Mr. Smith Goes to Holy Mother Synod Headquarters

 Senator Smith (Stewart) is examining a pile of nasty telegrams arranged by his father's old friend -  Senator Paine (Claude Rains).

Mrs. Ichabod and I watched "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," perhaps for the fifth time. She kept saying, "Just like WELS and the CLC (sic)." The plot of the film is that Smith has discovered the new dam to be built is an example of corruption and self-dealing, not providing water for his state. To make the scheme work, Senator Paine uses his Senate position to destroy Smith with false accusations.

American Lutherdom is much like the corrupt federal government. The evil stretches across all synodical - or diocesan - lines. The Lutheran groups are mostly Calvinistic and rationalistic. Missouri is so bad that the St. Louis Seminary can replicate Seminex, bellowing "Eighth Commandment!" at two of their own districts. But few Lutherans care about the issue of Creation, which is foundational for the entire Bible.

What makes the movie great is Paine's agony over his long-standing relationship with Smith, the son of Paine's friend in the early days. Paine was a struggling lawyer and Smith's father was an idealistic newspaper man. Both men were always fighting in the old days for lost causes.

Senator Paine struggles with the Taylor machine's orders to crush Smith, but finally obeys the bosses by issuing false criminal charges and a mountain of telegrams against Smith.

The synodocrats and bishops cleverly turned Lutherdom into a corrupt, greedy socialistic empire. The goal of socialism is to deliver most of the power and money to a few narcissists. They control salaries at the bottom, but no one knows how much they make, including benefits and emoluments from Thrivent. None of your business! The second tier is obsequious and unctuous, biding their time for their move to the top. See McCain's letters before and after.

John Shep observed, "Jay Webber is always making fun of the ELS, until he gets within 100 miles of Mankato."

The Boomers saw the Lutheran Church as something they could build upon and correct.