Posted on 11/20/2021 9:44:58 PM PST by Belteshazzar
GET WOKE, EMPTY THE PEWS It would be a full-time job to chronicle all of the irrational reactions by liberals to the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, and scarcely worth the effort. But I do want to note one such response because it affects me directly: that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA, of which my congregation is a member, sent out this “Pastoral Letter” authored by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton. Here is the letter, titled “A pastoral message on the Rittenhouse acquittal,” with my comments interpolated:
Dear church,
In the book of Leviticus we read: “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor” (19:15).
Our social message on Community Violence urges us to become more involved in countering the reality and fear of violence in our communities and our neighbors’ communities…
Violence is countered primarily by law enforcement, but I don’t think that is what she means.
…pursuing justice and seeking peace no matter how long the journey or complex the challenge.
When a child is allowed to become a vigilante…
One of the left’s mindless anti-Rittenhouse themes. Rittenhouse took no hostile action against anyone until he was chased by a mob and attacked by three criminals.
…without recourse…
The “recourse” was that he was prosecuted for murder. He was acquitted because he was innocent.
…we are forced to confront the idols of our society: guns, violence and white supremacy.
What utter stupidity! Guns are not idols but tools; in this case, a tool of self-defense without which Rittenhouse likely would have been murdered. And what on God’s green Earth does “white supremacy” have to do with anything? It was not a factor in the trial, for the good reason that it had nothing to do with the case. This is the kind of mindless blather that we have come to expect from liberals and, sadly, from the ELCA.
To be sure, this is not about one person, but indeed about all of us, together.
Today’s acquittal is an injustice.
Really? Why? The esteemed Bishop might at least do us the courtesy of explaining what was unjust about it. Videos of the attackers’ assaults on Kyle Rittenhouse showed clearly that he acted in self-defense. Has she not seen the videos? Does she offer an intelligent comment on the evidence? Does she have some explanation for why a jury of 12 Kenosha residents unanimously determined that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense and therefore was not guilty?
Of course not.
It points to the disorder in which we all live.
Some of us more than others.
As we seek to restore justice; so also will we restore God to God’s rightful place at the center of our life together.
Somehow I don’t think that wrongly convicting Kyle Rittenhouse under pressure from a mob would help to “restore God to God’s rightful place.” On the contrary.
This is the sort of left-wing nonsense that the ELCA spews on a regular basis. It is not coincidental that the ELCA is a failing denomination.
The ELCA had over five million members when it was formed out of a merger of three Lutheran churches in 1988. As of the end of 2020, it had shrunk to 3.3 million, with no end in sight. Why is the ELCA failing? One obvious reason is that it has made clear that Christians who are not hard-core liberals–that is, the overwhelming majority of the population–are not welcome. Many of my friends have left the ELCA, unwilling to support its ill-informed leftism. I hate to give up on the institution, but one of these days we likely will follow them.
Why do you hate to give up on it? I don't get it. Giving up on the hopelessly corrupt, radically progressive ELCA and giving up on the Lutheran Church are entirely different things. The former is no longer Lutheran, no longer Christian. It is political ideology hiding behind the skirts of the Christian church (though not very well). The latter still lives on, believing, teaching, and confessing the same truth she has for last 500 years.
Follow Jesus. Denominations be damned.
Who in their right mind would be a member of a religious organization that elects some post menapausal Marxist old lady as its leader?
Getting to be as bad as the government schools.
The church of Sardis or Laodecia?
We left our church of 27 years because it suddenly and abruptly went woke during the pandemic (wouldn’t even reopen) and then during the summer of 2020 when it was overly sympathetic to Antifa and BLM and the riots, and then especially after Jan 6—their comments about the Christians there on the Mall were the final straw.
We’ve never returned after Jan 6, and found and joined a new church.
Simple as that.
I am a faithful Lutheran as well - and go to a conservative Biblical Lutheran Church. You are right, the ELCA is neither Lutheran nor Christian... he should give up already as there is nothing there but falsehood. True Lutheran Christian Churches exist-he should go join one.
Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ within us.
Re: Why is the ELCA failing?
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) is another good reason.
LIRS is the #1 federally funded immigration NGO in the USA.
All those non-English speaking strangers being settled in your community under cloak of darkness?
Thank you, LIRS!
“ Follow Jesus. Denominations be damned.”
My wife and I are devout Christians who do not attend a church. First, I am a true sabbath (Saturday) follower. We also do not like the modern day churches that act more like social clubs rather than a group of believers who just come together to worship the lord. We pray every day and try our best to live the way Jesus ants us to. I just don’t see how anyone could associate themselves with the likes of the Catholic Church, the Church of Ladder Day Saints, the Muslims, and other cults. They do not teach the gospel according to the Bible but choose to follow a populist agenda where they know what is right rather than what to scriptures teach. So I will continue enjoy a relationship with our lord in my own way rather than listen to some Church “leader” telling me that I am a bad person for not trying to save the planet from global warming. Churches of all denominations no longer have concern for the our salvation at heart so I will continue to be my own church.
I think it is fair to point out that most of Luther's anti-Jew vehemence developed after his health began to fail, and he was in chronic pain.
Also, Luther's anger appears to be 100% ideological, not racial.
Luther held similar views in regard to Muslims, Catholics, and non-Protestant Christian sects.
Female bishops finished off the Episcopal church too. Concern about sin and salvation was replaced by the social justice gospel.
I’ll probably be vilified for this but as someone in my 60’s I’ve made an observation that most women over 60 are bitter old bitties. Most are no fun or even interesting to be around.
I would like to think most Freeper ladies over 60 are the exception.
Because he’s just like Lot’s wife.
THERE YA GO!
(just wish I was better at it)
Bible believing Christian’s will have an impossible task reconciling those two statements.
Churches of all denominations no longer have concern for our salvation at heart so I will continue to be my own church.
Now there is a blanket statement without a shred of proof, but with a personal solution that is not biblical.
Amen!!
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