Here is a list of Doug Wilson quotations addressing the subject of a political takeover of Moscow. I doubt the list is exhaustive, but I believe it’s close. As you read it, please note a few points:
- Douglas Wilson was the first person to broach the subject of a “takeover or coup d’etat.” Every legitimate church wants to see their community come to Christ. I’ve never seen a church clarify this mission by denying they have a “takeover or coup d’etat” in mind.
- Note the number of times he denies interest in politics, oftentimes frontloading the denial for no reason. In this respect he’s like the guy who knocked off the 7-Eleven the night before and opens each statement by saying, “I wasn’t near the 7-Eleven last night.”
- Pay special attention to the words “under radar” and ask yourself why a church would want to fly “under radar.” What does a bombing mission have to do with the gospel?
- Notice how he breaks from script on December 28, 2003, by clearly stating his objective. Then he acts as though he never said it and resumes with his rehearsed line that he is not interested in politics.
- Finally, notice that he broke from script once more, after assuring everyone that he wasn’t interested in politics, he instructed his followers via his blog to vote out the incumbents. Doug Wilson’s assurances have expiration dates.
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2002
“My goal is to see the evangelization of the Palouse,” Wilson says earnestly.
With a deep, friendly laugh characteristic of his conversational style, Wilson warns those concerned by such comments he’s actually toning them down.
The goal of Christ Church, which attracts more than 800 people to the Logos School fieldhouse every Sunday, is to have Moscow and Pullman honor Jesus Christ, he says.
“Not by political means. Not by means of lobbying and getting something through the city council but just by organic and natural means,” he says.
“We are not advocating a takeover or coup d’etat. . .”
The influence of believing Christians should naturally percolate through society, he says. It is a democracy in the best sense of the word. . . . (Lewiston Morning Tribune, April 28, 2002)
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We are not trying to take over anything. . . . (Douglas Wilson, Moscow Vision 2020, June 19, 2002)
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So to tie this in with the “rumor” thread, we are not interested in taking over your institutions. . . . (Doug Wilson, Moscow Vision 2020, June 21, 2002)
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Dear visionaries,
Loreca Stauber writes, with a goodish bit of emphasis.
ON ANOTHER SUBJECT, THE FLUSHING OUT OF THE CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS AND THEIR PROPERTY ACQUISITIONS AND “TAKEOVER” OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC PROCESSES, IS NOT SUFFICIENT.
So, we have been flushed out, have we? Darn. (Doug Wilson, Moscow Vision 2020, July 11, 2002)
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The one thing that is heartening about such mistakes is that it shows that despite public controversy I (and my ilkish friends) are still operating under radar. (Douglas Wilson, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, July 15, 2002)
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New St. Andrews College has grown from four students in 1994 to about 100 today. The school recently purchased a prominent building on Main Street as a new home. Logos School also is growing and bringing many new families to the city, said Doug Wilson, pastor of Christ Church and Logos board member.
Wilson said the public voice of conservative, religious Moscow isn’t new. He has been writing letters to the editor and speaking publicly for years. It’s just that now the number of religious conservatives has grown to a point their voices can’t be ignored.
Wilson isn’t interested in reaching an accommodation with Moscow’s liberals so that Councilman Hill can sleep at night.
“We believe what we believe is true,” he said. “What it boils down to is we are here. We’re not going away and we’re doing what we’re doing.”
At the same time, liberals don’t need to fear a takeover, he said. Conservative Christians aren’t interested in political power.
“I think they do have to worry about our cultural influence,” Wilson said.
Moscow is fertile ground for conservative religious schooling, said Wilson, who predicts half of all Moscow students will be privately educated in 10 years.
“If we continue to grow and flourish and develop, it will have an impact on Moscow,” he said. “It won’t be the nice, liberal hippie town it was 20 years ago.” (Moscow-Pullman Daily News, October 5, 2002)
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Dear visionaries,
I wanted to commend Ted McDonough for writing a fair article for this last weekend’s Daily News on the growing rift in Moscow between liberals and conservatives. However, something which I mentioned to him during the interview (and which he did include) needs to be emphasized yet again.
