other woman”?
I hadn’t read the piece at JoryMicah before. Natalie continues to impress while Doug continues . . . to be Doug. How sad that there are people so ready to try to trample her in their idolatrous devotion to the monster of Moscow.
I am reading an eerily familiar true story — This Little Light, Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang — by Christa Brown.
Christa was 16 at the time of her abuse and when, as a married woman, she finally spoke up about her abuse, the church threatened a law suit against her and attempted to silence her.
Speaking up she recalls, “Back then, I not only still believed in the possibility that the church might do the right thing, I also believed in the possibility that an old friend might want to help.”
Instead she had to face the Kool-Aid cult mentality of a church that circled the wagons and protected the abuser.
Natalie’s story is all too close to Christa Brown’s. When she finally spoke up, Douglas Wilson demanded her parents repent of their “foolishness,” Douglas Wilson blames Natalie for maturing too quickly, Douglas Wilson later asks Natalie to DETAIL her sexual relationship, Douglas Wilson threatens to excommunicate Natalie, and bar her father from communion.
Douglas Wilson takes to threatening, demeaning, and ridiculing her on his personal (though linked to the church website) blog.
AND. . . SILENCE
Silence from every person sitting in Christ Church, silence from the elders, silence from the man across town who serves in the sister church. Oh no, wait, actually not silence, COMPLICITY and DEFENSE of Douglas Wilson’s actions. Cult.
The CREC has a story that is so ludicrous as to seem fictional-
Because after all that, Douglas Wilson doubles down just to prove how drugged the sheep are; Douglas Wilson hosts a contest on his personal (though linked to the church website) blog asking for people to come up with lecherous memes about a woman’s breasts. I guess even Douglas Wilson’s wife and family all think it is riotously funny to act like a dirty old slobbering man on his personal (though linked to the church website) blog. Or maybe they’re afraid to object. It’s one or the other. I mean, “Kids, it’s Sabbath dinner time, let’s take a look at what grandpa posted about breasts on his blog this week.”
If I had hope concerning Doug in his present state, a hope of which I’m not currently capable, I might think he’s trying to push them to revolt. As harsh as it sounds, I might actually have more hope along those lines in the case of a serial killer who left ever more helpful clues leading to his or her capture.
Maybe he’s testing boundaries in order to avoid a revolt as a result of going too far. But I figure he’s just reveling in his power and wallowing in his own excrement.