In Tony Jones Defender I mentioned Julie McMahon Jones, wife of Tony Jones a well known leader within the neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church whose pastor is Doug Pagitt, had written me a letter she wanted me to publish. This would lead to a phone call where Julie threatened me with a defamation of character lawsuit because understandably she takes exception to many things I have written about her husband Tony Jones.

After I had published the letter another took it upon himself to write a post called “Julie Jones puts Rev. Silva in his Place”. Now for the record, and without comment, Apprising Ministries presents the statements concerning these issues Julie Jones made the choice to post in the comments section of that piece. My responses are included as well:

# Julie Mc Joneson 13 Dec 2007 at 2:29 pm

wow. that is some strong stuff Paula.

http://www.purposedrivel.com/2007/12/tony-jones-anklebiter-wife.html

Again, your page lacks a comment function so, I will post here.

I have been advised by counsel not to comment on the above.

You may be interested in knowing that your friend Ken has crossed the legal limits of the 5th ammendment [sic]. Defamation of character, which you seem unclear about, is not an opinion but use of slanderous speech as fact which in turn defames ones character and is illegal under internet law.

Tony, I assure you, and contradictory to your blog post which has no comment feature, does not describe himself as “guru, cult leader, satan worshipper, hindu, buddist, heretic” or other unsavory slanderous terms culminating in years of character defamation…enough already. Let’s move on to helping the and [sic] meeting where our great passions collide with the worlds greatest needs.

Further, defamation has occurred because Tony’s words have been cut and pasted by ken thus driving up his hits with high traffic tags and then he adds his opinion and too inaccurate and inflamatory [sic], derugative [sic] and often slanderous words which defame Tony’s charater [sic]. the legel [sic] limits are breeched when Ken states them as fact. For example, Tony does not use a bible is a bold face lie and a lawsuit is appropriate and a strong case for defamation of character under internet law.

Are you sure you want to give your support to Mr. Silva? If to follow christ is to love your neighbor as yourself then this would be incongruent with Christs’ [sic] teaching wouldn’t it? Speaking unkind of others isn’t the Jesus I know. Spreading vicious rumors that are untrue isn’t the Jesus I strive to be like. The Jesus I seek to emulate had righteous anger. More importantly, he is a truth teller. Get comment functions you people. To hurl lies and have no accountability is very unhealthy. Comment functions help keep you honest.

I would like an apology for calling me a nasty name. I wrote to Ken independent of Tony and this is my deal. I had no idea Tony knew him. Sorry, Ken he never mentioned you. That nastiness on your blog was not kind, Paula.

Peace,

Julie

# Ken Silvaon 13 Dec 2007 at 2:41 pm

Julie Jones said: “Ken has crossed the legal limits of the 5th ammendment [sic]. Defamation of character, which you seem unclear about, is not an opinion but use of slanderous speech as fact which in turn defames ones character and is illegal under internet law.”

Just so we’re all clear now; there is Julie’s confirmation that she has indeed threatened me with a lawsuit, just as I said in my piece TONY JONES DEFENDER

# Julie Mc Joneson 13 Dec 2007 at 2:46 pm

Sorry for the typos. I have spent too much time on this. I repent for letting it get under my skin and setting me off track from the things of God. This has not been edifying and I retreat from the land of blogs. I will leave this matter in the hands of my capable legal professional.

God bless you all. I mean that, for I strongly consider us all on the road to pursuing Jesus. None of us has all the right answers and thats [sic] what keeps the mystery so compelling. Join me in my pursuit to get better at being a Chrsitian [sic] and more created in the image and likeness of Christ.

Please Emergent friends, keep it all above board and take the high road. We need to respect the various expressions of Baptist believers and hope for that same respect in return.

Merry Christmas!

Julie

# Julie Mc Joneson 13 Dec 2007 at 3:33 pm

Blessed advent,

John 13:34

“A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all mean and women will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Thank you both for posting my letter!

Good for you Ken. Tony about fell off the couch in hysterics when he overheard me saying to you, “Who the heck is McCarthy?” You said, “You need to get out more.” Is McCarthy a good guy? I will not make claim or defame his character for I have never met this man you revere and to do otherwise would be in bad form.

Honestly, it has been difficult to sit back and observe the inaccurate portrayals of Tony Jones by beaconhouse [sic], xian research?, and surprising ministries. So, I started asking family, luckily I have five extremely accomplished and scary-smart attorneys in just my immediate family. I learned that with the emerging practice of (no pun intended but symbolic) internet law, defamation of character is the fastest growing legal cases.

Through legal counsel, I learned that “sites like these often post inflamatory [sic] garbage to simply drive up their hits.” Further, she said, “It doesn’t take much to cut and paste others writings and add defamed claims about the author.”

It is kinda awful to post anothers [sic] writings that you know contain high traffick [sic] tags to boost your hits. What gets this Irish girl going is the more serious crime of illegal insertion of inaccurate statements as fact. Opinions are cool and well within your constitutional 5th ammendmeant [sic] rights, but fictitious gobbly-gook presented as fact raises the seemingly benign act of trash-talk to the illegal act of dafamation [sic] of character. Commentray [sic] is healthy and that is why I suggest you have a submit comment function added to all three of your sites. It helps keep people honest and from going off rails.

