Skip to main content

Doug Wilson Is Scary And Bad

 When I was about 20, I used to read him on occasion. I was Reformed, and a Federal Vision sympathizer. Of course I was; I didn’t know it, but I was a writer. And if you’re a little bit artsy-fartsy like that, you’re a crypto-Catholic, even if you’re not ready to submit to Rome.

It’s legit a kind of Oxford Movement within Reformed theology; that’s what it was; that’s what it is. I was smart enough to know that Western civilization is Catholic civilization. America is a bit anomalous, but let’s be real: the Anglican Communion at the time of the death of St. Thomas More was just the SSPX of its day: Catholics separated from their visible Head on Earth.

Anyway, I laughed at a lot at the Wilson snark, because even a lot of liberal Christians at the time acted like President Bush was a Christian Ayatollah. C’mon, man. This dude from Old Money, whose relatives seemingly own a third of New England? Other than the Calvinist Congregationalists, the region is not known for its excess of religious enthusiasm. There’s a reason still most of the presidents are Episcopalian; that’s where orderly Old Money worships.

But the Trump Era is typified by a lack of decorum, and Wilson’s mask got thrown away ages ago. Sometimes decorum prevents things that should be said from being said. Most times, though, decorum reminds us that we can be better. Bushes are good people; I definitely believe that. And “W” is the kind of man who forces guys like Wilson to at least pretend respectability. Now, arguments about politics and culture are often a street fight.

The Lost Cause crap was always there; I might say I should have seen it, but I might have been 22 when I stopped paying attention to him. I believe he hates women outright; his kindness and affection for any group of them depends only upon how they serve him. All these accusations and facts of sexual abuse, rape, and coverups prove all of that. That’s one of the beauties of resting in Holy Mother Church: I don’t have to rush to the defense of some “Christian conservative,” because “the libs” are after him. HE is a sexist; I’m just a passionate guy with a low tolerance for BS.

(I don’t hate liberals, either. I wish to meet Bryan Stevenson [“Just Mercy”] and Sister Helen Prejean, [“Dead Man Walking”] before we lose her. Both those books are “weep on the pages” kind of books, for anyone with a soul. I have made donations to Equal Justice Initiative, because I happen to think poor people deserve vigorous legal defense, regardless. So, Dr. Mary McCampbell and anyone else: if you’re going to put me with the “deplorables,” you’d better bring receipts. My guess is, you might not have enough people who tell you you’re wrong.)

Anyway, Doug Wilson is bad news.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Alyse

 Today, you’re 35. Or at least you would be, in this place. You probably know this, but we’re OK. Not great, but OK. We know you wouldn’t want us moping around and weeping all the time. We try not to. Actually, I guess part of the problem is that you didn’t know how much we loved you. And that you didn’t know how to love yourself. I hope you have gotten to Love by now. Not a place, but fills everything in every way. I’m not Him, but he probably said, “Dear daughter/sister, you have been terribly hard on yourself. Rest now, and be at peace.” Anyway, teaching is going well, and I tell the kids all about you. They all say you are pretty. I usually can keep the boys from saying something gross for a few seconds. Mom and I are going to the game tonight. And like 6 more times, before I go back to South Carolina. I have seen Nicky twice, but I myself haven’t seen your younger kids. Bob took pictures of the day we said goodbye, and we did a family picture at the Abbey. I literally almost a...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Friend I Once Had, And The Dogmatic Principle

 I once had a friend, a dear friend, who helped me with personal care needs in college. Reformed Presbyterian to the core. When I was a Reformed Presbyterian, I visited their church many times. We were close. I still consider his siblings my friends. (And siblings in the Lord.) Nevertheless, when I began to consider the claims of the Catholic Church to be the Church Christ founded, he took me out to breakfast. He implied--but never quite stated--that we would not be brothers, if I sought full communion with the Catholic Church. That came true; a couple years later, I called him on his birthday, as I'd done every year for close to ten of them. He didn't recognize my number, and it was the most strained, awkward phone call I have ever had. We haven't spoken since. We were close enough that I attended the rehearsal dinner for his wedding. His wife's uncle is a Catholic priest. I remember reading a blog post of theirs, that early in their relationship, she told him of the p...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Thoughts On The Harrison Butker Commencement Speech

Update: I read the whole thing. I’m sorry, but what a weirdo. I thought you [Tom Darrow, of Denver, CO] made a trenchant case for why lockdowns are bad, and I definitely appreciated it. But a graduation speech is *not* the place for that. Secondly, this is an august event. It always is. I would never address the President of the United States in this manner. Never. Even the previous president, though he deserves it, if anyone does. Thirdly, the affirmations of Catholic identity should be more general. He has no authority to propound with specificity on all matters of great consequence. It has all the hallmarks of a culture war broadside, and again, a layman shouldn’t speak like this. The respect and reverence due the clergy is *always due,* even if they are weak, and outright wrong. We just don’t brush them aside like corrupt Mafia dons, to make a point. Fourthly, I don’t know where anyone gets the idea that the TLM is how God demands to be worshipped. The Church doesn’t teach that. ...
Post a Comment
Read more