S01E189: I Am Not An Atomic Playboy
Tonight’s Tarot: THE STARMAN
Freaks of Hazard:
BassNJay plucked out a monthly $10 for the cause! Jah Bless!
Private Browsing for joining us this evening.
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I WILL BLOW YOUR MIND
TRUST THE ATOM, BE THE ATOM
We review 1940’s and 50’s “Educational” films produced in part by the US government to “inform” the public on their intentions and policy with a newly developed atomic arsenal.
NORTHERN IDAHO RULES
IDAHO CULTS, MAN!
Moscow, Idaho is the home of University of Idaho, a small liberal arts school near the border of Washington state (not far from Pullman, WA where Washington State University is located). It’s a town typified by charming tree-lined streets, trendy local stores and restaurants, and beautiful rolling green hills. There has only been one murder in the town since 2015, (a big one in 2022 when the 4 U of I students were stabbed in their home, a story for another day). To visitors and residents alike, Moscow is an all-around pretty great place to live.
However, in this seemingly ideal community therein lies a sinister underbelly of Christian extremism. Northern Idaho is no stranger to such ideals, as Couer d’Alene is famously a white supremacist enclave, and a particularly spicy version of Mormonism runs rampant all over the state as well. But this cult, called Christ Church, is a small but influential group of people; in a city of 25,000, only about 1,300 are declared members, about 5% of the population. They own a majority of the retail space downtown as well as over 50 businesses in the area.
A cult is defined as “a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.” In the case of Christ Church, sinister doesn’t begin to cover it. Lorena Heironymous was raised in the cult after her family moved to Moscow when she was young. She spoke at length to Derek on the MythVision podcast, and all my clips today are from the episode aired on 11/7/22. Here at 6:50-8:30 she summarizes what some of those extreme beliefs are.
So who started Christ Church? One man named Douglas Wilson, who is still alive today. He started the church in the 70s and has turned himself into a sort of big daddy christian overseer of his little kingdom.
From wikipedia:
Douglas Wilson was born in 1953, and in 1958 his family moved to Annapolis, MD (booo) where he spent most of his childhood.[2] His father James Wilson was a full-time evangelist, who became a Christian while in the Navy.[3] Upon high school graduation
Douglas Wilson enlisted into the submarine service, after which he attended the University of Idaho, where he met his wife, Nancy, whom he married in 1975.
He is featured in the documentary film Collision documenting his debates with anti-theist Christopher Hitchens on their promotional tour for the book Is Christianity Good for the World?
So, your run-of-the-mill cult leader guy usually has what components?
He is:
A self-published blowhard
In recent years, he has heightened his “traditionalist” attacks on modern mores, including a 2020 speech he gave on the UI campus titled “The Lost Virtue of Sexism,” in which he argued that everyone can agree the Bible is sexist—but that the Bible is always right.
As the home of a liberal-arts college, Moscow has long been a Democratic enclave in an otherwise red state... This, in fact, is the situation that Wilson has long intended to change. He calls his plans for Moscow a “spiritual takeover.” …“The only possible solution is a massive religious revival,” he said.
He has written over 50 books and co-authored many more, one of which being…
A slavery apologist
Daily Kos: Wilson co-wrote a book, Southern Slavery: As It Was, featured in the Logos Books curriculum, which claimed in part: "Slavery as it existed in the South [...] was a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence.” It argued: "There has never been a multiracial society which has existed with such mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world. [...] "Slave life was to them [slaves] a life of plenty, of simple pleasures, of food, clothes, and good medical care."
A self-aggrandizing Christian general on the front lines of spiritual warfare
Religion News: “Our desire is to make Moscow a Christian town,” it reads, “ … through genuine cultural engagement that provides Christian leadership in the arts, in business, in education, in politics, and in literature.” Not everyone in the community is on board with that plan. He also told Religious News the idea of a spiritual takeover of Moscow started with his father, James, who is now in his 90s and is being cared for by Douglas Wilson and his wife, Nancy. In his 1964 book, “Principles of War: A Handbook on Strategic Evangelism,” Jim Wilson explains that the concepts of physical warfare can be applied to strategic evangelism.
