#418: Douglas Wilson

After the – for chroniclers of loons – untimely demise of David Wilkerson in April 2011, we’ll move to the only slightly less unhinged fundie Douglas James Wilson. Wilson is a conservative Reformed and evangelical theologian, Rushdoony disciple, Christian reconstructionist, pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, faculty member at New Saint Andrews College, and pretty prolific author and speaker. He is perhaps most famous for the documentary “Collision” documenting his debate with Christopher Hitchens from Wilson’s point of view.

Wilson has written everything from theological treatises to children’s books to poetry to magazine articles. He has been an ardent advocate for classical Christian education, especially in “Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning”, where he argues that the American public schools are failing to educate their students, proposing instead a Christian approach to education based on the Trivium. He knows nothing about education, of course, but the point is not to achieve quality education but to prevent science-oriented teachers from using truth to brainwash children with reality.

Wilson's most controversial work is probably his “Southern Slavery, As It Was”, which says pretty much exactly what you’d fear that it says (it was written together with League of the South co-founder Steve Wilkins). Real historians were not impressed, nor amused. George Grant supported his ideas, which is not a mark of quality or veracity. (There were even some instances of inaccurate and misleading citations in the tract; who would have suspected?) Chuck Colson was apparently a supporter, however. The gist of the pamphlet was that southern slavery was not only sanctioned by the Bible but, thanks to the patriarchal kindness of their wise evangelical masters, a positive, happy, and pleasant experience for the majority of southern blacks. Wilson himself dismissed criticism as “abolitionist propaganda”.

He also, unfortunately, have views on family issues, pointing out that “The Bible indicates the punishment for homosexuality is death. The Bible also indicates the punishment for homosexuality is exile. So death is not the minimal punishment for a homosexual. There are other alternatives.”

He is otherwise a staunch theocrat whose ideal society is a mixture of Afghanistan and the antebellum confederacy, and an ardent critic of atheism for its moral failings a topic on which his expertise shines through.

Diagnosis: A pretty nasty piece of work. Impact is unknown, however, but he seems to be dangerously powerful.