A generation or two ago, the jibe was that the Episcopal church was the Republican party at prayer. In recent years, anyone who believes in a higher being and is opposed to abortion has qualified, as the media hyper-ventilates about it, as a member of the growing specter of the “religious right.” But these categories of left and right are, at bottom, both secular categories. We are trying to grow (organically) a genuine alternative to all of this, as self-consciously trinitarian Christians who do not trust in the idol of politics.
As such, here is our agenda, published right out in the open so that the Moscow Civic Association can figure out their counter-measures.
- Worship the triune God on a weekly basis, giving as much glory to Him in the worship service as we can, by hearing the Word preached, partaking of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, saying the Lord’s Prayer, singing psalms and hymns, and presenting our thanks to Him.
- Take primary responsibility for our own families — husbands sacrificing themselves for their wives, wives sacrificing themselves for their husbands, and both of them together sacrificing themselves in order to provide a first-rate Christian education for their children
- Learn how the Christian faith applies to every aspect of our lives — e.g. setting the table for family dinner every evening, brewing great beer, writing and publishing fiction and non-fiction, appreciating good poetry, mowing the lawn right, smoking cigars to the glory of God, teaching lacrosse to our boys, teaching needlepoint to our girls, teaching lacrosse to our girls (gotcha), and blessing the name of the Lord in all of it.
- Take stock, some years down the road, of what kind of impact this kind of cultural engagement has had on the cultural life of our town. Some of that impact is bound to have been political, but it has to be emphasized here that politics does not have nearly the same importance for us as it does for the liberals. The liberals have a strong secularist streak, and politics therefore serves for them as a surrogate religion. This is why, for example, questions about government education are treated as blasphemous, as though some disgruntled parishioner had heaved a dead cat at the bishop. But to paraphrase one Christian writer on this subject, our motto here is Moscow is, “Politics sixth!”
Cordially,
Douglas Wilson (Moscow Vision 2020, October 7, 2002)
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2003
Wilson said he was simply “minding my own business” when people started calling him a racist and suggesting that his church was trying to take over downtown Moscow. (Lewiston Morning Tribune, October 23, 2003)
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Even a local minister, whose church has been cast as having designs on a downtown takeover, weighed in on what it all means.
“Politics is not our savior,” said Doug Wilson, pastor for Christ Church. “But politics will eventually be saved.” Contrary to pre-election predictions that Wilson’s church might introduce a stealth candidate into the fray, Wilson insisted the concern was all a product of an “optical illusion.” He said many in Moscow have a vision that he and his followers are “softening the town up” for an eventual political coup.
“Basically, we don’t think that’s where the action is,” Wilson said of political activism. He said he’s simply interested in spreading the word and if that ultimately impacts politics, so be it. (Lewiston Morning Tribune, November 6, 2003)
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Moscow’s Christians more than blip on radar
By Adam Wilson
This is a story with Doug Wilson in it. But it is not a story about the Southern slavery booklet he helped write.
This is a story about reconstructionism, a term which here means a view that supports laws found in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament.
As the debate over Wilson’s views on slavery has wound on, some people have sent information to the Tribune as background on what they believe to be Wilson’s master plan, that is, Christian reconstruction.
“I’ve read quite a bit of the recons’ — we call them recons — quite a bit of the recons’ stuff, and I’ve appreciated much of it,” said Wilson, pastor of Christ Church in Moscow. “But I think there are some problems with it.”
Reconstructionism as a movement originated in the 1960s among evangelical Protestants, a term which here means people who believe in the Bible as the sole religious authority.
Its proponents basically believe it necessary to create a fundamentalist biblical society, and to do so, reconstructionists need to control the government, which they call “dominion.”
Most of the Christian right, like the Christian Coalition, the Moral Majority, preacher Pat Robertson and others, are not reconstructionists, but they have been influenced by the reconstructionists’ prolific writings.
The movement entered the halls of power alongside mainstream conservative Christians in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was elected president.
But the majority of people do not like the world view espoused by reconstructionists.
The Old Testament books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus prescribe notoriously nasty punishments — like throwing rocks at people until they die — for what many consider normal behavior — like premarital sex or yelling at your parents.
There could be a connection to the slavery booklet in this story, because some people believe the Bible also permits forms of slavery, which therefore would be allowed by a reconstructionist government.
But we’ll let that go for now.
The point here is the movement has explicitly political aims.
You would expect a reconstructionist church to work diligently toward electing members to political office, backing candidates for the city council, the county commission and the state legislature.
