Posted on 10/16/2012 3:41:28 PM PDT by tellw
King's crisis
RELIGION | After a meteoric rise in the evangelical world, The King’s College president Dinesh D’Souza now faces his board’s likely questions about his relationship to a woman not his wife
About 2,000 people gathered on Sept. 28 at First Baptist North in Spartanburg, S.C., to hear high-profile Christians speak on defending the faith and applying a Christian worldview to their lives. Among the speakers: Eric Metaxas, Josh McDowell, and—keynote speaker for the evening—best-selling author, filmmaker, and Christian college president Dinesh D’Souza.
D’Souza’s speech earned him a standing ovation and a long line at the book-signing table immediately afterward. Although D’Souza has been married for 20 years to his wife, Dixie, in South Carolina he was with a young woman, Denise Odie Joseph II, and introduced her to at least three people as his fiancée.
Finally, near 11 p.m., event organizer Tony Beam escorted D’Souza and Joseph to the nearby Comfort Suites. Beam noted that they checked in together and were apparently sharing a room for the night in the sold-out hotel. The next morning, around 6 a.m., Beam arrived back at the hotel and called up to D’Souza’s room. “We’ll be down in 10 minutes,” D’Souza told Beam. D’Souza and Joseph came down together, and Beam took them to the airport.
The next day another conference organizer, Alex McFarland, distressed by D’Souza’s behavior, confronted him in a telephone conversation. D’Souza admitted he shared a room with his fiancée but said “nothing happened.” When I called D’Souza, he confirmed that he was indeed engaged to Joseph, but did not explain how he could be engaged to one woman while still married to another. When asked when he had filed for divorce from his wife, Dixie, D’Souza answered, “Recently.”
According to San Diego County (Calif.) Superior Court records, D’Souza filed for divorce only on Oct. 4, the day I spoke with him. Under California law, that starts the clock on a six-month waiting period for divorce. D’Souza on Oct. 4 told me his marriage was “over,” said he “is sure Denise is the one for me,” and said he had “done nothing wrong.”
The episode is a strange twist in D’Souza’s otherwise meteoric rise in the evangelical world. He developed a reputation among evangelicals with a string of best-sellers, including The Roots of Obama’s Rage, which spawned a movie, Obama: 2016, which has now grossed more than $30 million. He broke into the Christian conference and megachurch market in 2007 with the release of a book that year, What’s So Great About Christianity.
D’Souza now receives speaking fees sometimes in excess of $10,000 from Christian groups, putting him in the top tier of Christian speakers. In 2010 he became president of The King’s College, New York City, which is supported by Campus Crusade for Christ, now called Cru. At that time he moved from California to New York, with his wife staying in California.
D’Souza said King’s board chairman Andy Mills has known about his marital trouble for at least two years. Mills confirmed that through a spokesman, Mark DeMoss, who added that Mills was “hopeful about restoration and both he [D’Souza] and Andy were praying to that end.” DeMoss said The King’s College board met by conference call to begin “looking into the situation.” D’Souza participated in a portion of that call, DeMoss said. Following that meeting, on Oct. 15, D’Souza wrote in a text message to me: “I have decided to suspend the engagement.”
The King’s board plans further discussion at a regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 17 and 18, DeMoss said.
This article will appear in the Nov. 3 issue of WORLD Magazine.
What does D’Souza’s personal life have to do with the movie 2016?
I care. Divorce is not just “personal life.” Divorce is a public tragedy. Breakup of families — including among many Christians — is ruining this country.
If Christians can’t set higher moral standards, who will?
Love is work. You love your baby, it’s work. You love your 8-year-old, your 15-year-old (Oh, my God, Tom ...), it’s work. You love your spouse, it’s work. Except for the times when it’s easy ;-).
We’ll get there. I think we have more going for us than my parents did, and they’re over 50 years now.
I have been married 43 years and as with any couple married that long, there have been ups and downs. But those downs have never been influenced by the presence of another person who had any bearing on our martial circumstances.
That is why I have a problem with this situation and millions of others like it. If a marriage has irreconcilable differeces, they should stand on their own without the influence of a potential interference of a new “romantic adventure” that may never fully materialize, but only repeat itself.
I sometimes start pouring the box-wine-and-Diet-7up at noon. It saved our ancestors from dying of cholera and typhoid, after all ...
I will drink to your family’s happiness and well-being!
Just poured one....Cheers!
I’ve always liked you, Tax-chick, but now you’re joining my pantheon of favorites! I’m drinking cheapo brandy myself.
World magazine should likewise face questions about why they pay women to come forward to make these claims.
“And you know what? Today is my 10 year FReepversary! “
You are so neat. If everyone would just have a burst of honesty about how tough things get, we would all be a lot better off. Happy Anniversary. I celebrated my 12th FReeperversary on the sixth of this month. Most of it was pretty quiet. I’ve only recently become a big mouth.
Hang in there, kiddo.
If only everyone had a good solid marriage like Bill and Hillary.
Thanks, Bud. You are on my favorites list, if we had one on FR. (As opposed to that “Ignore List” we never get from the programmers!)
Could he not keep it zipped until after the election?
Sounds Axeldouched to me.
I agree with you. Doesn’t the Bible say God hates divorce? Now unbelievers can do whatever they want, but people who profess to be Christian should act like it, especially ones who make it their business to make money off the gospel. If the article is correct, Dinesh D’Souza is paid money to speak about Christian matters. Divorce is sin. If Dinesh D’Souza’s wife is cheating on him, then he’s permitted to divorce. However, divorced Christians are not supposed to remarry. Those are harsh standards to be sure, but I’m pretty sure that’s what the Bible says.
It truly amazes and saddens me the number of Christians who lead lives that are indistinguishable from non-believers. Fornication, adultery, lying, etc., are treated like insignificant matters if at all. Sure, we Christians were all fornicators and adulterers at one time, but weren’t we washed clean by the blood of Christ? Why would we continue to wallow in the filth and/or look the other way when our fellow believers do the same?
Back atcha! I’m always interested in your posts because your experiences have been so different, and yet it seems like we have the same spirit.
Me too.
I am guessing it is the old, old story of success going to his head.
The fame and riches (well, modest riches) he has now acquired may have had the double effect of whetting the appetite for more, and attracting fresh female flesh.
Wouldn't be the first time for this set of circumstances.
Thank you, Jane. I always notice your posts because I lived in Texas for many years!
I'm happy his movie was a success and perhaps changed some minds. I thought it lacked teeth.
You exhibit a breathtaking ignorance of the moral convictions of Evangelical Christians - or, I suspect, of any authentic Christian community, for that matter.
News Flash: D'Souza happens to be the President of The King's College, a long-standing Bible College, which teaches that sexual relations are to be reserved for men and women who are married.
As for D'Souza's sophmoric excuse that "nothing happened," he should be well aware (as the President of a Christian College) of the Apostle Paul's exhortation to "avoid the appearance of evil," something which his behavior clearly violated.
D'Souza's conduct is very likely enough to get any student expelled from The King's College. And he is the President?
The "nothing happened" excuse is the kind of "deer caught in the headlights" response one would expect from a kid half his age.
The fact that D'Souza had the nerve to sleep with "the other woman" while holding a respected position of leadership, and while being the featured speaker at a Christian conference, speaks volumes for his character.
And by the way, it is not "OK" as long as he dumps - sorry, "divorces" - his wife for the younger woman.
the other woman
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