https://dougwilsonbelieves.com/beliefs/moscow-idaho-should-be-governed-by-a-theocracy/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/02/christ-church-idaho-theocracy-us-america

Make it a Christian town’: the ultra-conservative church on the rise in Idaho

A Guardian investigation has revealed that a controversial church whose leader has openly expressed the ambition of creating a “theocracy” in America has accumulated significant influence in the city of Moscow, Idaho.

Christ Church has a stated goal to “make Moscow a Christian town” and public records, interviews, and open source materials online show how its leadership has extended its power and activities in the town.

Church figures have browbeaten elected officials over Covid restrictions, built powerful institutions in parallel to secular government, harassed perceived opponents, and accumulated land and businesses in pursuit of a long-term goal of transforming America into a nation ruled according to its own, ultra-conservative moral precepts.

Northern Idaho has a well-deserved reputation for having a high ratio of nutcases per capita. I can't see it getting much traction in Moscow, it being a university town, with Pullman, WA, another university town, about 12 miles away. Both towns have countervailing nutcases that would interfere with a takeover.

Bonners Ferry or Sandpoint would seem like more likely towns for an attempt at theocracy.

These sorts of things typically happen in thinly populated towns (small towns on the edge of extinction in North Dakota are favorites - cheap land and buildings) and don't last very long. Both political and religious fundamentalists have a tendency to squabble and start excommunicating (or its political equivalent) each other with wild abandon, and the whole enterprise falls apart.

Check back in with this church in 3 to 5 years and see how it is doing. I see that Mr Wilson wrote a book in 1964, so he has to be at least in his late 70s. I give him a short shelf life. This too shall pass. Not pass as in "be enacted", but pass, as in gas.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2021 09:56AM by Brother Of Jerry.

BoJ: The Christ Church movement is actually picking up steam every day. And it is alarming.

More and more fundamentalist Christ-Church-people are pouring into Moscow from all corners of the U.S. The "gathering" reminds me so much of Mormons who gathered to Zion.

There are several huge housing developments financed by well to do Christ Church members going up, they have added land on which their private Christian school is located, and they have considerable real estate in town. One prominent city block on Main Street is where their private Christian College, New Saint Andrews is located.

Their numbers continue to increase, as do their demonstrations against vaccine mandates, mask wearing, and anything else they do not like.

It used to be a harmless annoyance about five years ago, but there is a consistent and alarming growth and influence that is becoming pervasive. Voting for city council positions (as we did today) and school board positions is critical in order to defeat the large numbers of fundamentalists put on the ballot to turn our town of sin, into a religious town according to their liking.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I have some empathy for the people in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois back in the 1830's and 40's, when the Mormons moved en masse and tried to take over local politics.

kenc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It used to be a harmless annoyance about five
> years ago, but there is a consistent and alarming
> growth and influence that is becoming pervasive.
> Voting for city council positions (as we did
> today) and school board positions is critical in
> order to defeat the large numbers of
> fundamentalists put on the ballot to turn our town
> of sin, into a religious town according to their
> liking.
>
> Not to beat a dead horse, but I have some empathy
> for the people in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois back
> in the 1830's and 40's, when the Mormons moved en
> masse and tried to take over local politics.

I was thinking the same thing.

kenc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not to beat a dead horse, but I have some empathy
> for the people in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois back
> in the 1830's and 40's, when the Mormons moved en
> masse and tried to take over local politics.

I don't think that is "a dead horse." The intrusion of a massive group of outsiders would be a challenge for any community not to mention one with such extreme views and disregard for others as Smith's merry band. Add in the Mormon penchant for political manipulation and even violence and it's a recipe for disaster.

Mormons studiously ignore that fact but we should not.

Thanks for the local knowledge. The RNS article didn’t go into that detail. It does sound scary. I did see a couple of these collapse in ND, and I remember Mormon Bo Grietz started a “covenant community” in Kamiah, ID that eventually fell apart. Good luck and keep us informed.

I worked for a Christ Church owned business before retiring. It is going great guns, named Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. It was started by an economist from U of I who is a Church of Christ devotee, and has a CEO, Andrew Crappuchettes who is as savvy a business man as I've ever seen locally. They curse and damn public education institutions K-12 and post secondary education institutions (also public). But they sell them labor market software and Economic Impact statements like they are hotcakes. Community colleges are their biggest customers, because they can pivot quickly to meet labor needs when a large company, needing workers needs to meet the labor demand. Universities aren't built for that of course.