This has not occurred, or at least it has not been reported, in Moscow.
“It’s not that I believe that it’s wrong for a Christian to be involved in politics, but that’s not the way it’s going to happen,” Wilson said.
Wilson said his church members are more concerned with living in the way they believe is right, which they also believe converts others to their church.
“We’re just doing what everybody else does. We’re trying to mind our businesses and influence things, but by living attractive lives,” he said.
“We do believe that will transform culture; we do believe it will impact politics. Let’s say 500 years from now, everybody in town is a Christian. They are not going to elect a Muslim mayor.”
This is where the rubber meets the road, a phrase which here means the actual impact of a theoretical concept is shown.
Regardless of whether Wilson is a reconstructionist or not, his goal is essentially the same, an evangelical Christian society living by biblical rules, as opposed to the currently pluralistic society living by secular rules.
This is nothing new. Wilson said his church and its affiliates have been under fire lately because their activities have finally come to the attention of most Muscowans.
“Everything was functioning under the radar,” he said. “When it finally got to New St. Andrews (College) moved downtown and our church bought a building downtown, they had 20 years of ignorance to catch up on.”
Wilson said the public may have first paid attention when a school levy failed in Moscow. He said his church did not organize against the levy but may have stopped it simply by running their own religious schools.
“The fact that so many people are taking their children out of the government school system makes them disinclined to support it,” he said.
As the religious right has become mainstream and developed sophisticated political techniques, the liberal religious community has also become more involved, forming its own political advocacy group, the Clergy Leadership Network, this week.
So, too, has Moscow’s liberal community become more vocal about what it believes.
Can Wilson’s church stay steadfastly fundamentalist as others in the community, however late, decide to challenge his writings on slavery in the newspapers for weeks?
Wilson, by the way, has previously said he does not believe death is the only punishment for homosexuality, and he has said that slavery is evil.
“Reconstructionism as a movement is dead,” Wilson said, meaning the founders of the idea are almost all in the afterlife.
But he noted that the second generation of reconstructionists have done what he is doing, starting below the grassroots level of politics.
And suddenly, or not so suddenly, Wilson and his church are on the radar, a phrase which here means they are actively opposed. (Lewiston Morning Tribune, November 20, 2003)
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Wilson says he has no hidden agenda
Followers have no plans to take over town or any political ambitions
By David JohnsonMOSCOW — Christ Church Rev. Doug Wilson Thursday night denounced slavery, said his church doesn’t want to take over downtown Moscow, divorced himself and his followers from any political ambitions and vowed to spread his version of Christianity through persuasion, not imposition.
“If more people are persuaded,” he told an audience of about 350 at a church-sponsored town meeting, “it’s going to impact the complexion of the town.” But Wilson, the focus of more than two months of debate over his views on slavery and perceived designs on local politics, said there’s no hidden agenda in his methods. . . .
“Politics will be saved, but politics is no savior,” Wilson told the audience, insisting that he gave up on the political system long ago and is now dedicated to spreading the gospel like yeast moves during the baking of bread. . . . (Lewiston Morning Tribune, December 12, 2003)
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In the 60s, my father wrote a small but enormously influential book called The Principles of War. In it, he applied the principles of physical warfare to what he called strategic evangelism. This idea of warfare is necessary in order to understand a central part of what is happening here, and by this I mean the concept of the decisive point. A decisive point is one which is simultaneously strategic and feasible. Strategic means that it would be a significant loss to the enemy if taken. Feasible means that it is possible to take. New York City is strategic but not feasible. Bovill is feasible but not strategic. But small towns with major universities (Moscow and Pullman, say) are both. (Douglas Wilson, The State of the Church 2003, December 28, 2003)1
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2004
That pamphlet raised eyebrows, and the recent purchase of several commercial properties by Christ Church members spawned community fears that the church and its associated evangelical school, New St. Andrews College, are trying to take control of the town. Wilson has denied any takeover plans and has said his followers only want to peacefully coexist with everyone in their community. (Lewiston Morning Tribune, February 4, 2004)
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Nate Wilson said the controversy has less to do with slavery and everything to do with different world views. “If you believe that the Bible is true in a literal way, you’re not compatible with the secular left.” He said members of Christ Church, despite their claims of having no political agenda, continue to be accused of trying to establish a theocratic society. “There’s this underlying assumption we want to have a dictatorship and start executing people,” said Nate Wilson.
