Bonanza of Logical Fallacies

Jarod Anthony has left this bonanza of logical fallacies on your post "Martin Luther College Chapel, or Build It and The...":

It is true that true worship can be conducted anywhere. But it is naive to assume that doctrine and practice don't go hand in hand. If a Lutheran church worshiped in a place with a stage and glass podium front and center, with no altar, no font, etc. I would hope that even though they have the freedom to worship anywhere they would have the good sense to build a worship space that does not display priorities that are un-Lutheran.

So, I think you're missing the point at best, or at worst simply creating an argument where there is none. The notion of building a worship space that models the worship that happens in *most* WELS churches is not a denial of Biblical Lutheran principles. Otherwise I suppose my church back home that is building is thereby denying Luther, the Bible, and the Confessions.

Ironically, you take the same position as Church and Change who say, "Worship is in spirit and truth, so it doesn't matter how or where we do it." Granted, they also lose the doctrine part, and I know you are about as far opposite from C&C as one can get...but my point is that we have to look at worship as a whole, both the spiritual part, and the practical, visible part.

Of course, how Lutheran the worship at MLC will be will depend on how MLC uses that worship space and what the people who preach in it say.

Also, to the WELS Lay Student... Few may not understand the designated gift paradox, but that doesn't do away with the problem or challenges. If a person doesn't understand the notion that "if I give X amount of dollars for a chapel at MLC, it would be unethical for them to spend it on anything else." The same is true if your grandmother gave you $1000 for your college education and you used it to pay off your credit card. I would hope you would honor your grandmother's wishes, regardless of how dumb your friends might think it would be.

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GJ - "Sir, it is a small school, as I have said, but there are those who love her." That was said about Dartmouth College, long before it become the model for Animal House.

I enjoyed the straw man (or men!) argumentation, the guilt by association, the ad hominem, and other fruits of a fine college education.

So how did this designated gift come about? Someone handed MLC a check for $7 million, pointed a gun at the head of the president, and said, "Build a chapel or else"? No, I think the gift was solicited and then used as a float for many years.

The comments are a bit hyper. If a $7 million chapel for a tiny college were such a good idea, the wise men of WELS would smile and say nothing. If someone tells me that the moon is made of styrofoam, I do not sling angry accusations at him. I would just say something enigmatic, like, "That explains a lot."

Obviously I have touched a nerve. Others must think the same thing. When my cash flow is poor, the last thing I want is a Rolls Royce as a gift.

If WELS wanted to put more money into the Means of Grace, the Love Shack Curia would resign, then either teach or preach. A mass resignation or firing would provide boatloads of cash for real ministry rather than the ministry of administration.