Doug posts videos of himself on youtube, where in one he states “It’s not the job of the preacher to be a firefighter out in the world — we’re not supposed to be running around putting out other people’s fire,” Wilson says in the video. “We are supposed to be arsonists.”
A Pedo supporter
Wilson also officiated the wedding of Steven Sitler, a former New Saint Andrews student convicted of lewd contact with a child under 16, despite Sitler’s parole officer’s objections. (Sitler, on lifetime parole due to the number of victims he confessed abusing, could not be unsupervised with children.) Wilson maintains a unique role in the Sitler saga, saying he encouraged the father who discovered the abuse to report it to the police, but Wilson later welcomed Sitler back to Christ Church (with a chaperone). At Sitler’s wedding, according to one guest, Wilson explained that sometimes people need to get married so the flesh can be contained. Using a wife as a sexual decoy to distract Sitler from children didn’t work. Later, a judge ruled Sitler must be chaperoned around his children, due violating parole again
A pervert who asks too many questions
Vice: Former Logos student Helen Shores, 37, was called in for a solo meeting with Doug Wilson after she lost her virginity at 16 to her then boyfriend, who had confessed they’d had sex to his parents. Wilson “wanted me to tell him in detail, everything that happened when we had sex,” says Shores, who was told by Wilson that her boyfriend had already told him everything. “So I needed to tell him in absolute detail what sexual experience happened, how many times it happened, all that kind of stuff.”
An enterprising businessman
Canon Press (has a youtube channel)
They also have a prominent role in the local business community and town politics. Members of Christ Church own construction companies, farms and several popular downtown restaurants. Others are CEOs and business leaders around town.
“I would say any tension between the town and the church is one-sided in that the city bends over backwards to try and accommodate the church and school, granting them special use permits for buildings so they don’t stay unoccupied, while trying to maintain a business district,” Rounds said. “The church just gets really upset when they’re told no.”
They have a college there called New St Andrews, as well as a K-12 school called Logos School (1981), which they have purchased real estate to expand on the edge of town. These schools are part of the Association of Classical Christian Schools, an organization with about 300 members, including NSA, that urges the formation of Christian schools using a model of classical education.
Logos School:
See clip at 17:42-19:21 for the abuse Lorena experienced there
The school, like the private homes of Christ Church congregants, also seemed to be ripe grounds for abuse. In 2017, Michaela Petersen, who attended Logos through 11th grade, and other students reported inappropriate touching by one teacher to Logos’ school board. According to Petersen, one male teacher “would feel up” Peterson and other girls in the hallways and rub their backs without permission in the classroom. In one instance, the teacher said to the class “You see? Everything has a male and a female part. The projector cord is the male, and you stick his penis in the outlet’s vagina,” as he stroked the cord and then pushed it into the socket.
A hardcore misogynist wo advocates for sexual assault in marriage and the general subjugation of women
see clip at 37:21-39:32 (TRIGGER WARNING)
Vice: In the time since leaving the Christ Church community, “Jean’s” car has been vandalized regularly, the air let out of her tires several times. Online, she’s had to block kirkers (Christ Church followers), including teachers from Logos, angry about her divorce. “I have been called a whore, bitch, and cunt,” she said.
In his book Father Hunger, the pastor writes that a lack of fatherly authority and biblical masculinity (one that does not “simper and lisp”) is the root of various modern failings, including the “poison” of egalitarianism between genders. He has written “the sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party.” Instead, he argues that “a man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants,” while a “woman receives, surrenders, accepts,” and that “true authority and true submission are therefore an erotic necessity.” The idea is pervasive.
In Wilson’s wife Nancy’s book, The Fruit of Her Hands, she describes wives as lovely, enclosed gardens cultivated for marital sex: “But of course a husband is never trespassing in his own garden.” In 2017, Jean says, another member of the church told her a man is allowed to rape his wife.
What do we do about cults, then? I get so irate that this is happening in 2024. I’ve had it! It all went downhill since the Puritans….