Anyway, all the workers are New St Andrews students majoring in theology and Latin or Greek. The small college is a huge magnet for Christian fundamentalists with a Calvinist bent from all over the U.S. In turn, families are selling their homes, and moving here in larger and larger numbers every year. The CEO of EMSI (mentioned above) is making lots of money and so are several of his VPs and they are willing to invest in anything that has a chance of making them a lot of money, and building housing to put the new families who are moving in. They are making gains all over the place, and the town is divided between the Christ Churchers and everyone else who wants Moscow to maintain its mostly liberal leanings.

Thanks for your interest!!!!

I've only been to Moscow ID a couple of times. Odd terrain - rolling hills, but very steep rolling hills. looks like a great place to accidentally roll an ATV or tractor!

I have a former co-worker who is retired in Moscow, and another who is faculty at WSU Pullman. I should check in and see if this is affecting them. I was surprised to find out the city is named after Moscow PA, not the one in Russia. I have a grandfather buried in Moscow PA (who was, in fact, from eastern Europe), so I feel a bit of connection to the Idaho city, though I realize that is completely irrational.

Odd terrain? It is the beautiful Palouse famous for its deep rich soil blown there eons ago. Beautiful before harvest when wind blown crops appear like ocean waves on those hills. I believe it is the area where the Apalousa horse gets its name.

Yeah, and he means Christian the way HE defines Christian.

Moscow, Idaho is supposed to be a University environment, for cripes sake.

Yikes! The U of I is where I went to college my first year in 1967! The biggest thing that happened back then was when I got to see The Association in concert! Good grief...what is happening in Idaho?

Is this any worse than Rexburg? Two competing theocratic college towns in Idaho.

I bet the loony Lt. Gov is thrilled with this development, but I'm wondering why Ammon hasn't spoken up about it. If the fundies take power in Spudland, the mormons aren't going to like the results much.

Worries about Christian theocracy and dictatorship are much exaggerated. Why, just yesterday a regular poster assured us that Christianity is incompatible with tyranny and naturally produces democracy, civil liberties, rule of law, and equal rights for women.

So relax already.

Gott mit uns.

What could go wrong.

I guess God wasn’t with them. The Germans lost both world wars. It was a nice slogan on a belt buckle though.

I guess not.

Years ago I visited a church in the village of Uttum and remember seeing a large plaque on the sanctuary wall titled "Unseren Gefallenen und Vermissten Sohnen" with a list of 40 or so names--the WWII dead from that church. It was interesting to see the other side of that, and I wondered how the members of that church viewed it: whether they believed they had died on the wrong side of history, or whether they believed Germany had somehow been in the right.

I live across the state line from that sack of crazy (I live in Pullman, WA). Make the Rajneeshees' takeover of Antelope, Oregon look reasonable in comparison. Trying to keep them from trying the same thing here; if I wanted to live under the rule of power-hungry God-botherers, I'd have stayed in Utah.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2021 04:37PM by ookami.

So Moscow has gone from wild frat parties to wild Christian fundamentalism. Very interesting.

Rexburg would be better than Utah for encountering power-hungry God-botherers, plus it's also in Idaho. :)

For those who don't know about it, here is a well-researched article on the Rajneeshpulyam from Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram

What these people did has a lot in common with early Mormon behavior and, if you want to go far back enough, early Christian church behavior as well.

And while I agree with BOJ's initial comment that the current religious revival in Moscow doesn't have long-term legs (thanks to a thin but ever-vigilant press), I do think that given the current expansive growth of this group, a lot of people are going to be hurt and a lot will get worse before it gets better. One of the questions that needs to be asked is has Mr. Wilson determined a successor to oversee his church after he dies? If not (and I think this is most likely the case), then expect the church to collapse in on itself after his death. The days where rogue churches (like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) could run away and hide where nobody else lived and survive by creating their own primitive theocracy are long gone. Beyond the prying eyes of the media, there is almost nowhere, even in the heart of Alaska, where such churches could grow and thrive without anybody ever noticing.

The problem is a theocracy isn't compatible with the US Constitution. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young found this out. Theocracies aren't welcome in the US. You will clash with the government every time you grow one.

Rubicon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Theocracies aren't welcome
> in the US. You will clash with the government
> every time you grow one.

Really?

...why people are joining these radical churches in the first place. While many will say that they are seeking the truth (and though they may believe it themselves), I suspect that the full answer is that these people are trying to escape the truth: i.e. the drudgery of their unfulfilling lives. Unfortunately, that can lead to a lot of very destructive behavior, some of which may never be fully healed.

Exactly the reason people join extreme political groups. Sociologically and psychologically, religion and politics fulfill much the same role.

That was Nietzsche's great insight and why he decried the rise of his era's xenophobic nationalism and hoped for the emergence of a new cultural movement that would preclude its continued growth.

Kind og like why we are all here, A radical group.