Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 14
November 8, 1962
NUMBER 27, PAGE 7a

Another Modern Parable - Of The "Skunk"

Dudley Ross Spears

(Credit for most of the material contained in this article belongs to Randall McPherson of Burkesville, Ky., who answered this modern parable over radio station WTKY in Tompkinsville, Ky., after it had been used to decline an invitation to publically debate the issues before the church. DRS)

Sometimes men who are unwilling to defend their views in debate will use nearly anything available as an "out" as they decline to debate. One of the latest is the parable of the "skunk." Perhaps it should be dubbed a "fable" rather than a parable, because it is an indication that the time has come when men will not endure sound doctrine but prefer fables as they can turn their backs to the truth. It is said in this modern "fable" that a man was camping out one night when on vacation and was suddenly awakened by a noise in his tent. He saw the "skunk" in his tent. He was (in his own opinion) an expert shot with a slingshot and had a marble near him, but his thinking was that if he just knocked the skunk's head halfway off, the skunk might stink up the tent, ruin his clothing and ruin his sleep — so he thought the course of wisdom was to simply lie still and quiet and let the skunk go away. In short, he did, and the skunk did. The moral of the "fable" is that when an "anti" comes into the camp, don't fire any shots at him — just be quiet and maybe he will go away without stinking up the place.

The institutional brethren should erect a statue to this skunk and immortalize him. He should become their official mascot because he has done something for them that even Christ cannot or will not do. The skunk gives them an excuse for not defending their views and practices and the Lord will not! Isn't it pathetic that people will grasp at such things as this just to avoid debating?

The greatest fallacy in the "fable" is that the institutional people won't "lie still and quiet" in all cases. They continue their undercover misrepresentations and accusations against the so-called "anties." There are very few of the defenders of institutionalism who are willing to debate nowadays.

— Blytheville, Arkansas