One Example of How Nepotism Corrupts

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority.” Lord Acton

We continue to see a bump in traffic from search engines looking for the words “Kirk Payroll: It’s Related”; so let me take a moment to demonstrate one of the problems that can result from nepotism. First, however, a little background: The Christ Church Constitution requires a unanimous vote of the elders save one to discipline a fellow officer (unanimous vote minus the officer in question). This stipulation has the net effect of consolidating all authority to discipline in any given elder who might vote no. In other words, that lone dissenting officer holds the most power at that particular moment even though the constitution does not frame it in these words. (This also means that Christ Church does not meet the Reformed definition of a church because it does not exercise biblical discipline, but this is a subject for another post.)

Not by coincidence, four of Doug Wilson’s relatives sit on the Kirk board of elders: his brother (Gordon Wilson), his son (N.D. Wilson), and his two sons-in-law (Ben Merkle & Luke Jankovic). All four of these men also enjoy positions at New Saint Andrews College. Three of them are paid employees and the fourth sits on the board of directors alongside Douglas Wilson. Both men have the title “permanent member” of the board of directors. That is, they cannot be removed.

Now consider this hypothetical illustration: Pretend six Kirk elders wanted to charge Doug Wilson with serial violations of the Ninth Commandment. Also pretend they have documented proof and thousands of eye witnesses. Throw in a written confession from Mr. Wilson, where he actually bragged about committing the deed (not hyperbole; he actually did this). These six officers would present their charges to their fellow elders and the whole case would get tossed if one man voted against sustaining the accusations. How do you think Gordon Wilson, Nate Wilson, and Ben Merkle would vote? Don’t forget that Doug Wilson is a “permanent member” on the board of directors where they work.

So the Kirk constitution essentially confers all governmental authority in one unnamed man, which brings us to today’s example of how nepotism corrupts. It’s a true story and you can read the full account here. In 2005 the admin of New St. Andrews College put Nathan Wilson’s name on a ballot for the faculty to vote aye or nay on promoting him to full fellow. One man voted against promoting N.D. Wilson. He did not understand that NSA intended the election to ratify a nepotistic decision that Mr. Wilson had already made.

Therefore, Doug Wilson drafted a specific contract for this employee that would ensure greater cooperation in the future. Here is the final condition of employment taken verbatim from the contract, which you can see here:

Commitment to Loyalty
I pledge to conduct myself in such a way that no one could ever question my loyalty to the peace and purity of Christ Church. This includes refusing to speak to any unauthorized person about grievances I might have, and includes refusing to hear any such criticisms as well. If commitment to this standard in any way compromises my conscience, then I understand that my resignation will be accepted, without notice, and without prejudice.

Doug Wilson required a professor from NSA to sign this agreement or face termination. Mr. Wilson delivered this ultimatum knowing that the Christ Church elders would unanimously support him, because if an officer bravely said “This is wrong!” he would subject himself to immediate discipline (excommunication). The vote to remove him would be unanimous, just as the vote to affirm the fitness of the Christ Church Commitment to Loyalty would be unanimous. Doug Wilson couldn’t lose. No one would oppose him without exposing themselves to undesirable consequences. The NSA professor didn’t bother to appeal and he didn’t wait for Doug Wilson to can him — he bolted.

So the first corrupting influence of nepotism, at least in this case, is that it created an environment of dictatorial abuse. The second corrupting influence of nepotism, at least in this case, is that it purged from the NSA faculty the only man who was morally & intellectually qualified to teach. His integrity was clear. And so was Doug Wilson’s.

6 Comments

  1. “One thing common across all underworld groupings is the use of oath to ensure members remain loyal to a group and does not reveal secrets. The Sicilian Mafia is no different. Having existed for centuries, the group has one of the most powerful oaths, that perhaps has contributed to its survival despite attempts by several governments to eradicate it. The oath is known as Omertà. It is a code of silence and secrecy that forbids members from betraying their ‘brothers’ to authorities or rival gangs. . . . The penalty for disobeying the oath is death. That, however, does not end there, family members of the traitor are also punished by death. And if the crime is grave, his entire kinsmen may be wiped out.” (MafiaLife Blog)

    Please Note: The Kirk version is not physical death. For women and children it is social isolation. If a woman has depended almost entirely (which is frequently the case) for friendship and support from her sisters in Christ Church the pain of being isolated from that social interaction is catastrophic. For a child to be shunned because his/her parents are out of favor with Doug or Nancy is despicable. A man who speaks out or objects to Pastor “Godfather’s” behavior while working for a Kirk enterprise will be unceremoniously fired — and many have been.

    Those who refuse to join the pathetic parade of ass kissers and “Yes Sir” (or “Yes Nancy”) lackeys are graciously bound by action and conscience to the true Saints throughout the ages who spoke truth to power at the risk of losing everything. God bless everyone one of them for their courage and integrity.

    Rose Huskey

  2. Indeed, Rose. I have become friends with more than one former member of “Pastor” Wilson’s “church”, and I have heard rather astounding true anecdotes of what happens to the unfortunates who incur the disfavor of the man. Including the frankly childish shunning, that is apparently a lifetime “punishment”. Truthfully, I wouldn’t want anything to do with someone who would feel honor bound to shun me for following my own heart. I’m always exceedingly grateful that I was never caught in that web.

    1. I’d really like to read a headline at some point that states something along the lines of “Moscow Pastor Gets Justifiably Pummeled Into Insensibility By Angry Mob.”

  3. Diane Langberg in an interview (http://www.dianelangberg.com/) said,

    “Abuse of power is using that power to not let anyone have a different opinion; they use the power to feed themselves. . . It will often divide a congregation because you will have people who have been very damaged by the leader because they didn’t feed the ego, or victims of the leader, or brought a question or a different idea.”

    Langberg goes on to say that the leader will ostracize, alienate and damage vulnerable victims: Jezehellsbells

    “He uses his position and verbal power and theological knowledge to manipulate people, to boost his ego, to praise him, to view him as someone who can do no wrong, to not hold him accountable, to never believe any criticism about him, to assume that what goes on at home behind closed doors is perfection itself.”

    ADD TO THAT NEPOTISM AND $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$:
    Langberg says,

    “Usually in these situations where you have a leader who abuses power, you have an inner circle — whether it’s called elders or whatever — who are also feeding off of how special they are because they’re the inner circle. So the people who would have the most authority to do an intervention don’t want one either. . .
    They’ve been put there by the pastor and agreed to it because it’s feeding them as well. So what that means is the only people left to confront are ‘the little people’ who really don’t have any power in the system so they are usually critiqued and ostracized.”

    Text book.

  4. I would actually like to ask any Kirkers reading this blog (and I know you’re out there) to explain why it is justifiable to, after years of friendship, completely shut that friendship down and shun a person or persons. And if anyone responds, please don’t insult my intelligence or your own by saying it doesn’t happen. It does.

    1. I’m not a Kirker – and in fact, live no where near Moscow. However, this is something I have experienced. I actually met with an elder once, and I was told that community lives within these circles – i.e., lifegroups, community groups, etc. My takeaway after being there for over an hour was that community dies with those groups as well. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known them.

      That doesn’t really answer your question, and it’s not justifiable, but it is something I have experienced. It’s like they are so brainwashed that they firmly believe there can be no community outside of these groups.

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