Washington (AP) – For decades, Doug Wilson A relatively unknown pastor in Idaho, he was relegated to evangelical ties due to his radical teachings.
Now he is an influential voice in Christian rights. This change in influence was apparent last week as he won a victory lap through Washington, shares the stage with Trump administration officials, and preaches in a new church in his sect.
“This is the first time we’ve had as many people as we are now with national government,” Wilson told The Associated Press in August.
Wilson and his acolite within the communion of a reformed evangelical church are still teaching it Empathy can be a guiltyThe United States is a Christian state, and giving women the right to vote is not a Bad thoughts. However, as evangelicalism aligns more closely with President Donald Trump’s Republican agenda, these teachings have a greater, more accepting audience.
“If he was in the past, he’s not a fringe now,” said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and Wilson critic, who was a critic of Wilson, who wrote “The Bible, according to Christian Nationalists.”
Christ Church in Wilson in Moscow, Idaho opened a church block from the US Capitol this summer. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsesmembers of CREC Church in Tennessee attended the opening.
On Saturday, the fledgling congregations met for the first synod. Over the weekend, they rented a larger Virginia space to more than double their regular Sunday attendance, houseing the 350 people they went to hear Wilson.
Wilson said they started a congregation to serve members of the church they had migrated to work in the Trump administration.
“We didn’t come to DC to meet important people,” Wilson told The Gathering. “We’re here because we want to create opportunities for important people and others to meet God.”
It advocates Christian nationalism
in National Conservatism Conference A few days ago, Wilson was a speaker, along with members of Congress and Trump’s Cabinet, including border area Tom Homan, budget director Russell Vought and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. Two more CREC ministers were able to participate in the programme, offer opening prayers and speak on the panel.
From his intimate baritone lecturer, Wilson gave him the complete restraint of Christian nationalism.
“America was deeply Christian and Protestant in its founding,” he says, but acknowledging many “certifications.” Historians argue This concept “should tell you something about our credential system.”
He spoke with a sympathetic crowd filled with populists, nationalists and conservatives who support mainly Christian America. Like Wilson, they There is momentum in movementthanks to Trump returning to the White House.
Wilson’s vision for a new Christian America calls for an end Same-sex marriageabortion and pride parade. He advocates for limiting pornography and immigration.
“It’s not xenophobic to oppose immigration policies of people who want to change the Michigan-Ohio border to something similar to the India-Pakistan border,” he said on the stage.
He especially questioned the ability of Muslims to assimilate.
Disregard the fear of slavery
Wilson and Cleck, whom he co-founded, attributed to a strict version of reformed theology rooted in the 16th-century Protestant Reformed John Calvin tradition, with an emphasis on the Almighty God, dominating all of society.
Since the 1970s, Wilson’s ministry and influence have grown to include the Christian Classics School in Moscow, Idaho and the new University of St. Andrew. Wilson is a prolific author and content creator, and he and his ministries have a robust media presence, including the Canon Press, publishing department.
An extensive catalog of his books and blog posts provides plenty of feed to his critics. In one infamous example, he co-authored a 1996 book that underestimated the fear of slavery. Modify museum exhibits.
Today, Wilson says he is giving a more clearer point in “Slavery in the South.” While he condemned slavery, he still claimed to own slaves, and those who were enslaved “had a good relationship with each other.”
“On the one hand, there was a horrifying abuse. And there are other stories that are soon from Disney’s “Song of the South,”” Wilson told The Associated Press, referring to the 1946 film, and have not been released for decades to paint a sunny picture of Plantation Life. Racist stereotypes.
I’m worried that patriarchy can promote abuse
Wilson’s hardline theology and spirit of happy fighting captivated young internet-savvy male executives in his ministry. They help Wilson creates hype videos that will be circulated online, like using Disney Princess cardboard notches using flamethrowers.
CREC leaders use humor to enjoy their reputation.
“We want my wife to get pregnant barefoot and make sourdough in the kitchen,” he joked. Joe Rigneyone of Wilson’s pastors Idaho, at a church meeting.
“Of course, this is a terrible slander,” Ligney said. “We are happy that my wife wears shoes while she makes sourdough.”
CREC practices complementarism – the patriarchal idea that men and women have different God-given roles. Women within the CREC Church are unable to hold church leadership positions, and married women are to submit to their husbands.
Christchurch only allow male household heads, usually to vote in church elections. Wilson said his wife and daughter would vote in non-church elections, but he would prefer the United States to follow his congregation’s example in household votes.
To the critics’ fuss, Wilson argues that gender requires male authority and female submission.
“Sexual conduct cannot be a party of egalitarian pleasure,” he writes in “Faithful.” “Men invade, conquer, colonize, plant plants. Women receive, surrender, accept.”
Former CREC members denounced Wilson and the denomination for fostering a ripe theological environment of patriarchal abuse of women and children.
“We’ve seen how much this hurts people,” said journalist Sarah Stankolb.
In her 2024 memoir, “The Well-Trained Wife,” former CREC member Tia Levings argues that Wilson’s writings on marriage and patriarchy provided a theological justification for her ex-husband’s violence against her.
“I call it church-approved domestic abuse,” Levings told the Associated Press.
Wilson denied to tolerate abuse or approve physical discipline in his wife.
“Our teaching must be taken as a whole,” he said.
“Being their wives, banging their wives is a Cop the Cops situation,” he told reporters on Saturday after the church meeting ended.
CREC has over 150 churches in the United States and abroad. Wilson said the goal is to have thousands of churches, so most Americans can be within the distance of one church.
Wilson often says he plays games where he moves long. That effort will not come to fruition for two centuries.
“Doug loves to play humbly,” Levings said.
After all, it only took him decades to bring this closer to the White House.
___
Associated Press Religious Reporting is supported through the Associated Press collaboration With funding from Lilly Endowment Inc., the AP is in a conversation by taking sole responsibility for this content.
