I wore it "to fit in" with WELS.
He was not offended that the WELS seminary president was a Fuller alumnus and advocate.
Stalinism is a state of mind, where everyone is under suspicion and punishment is distributed generously, just to keep everyone else in line. Read Animal Farm for pointers and 1984 for another treatment.
Freedom is the enemy of tyranny. That is why church organizations work so hard at suppressing the truth and providing cover stories for the evil they do. One consistent method is the use of synod minders.
A synod minder is someone who makes sure that the pastors never stray from the official agenda. Minders love the derived power they get from their roles. A few of them are lay-toadies. Most of them are clergy.
If an independent group has a meeting about the synod's doctrine, minders will show up or closely question anyone who attended. I attended several independent meetings in St. Louis where about 30 AARP members gathered, watched over by five to ten synod officials, including the editor of the Lutheran Witness. One seminary student who attended was never approved for ordination.
Sometimes a parochial teacher will help out, sending information about congregation meetings to the right official before people get home.
Overall, NPH has been very kind to me, but they did refuse to publish Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, even after placing it on their print schedule. The reason given was--and I paraphrase--you have to change your attitude. That led me into independent publishing, and they promoted the book, astonishing me. WELS sold boxes of CLP, just as they sold out two printings of Liberalism.
Minders work through friends. Kincaid Smith, a frequent contributor to Christian News, phoned to tell me not to publish in CN. That probably came from Mischke telling Orvick to get someone on my case. The editor of The Northwestern Lutheran (now FICKLE) told me I would never get anything published in his magazine if I wrote again for Christian News. I did and the accepted articles never saw the light of day. NWL paid for articles and CN did not, but I was unwilling to sign on to Stalinism. Before my mother died, we sang "Don't Fence Me In" with her fellow patients at the nursing home. The song ended and she said, "That's me." Mrs. I said, "You got it from both parents."
Based on my example, anyone can see that the publishing house and magazine are used to promote the agenda, which is seldom related to sound doctrine or even to satisfied readers. FICKLE is a joke, an expensive toy for Church and Change, paid through WELS offerings.
Blogs have minders, too. Google helps by allowing people to have notices sent whenever their names or certain tags show up. Blog-minders make sure no one ever pursues a doctrinal issue to the point of clarity. Paul McCain--a layman who wears clerics all the time (available for a call?)--warned his brethren not to form any new confessional groups, as soon as Harrison was elected. His dogmatics expert, Father Jack Kilcrease, OP, helps out. Minders often work with lapdogs, who give the impression of greater numbers, a spontaneous display of opposition or concern.
As my readers know, my blog email address is published and often printed in a post for anyone to use. Nevertheless, one ELS pastor has been whining to one of my friends - about how he is misunderstood and blah-blah. Does he write to me? Of course not. Does he explain his actions, as he has claimed? Definitely not. Is this a case of Matthew 18, so often cited by the minders themselves?
There are synod minders and those who allow themselves to be minded. My biggest laughs come from anonymous minders who tell me to repent, using copious Scripture passages, but cannot use their names. Based on style and content, I would put the number at about three who have commented that way with any consistency.
However, there is a vast body of minders who warn people not to trust anything they read on Ichabod. Unfortunately, I am one of several people teaching members how to spot false doctrine from their own congregation's website. I hear from them all the time.
Every DP and CP is a synod minder. If you think they are concerned about doctrine or practice, or keeping people safe from predators, look around. The evidence is there in the congregations and the police blotters.
Synod minders are doctrinal capons.
