Most of us remember the explosion following the community scrutiny of Doug Wilson’s infamous pamphlet, Southern Slavery As It Was. In many ways it was a defining moment both for Doug Wilson and those of us who recognized (from specific academic training or an informed interest in the subject) the egregious historical and the profound biblical errors in his argument. Whatever his motivation for choosing to write as an apologist for race-based slavery (possibly a lucrative foothold for his products in the former Confederate states?), it set all of us on a trajectory that remains contentious and unresolved.
A key element in the interactions between those of us who Doug Wilson has baptized as “Intoleristas” is Doug’s overwhelming need to dive deeply into pompous pronouncements deliberately intended to incite and upset others. Much in the manner of a self-indulgent 16-year-old punk, he chortles with delight at his deliberately outrageous statements while metaphorically making an obscene hand gesture to the world. And now his latest foray, arguably the vilest of his life: “the sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party,” but instead “a man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants” while a woman “receives, surrenders, accepts.”
He continues, “This is of course offensive to all egalitarians, and so our culture has rebelled against the concept of authority and submission in marriage. This means that we have sought to suppress the concepts of authority and submission as they relate to the marriage bed ” [Doug Wilson’s Fidelity ]. Wilson’s own words set up the locker room (we’re all fellows together, nudge, nudge, wink, wink) atmosphere that permeates the first Chapter of Fidelity, cunningly titled “A Blunt Instrument”:
On page 85 of Fidelity, Doug explains how pedophiles should be dealt with: “But when we are dealing with young children who are abused by adults (pederasty, child porn, etc.) the penalty for those guilt of the crime should be death” (pg. 85) — except when it is inconvenient or might prove personally embarrassing.
Steven Sitler moved to Moscow in 2003 to attend Doug Wilson’s college, New Saint Andrews. Like many students attending NSA, Steven Sitler boarded with a Christ Church family. Unbeknownst to anyone in Moscow, he brought with him a history of pedophilia.
The victim’s family retained Christ Church member and attorney Gregory Dickison, who accompanied them to report the crime the morning after it occurred. Steven Sitler’s family retained Dean Wullenwaber, who is also a member of Christ Church. In short, the aggrieved and the aggravator were handled within a small church community which Doug controlled. (Controlled, you ask? Of the eighteen Kirk elders, including Doug, twelve rely substantially on Christ Church and its associated industries for a paycheck. It would be wrong to think that loyalty can’t be purchased.) Over time, Steven Sitler confessed his crimes to Doug Wilson — but we have no way of knowing if all his victims were named — in exchange for a guilty plea that included a single count of “Lewd and Lascivious Conduct With a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen.” According to his letter to Latah County Superior Court Judge John Stegner, Wilson had a total of “about six counseling sessions” with Sitler during the months between the discovery of his crimes and his guilty plea.
Court documents make clear that the only known victims in this case are those whom Steven admitted to Doug. Perhaps Steven Sitler’s attorney put it best in one of his briefs that refers to “the volume of Steven’s offenses over the years.” On September 26, 2005, Sitler was sentenced to life in prison, which included only a few months in a state non-violent offenders’ prison camp and one year in the county jail. If he reoffends (he will have to be caught doing so), he will go to prison for life.
Afterwards, when called to account for his dereliction of duty by the general public, Douglas Wilson dismissed his failure as a good shepherd as his enemies’ failed attempt to get “handles on him.” The absence of a trial assured that the general public and also many church members would be unaware of any of these events. Following completion of his jail time, Steven Sitler rented and then purchased property owned by members of Christ Church, transferred to the University of Idaho, and was gradually reintegrated into the Christ Church and Trinity Reformed Church family.
(Keely writing: I stand by every word of these three Prevailing Winds posts and others before and after them and believe they are sufficient in describing the horrific judgment demonstrated by Wilson against yet another vulnerable young person).
I’m going to let this sink in; I’m going to go have a good cry to wash the filth from my heart as I remember and bear witness to the ugliness that Wilson presided over last June and the machinations he engaged in to keep the work of a pedophile from becoming fully known.
As I said earlier, sometimes it’s just too much.