”I Do Not Dialogue with Terrorists”
“Speak with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ or else you may fall under judgment.” (James 5:12b)
On Tuesday, September 5th, one of the members of the Christian Nationalist group that gathered to harass our PFLAG Picnic several weeks ago reached out to me by Facebook messenger. He wrote:
Hi Mr. Simmons. This is X. I saw some of the things you were saying about our group to the Journey (sic) Sentinel, and thought I’d reach out to you. We’d love to have you onto our podcast to civilly discuss and debate our differences. We’d be happy to give you the chance to explain your beliefs to our audience, and then for us to be able to go back and forth in the discussion/debate. If you’d like to come on then please let me know and we can get that set up.
I state for the record that I am unwilling to have private conversations with this person or other persons from their church for reasons that will become plain. This blog post will be my response and will form the basis for any further response. There are several reasons why I will not agree to this request. Let’s pass by the fact that I am addressed improperly. Also, the fact that I didn’t actually talk to the Journal-Sentinel, and while mentioned, I am not quoted in the article.
This message purports to offer civil dialogue. Note the format — On their podcast where they have editorial control. I am not willing to provide content or monetize their harassment of the LGBTQIA+ community, nor am I naive enough to believe it would be edited in a way that would be a fair representation of my words.
But on a greater level, debate or dialogue, if it is to be truly civil, has to be built on pre-existing trust and respect. I have no reason to trust anyone from any of the organizations this person represents. My first encounter was at an open PFLAG meeting where one of his companions falsely identified himself as a “Trans Dad.” Their identities and motives were only sussed out of them after they had been confronted by people who recognized them from harassment at other gatherings.
My second experience was at the aforementioned PFLAG picnic. After their previous deception, the correspondent and his allies had been disinvited by email from the picnic, as it was a private event for PFLAG members and not a public meeting. Despite that, around sixty members of their church showed up to harass us. They yelled at us as we left our cars and went to the shelter to do such wild, sinful things as eat hotdish and play lawn games. One of their pastors yelling from the sidewalk called me a “Judas Priest.” They set up a loudspeaker to disrupt our table conversations. One of their members told us that homosexuals should be executed. They came to the border of the rented area and would not go away despite being asked multiple times to do so. Their actions and speech were not civil that day so I cannot trust they would be if I were to meet with them again.
Add this to the fact that several members of his church were arrested at a gathering in Watertown a couple of weeks before our PFLAG picnic for disorderly conduct as they protested alongside actual Nazis (I am not making this up). Therefore I believe I have pretty firm grounds to doubt his veracity when he claims he wants “Civil Debate.” I have seen no indication from their repeated actions that they respect me or anyone who does not agree with their extremist views. They have shown repeatedly that they are willing to use subterfuge to gain their ends. Despite their talk in the Journal-Sentinel article about “Love,” their actions are ones used by terrorists, not evangelists of the Gospel of Jesus, and I simply will not dialogue with terrorists.
