Julie McMahon, Tony Jones, and Submergent: My Update

I have been following this as an outside observer, because I have only heard of these authors on occasion. I belong to a church that has a pastor who TEACHES, but in no way takes any leadership role. Someone in my circle will occasionally read a book by one of these authors, and I have long valued Rachel Held Evans’ view of things. That, of course, is over. Her view of THIS issue is inexcusable, in my opinion, and will always color all the rest.

As all this evolved, I found that I could perfectly understand the original reactions of Tony’s friends to Julie’s accusations. After all, they had only seen his public face, they’d been told over and over that she was crazy, so it made sense that they’d defend him when all they had was “he said, she said” evidence. What followed, however, made my jaw drop, both in surprise and in dismay. As the actual, documented facts came to light, I expected sorrow and heartbreak from those friends as they sadly disassociated themselves from Tony, asking him to repent and try for restitution with Julie. Instead, I saw that those friends JOINED Tony in lies and cover-up, and my respect for them died with an almost audible bang. As someone else already said, even if every word of Julie’s accusations were false (as they most emphatically are NOT), the subsequent behavior of Tony et al is so ugly and wrong on every level, that it alone shows all those people to be just too horrible to have anything to do with ever again.

I echo what others have already posted, David: Tony and his friends may enjoy their table conversation in peace. Let them control their own discussion at their own table, but you are host at the table of honesty and openness, and a larger (and inevitably louder) crowd will gather at YOUR table. If scraps of our conversation happen to drift to their table, well, that happens when crowds gather. I’m not sure how to go about this, but perhaps a conversation about all the nuisance lawsuits Tony is filing against Julie might work its way to the crowd deciding which table to join, by way of broadcasting every lawsuit he files. No stranger to the issue will notice the first few, but the constant stream will cause those wavering to take a closer look, and they will hear Julie’s story, and the story of Tony’s malice and of the efforts to hide both by Tony’s friends. “The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small,” and “constant dripping wears away stone” are the phrases that keep playing in my head. We don’t have to raise our voices, merely to keep a steady conversation going with all sorts of relevant information. Remember, too, that God is most certainly on the side of the abused, and what He wishes to make known will be made known, the desperate shushing from certain tables notwithstanding.

Silence ME???? Ask anyone who knows me whether that’s possible, and be prepared to wait as they catch their breath after long helpless laughter. THAT would truly be a miracle.

The documented facts have been presented

Yasmin: Nailed it.

Narrative can be controlled and managed for years. Sometimes that control breaks down or the abuser self-destructs. Sometimes the narrative persists, even past their death. (Though if the things TJ has already done weren’t enough to break down that narrative it’s hard to imagine what would be.) The Internet helps some by providing an avenue by those who were previously voiceless can be heard. But the Internet alone is large and ripples tend to be swallowed. In this instance, given what’s already been published and the relatively minor impact it’s had, I’m not sure what will break the logjam. It may require nothing less than one of those in the circle of narrative control breaking ranks with the rest and denouncing Jones. I have no way to assess the likelihood of that happening.

Scott: I use the analogy of mice chewing at the ropes. One day something’s gotta give.

Me too! thanks for providing the link.