Thread by @PerfInjust

Here is my friend Thomas Achord's final statement. See my response below:
medium.com/@thomasachord/…

I have talked with him for hours over the last few days and I stand by his comments here. I join him in repudiating the offensive tweets appearing under the name "Tulius Aadland," which Thomas acknowledges was his account.

Many of Thomas' friends, including myself, could not believe that it was his. We could not imagine him saying these things. They don't fit his character or the man we know. The combination of anonymity and a dark time in his life produced tweets that do not reflect who Thomas is

This isn't to excuse the tweets, nor to deflect his responsibility for them. But I'm certain that Thomas Achord--the man you would meet face-to-face--is not at all reflected in these tweets. He would, in an instant, stop to help *anyone* in need, and he has on several occasions.

And this is why so many people, especially men, came to respect him. This event justifiably puts that respect in question, but I believe that Thomas will earn back that respect in time. I ask that his friends who feel betrayed give him a 2nd chance. You will not be disappointed.

Thomas is and always will be my friend, & I am actively helping him to secure his spiritual and financial needs. But I'll admit that I was a bad friend. I was unaware of this dark time. Our interactions always centered around the podcast, with only some chatting before & after.

We should have spent more time talking about life. We should have done more together. We could have grown together as Christian men. We only got together three times in the 8 years I was in Baton Rouge. Our friendship was the business of the podcast. It should have been more.

I do not recall seeing any of these tweets now made public, and I now know that he regularly changed his twitter name. He at no time confirmed to me that it was his account, and it took me a while to suspect that it was his. I knew Thomas Achord, not the pseudonym Tulius Aadland.

Many people will conclude that Thomas lied in his first statement. Much of that statement is false, as he now admits. But beginning Wednesday, Thomas was consumed by a whirlwind of condemnation and questioning, brought about unjustly and in the most unnecessary manner.

These tweets reflect a specific dark period of his life that is now closed off to him. People near him have confirmed that he was different in this time. I believe that when he saw the tweets he genuinely did not recognize or recall sending them.

People around him pressured him to make a statement, and so he did according to what he believed at the time. It was unwise.

But this matter for him is settled, at least with regard to the public at large; and everyone should leave Thomas alone and let him rebuild his life. His past struggles and sin, from which he is actively repenting, should no longer be exploited to attack me or anyone else.

For this reason, turn your ire back on to me. It was all about discrediting me and my book from the beginning. If you want to know what I believe about these things, you can read about my developed views in Chapter 3 of my book. Can we now get to the arguments of the book?