What I Should Have Said (And did say)

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE SAID:

Dr. Leth,
I’d like to point out that in your Open Letter I believe you unfairly disparaged Lighthouse Trails.  First, you called them your “accusers.” Sir, as far as I can see they have never mentioned you at all let alone accused you of anything.  I have word-searched both their Research site and their weblog, your name is not on their site.  You have not been accused of anything by these fellow believers.  I read the article linked to Lighthouse Trails by Mr. Silva’s site very, very closely, you are not mentioned, nor are you accused of anything.  How is it fair and gracious of you to label them as your accusers when they have not leveled any accusation against you? As far as I can tell you are not even on their “Radar,” I believe this characterization of the folks at Lighthouse Trails as your “accusers” to be entirely misrepresentative and hurtful to these folks who have not said anything against you.  Frankly, Sir I believe that this characterization is beneath the level of one so academically gifted and borders upon bearing a false witness, for to say they are your accusers I believe to be false.

Second, you asked several rhetorical questions, questioning their academic qualifications, their credentialing and their theological training ect.  Sir, I believe your type of questioning/tactic to be unwarranted and actually a sort of subterfuge..  You seem to be trying to hold Lighthouse Trails and specifically the “blog” of Lighthouse Trails to the same standard as that of a peer reviewed academic journal?  Are there any “blogs” that can or should be held to this standard?  I believe the simple answer is NO.  A blog is simply a web presence anyone can produce, for anything, thought, ruminations, contemplations, political theory, poetry, recipes, criticism,… ad infinitum.  No blog should be held to the standard which you imply by your questions.  I believe it to be pure subterfuge and disingenuous for you to imply that they should be held to such a standard. 

One may then ask about the Research site of Lighthouse Trails, what standard should a site purporting to do research be held to?  Well, their area of Research has a very limited focus, they believe many elements often contained in what has most often come to be labeled Spiritual Formation to be detrimental to the Christian faith, specifically, many things that can be tied to mysticism; lectio divina, contemplative and centering prayer, labyrinth walking, ect.  In one area they expose or list Christian Colleges that promote these practices or at least utilize authors that promote these practices, such as Nouwen, Foster, Willard, Manning, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila to name a few.  The question to ask here is; does Lighthouse Trails purport to be an academic journal?  The answer is NO.  Then one must ask, does it require credentialing, or an academic qualification do perform research?  The answer is again, NO.  Anyone who has ever been a student has performed research, even if it is a sixth grade book report.  Trying to find the cheapest airline ticket or the cheapest gasoline in any local area is an act of research and requires no more qualification than literacy.  Since Lighthouse Trails does have a public presence, yet is has not claimed any academic standing, the only standard by which to fairly judge them would be the quality, that is the veracity and accuracy of that research and in particular there documentation of that research.  Again, questioning there credentialing, academic standing, or theological training I believe to be subterfuge and I believe that reflects poorly on you Sir. 

The standard to use is simply, to ask the questions; “Can I verify what they say?”  “Do they document where their information comes from?”  While I have not read the entirety of the Lighthouse blog, nor the entirety of their Research site, I can say that I have in the past read significant portions and I can say that they do research well.  I can independently find out the same information they use, because they most often document where and how they came upon the information.  A simple example might be that they say text XYZ is used in University course ZYX.  A simply perusal of the pertinent .edu site will show that yes in fact this text is used.  One can often (but not always) tell from the available course descriptions whether the text in question is used as a positive or negative light.  In such cases where this is ambiguous, I have seen that Lighthouse Trails use standard telephonic research much like any newspaper reporter, and then they document such conversations; “As per telephone conversation with Dr. So-and-so, Director of Such-and-such” I suppose if one were entering into this arena with a very high, and unwarranted state of skepticism and coming to it with a very negative presupposition, one could say ‘Well, how do I really know that Dr. So- and-so was really contacted…”  but that is to presuppose that they are lying.  I do not see that as warranted, do you?

All of this calling into question the folks at Lighthouse Trails reminds me of the many legal dramas I have watched.  Specifically the parts where an attorney, intentionally brings something forbidden out into the open, addressing the jury, that is not fair to the other side.  This is then followed by an objection by apposing counsel and the ever present admonishment from the Judge to the Jury to disregard what has been heard.  But to mix some metaphors, the cat is out of the bag, the seed is planted, the bell cannot be un-rung…  The attorney knows when and where to skirt the rules and plant in the minds of the Jury just what he wants.  I really don’t want to attribute this type of behavior to you Sir, but your tactics here do seem very, very similar.

Thirdly, you asked about there relationship to the Wesleyan –Holiness tradition, again I must say that I believe this to be misdirection and subterfuge.  They do not claim to be of that tradition, nor are they solely commenting upon the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition or it Universities.  The schools that they list run the gambit of denominations.  Bringing this up really has zero bearing upon the topic in question in my opinion, especially when they have a readily accessible doctrinal statement, why question this at all?  I especially, find this to be in poor form as, apparently this Open Letter was sparked by interaction between you and Mr. Silva over a visit to Olivet by Tony Campolo.  Is he of the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition?  He is American Baptist isn’t he?  How about the use of Richard Foster’s texts?  He is a Friend or Quaker isn’t he?  I am sure you have significant knowledge of Church History and are aware that historically the Quakers, due to their belief in extra-biblical revelation and “inner-Light” were often ostracized and considered outside orthodoxy.

Fourthly, you characterize Lighthouse Trails as “shadowy” it appears to me that this is a deliberate attempt to malign these fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  I hope I am wrong, but your phrase seems to lead one to the conclusion that they are involved in some deliberate attempt to mask their identity and operate in a covert manner.  Sir, I find this to the most egregious and maligning of your statements. It really appears to me that you are very specifically calling their integrity into question. It matters not on which of the three main Lighthouse Trails websites one goes to, as I previously stated it takes only two mouse clicks to find, email, address, and telephone number for David and Deb Dombrowski.  If you have found David and Deb Dombrowski then you have found Lighthouse Trails in its entirety.  There is absolutely no reason to attribute to them “shadowiness” or attack their integrity, they are completely aboveboard about who, what, and where they are. They are completely aboveboard about what they believe.  Sir, here I truly believe you have crossed a line.  By saying they are shadowy you no longer are bordering upon false witness, but have indeed witnessed falsely against a fellow brother and sister in Christ, and I respectfully call upon you to repent.

Finally, your entire reference to Lighthouse Trails, could have been ever so much simpler and effective; reflecting upon you a much better light, if you had simply said that you notice that they find some forms Spiritual Formation which they often refer to as Completive Spirituality to be detrimental to the Christian faith, further stating that you are not of the same opinion  and that you are therefore unlikely to find much common ground with, or share the same conclusions as the folks at Lighthouse Trails. Period –end of story.  That would have been sufficient, direct, on-point and admirable.  In my opinion there was no need to bring these folks any further into the disagreement between you Mr. Silva.  They have not accused you of anything, they are not shadowy and they are not to be held to the standard you implied nor is their statement of faith relevant to the argument or discussion at hand.

As I have reflected upon my previous, poor behavior and lack of graciousness and repented, I call upon you to do the same concerning your statements about Lighthouse Trails.

In Christ

George Wallace


Also posted here: http://www.epworthpulpit.com/pressing-matters/open-letter-manny-silva#comment-2247