That defamed gunk you wrote about Tony was not so Jesus-like.

Anyway, on a more upbeat note, the Holy Spirit is sweeping across the globe and using Emergent men and women to spread the gospel and redefine how church is experienced; it is so exciting!

I AM SORRY AND I WILL LOVE YOU AS I LOVE MYSELF

Ken, you told me to “bring it on” in regards to seeking legal counsel for the dafamation [sic] of Tony’s character. You said, “I will never back down, or retract and God is my attorney and the Lord has now put his wrath upon you and your family.” That sounds kinda mean Ken and not loving me as your neighbor like you would yourself. I hope you are you not that harsh or lacking in grace with yourself. We have been given a command by our shared-Lord. We must love one another. Let’s start…

Ken, I respect your expression of faith. It isn’t my cup of tea but still I deem it worthy for some. A former friend had a sad struggle with her husbands [sic] porn addiction and by the grace of God he has stayed porn-free by the legalistic community that he now engages in. He said, “I need that kind of structure.” Promise keepers has helped him keep his promise. I think that is great! Will I disagree with your position to not allow women to preach I get where you extrapolated it from the bible and believe that is what you are supposed to do.

Can’t you reciprocate the same respect of my expression of loving and faithfully following our shared-Jesus? Mr. Rogers once said, “Just because something or someone looks different than what you are used to, doesn’t mean that it is a bad thing.” God love our sainted Fred.

BTW:Tony [sic] has asked me to make it clear to the blogosphere that I am acting independently of him and on my own volition and he did not put me up to this.

Hunger, poverty, racism, gender inequality, social justice, human slavery, human trafficking, spousal abuse, domestic violence, global warming, impeachable presidents.

These are the things that should cramp a bloggers typing hands, not Tony!

Ken, it is actually against internet law and illegal for you to continue to post words in reference to Tony or anyone for that matter like, “guru, cult-leader, satan worshipper, hindu, buddist, and stating as fact that Tony and the Emergent xians do not even use the bible.”

Okay, gotta go polish and shine Tony’s devil-horns and get on my spandex for my Ashtanga yoga class. You should see my wicked mid-room headstand!

Our Lord God almighty…you said my Lord was a sub-jesus with a little j, kinda like the Johoveh-ish [sic] Jesus. That wasn’t very kind Ken. Why do you get to be Wonderwoman all the time and I have to be wondergirl with the little w?

Oh, ONE MORE THING…

In Tony Jones soon to be released book (pre-orders now being taken on Amazon), a third way to follow Christ is portrayed.

What is that book?

The New Chrsitians [sic]: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier

When is it out?

due out March 2nd and on a table in every Barnes & Noble in the nation! Gotta plug whose been butterin’ my bread! Nationwide book tour, readings and signing are being booked now. You can join Tony’s Facebook group.

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and RSVP to book release events.

Hey, I gotta take full advantage of my 15 minutes of fame or was my national television ad with Yanni back in 1995 for Target Stores already my 60 seconds of fame…well, that means I still got 14 minutes left.

THE THIRD WAY VIGNET: AS HEARD AND NOW DISPATCHED RIGHT HERE FROM THE PORCH LAST SUNDAY

At the Porch the other night, a woman stood up and shared some facts about the origin of Christmas lights and where and by whom they are manufatured [sic] How cool to be a Christian that thoughtfully refuses to buy Christmas lights because they are predominately manufactured by Christian slaves in China who cannot even celebrate Christmas freely and they are solely made under inhuman conditions for Americans.

Namaste (The Holy Spirit in me honors and recognizes the HS in you!).

Julie McMahon Jones

# Ken Silvaon 13 Dec 2007 at 3:57 pm

Julie Jones:

You said, “I will never back down, or retract and God is my attorney and the Lord has now put his wrath upon you and your family.”

I did not make that statement.

“Ken, I respect your expression of faith.”

You’l [sic] pardon me if that rings hollow.

“you said my Lord was a sub-jesus with a little j, kinda like the Johoveh-ish [sic] Jesus.”

I never said this either. And the Lord God almighty knows it. The difference sems [sic] to be I’m not going to whine about your saying I said things that I didi [sic] not. Not am I going to run to legal counsel.

No; as I actually told you, the Lord is my Defender if you chose to pursue this the way you appear to be headed.

# Julie Mc Joneson 13 Dec 2007 at 6:52 pm

Thanks Bruce,

Elevation of content and considerate comments are constructive.

I do think there are a numerous outcomes and options to addressing this type of internet pestilence.

A. Poitely [sic] ask the person to stop. If it is an outright lie about someone, slanderous or defamation of character; you could let them know that they are busted either via letter or other correspondence followed up by a phone call confirming that your request for edits has been heard and an action taken to rectify the situation.

