Dr. Lois Blackburn wrote this op-ed for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, which they published on March 22, 2006. If you have never met Lois, then please know that she is a wonderful human being — all heart. I can’t say enough about her. And to my knowledge, Lois was the first person to realize that Doug Wilson was colonizing Moscow by recruiting followers to the Palouse from around the country. She mentions this in the third person in the column: “people objected to what they viewed as colonization by this group. . .” This is true. Douglas Wilson cannot survive or take over without these colonists. Lois saw this first.

Lois never surrendered to factiousness. She taught cello to Doug Jones’ daughters during the years when all the scandals piled up — she absolutely adored those girls. And I know more than one kirker whom she helped after they left Christ Church, which is when these poor souls discover their real friends — people such as Lois Blackburn. Here she is from 11 years ago:

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Moscow is a small city with a big heart

Town Crier column by Lois Blackburn

I’ve lived in a great many cities and towns. As a young widow with small children, I went from place to place, looking for jobs and affordable housing. Employment was a challenge because my qualifications consisted of a fistful of teaching certificates (when the field was overcrowded), and a master’s degree in music, which at the best of times will get you a jelly doughnut and a cup of coffee. The biggest city was Tucson, Ariz., where I got my doctorate. The smallest was Corrales, N.M., population 850.

When I arrived in Moscow in 1991 to interview at the University of Idaho, I flew over the Palouse in a small plane, gazing in awe at the beauty of the landscape. As John Denver sang about another state, I’d come back home to a place I’d never been before. I loved the University of Idaho and the Palouse. When I retired, I chose not to return to enchanting New Mexico, to which my children who live there still beckon me to return. At 73, I’m still here, where I can depend on a great deal of emotional and intellectual support because the greatest natural resource of the Palouse is the people who live here.

In a column in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News in July 2003, Vera White, a much-admired journalist whom I’m proud to call my friend, commented that the atmosphere in Moscow had become uncivil. Her justifiable concern was prompted by some unfortunate events that introduced a new and painful rift into the community. However, this is the most civil of all the communities I’ve known.

Moscow is a city with a big heart. Most business owners and their employees are friendly and accommodating to customers. Strangers here smile and speak to each other. I’ve known people down on their luck who were quietly given free meals at local restaurants. When BookPeople moved across Main Street, more than 100 volunteers showed up to help on a frigid December evening, and local restaurants served free coffee and cookies. The Moscow Food Co-op recently accomplished a monumental relocation with an army of volunteers.

I long ago lost count of the number of fundraising events I’ve attended that were organized to pay someone’s hospital bills or funeral expenses, or support a family in dire financial straits. To me, the most moving aspect of these events is that the organizers and the participants often have little in common with each other or the beneficiaries except that they live in this community.

The Palouse has groups dedicated to human rights, environmental and historical preservation, the arts, schools, and community welfare and government. So what is the rift? A local pastor, in a December 2003 newspaper interview, announced that Southern slavery was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and affirmed the Old Testament law that homosexuals should be killed or exiled. Tossing that kind of bomb into a community in which residents are prone to express themselves will provoke strong reactions. Full-page newspaper ads featured a paragraph signed by more than 800 people objecting to the suggestion that some of their neighbors should be killed and that slavery is acceptable under certain conditions. Some reactions were moderate, others were immature; however, the pastor responded by condemning the citizens as religious bigots.

It is relevant to note that the religion page in our newspaper usually lists 45 to 50 churches. Some may share that pastor’s opinions, but do not challenge the community with them. To my knowledge, this is the only church provoking this kind of battle. Community suspicion spread. When New Saint Andrews College became a central element of Moscow’s downtown in spite of a zoning prohibition, people objected to what they viewed as colonization by this group, and the rift grew wider.

I have no quarrel with Christ Church, New Saint Andrews and Logos School. Some of their members are among my favorite people. They are family oriented, raise polite and civilized young people, and champion music, languages, and classical literature. The presence of NSA in Moscow’s downtown is attributable to city staff rather than NSA. I’m not sure how to heal a rift caused by one leader’s mission to divide us rather than join us.

Lois Blackburn is a retired University of Idaho music professor and a cello teacher for many adults and children in the area. She loves Moscow and is active in the musical and civic affairs of the city. Town Crier II is a weekly series of columns contributed by 13 local writers. The Town Crier columns run on Wednesday.