Chuck Darwin<p>Douglas Wilson's influence over Moscow Idaho has not been without controversy. </p><p>In a 2021 Vice exposé, former members of "Christ Church" alleged that ministers had encouraged them to stay in abusive relationships. </p><p>That tracks with Wilson’s 1999 book, "Fidelity: How to Be a One-Woman Man", <br>in which he wrote, </p><p>“The sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party. <br>A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. <br>A woman receives, surrenders, accepts.” </p><p>For that reason, Wilson wrote, the dynamic of a <a href="https://c.im/tags/dominant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>dominant</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/man" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>man</span></a> and a <a href="https://c.im/tags/submissive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>submissive</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/woman" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>woman</span></a> is <br>“an erotic necessity.” </p><p>(Wilson called allegations of the church urging women to stay in abusive relationships “categorically false.”)</p><p>Wilson has also promoted another form of dominance. </p><p>In the 1996 book "Southern Slavery: As It Was", <br>Wilson and his co-author argued that the master-slave dynamic was “a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence,” <br>-- and “there has never been a multi-racial society which has existed with such mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world” as that of the antebellum South. </p><p>(In a 2020 blog post, Wilson said he now allows that while “the benevolent master is not a myth, the idea of the horrific taskmaster is no abolitionist myth either.”) </p><p>When I asked Wilson about his controversial statements, he likened himself to a chef who strategically deploys jalapeno peppers: </p><p>“Then some of my enemies online have combed through my writings, have gathered up all the jalapenos and put them on one Ritz cracker.”</p><p>In July, at the "National Conservatism Conference"<br> in Washington, DC, Wilson shared the stage with Sens. Josh <a href="https://c.im/tags/Hawley" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hawley</span></a> (R-Mo.), <br>Ron <a href="https://c.im/tags/Johnson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Johnson</span></a> (R-Wis.), <br>and Mike <a href="https://c.im/tags/Lee" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Lee</span></a> (R-Utah), <br>as well as <a href="https://c.im/tags/Vance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Vance</span></a>, <br>who auditioned his “America is a people” bit a week before his star turn at the GOP convention. </p><p>Wilson agrees with Vance’s suggestion that children should be allotted votes<br> -- managed by their parents. </p><p>“I would like to see elections where households vote,” he told me. </p><p>Men, as the heads of households, would actually cast the votes. </p><p>Though he believes that women’s suffrage was “a mistake,” <br>he would allow a special exception for single mothers.</p><p>Wilson offered the crowd a few one-liners <br>(“I’m a Presbyterian, not a Lesbyterian”), </p><p>but mostly, he talked about the persecution of Christians:</p><p> “It used to be that the sexually troubled had to keep their kinks hidden away in the closet,” he mused. </p><p>“Now it is the conservative Christian who needs to keep his virtues hidden in the recesses of the closet.” </p><p>After the "National Conservatism Conference", Wilson appeared at the "Believers’ Summit", <br>which was headlined by <a href="https://c.im/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> and hosted by the conservative political group <a href="https://c.im/tags/Turning" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Turning</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Point" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Point</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/USA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USA</span></a>.</p><p>But it’s not just conferences and interviews with the likes of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Tucker" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Tucker</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Carlson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Carlson</span></a> where Wilson promotes his ideas. </p><p>He has a blog, a podcast, and a YouTube channel, thanks mostly to the urging of his children and younger colleagues. </p><p>One example is that every year since 2018, Wilson has been celebrating what he calls <br>No Quarter November: </p><p>“The month where we say out loud what everyone is thinking.” </p><p>In a 2023 video, which was the brainchild of one of his sons, Wilson sits at a sumptuously appointed Thanksgiving table, <br>surrounded by his children and grandchildren, <br>and addresses the camera. </p><p>“If you think of my blog as a shotgun,” he says, <br>“this is the month when I saw off all my typical, careful qualifications and blast away with a double-barreled shorty.” </p><p>His wife, clad in an apron, brings out a turkey and places it in front of him, <br>and then the tranquil scene is interrupted by a blaring alarm and a glowing red “perimeter breach” sign. </p><p>Wilson excuses himself, heads to his garage, and straps on a <a href="https://c.im/tags/flamethrower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>flamethrower</span></a>. </p><p>After using it to light a cigar, he aims the fire at cardboard cutouts of Disney princesses Elsa and Ariel, and the logos of Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Netflix.</p><p>Wilson’s willingness to make campy content sets him apart, says Rachel Tabachnick, <br>an extremism researcher who has been studying Christian nationalism for decades. </p><p>“Instead of a crotchety old guy talking about stoning people, he’s like, super cool,” she says. “He’s witty.”</p><p> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Douglas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Douglas</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wilson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Wilson</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Calvinism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Calvinism</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Vance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Vance</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/hypermasculinity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>hypermasculinity</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/birthrates" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>birthrates</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ethnonationalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ethnonationalism</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/misogyny" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>misogyny</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/TheoBros" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheoBros</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Calvin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Calvin</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Rushdoony" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Rushdoony</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/homeschooling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>homeschooling</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/charismatic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>charismatic</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/New" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>New</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Apostolic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Apostolic</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Reformation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Reformation</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/reformed" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>reformed</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/TheoBros" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheoBros</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/apostles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>apostles</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/prophets" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>prophets</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Bible" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bible</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/postmillennialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>postmillennialism</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Aaron" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Aaron</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Renn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Renn</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Andrew" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Andrew</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Isker" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Isker</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Douglas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Douglas</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wilson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Wilson</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/shared" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>shared</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>history</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/patriarchal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>patriarchal</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Christian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Christian</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/nationalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nationalism</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/young" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>young</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/pastors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pastors</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Christian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Christian</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/prince" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>prince</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/women" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>women</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/flogging" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>flogging</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Franco" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Franco</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/multiculturalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>multiculturalism</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Taylor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Taylor</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Swift" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Swift</span></a></p>