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Let’s address the cultural schism in Moscow
Douglas Wilson
William Brock is to be commended for noting that there is a cultural schism in Moscow that has become too large to ignore (Daily News column, March 16). This is certainly true, but in our attempts to stop ignoring it, we need to take care not to make things worse — and one of the ways to make it worse is to be careless with the facts.
In his first paragraph, Brock says that three members of Christ Church were arrested for “flouting a mask order.” The problem with this statement is that the mask order explicitly exempted religious events and protests, and our event was both. The ordinance did not apply to us, not even a little bit. When the federal judge ordered the case back to settlement, he did so while explaining that virtually no one in city government appears to have been familiar with the terms of their own ordinance. How would it be possible for us to stick our thumb in “the eye of civil society” through actions which complied fully with all the terms of the ordinance passed by our city council?
At the same time, Brock does see what a lot of us see as well, which is that our small town is experiencing the same kind of polarizing divide that is afflicting the country at large. But unfortunately, the way he writes simply perpetuates the polarization. For example, he points out that there is a photo online that shows me standing on a rainbow flag, and he reports that fact with a “case closed” finality. What he leaves out is that the photo was a satiric riff off the very famous photo of Bill Ayers (Obama’s friend) standing on an American flag. Does Brock have a problem with both photos, or just with mine?
At the same time, he says this, accurately enough: “All of which makes Moscow a community that cleaves along increasingly sharp sectarian lines: ‘Us’ and ‘Them.’” But you don’t solve this problem by doubling down on being “us.”
A few months ago, I wrote an open letter to the residents of Moscow, responding to these very same community tensions. Brock is exactly right that those tensions are there. I believe that members of our church community do have convictions which citizens on the progressive left would adamantly reject, and vice versa. I also believe that there is a large group in the middle that would sometimes be sympathetic to one side, and then to the other, depending on what they hear.
But there is yet another aspect to all of this, and I think this is an area where we have at least the prospect of calming the situation down somewhat. There are also an awful lot of rumors and speculations and wild stories out there that just exacerbate the tensions. In the open letter that I wrote, I was seeking to begin a process of connecting with various city officials so that we did not have any unnecessary collisions. We have real differences enough. Why add to their number unnecessarily?
Surely our town has some institution that could host an event where representatives of our church community could sit on the same stage with representatives of the town and just talk. If we were invited to such an event, we would most certainly come. Not only would we come, but we would come prepared to discuss all the issues openly and cordially. I would think the only requirement for all participants would be that they agree beforehand to discuss — just to ask and answer questions. No protests, no shutting people down, no cancel culture. Just a conversation.
Could the newspaper host it? The university? The city itself?
“No one can dispute that Christ Church and its subsidiaries are burgeoning.” Again, this is true. We are a significant and integral part of this community, and we are not going anywhere. At the same time, we are most willing to talk.
I should say one other thing. For those in our town who are curious about what we do, our church services are open.
Easter is coming up, and together with Christians everywhere, we are gearing up to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.
You would be most welcome to come and worship with us, or to just come and observe.
Wilson is pastor and founder of Christ Church in Moscow.
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