Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "McGavran Influence on the Synodical Conference":
You wrote:
"I get appreciative emails (signed) from laity every day."
If that were really true, you would post them.
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GJ - As Marge Gunderson said in Fargo, "I'm not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your police work, there, Lou."
I have posted many emails, without names. Anyone can post a comment with a name, and some do. If I posted emails and their signatures, the writers would be subjected to the abuse many have suffered before.
Believe me or not. I hear from pastors and laity. I have many sources who keep me up to date about many things. Obviously my view is limited, but I do provide plenty of support for my assertions.
I post the nasty comments so people know they are not alone. Missouri and ELCA are no better than Wisconsin, just slicker. The Little Sect on the Prairie is very much like WELS, but they will never admit it.
If someone wants to call me a liar, that individual should point out the deception. The same is true of slander, etc. All I get from anonymous comments is a string of names.
WELS has to pretend it is perfect. Anyone who questions this alleged perfection is ousted. Strangely, the Church Growth knot-heads have made a career out of attacking the former leadership and practices of WELS. They were going to make everything better. They used the WELS KGB (Jack Preus' term) to make sure no one got in their way. They achieved their victory. More in the next post.
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MLS Veteran has left a new comment on your post "Why WELS Is an Abusive Cult":
To call WELS an "abusive cult" I think is a bit out of line. I will admit, though, that our members tend to be some of the "coldest" Christians, on average, I have ever met.
I don't mean everyone has to be huggy-huggy, kissy-kissy with everyone. But we sure could stand to be a bit friendlier.
As a young person I was always struck by the macho posturing that many of the young men felt a need to display that went well beyond what I saw in my experiences outside of the WELS. Perhaps no-one wanted to seem to soft or be accused of being effeminate.
In general, I believe with the core doctrines of the WELS, I just wish we were sometimes a friendlier bunch of people.
GJ - Teaching God's Law would bring about genuine contrition. Then the Gospel would find receptive hearts, prosper, and the fruits of that preaching would be evident. Man-made law will never generate friendliness.
Out of line? No other denomination would accept an extensive hazing system that starts in 9th grade and extends into seminary. (I hear a secret GA still goes on, and my source is good.) A denomination where a tooth is knocked out in GA, a leg is broken, a prep school boy is dropped from the second floor window, a college student is knocked unconscious, a seminarian is thrown into raw sewage, etc - is abusive.
Whenever someone contacts me about being thrown out of WELS, I say, "That is a blessing."