He’s surrounded by books, so you know he’s smart and trustworthy. /s
A welcome sign in Moscow, Idaho. Photo by Steven Pavlov/Creative Commons
What: Christ Church
Where: Moscow, Idaho (pop. 25,000)
Who: Douglas Wilson and about 1,300 members
Why: trying to take over a small town and turn it into a Christian theocracy while supporting violent subjugation of women and sexual abuse of children
Despite its location in a remote rural college town, Christ Church is not merely a fringe cult. Wilson is a major figure in the evangelical home-schooling and “classical Christian school” movements, having helped found the Association of Classical and Christian Schools, which accredits institutions similar to Wilson’s. He also operates a publishing house, Logos Books, that provides curriculum materials for both homeschoolers and “classical schools.”
Wilson co-wrote a book, Southern Slavery: As It Was, featured in the Logos Books curriculum, which claimed in part: "Slavery as it existed in the South [...] was a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence.” It argued: "There has never been a multiracial society which has existed with such mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world. [...] "Slave life was to them [slaves] a life of plenty, of simple pleasures, of food, clothes, and good medical care."
In recent years, he has heightened his “traditionalist” attacks on modern mores, including a 2020 speech he gave on the UI campus titled “The Lost Virtue of Sexism,” in which he argued that everyone can agree the Bible is sexist—but that the Bible is always right.
As the home of a liberal-arts college, Moscow has long been viewed statewide as a hotbed of leftist politics, and its voting record has remained predominantly Democratic in most elections... This, in fact, is the situation that Wilson has long intended to change. He calls his plans for Moscow a “spiritual takeover.” …“The only possible solution is a massive religious revival,” he said.
Websites that monitor the church's activities and reports on them to the public, written by the people who live in that community
The church has over 50 businesses in the area, so some people choose not to patronize those businesses so as not to indirectly support Wilson and his hideous viewpoints
“Our desire is to make Moscow a Christian town,” it reads, “ … through genuine cultural engagement that provides Christian leadership in the arts, in business, in education, in politics, and in literature.” Not everyone in the community is on board with that plan, Wilson admits. He also told RNS the idea of a spiritual takeover of Moscow started with his father, James, who came to the area after retiring from the Navy to start a Christian bookstore at the nearby Washington State University campus. Jim Wilson is now in his 90s and is being cared for by Douglas Wilson and his wife, Nancy. In his 1964 book, “Principles of War: A Handbook on Strategic Evangelism,” Jim Wilson explains that the concepts of physical warfare can be applied to strategic evangelism.
Christ Church preaches that procreation is an essential part of marriage. The Wilsons have three grown children and 17 grandchildren. The entire family dines together weekly for Sabbath Dinner.
He posts videos of himself on youtube, where in one he states “It’s not the job of the preacher to be a firefighter out in the world — we’re not supposed to be running around putting out other people’s fire,” Wilson says in the video. “We are supposed to be arsonists.”
Wilson and his followers don’t limit themselves to spiritual matters. They also have a prominent role in the local business community and town politics. Members of Christ Church own construction companies, farms and several popular downtown restaurants. Others are CEOs and business leaders around town.
“I would say any tension between the town and the church is one-sided in that the city bends over backwards to try and accommodate the church and school, granting them special use permits for buildings so they don’t stay unoccupied, while trying to maintain a business district,” Rounds said. “The church just gets really upset when they’re told no.”
They have a college there called New St Andrews, as well as a K-12 school called Logos School (1981), which they have purchased real estate to expand on the edge of town. These schools are part of the Association of Classical Christian Schools, an organization with about 300 members, including NSA, that urges the formation of Christian schools using a model of classical education.
In the time since leaving the Christ Church community, “Jean’s” car has been vandalized regularly, the air let out of her tires several times. Online, she’s had to block kirkers, including teachers from Logos, angry about her divorce. “I have been called a whore, bitch, and cunt,” she said.
