“. . . without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. . .” Romans 1:31

Serial pedophile Steven Sitler’s marriage to a graduate of New St. Andrews College has helped bring to light an ordinary feature of everyday life in the Kirk that deserves note — namely, kirkers’ lack of care or concern for their children, or what St. Paul terms “without natural affection” (Rom. 1:31). I quote the Authorized but the word (αστοργους) is variously translated “no love,” “unloving,” and “heartless.” The term denotes the absence of that innate bond between a parent & child that normal people feel. If you’ve felt it, then you know that no word can describe the intensity of that love. If you have not felt it, then perhaps the protective instinct that a grizzly sow shows for her cubs is a good comparison. A female grizzly with offspring is the fiercest, most dangerous animal in the world because of her primeval relationship to her litter. Her native maternal drive is so overwhelming that anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path faces imminent mortal danger. This is the “natural affection” that Paul says the unregenerate world generally does not possess, and this is the “natural affection” that the Kirk has systematically begun purging from the hearts of its members.

Steven Sitler stands head & shoulders above all as the most obvious example of this, but as a psychopath he has a very good excuse — he cannot feel empathy for anyone but himself. This deformity, like his fixation, is embedded in his core. It cannot be excised or healed. Thus he admitted he had “contact [with his son] resulting in actual sexual stimulation”; which means he is the type of menace that a normal parent blessed with “natural affection” would fight to keep away from their child. Yet Sitler fights for greater privileges to be with his son even as he claims to understand his condition. Sitler’s probation officer described Sitler’s impulse to molest his son as “heinous.” The Latah County Prosecutor called it “the state’s worst fears.” Sitler’s psychotherapists drafted a “safety plan” to accommodate their patient’s fixation, replete with back-up contingencies for “high-risk thoughts,” “a high-risk situation,” and “high risk behaviors.” Team Sitler has assembled a platoon of 13 state-approved chaperones to essentially babysit Steven Sitler for the rest of his life, because everyone in the loop knows that Steven Sitler is “without natural affection.” He does not have familial love for his child. He feels erotic love for the infant.

Consider Katie Sitler, for another example. Before she married the serial pedophile, the Department of Probation & Parole held a private meeting with her to explain in detail what Steven Sitler had done to his victims. They made clear to her the horrible nature of his crimes, so that there would be no surprises down the road. Katie did not heed P&P and earlier this summer she pooh-poohed Steven Sitler’s admission that he felt aroused at the sight of her breastfeeding his son. She dismissed it as “the split-second chest incident” and “the fleeting thoughts with no act associated with the baby’s sucking.” Katie Sitler does not possess a mother’s instinctual love for her baby — the kind that would compel her to protect it at all times against any threat. She does not recognize the inherent danger represented by her husband to the welfare of her child. She is oblivious to these things that are apparent to normal people and, worse, she gives no evidence that she even cares. Her loyalty to her husband has severed whatever bond she may have had with her child. Katie Sitler is “without natural affection.”

Steven Sitler’s parents — Dave & Roxanne Sitler — know that their son molested their grandchildren and extended family,¹ as well as the children of their friends. They know the sickening details of the crimes he committed against these innocents and no doubt specialists have informed them that fixated pedophiles cannot be remedied. They also know that on more than one occasion Sitler has expressed an erotic attraction to their grandson. Despite this, they feel a closer tie to the predator than to the family members he preyed upon or the grandson upon whom he fixates. They pay attorneys to keep him unleashed in the community. They motioned the court to remove the restriction prohibiting contact between him and his victims — without notifying the victims of what he did to them. And now they fight to reintroduce him back into the home where he may live with the object of his sexual desire. Dave² & Roxanne Sitler may be the nicest people in the world, but they are “without natural affection.” They are “heartless” in the sense of Romans 1:31. They show no paternal instinct to protect their family from harm. They act against the best interests of their grandchildren to accommodate the whims of their son, a serial pedophile.

The architect of this pedo disaster — Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow — has set the standard of affection for these lost souls as well as those who remain in the Kirk. He has successfully conditioned his followers to accept pedophilia as normal and he has desensitized them into accepting the marriage of a pedophile who has fathered a child. And because of Doug Wilson that little Sitler child will grow up in a home without the security of two parents who genuinely love him. His father wants to molest him and his mother wants to protect his father at all costs. That boy will spend his youth hearing Scripture from the minister who could have prevented this evil from taking place. But he will be listening to a man who is “without natural affection.”

“without natural affection” — Steven Sitler, Katie Sitler, Dave Sitler, Roxanne Sitler, Douglas Wilson

¹ “. . . there was application made to the Department that this particular probationer [Sitler] reestablish contact with a particular sister and her family — some of the family members had been victims — and that he reestablish contact with a particular uncle and with his family — one or more of whom whose children had been victims. . .” (Dean Wullenwaber, Sitler’s criminal defense attorney, @4:30–4:58)

² The website for Holy Trinity Church in Colville, Washington, still lists Dave Sitler as a deacon, which means that by CREC standards he qualifies as a “man of good reputation” (Acts 6:3) and “blameless” (1 Tim. 3:10).