B. Allow for comments, if you cannot deny your obsession to ripping people you have never met publicly.

C. Consult and hire an internet law attorney, not as an empty threat but to exercise your legal rights.

D. Seek intense psychological therapy to root out your personal demons that drive you to relentlessly put down others in order to feel better about yourself?

E. Embrace that any press is good press!

F. Pray for commonground [sic], reconciliation, repentance and healing.

G. Praise Jesus you are in a relationship with Christ that is full of grace and love and find empathy for those who may be in a legalistic relationship.

this is your conscience speaking…you did say those terribly arrogant things on the phone to me last Sunday morning at 9:08 not that I have it recorded or anything. The phone rang 30 times when I used Tony’s cell, but miraculously you picked up on the first ring when I used another phone.

You don’t remember explaining to me that my Jesus is the B team Jesus like a Jehovah Witness Jesus? How could I possibly make that up? It is too good. I told you last Sunday I am in the process with a lawyer to make you retract your lies about Tony. I told you that not as a threat but to inform you that I am taking legal action against you.

It seemed like the courteous thing to and would allow you an opportunity to stop slandering and defaming Tony Jones on your own before you were reading over legal documents. It seemed like the xian thing to do. You are being stubborn, unreasonable and perhaps are the type that has difficulty admitting when they have gone too far or have made an error…ever!

You did tell me that me and my family were damned to hell. Again, how could I make that whopper up?

Tony is an author of Christian books and a reader of the bible. He is not a cult leader, heretic, buddist or hindu because he does yoga from time to time, or any other of your bizarre accusations. Are you jealous of him or something? It kinda seems like it. I know you say it is because the Lord has apponted [sic] you to speak out. well, maybe itis time to be quiet, humble and listen to somebody elses [sic] voice other than your own? If I haven’t mentioned it but I think I did. Tony just recently finished an unbelievably good book to be released this March 2nd.

Join the facebook group and stay posted to book releases and what not.

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. I too vow to never click on to my not so favs: surprising ministries, beaconhouse [sic] or the not so accurately researched Chrsitian [sic] Research sites.

Peace out!

# Julie Mc Joneson 13 Dec 2007 at 7:03 pm

From hence forth…”He who should not be named”

got it

# Juliemcjoneson 14 Dec 2007 at 2:16 pm

Thank you Bruce.

When I contacted HWSNBN (he who should not be named as to not give his ranking any boost)3 weeks ago, I really had the spirit of what you just described in mind. As Tony’s wife and life partner on this Christian journey; I had heard enough from this clown. I was surprised that his site had no way to comment on such shocking lies. I had to go through his HOW TO DONATE function just to cal him out on lying about Tony; my husband, best friend and fellow Christian.

It wasn’t until last Sunday that I was sent an e-mail back doubting that I was Tony’s wife because if I was then I would of course know that Tony knew HWSNBN and that Tony had had a phone conversation with him some years back about this slander and defamation.

For 3 years this has continued. yes, he is being sued. I act independent of Tony because this is just wrong and it should stop no matter how you express your Christianity.

I accept all expressions and deem them all worthy and faithful whether it is fundamentalist (except i know spanking innocent children to be illegal and child abuse), catholic, protestant, UMC, whatever….There is not one way to faithfully express your love and desire to be like Jesus.

Thanks for the forum Bruce and healthy of you to have a comment function which of course all participants should and must have unless they are not interested in hearing anything contrary to their thoughts and opinions.

J

# Ken Silvaon 14 Dec 2007 at 2:54 pm

Unfortunately it is Mrs Jones who has apparently chosen to attempt to make this unfortunate situation into a public spectacle. So “this clown,” which might also be mistaken for a bit of a defamation of my character, is going to ask you politely and publicly just this one time: Mrs Jones, please do not keep escalating this issue because no one will actually win in a situation like this.

As a quick example concerning “such shocking lies”, legal council could make a case from your prior derogatory reference to me as “this clown,” as well as by your capitalizing only certain words in the comment to follow, that you’re attempting to further demean my personal integrity by making it appear that I am in ministry for the money when you say: “I had to go through his HOW TO DONATE function just to cal [sic] him out”. Of course loving and tolerant emerging Christians would never do something like that now, would they?

Let’s also add to the above the fact that you have also mislead people, whether knowingly or unknowingly, because the Apprising Ministries website has a button right on the front page which clearly reads: “Contact”; and it brings up nothing but an email box–period. And, if you really are so concerned about lies; then you’d best ask your “husband, best friend and fellow Christian,” who very publicly blogged about the phone call I had with him this past January, for the facts because he never mentioned anything at all to me about “slander and defamation.”

As a matter of fact, Tony seems to have gotten the same impression I did at the time; we both thought the conversation went pretty well: Ken Silva. Mrs Jones, I will also take this opportunity to respectfully advise you that the following would not be a wise choice on your part–”I act independent of Tony”–if you choose to continue to escalate this with me.

And so Mrs Jones, I sincerely ask you once again, please do not do so.

Tony Jones shares his comments on this sad situation in On Hearing One Side of a Phone Conversation.