Doug Wilson continued to assert he’s not interested in a hidden political agenda, especially one to take over Moscow. But he conceded the spread of Christianity in town could have political ramifications. He suggested that the move of New St. Andrews College more than a year ago to downtown Moscow adjacent to Friendship Square is what really incited opposition forces. “That’s where the freak-out factor began,” said Doug Wilson. (Lewiston Morning Tribune, February 6, 2004)
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2005
Big News
Topic: Current Events
Now that the papers are all signed, and my attorney says that there is nothing that can be done about it, I suppose this would be a good time to announce that through the generous help of a third party my wife and I have bought the Moscow Food Coop. For me to have been involved in the negotiations publicly would have been obviously counterproductive, but now that the deal is done, I think there is no longer any sense in being coy. At the same time, despite local politics, I want to assure all the regular Food Coop customers that there is absolutely no intention of selling the Coop’s new downtown location to Christ Church, or of diminishing in any way the quality of service that our customers have come to expect.
Posted by Douglas Wilson — 4/1/2005 1:16:54 PM
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. . . . The INKster continues to dog Doug Wilson regarding the status of the cookbook being compiled by the women of Christ Church, hoping to review the new publication in her weekly Cookbook Corner column.
Doug’s daughter, Rachel Jankovic, is in charge of the project. The cookbook has been delayed because my daughter has morning sickness, Doug explained to the INKster last month.
The INKster e-mailed back inquiring if this was the first grandchild for he and wife, Nancy. Actually, Rachel is expecting grandchild number 10, Doug replied, “There’s more than one way to take over a town!” (Moscow-Pullman Daily News, October 7, 2005)
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2007
Students at New St. Andrews rarely read Van Til’s dense theological treatises. They absorb his ideas from their teachers. A few faculty members at New St. Andrews also had links with a largely defunct offshoot of Van Til’s thought called Christian Reconstructionism. The movement’s founder, Rousas John Rushdoony, wrote that Christians should gradually take control of society and reinstate Old Testament law — including the execution of adulterers and homosexuals. Most N.S.A. faculty members are quick to distance themselves from the movement, but not Doug Wilson. . . .
Wilson and others at New St. Andrews say they are laying the groundwork for the long-term reinvigoration of evangelical intellectual life — and for Christian cultural ascendancy. Time and again, they assert that they are not trying to influence politics and that the antagonism they face is persecution. “The Gospels make it clear that as we’re faithful, we can expect opposition,” says Peter Leithart, who teaches theology. It’s hard to deny, however, that Wilson goes out of his way to provoke. “The object was to take over the town with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but to do it in an underground fashion,” says Wilson’s father, now nearly 80 and still running his ministry. “One of the principles of war is surprise. You don’t tell people what you’re going to do. Doug told them, and he gave them someone to shoot at.” (New York Times Magazine, September 7, 2007)
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No Incumbents
Topic: Moscow Diversity Cleansing
Our Moscow City Council election is about a week and a half away. For those involved, the simplest rule of thumb is to vote for no incumbents, which would include Lamar, Ament, and Pall. They have been been hip-deep in the antics of the last several years, and there are a few reminders of that included below. True, Lamar is a recent addition, but if you combine his name with Ament’s, we get LAMENT, and I don’t think we can risk it.
But before getting to that, it is important to note that Moscow has a horse race style election. There are three four-year seats open, and one two-year seat. The top three vote-getters scrambling for the four-year seats will be elected and the top candidate for the two-year seat will be elected. Those who want to clean out this council should therefore keep it simple and not vote for any incumbents (even if they wind up voting for only two candidates), because that could contribute to bumping out a candidate they did vote for. If for your third choice you vote for the least crazy of the incumbents, that vote could help defeat your first choice. . . .
The solution is simple. Time to clean a little house, and the simplest way to do this is to vote for no incumbents.
Posted by Douglas Wilson — 10/27/2007 8:52:38 AM
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2015
Wilson said his church wants to exert more influence on the community at large, though not in the ways many people around Moscow may think. The phrase “take over,” he said, “doesn’t mean taking up artillery on Paradise Ridge. It’s persuasion to live more peaceable lives.” (Moscow-Pullman Daily News, July 15, 2015)
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1 Please read this post to understand the context of this quotation.