Tuesday, March 25, 2014

DUIs Do Not Amuse Me

It's all booze and food until someone
is killed in a DUI.

WELS is a sect for drunks and adulterers, especially for drunken adulterers.

The clergy think they are manly men by drinking too much. In WELS this began with underage drinking at Watertown. WELS closed down NWC and moved the guys to New Ulm, where there are plenty of bars to keep up with the demand.

Alcoholism is a physical and emotional addiction that develops slowly. Left unsaid by many is the total lack of judgment shown by those who simply maintain an all-day boozy state. They imagine they are doing well. No one under the influence of drugs or alcohol imagines he is less than brilliant, funny, insightful, and wise. I have often featured posts by opponents who are drunk. Naturally, they are outraged at being quoted and featured with the (sic) added.

"Drive? I can drive better when I have had a couple of drinks." A couple of drinks = a couple of recent drinks, like four or five, on top of the normal liquid diet.

When I served a small congregation in Michigan, I knew all the families especially well. I visited their homes. I went to their band concerts and plays. One family was very kind and close to one another. The parents helped out and came to the services. The children were great. The oldest child was a champion swimmer.

One day a drunken driver crossed the center line and killed this young woman, before she was done with high school. I know what it means to lose a daughter from illness. Losing a daughter from a drunken driver is 100 times worse.

I saw the devastation of the family. No one is left unscarred from such tragedies, especially since the drunk driver usually walks away unharmed - as this one did. One man told me about a similar drunk driving homicide, which killed his wife. The driver escaped back to Mexico.

When I see DPs given a quick transfer for their DUI or a man sent out to be a missionary for wrapping his car around a utility pole, I do not see manly men at work. I see liars and murderers who are deeply offended - outraged - by justification by faith. But drinking on the job?

"We all know he has a problem with drinking. Hahaha. Smirk."

ELCA Bishop Bruce Burnside
had a problem with drinking -
and now has a problem with vehicular homicide.

How many times was this ELCA bishop drunk on the job - until he ran down and killed a woman jogging on a pathway?

If readers wonder why I loathe the synodical cover-ups created for drunken pastors, consider this - it is very personal.

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http://www.thelutheran.org/news/

April 11, 2013

Wisconsin synod continues to express grief

An April 11 letter posted on the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin website said its leaders and members “continue to express sorrow and sympathy for the family of Maureen Mengelt, who died April 7 when she was struck by the vehicle of Bishop Bruce Burnside, who was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide while intoxicated.”
The statement was signed by Eric Peterson, synod vice president, and Blake Rohrer, assistant to the bishop.
“We pray that God will comfort the Mengelt family — especially Maureen’s husband, Kevin, and her children, Megan, Andrew and Allyson — and surround them with peace and grace,” the statement continued. “We ask for prayers for all those left to grieve the death of one of God's dear children. Our sadness for the untimely death of Maureen Mengelt is too great to be adequately expressed.”
According to the statement, Burnside was released on bond and entered an inpatient treatment facility April 11. The synod council confirmed temporary appointment of Rohrer as acting bishop until an interim is appointed.
“Please continue to pray for all those affected by this unfortunate tragedy,” the letter said. “We live in the trust that nothing can separate us from God’s love, and we pray that God’s love will sustain us all today, and in the days ahead.”
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April 8, 2013

ELCA offers prayers for family, friends of pedestrian killed in Wisconsin

Members of the ELCA are extending prayers for the family and friends of a pedestrian killed April 7 in Sun Prairie, Wis., and for Bruce H. Burnside, bishop of the ELCA South-Central Synod of Wisconsin. Reports indicate that Burnside's vehicle hit the pedestrian. He was arrested and taken into custody.
"We offer our prayers for the woman who lost her life in this tragedy. Nothing can undo this terrible accident. Our hope is for God's comfort for the survivors," said Jessica R. Crist, chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops and bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod.
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson said: "At a time of such deep sorrow for the family and friends of the woman who died, for the members of the ELCA South-Central Synod of Wisconsin, for Bishop Burnside and his family and for the wider community, we are held in the promise that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, and we are joined in our prayers for all who suffer."
In a statement from the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin, leaders and members expressed their sorrow "and dismay in sympathy for the victim and for her family. We ask for prayers for the victim's family and for everyone affected by this situation.
"In this difficult time, when words are challenging to find, we trust in the presence of the Holy Spirit to be with us, and in God's abiding love to sustain us."
Prayer resources are available on the synod's website.
The South-Central Synod of Wisconsin is comprised of 145 congregations in 13 counties in south-central Wisconsin.