I have experienced the dishonesty, secrecy, and corruption of the Lutheran synods, which not only parallel secular politics but even foreshadow the same tactics.
Dishonesty, secrecy, and corruption go together. One signals the dominance of the other two. The WELS cannot admit to anything less than perfection and infallibility. To maintain the mirage, scandals are covered up and denied. I joked with an ELS pastor's wife about the WELS mission that went Pentecostal (Taiwan?). She scowled and rebuked me, "That is not supposed to be discussed."
When a denomination suffers from major crimes - such as murder, embezzlement, sex abuse, child porn - keeping it a secret is the same as protecting the worst criminals and motivating others. The Book of Concord, Large Catechism, Eighth Commandment, points out that identifying public criminal behavior is not slander.
Luther's words:
284] All this has been said regarding secret sins. But where the sin is quite public so that the judge and everybody know it, you can without any sin avoid him and let him go, because he has brought himself into disgrace, and you may also publicly testify concerning him. For when a matter is public in the light of day, there can be no slandering or false judging or testifying; as, when we now reprove the Pope with his doctrine, which is publicly set forth in books and proclaimed in all the world. For where the sin is public, the reproof also must be public, that every one may learn to guard against it.
This also applies to teaching false doctrine, as the red section makes abundantly clear.
But what do we have today? Questioning the blatant false doctrine - almost verbatim from Fuller Seminary - is slander! I used to keep an Eighth Commandment file, with letters from Gerlach, Kelm, Berg, Nitz, Paul Kuske, Paul Tiefel, James Tiefel, et al.
Meanwhile, how do these consecrated and consecrating leaders deal with issues? They invent, promote, and magnify slander. No one wants to run into the buzz-saw, whether WELS, LCMS, ELS, or CLC (sic). They sew the canker shut, disguise it with make-up, and cannot find this false doctrine or know nothing of the criminal behavior.
What might be a healthy discussion and cleansing of the problem turns into an even bigger problem. The net result is also magnifying of evil and a hardening of hearts, so people say, "Larry Olson is not a problem. Everyone knows he's a heretic," or "Paul Kelm listens to confessionals." One pastor in WELS said, "I cannot disagree with the Circuit Pastor, because the Holy Spirit appointed him." Haha - I have a higher regard for the Trinity than that - I never viewed a tubby, lazy, alcoholic District President as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit.
Roman Catholics teach that the Holy Spirit does not allow the Pope to err in doctrine, so now we have Lutherans aping the papacy in this and other ways.
Run Up to the Election
I had to correct many friends before the election because of the external polls. The public polls were wrong and the exit polls were even worse. Why was that? Polling is a business. They get paid to promote statistical baloney to help their cause, knowing the faked results are lies.
The candidates pay big money for internal polls. Remember that term. The real, secretly viewed polls are closer to the truth. That is why Hillary canceled the fireworks days before the election. They had to apply for the permits weeks in advance to hold the NYC fireworks. They also had to give advance notice of halting them. Everyone was hailing a Clinton victory, and Newsweak (sic) put her on the cover. But Clinton's leaders knew she was doomed.
The media people are so dishonest that they believed the lying external polls and scoffed at anything dissenting from the accepted results. My favorite mockery of the facts was averaging the external polls. Let's say we have a classroom of math incompetents or adroit liars. If we average their results of 8 - 6 x 2 + 4.1, then we will have the correct answer? I do not think so.
God only works through the Word, so whatever happens from applying the Word is good, divinely willed, and bound to prosper God's mission. Tis time to start trusting God's Word rather than man's feeble efforts at manipulation.
