9 comments

1. I’ve told this online regarding sexual molestation of children: I was molested by an older cousin when I was 11 yrs old. I actually have no memory of the act itself because I blocked it out. But when I told my mother and father, my father didn’t believe his nephew could do something so terrible. My mother disagreed and tried to keep me away from him; but due to me not remembering the actual act, he simply denied it and made me out to be a liar. Pastors and parents – you must take a child at their word in these matters. I have no idea how many others my cousin went on to abuse. I’m glad Steven Sitler was exposed, but Doug Wilson and other adults who knew or even suspected are culpable in this matter due to inaction or delayed action in calling the authorities.

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   • Angela,

     I’m very sorry you had to endure this. May the Lord grant you every grace.

     You’re exactly right. It can be hard for parents to accept these reports or even to believe what they have seen in the behavior of people they love.

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     • Thank you. The abusers are often the least person you would suspect; in my case he was my favorite cousin and his parents my favorite aunt and uncle. Years later I believe my dad realized I had told the truth and I forgive him for not believing me. In some ways Dad was quite naive. 🙂 But it’s motivated me to speak out and champion the cause of those abused and that’s always a good thing. 🙂

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       • Amen to this, Angela: “Thank you. The abusers are often the least person you would suspect; in my case he was my favorite cousin and his parents my favorite aunt and uncle.”

         Let me join with Dr. Clark in expressing my strong sympathies toward you in regards to molestation. I cannot discuss this publicly, but I have direct knowledge of such cases, far too many of which were swept under the rug and ignored.

         What I can do is speak about public matters and court cases.

         One benefit of spending several years of my time before seminary as a reporter, and my entire time since seminary as a reporter, is that I know beyond any question the truth of total depravity from court records. I read every felony and every misdemeanor case filed in our county — always at least a thousand per year, sometimes close to two thousand — and it is a sickening display of man’s wickedness.

         The problems certainly include the church world. Nobody will know the situations with local ministers and churches in our county, but to cite one very public example from the Reformed world, I covered the Richard Rhem case in which the pastor of what was then the fourth-largest church in the RCA got into trouble with his denomination because of his views on universal salvation, but then got into far worse problems when he was accused of sexual abuse of at least 19 and probably 21 different women.

         The legal and political environment back then was radically different than it is now. This was the Bill Clinton era in which liberals in both political and ecclesiastical circles were arguing that people’s personal moral problems were their own private business and people should pay attention to their effectiveness in public service, not their private lives. Now, with the #MeToo movement, in some ways the political and ecclesiastical left have become the primary advocates for “believe women” while too many conservatives have forgotten the positions we took, correctly so, during the Bill Clinton era that the way people run their families and conduct their personal lives are good indicators of their fitness for political leadership, as well as being MANDATORY requirements for ecclesiastical leadership.

         I watched a denomination tie itself up into knots with the RCA feminists and other assorted liberals arguing among themselves whether Rhem’s personal behavior should even be an issue. Too many ignored the testimony of longtime female members of Rhem’s church because they believed the conservatives were manipulating people into false accusations to take down one of the most important liberal leaders in the RCA, a man who had decades of history supporting feminist causes but was now accused of abusing vulnerable female members of his own church.

         I don’t know enough about how Doug Wilson handled the situation in his church to comment on what he did right and wrong. As far as I know, nobody has accused him of personal moral misconduct with women, but rather mishandling cases of others who were doing that.

         I do, however, believe the dynamic we saw in the RCA with liberals tying themselves into knots trying to defend a prominent liberal pastor is being repeated today, in a mirror image, with too many conservatives defending behavior by conservatives in church and in state that should be indefensible.

         With regard to political office, yes, we had King Henry VIII and his gross moral problems, but without him it is very unlikely there would have been an English Reformation. The qualifications for political office are those of Romans 13, which primarily speak of bearing the sword, not those of I Timothy and Titus.

         But there are no grounds for toleration for such behavior with regard to ecclesiastical office.

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2. Dr. Clark,

   Your obsession with Mr. Wilson and the continual reminders to your readers about how he mishandled abuse cases, is doing nothing more than bringing shame to the actual victims. These victims don’t want their names continually blasted on the internet. You should stop and let these women heal.

   John

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   • John,

     These are public matters. The Shubin Report has been public for years. Your concern for the the well-being of the victims but do you know what we would really be healing for them? A shred a repentance by Mr Wilson.

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     • Dr. Clark,

       The victim specifically mentioned in the doc has forgiven and exonerated Mr. Wilson. Why not share that with your readers?

       John

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       • John,

         I didn’t share it because it’s not true. You’re a little behind the curve here. Natalie (now Ængel Rose) has publicly explained why she “forgave” Wilson. It was merely a tactic to find some safety.

         

         As you can see for yourself, she writes:

         I knew they would continue telling lies about me. After all, I’m the one who chose to step off the battlefield, and I’m not naive enough to think my departure would mean my story would no longer be twisted and weaponized.

         To be clear, I left the fight because the stress was killing me, and I refused to sacrifice any more of my life to that place. The tactics of my oppressors had escalated to surveillance, stalking, and intimidation, nearly driving me to insanity. My public apology to Doug Wilson was, in its entirety, an act of self-preservation. But make no mistake, my stepping away may have discredited me in the eyes of both “sides,” and while I knew it meant I would lose friends, respect, and trust, it was never a personal renunciation of my story or anything I shared throughout the years.

         She is not the only victim to testify to this sort of treatment. If you listen to ep 6, season 2 of the NPR podcast, “Extremely American,” you will hear similar stories from other victims.

         I keep speaking up in hopes that others will see the damage that is being done to the sheep in Moscow and elsewhere in this movement. Perhaps some parent will read one of these and re-think their decision to send their child there or re-consider their decision to move there.

         Further, I don’t share your assumption that because Aengel Rose “forgave” Wilson that therefore all is forgotten and never to be mentioned again. If a man commits murder, the victim’s family may well forgive the murderer but a just state will hold him accountable and he should take responsibility for his crimes. His own federation tried and failed to do that.

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3. In regard to John’s comment, please also know that what will bring peace to those who have been betrayed and discarded as trash by abusers is knowing that making their story public will help others who are suffering in silence. Also, I am confident that if a victim of abuse were to contact Dr. Clark and ask him to remove her or his story, he would do so, as would I. Please remember that Doug Wilson is not a victim and if it makes him uncomfortable for these things to be made public, then perhaps he should consider true repentance and stepping down from “ministry.”

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