If anyone says he does what is right, remember that the test of this is not how loudly he claims it, or how many followers he has; how much praise, but his ability to do good transparently and consistently, even to his enemies.

I was recently reminded of a C.S. Lewis quote from The Last Battle, where Aslan, speaking to Emeth, says “because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him [Tash, the demon-god]. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted… For all find what they truly seek.”

I read this as a paraphrase of something Jesus said, specifically that the measure of a Christian is someone who loves God and loves his neighbor as himself. The two are alike, and in this lies all the laws and the prophets. The Bible can be, and has been, used as excuse to commit heinous acts such as the Spanish Inquisition and mass genocide, so backing up an action with a glib “the Bible says this” does not make the action good or even Christian (according to Jesus, anyway: “you have heard it said, an eye for an eye, but I say unto you…” and “If anyone says he loves God, but hates his brother…” and “I was naked and you did not clothe me”)

So with this in mind, let’s look at a few things Doug Wilson wrote about how to “pray” for enemies (remember, those people Jesus specifically said to bless?) and notice that Doug wants even the children of his “enemies” to be blotted out, orphaned and shown no mercy (how very pro-life of him). And then consider if Doug perhaps would act to his “enemies” in accordance with his own prayers, by committing extortion against them, by blotting out their children. For all find what they truly seek.

And keep in mind, the “enemies” Doug prays these things about may be former congregants (such as my ex-husband). In fact, I’m guessing that Doug has prayed these things about me, given that I’ve publicly critiqued him. If not me, most likely others who have recently critiqued him, such as Natalie and other former congregants of his. Doug’s imprecatory prayers are not limited to official church prayers either, as I discovered many years ago during a private Christ Church Bible study.

Here, for your consideration, the window into Doug’s prayer life: “Let Satan be continually at their right hand, accusing them… When they cry out to You, let their prayers be reckoned as sinful. When they pray to You, let the ceiling above them remain silent. Cut short their days.”

“Add iniquity to their iniquity; make a great heap of their sins. Do not let them enter into Your righteousness. Blot them out of the book of the living. Do not record their names alongside the names of the righteous.”

“Let their children be orphaned, cut off without a father. Let their wives be widows, and we pray that their children would be desolate, having to beg their bread in empty places. We pray that the extortioner would come back at them, catching them in their plots, and taking all that they have. May strangers and aliens pillage them and leave them with nothing. We pray that when this happens, and Your hand is evident, that no one would show mercy, and that no kindness would be extended to his fatherless children. Cut off his posterity; may his name and his line come to nothing. Recall how sinful his father was, and call up again the sins of his mother. May their sins come before Your throne continually so that their name may be blotted out, and remembered on the earth no more.”

When I consider that these words, or similar ones, may be directed at me and my family through Doug, I have to conclude that the deity Doug is invoking with these words is a malevolent one, created in Doug’s own image. And as such, I do not believe his prayers will be answered. When you toy with malevolent deities, you bring destruction upon yourself, draw your power from the sickening rot of anguish. And this, more than anything, makes me very sad for the man.