Monday, February 1, 2010

Sprinter versus Luther Video - Finally Yanked from YouTube



It's a knockout.

The odious statue fight from Martin Luther College (WELS) is finally gone from YouTube. Someone commented on one of the videos being gone. The gay video, "Party in the MLC," lives on via Facebook, with 1150 fans so far.  

The worse one, the statue fight, did not show up in my searches, so I looked for my own embed on Ichabod. The search feature is handy.

Sure enough - the video was removed. Before, removing the video was impossible because the students were already graduated. That is a pretty lame excuse. Perhaps they pulled the video because it did not make a good recruitment tool, except for future Church and Changers and Miley Cyrus lip-synchers.

People wonder, "Why go on and on about these things?" The reason is that readers start at the main page and may look for more material. Many do not.

The Ichabod effect continues. Odious material disappears from the Net after getting the spotlight on this blog. That is only a tiny portion of the effort. Pastors and laity are making the WELS world uncomfortable for apostasy.

I know it is happening, but that is all I can say. If you can't run with all the information provided, you can only blame yourselves for indolence and timidity.




---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sprinter versus Luther Video - Finally Yanked from...":

I'm the "director" of the 'Luther vs. Sprinter' video. I'd like to by apologizing for any offense it may have caused. It was certainly not the intent.

A couple quick points, and then I'll be going:

1 - The "bible" Luther threw down was actually an old book of poetry painted gold. However, I realize that Luther is holding the bible in the statue, thus making it appear that he throws it down in anger. It was a thoughtless oversight on my part and I apologize.

2 - "Luther" does not use the Lord's name in vain at the end of the clip. On the "master" copy he can be heard saying "gosh" as clear as day. The compressed audio quality on youtube may have made the audio less clear. But again, leaving the door open even to the possibility of someone thinking he used God's name flippantly is unacceptable and I apologize.

3 - MLC had absolutely nothing to do with this video being posted on youtube. I uploaded the video myself after several classmates requested it.

I received an email late last week asking me to remove the video which was being used to drag the name of Martin Luther College through the mud. I had never heard one objection to or concern about this video before I received the aforementioned email. I took the clip down immediately.

To say that I could not be contacted because I had graduated is patently false and rather absurd. The video had a clear link to the person who uploaded it where you could send me a message, email, or comment on the video. It would seem to me that if you truly were concerned about any sinful error of mine in making/posting the video, or the stumbling block it may be to others, you would have made an effort to contact me. No such effort was ever made.

Again I apologize for any offense I have caused. It was never intended (which, I realize, is far from an excuse).

***

GJ - Yes, I should have phoned 1-800-Anonymous. In fact, someone else objected to the video and I posted it with my objections. The offense was public, especially obnoxious,and puerile. I cannot imagine wasting so much time and energy on such vapid entertainment. One person is right - more homework needs to be assigned.

I find it odd that WELS workers include accusations in their supposed apologies. Has anyone ever objected to anything in exactly the right way? No wonder so few try.

---

More Snarling:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sprinter versus Luther Video - Finally Yanked from...":

I can't imagine wasting so much of my time tearing down others.

And really? You can't figure out how to send a message to a person on youtube? By taking a quick glance at your blog, your smear campaigns, and your obvious mastery of "photoshop" I would have assumed you knew your way around a computer a little better than that.

Then again, I guess I should expect no less from a smicklehunt who knows full well that the cream is in the carafe, yet continues to visit the front stoop of the schnitzel shop nightly.

Oh... but I guess you'd have to know my slang to understand that.

I'll have to get around to starting a blog and posting that...

I kid. Although something tells me you aren't one you can take a joke...

But anyways dear mogwai, it's after midnight, so I believe I'd be wise to stop feeding you now.

This is the last you'll hear from me. In all seriousness, one more time, I apologize to all whom the video offended. The video was in poor taste and the decision to publicly display it was an ignorant one. Please accept my apology.

Your sinful, yet mercifully forgiven brother in Christ.

***

GJ - Nothing says WELS church worker more than the anonymous apologies/attacks.



---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sprinter versus Luther Video - Finally Yanked from...":

You Are an A****** Greg = YAAG! That's what I'll call you from now on, YAAG!! Bonus!!

***

GJ - Another Changer loyalist above, an average comment from an Enthusiast devoted to outreach. Notice he cannot even spell YAAAG. Typical.

---

 Even More Snarling:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sprinter versus Luther Video - Finally Yanked from...":

Hey YAAG what I can do is turn around the word YAAG and call you GAAY!! I think that's what I'll call you from now on, GAAY!

You are an a****** but in reverse you're also gay!






---

Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "Sprinter versus Luther Video - Finally Yanked from...":

Pardon my arrogance...

But are we sure the same person posted the apology and the "GAAY" comment?

IIRC, I know the director of the sprinter video and the apology sounds like him, the profanities don't.

***

GJ - I am assuming they are different people, but both WELS.

Paul Calvin Kelm's Second Call





Ehlert, Rev Leon R - Beautiful Savior - Green Bay WI - 01/28/2010
Lead Pastor, Part Time Call

Kelm, Paul Calvin (DMin, Concordia, St. Louis) - Beautiful Savior - Green Bay WI - 01/28/2010
Associate Pastor, Semi-Retirement Call



Doctrinal discipline is rugged rigged in WELS. Steve Witte was one of the founders of Church and Change. He went from Beautiful Savior to the WELS Asian board to oversee such overseas changers as John Lawrenz. Witte has a DMin from Gordon Conwell and wrote on - guess what - the Church Growth Movement. He was at Depere before that, if memory serves me.

Kelm has a DMin in Church Growth from Our Lady of Sorrows in St. Louis. The seminary has three branches:
A. I wanna be ELCA.
B. Fuller certified.
C. Deciding between Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy.

If Green Bay is a semi-retirement call, what is the WLC chaplaincy?

I could do stand up in Milwaukee.

Didja hear about Paul Calvin Kelm?

Bada boom.




PS - Don't complain. You read this every day for the insider news. This is not a gossip blog. When a scholar gathers current information, it is history. Check Suetonius.

Smart-Aleck Culture from WELS/ELS Church and Change




Here is a web designer joke:

"When is a website finished?"

Various answers follow.

Answer - "When the budget is used up."

Church and Change will be finished when their money is gone. They are not self-sustaining. They have been living on the synod dole, Schwan grants, Thrivent loot, and the generosity of the women's groups. "Tell me again why you need $5,000 for rock n roll equipment at a church? Outreach? OK, we'll write a check tonight."

What will endure is the smart-aleck culture they have established so effectively in both synods, in most of their schools. Note how this mirrors what happened with Seminex in Missouri, a trend they denounced with righteous wrath for years.

Part One - Deception. No, it was not happening and everyone named was a Confessional Lutheran, "a fine, upstanding, healthy normal, patriotic, American boy." Someone could pose as a Confessional Lutheran missionary to the Commies in Russia and work with a CG fanatic or two. No problem. Nothing to see. Move on.

Part Two - We all know, but. The smart-alecks, winking at their buddies, began their attack on Biblical doctrine with "we all know" while taking away what they just said or wrote by adding "but..."

Part Three - Dummy Discipline. The same smart-alecks run around admonishing anyone who seems to be a fly in the ointment of their unctuous false doctrine. They scream, whimper, and cry about their hurt feelings while flailing anyone who notices their schemes.