On Tuesday, November 2, The Guardian published an article detailing their investigation into an ultra-conservative evangelical church in Moscow, Idaho. Christ Church of Moscow is known for its ultra-conservative ideologies. The Guardian reported that Christ Church’s leadership has openly announced their desire to establish a theocracy.
Douglas Wilson, the controversial lead pastor of the church, made his intentions about Moscow very clear. According to Wilson, Moscow is a “blue dot in a very, very red state.” “Our mission is ‘All of Christ for all of life,” he said. And if he can have it his way, then he can have it for “all of Moscow.”
On the church’s website, Wilson’s congregation made it clear that they intend to “make Moscow a Christian town through faithful and robust covenant renewal.”
Home to the University of Idaho, the city of 25 thousand residents enjoys a sprawling business community, “balanced between the ‘hippie’ population.” And despite being dotted with a lot of churches, only 30% of Moscow’s population identifies as religious. Pew Research also published a March 2021 study that reveals more Americans support the separation of church and state. Pew’s analysis also identified pockets of support for increased church-state integration, a sympathy openly displayed by Christ Church leadership.
The Guardian reported that Christ Church had been slowly gaining traction on their goal. The report also claims that the church has “extended its power and activities in the town.” This includes criticizing public officials over covid restrictions, accumulating land and businesses, and building institutions parallel to secular government.
The report also warned that despite the Christ Church’s activities being limited to Moscow, Idaho, its umbrella organization is slowly seeping its way to mainstream politics. The report also explained that Wilson uses covid restrictions to further increase the church’s influence by using theological arguments to validate anti-vaccination sympathies. Last month, Wilson posted a video of him supporting a fake vaccination ID called “A Biblical Defense of Fake Vaccine IDs.” The video has been removed from Youtube but is being hosted in Wilson’s blogpost. His claims have received the ire of other evangelical pastors and groups on social media.
Doug Wilson just released a video teaching that Christians are biblically justified to use fake vaccination IDs. Yes, he’s encouraging fake IDs. Two of his disciples are leaders at Desiring God & Bethlehem College & Seminary. Why did TGC platform him? https://t.co/SDnPDKEp6V
— Anthony B. Bradley, PhD (@drantbradley) August 26, 2021
Wilson also dropped a dangerous message in his blogs and online ministries, saying that “we are not yet in a hot civil war, with shooting and all.” “But we are in a cold war/civil war,” he added. He also claimed that his call is against lawful authority but “an example of a free people refusing to go along with their enslavement.”
