SEEK US would be a good motto for this operation.
A keen observer of WELS and the cultural climate wrote:
I do have some observations re: the sex ed youtube. Outrageous as it is on the surface, obviously WELS hasn't a clue about Behavioral Psychology and the effect of "role playing" on those who assume the identity (role) of others and this time the role of the Devil. Behaviorists know that once ideas are verbalized by language a threshold becomes crossed by the person who might not otherwise verbalize or express what the character played says. It involves an element of giving ones self over to the characterizing of the character portrayed in order to be convincing. It is a dangerous thing to do especially with a subject having to do with a titillating subject for the purpose of "educating"?
The young man portraying the Devil is either a very well trained professional actor or he was enjoying playing the part of the Devil. Behaviorists know that repeated verbalization of words, phrases, and ideas once considered objectionable, become easier and easier to accommodate
and assimilate as acceptable and eventually "normal". They know that "role playing" works to break down barriers including moral barriers of society. That is why it is used so much in corporate, education, etc.(and yes churches) to create conformity and "group think".
The danger for the soul of an actor who plays the Devil exists not only for himself, but for the hearers who become accustomed to the language. In the case of the WELS youtube....SEICUS couldn't have done it any better. There can be a place for theater or drama, but many years ago Missouri Synod had provisional membership for people who were actors or involved in theater, for the very reason of the dangers to the soul when putting one's own "self" aside in order to assume the persona of a character played. Such display as this latest from WELS is soul destroying in more than one way.
When some of us who were opposing the Human Potential exercises being imposed on classrooms in public schools years ago, one exercise to make profanity and profane ideas acceptable and common place, was for the teacher (facilitator) to encourage students to shout out every "forbidden" word and phrase they could think of.
The teacher (facilitator) would write the words and phrases on the blackboard, then everyone in attendance was instructed to repeat all the words and phrases until saying the words and phrases was no longer uncomfortable. Dramatization such as demonstrated in the sex ed youtube will be just as effective to break down any Biblical moral restraints remaining in WELS..
My name appears on articles, letters to the editor etc., on a regular basis with unpopular and politically incorrect ideas, and if slings and arrows come, unless it is for a "fact" correction, I consider such as having succeeded in touching a nerve. When one is identified with one's own words, and when one's writing is proven to be correct, it is easier to say, "I told you so".
Mary Thompson
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samuelthrace has left a new comment on your post "SIECUS Could Not Have Done It Better Than The SORE...":
I can't recall a bigger load of psychological claptrap in my life! So does this mean that no one should play Macbeth on stage for fear of becoming a murderous pretender to the Scottish throne?
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GJ - OpenID - no profile. That is curious because WELS uses a role playing model to mold their sausages at The Sausage Factory. This secret initiation rite, called GA, is still being held in secret for the chosen few. The heart of GA is indeed role playing. The upperclassmen play one side or the other. The Softs or Pietists pretend to help the incoming students. The Hards aggressively persecute the students. The big climax is when the newcomers run through the doors, frightened of the Hards pursuing them. A big beer party awaits on the other side. Deception is theme, and WELS clergy forever play that game. Of course, GA is a big secret. No one can tell anyone. If someone begins GA knowing about the deception, he really gets it.
Role-playing is used to make the students fit in. Various other methods make sure all the students graduate just the same - like sausages; hence the ELS nickname for Mequon - The Sausage Factory.
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Rev. Fr. Spencer has left a new comment on your post "SIECUS Could Not Have Done It Better Than The SORE...":
The current cesspit of the WELS is the Core in the city of Green Bay. Lest someone think this too harsh or unbrotherly, remember that a sewer is simply "a collection system that transports only the liquid portion of wastewater through small-diameter pipes laid at contour," while a cesspit or cesspool is "a pit, conservancy tank, or covered cistern, which can be used for sewage or refuse." [Thanks Wikipedia!] Thus, the Fox River may be termed the sewer of the WELS, transporting religious excrement, theological waste, and spiritual fecal matter downhill toward the Core located in Green Bay, which then becomes the collection point for such waste. An apt description of the situation, no? I think yes. But that's just my own personal opinion.
The Gadfly
