Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Lutheran College Paper Defends "Party in...":
Ichabod can continue to deny change, but it will come. It is much more than just MLC and WLC, it is Lutherans who realize that we have become so old school in our ways that we are losing our youth. While the video may have been one extreme Ichabod is indeed the other, for you cannot have one without the other. C&C is appealing to the next generation, those who are living for Jesus through confessions, services, and reaching out to others. Not waiting for them to see our sign and come in.
Also, Ichabod is accusing them of knowing what FIP meant, not truly being repentant, and that they were simply upset that they got caught, which is absurd. Other than God, who can know men's hearts? While we may, in Christian love judge their actions, Christ alone is in charge of judging the motivation of the students and no one else.
It is probably related to Beavis and Butthead's in the first place, who will continue to defend the contemporary changes in the WELS. It is the rock and roll churches who are so blatently corrupting Lutheranism. Correct?
***
GJ - I remember District VP Schroer phoning me and shouting, "You are judging men's hearts. Only God can do that!" What was my crime? I quoted various WELS Church Growth gurus and matched their verbatim statements with Fuller quotations (thanks to Megatron). Worse, I also printed Book of Concord statements to contrast Fuller and WELS with Lutheran doctrine. Patiently, I pointed out to Schroer that we can--and must--judge published doctrine (Book of Concord, Large Catechism, Eighth Commandment). As a young pastor, Schroer thought it was unionism to watch Lawrence Welk. I thought it was torture, but that is another topic.
Let me hasten to point out that I did not participate in filming the video or uploading it to You Tube. Advocates for this video continue to bring up the topic they supposedly want buried. WLC not only published an editorial on this topic, but printed it on the first page of the student newspaper. What better way to keep it alive?
I found the supposed interview in "The Sword" a farce. A real journalist, even a sophomore reporter, would have checked out both sides before objectively siding with the MLC students. The students sounded resentful, pouty, ready to cry.
I found the college students' excuses difficult to believe. I teach college students year around, and I know they are savvy about finding out information on Google. The excuses contradict the other statements in the editorial. The students innocently created a parody of another video! Why did they make it even gayer than the first one, if they just fell off the beet wagon?
The MLC video is rather professional, so these Internet-digital savvy guys did not know what they were doing? I am not judging their flinty hearts but their mushy alibis.
"Party in the MLC" is the wave of the future, according to the comment above. That will draw the young, say the wizards of Church and Change.
I see a bunch of old white liberals on the board of Church and Change. The CG founders in WELS are retired and soon to retire, older than dirt. Their AARP cards are worn and smudged.
"Attracting the young" is a dubious argument. MLC claims that the Fire Island Pines guys just loved the knock-off of their video. And why not? They probably watched it more than any other demographic. What a recruiting tool!
---
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Lutheran College Paper Defends "Party in...":
Obviously what this group of students did was, more or less, not the best decision.
But how do the actions and words of these MLC students, or even the words of the author of the article in the WLC student newspaper honestly represent the views/opinions of their colleges or that of the WELS as a whole?
The students at MLC obviously didn't consult with the administration before they posted the video. And was the author of article at WLC really defending such actions, or simply explaining the events of this issue as an example of how what you post online has its consequences?
There are likely plenty of students who lower their heads in shame in regard to what their classmates at MLC have done. Likewise, there are likely plenty of WELS Lutherans who don't completely agree with everything done in the synod or what their president says.
Faith is an individual thing, between a person and God. That relationship will ultimately affect what they do and say to others, the decisions they make, etc.. And they may belong to a certain religion, group, or even sect, but the whole does not always believe the exact same thing as the individual because everyone's relationship with God differs. No religion is perfect because everyone has fallen short of God's glory.