In his book Father Hunger, the pastor writes that a lack of fatherly authority and biblical masculinity (one that does not “simper and lisp”) is the root of various modern failings, including the “poison” of egalitarianism between genders. He has written “the sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party.” Instead, he argues that “a man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants,” while a “woman receives, surrenders, accepts,” and that “true authority and true submission are therefore an erotic necessity.” The idea is pervasive. In Wilson’s wife Nancy’s book, The Fruit of Her Hands, she describes wives as lovely, enclosed gardens cultivated for marital sex: “But of course a husband is never trespassing in his own garden.” In 2017, Jean says, another member of the church told her a man is allowed to rape his wife.
Wilson also officiated the wedding of Steven Sitler, a former New Saint Andrews student convicted of lewd contact with a child under 16, despite Sitler’s parole officer’s objections. (Sitler, on lifetime parole due to the number of victims he confessed abusing, could not be unsupervised with children.) Wilson maintains a unique role in the Sitler saga, saying he encouraged the father who discovered the abuse to report it to the police, but Wilson later welcomed Sitler back to Christ Church (with a chaperone). At Sitler’s wedding, according to one guest, Wilson explained that sometimes people need to get married so the flesh can be contained. Using a wife as a sexual decoy to distract Sitler from children didn’t work. Later, a judge ruled Sitler must be chaperoned around his children, due violating parole again
The school, like the private homes of Christ Church congregants, also seemed to be ripe grounds for abuse. In 2017, Michaela Petersen, who attended Logos through 11th grade, and other students reported inappropriate touching by one teacher to Logos’ school board. According to Petersen, one male teacher “would feel up” Peterson and other girls in the hallways and rub their backs without permission in the classroom. In one instance, the teacher said to the class “You see? Everything has a male and a female part. The projector cord is the male, and you stick his penis in the outlet’s vagina,” as he stroked the cord and then pushed it into the socket.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Wilson_(theologian)#:~:text=Douglas%20James%20Wilson%20
Douglas Wilson was born in 1953, and in 1958 his family moved to Annapolis, MD where he spent most of his childhood.[2] His father was a full-time evangelist, who worked with the Officers’ Christian Union. His father had become a Christian in the Naval Academy, and worked in Christian literature ministry, both in Annapolis and later in Idaho.[3] Upon high school graduation Wilson enlisted into the submarine service, after which he attended the University of Idaho, where he met his wife, Nancy, whom he married in 1975.
He argues that American public schools are failing to educate their students, and proposes a Christian approach to education based on the medieval trivium, a philosophy of education with origins in Classical Antiquity and emphasizing grammar, rhetoric, and logic and advocates a wide exposure to the liberal arts, including classical Western languages such as Latin and Greek. The model has been adopted by a number of Christian private schools[7] and homeschoolers.[8]
HAs written over 50 books and co-authored many more; hs most controversial work is Southern Slavery, As It Was,[1]
He is also featured in the documentary film Collision documenting his debates with anti-theist Christopher Hitchens on their promotional tour for the book Is Christianity Good for the World?
“I Escaped Doug Wilson’s Cult”
MythVision Podcast
Logos School uses corporal punishment (she went there for 2nd-5th grade)
Her brother kissed a girl in the park and they both got expelled
6:50-8:30 clip on the extreme beliefs of the cult summarized
17:42-19:21 abuse she experienced
Anti-evolutionism, they teach young earth creationism, in the Logos School
37:21-39:32 TW: SA of real accounts of the teachings of this cult involving rape
A positive note: She’s been in therapy a long time and is getting the help she needs to her trauma, lives independently now and has a great job as an advocate for disabled people, feels she has healed a lot and is thriving
OPENER
Bob Marley Interview with Racist Woman | 1978
INTERMISSION
Kurtisdrums - Christian Values
Killer Cops - Mike Epting (Malachi)
CLOSER
TAKE THESE, IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE!
HOW DARE YOU HAVE SO MANY HIGH QUALITY MEMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Appreciate the show, before you get all giddy about Ike and his awesomeness I would encourage you to look into the Rheinwiesenlager and how they decided to cover up the ethnic cleansing of Eastern Germany in the summer of 1945.