Today marks three weeks since Rachel Miller posted 70+ examples of plagiarized text in the Omnibus textbook series published by Veritas Press (Douglas Wilson, General Editor). Three weeks have passed but Veritas Press has not made a public statement acknowledging the problem and they have not removed the fraudulent textbooks from the market. To be sure, only one person legally associated with the project has delivered an official response — namely, the general editor, Pastor Doug Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow. Please note his use of the word “we”: “For the present, we can say this much. . .” Mr. Wilson spoke on behalf of the men responsible for the scam — namely, himself as the general editor; Marlin Detweiler, publisher; Tyler Fischer, managing editor; and Gene Edward Veith, general coeditor volumes IV, V, VI.

Veritas Press’ response to this scandal has been the opposite of Canon Press’ response after Rachel Miller posted her discovery of filched text in A Justice Primer. Within hours of the disclosure Canon Press pointed the finger of blame at Randy Booth. They identified him as the editor; they named him as the man responsible for all of the plagiarism; they twisted the blade by accusing him of “editorial incompetence”; and they published a statement by Mr. Booth on their website wherein he confessed his sin. Canon Press immediately discontinued the book; remaindered it; and eventually pulled it from market. And finally, after the dust settled, Canon Press published the findings of their internal investigation into the plagiarism, concluding that Rachel Miller was guilty of personal animosity toward Douglas Wilson. But as noted, Veritas Press has not done any of these things. Mr. Wilson issued a brief statement on behalf of the perps and nothing more.

Douglas Wilson, G. Tyler Fischer, and Marlin Detweiler: “A threefold cord is not easily broken.” — Ecclesiastes 4:12

We may logically infer the reason for Veritas Press’ silence: They are on the horns of a dilemma. If they admit that they deliberately plagiarized, they would face criminal prosecution for violating the Copyright Act of 1976; they would be subject to prosecution for criminal fraud; they would be liable for financial damages to those from whom they stole; and all of them would be out of work — except Doug Wilson. But if they deny that they deliberately plagiarized, then they have to contrive a plausible explanation that would account for seven years’ worth of wholesale plagiarism in six volumes of textbooks, and they would still be subject to criminal prosecution, financial damages, and termination of employment — except Douglas Wilson.

Moreover, you cannot account for something like this by claiming a rogue typesetter inserted the plagiarized copy into the layout after the editors approved the final draft, because then you have to claim he did it hundreds of times over a seven-year period and no one noticed, even after the books shipped. So they must choose their poison: Admit guilt or plead some form of colossal editorial incompetence, which wouldn’t expiate their culpability — it would only account for it.

The embarrassment factor creates another problem for these men, at least to the extent they feel shame. The three men who hold the highest offices in the Association of Classical & Christian Schools (ACCS) have been caught in one of the largest plagiarism scandals in history.¹ Douglas Wilson is the founder of the ACCS and he sits on the board as a director Ex Officio. Ty Fischer is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the ACCS. George Grant — whose plagiarism exceeds everyone else’s — sits as a director Ex Officio for the ACCS (we intend to dedicate a stand-alone post to George Grant’s theft; he really went the extra mile). And Marlin Detweiler is the unofficial publishing arm of the ACCS. He has printed their goods for over a decade. One would hope these men would show a little humility in the face of such scandal, but they have already signaled they intend to double down.

I am sure that Veritas Press has spent many hours these last three weeks calculating their financial losses as well. The cost of printing an 8 ½ × 11 four-color hardcover volume at 600+ pages is simply enormous. Now multiply it by six. They will have to destroy their entire inventory, including the CD packages. They cannot mark it down or remainder it because every volume contains stolen content. And they will have to give refunds — pay restitution — to everyone they defrauded. When you add these factors, it becomes clear that Veritas Press will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars on this venture. But don’t feel sorry for them. They counted the cost; they knew the risk; and they went to press eyes wide open. They planned to milk this con as long as possible and for eleven years all of them have profited from it — especially Marlin Detweiler, owner of Veritas Press.

No one has fallen on their sword because everyone agreed to do the deed. Douglas Wilson, Tyler Fischer, and Marlin Detweiler covenanted to nab content for the Omnibus textbooks and therefore they cannot point fingers at anyone but themselves. All three are as guilty as Randy Booth, but in spades.

¹ This is not hyperbole. Consider the size & scope of the crime, as well as its aggravating circumstance. They committed their theft over the space of seven years, inserting purloined copy into six massive textbooks that they sold for $100 each, all the while promoting themselves as Christian educators who rediscovered a model of learning based on classical studies.