J-903
“Having read Jackson's expose on WELS Initiation rites (this is a Latanism, [sic] isn't it?), I am shocked to read of the abuse suffered by our beloved Sprinter. Statue rape? I am appalled. Do such things actually happen? Let Synod appoint a special prosecutor to conduct a thorough investigation of this brutal deed, and if the perps be caught, I say, condemn them to be ministers of independent Lutheran congregations.
PS. And no, I didn't rat to Jackson. I haven't told my wife much about GA. My dad won't even tell me what happened to him in 1941, except I discovered some really great photos of him, dressed up as the Pope, the mere mention of which gets him to smile. I guess August Pieper got a real charge out of it.”
Nathan R. Pope
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From: Ryan Heiman
Date: Tuesday, November 03, 1998 8:29 PM
Subject: in christian love
Hello,
I am not going to argue with someone that is saying lies and many other false doctrines, but I would just like to point how the correct way of doing things in christian love is not to go out and print some crazy article in a magazine but go to them and talk with them in privat [sic] first. Hopefully you will see your sins and repent to God that he will in his mercy show you the gospel truth and work the correct faith in your heart again.
Sincerly, [sic]
Ryan Heiman
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From: David E Koehler
Date: Wednesday, November 04, 1998 9:12 AM
Dear Mr. Jackson,
I recently received your piece on the WELS and initiation for the CN. I was just a bit curious as to your motivation for writing this excellent work. I can only assume that it was done purely out of Christian love. I am sure that a man of your exceptional moral fortitude would never blatantly break the 8th commandment. I am also assuming that you talked to the people involved personally before you turned the story over to a tabloid. I would definitely love to give you the benefit of the doubt. Although I would never accuse you of being a blatant liar or slanderer, I would definitely say you write with half-truths and exaggerations. It gives credence to "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." You obviously possess a little knowledge on this subject. I was moved by your article in two ways. The first way was laughter. You knew so little about the actual events that I laughed out loud. It almost seemed that you were trying to blow the cover off of it, but in reality I think you enhanced the mystery. Way to go. The second way I was moved was to sadness. I was sad that you would blatantly attack the reputation of faithful called workers in God's kingdom. It was shameless. Like I said before, I am sure your motivation was strictly out of Christian love to help these men and they were not ad hominem attacks to settle personal vendettas. Believe me I am trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. I don't think it necessary for me to sit here and defend the practices of our synodical institutions. That would just give credit to your article of lies and exaggerations…
Well, I tire of you, but I have one last comment. Check your Bible for the commandments and see if the eighth has been removed from yours.
Vicar David Koehler
MLS Class of '92
MLC Class of '96
WLS Class of 2000
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“In 1981 DMLC defeated NWC for the first time. The Northwestern team and its followers were crestfallen; they felt they had let their school down. Alumni at the seminary predicted that dire things would happen to the seniors at GA (Gemuetlicher Abend) the next year.”
Carleton Toppe, Holding the Course, Northwestern College 125, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1990, p. 136.
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G. A. Never Sleeps“My, my; hey, hey;
Kinder, would you like to stay?
It’s better to endure than to run away,
My, my; Hey, hey.
A little bit blue, a little bit black
You’re afraid of this, afraid of that.
And once you start, you can never turn back
You’re in the lagoon, and the mud is black.
On a day that will not soon be forgotten
Last one in is an egg that’s rotten,
It’s do or die—no questions asked
On a day we call “Gemuetlicher Abend.”
Hey, hey; my, my;
Don’t worry, you won’t die
But you might throw up, and you might cry
Hey, hey; my, my.”
***
GJ - I ran into the posts from "A Kid Who Was 'It.'" They reminded me of the bullying problem in WELS, exemplified by their secret initiation rite, GA. Watch for upcoming reader comments claiming GA is over and done, that The Runner on His Mark is encircled by barbed wire, etc.
The most telling attitude comes through in the messages above when some of the crown jewels of the WELS educational system wrote me.
Later, these cherubim exploded again, claiming that email sent to me belonged to them exclusively. I had no right to publish their illiterate rants. Shouldn't we expect the fruit of Wisconsin Synod schools to turn on their spell-checkers?
Laymen, when you go to a Cicuit Pope or District Pope for problems with doctrine and practice, remember that all of the Wisconsin Sect leaders went through a series of initiation rites. Bullying is in their blood. So is deception.
