Posted on 06/08/2009 10:08:40 AM PDT by markomalley
Last Sunday, late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down in the foyer of his Lutheran church, where he served as an usher. As anyone with even a cursory understanding of Lutheranism in America could surmise, that church was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Of the various Lutheran church bodies in America, the ELCA is the most mainline and has the most supportive position on legalized abortion. As soon as the terrible news about Tillers murder hit the wire, many bloggers and liberal pundits noted that Tillers active church membership was at odds with the stereotype of how abortion and religion are related. It didnt take long for that same meme to make it to the mainstream media stories. What none of these stories have explained is that Tiller had previously been excommunicated by a Lutheran congregation on account of his lack of repentance about and refusal to stop his occupation. That Lutheran congregation was a member of my church body, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Excommunication doesnt happen terribly frequently in this day and age but its not unheard of. I dont know any of the specifics about his past congregation or what led to the discipline and anticipated learning more about it when it was covered by the mainstream media. Unfortunately, that hasnt happened. When the news broke, I had many people who know that Im Lutheran ask how it was possible that his church had not disciplined him or otherwise encouraged him to stop performing abortions. I had hoped that there would be stories exploring Tillers religious beliefs and church membership and that the stories would explain the difference between the ELCA and the LCMS. There is obviously quite a difference between a church body that would discipline a practicing abortion doctor and one that would welcome him in membership. While we did get some stories about his religious views, none of them seemed to have any clue about his religious history. Note, for instance, this piece from the Salt Lake Tribune that was written Religion News Services Lindsay Perna and Tiffany Stanley:
The story goes on to quote various people about how Tillers church membership changes the dynamics of the abortion debate. How can they not mention that he was previously excommunicated for his abortion work? Its such an interesting and significant part of the story! Thats just a huge hole. Also, the pro-life people who are quoted in the story are of the Randall Terry variety. With the typical pro-choice activists and typical pro-life activists quoted, the story remains in the muck of bumper sticker rhetoric. Its disappointing. (Robin Abcarians piece in the Los Angeles Times dealt solely with the Tiller funeral, which means its sympathetic tone is more appropriate. It also took the Tiller busts stereotypes approach.) After Dr. Tillers murder, some pundits were confused about how people who see abortion as the unjust killing of babies could also oppose the murder of someone who killed those babies. Here was one such essay written by a fellow libertarian. I saw one letter to the editor written by clergymen in my church body that addressed just that issue:
I cant help but think that some enterprising reporter should look at how the two Lutheran church bodies handled Dr. Tillers occupation differently. Its disappointing to read that RNS story in light of this rather dramatic back story. |
Thank you so much for sharing your insights, dearest sister in Christ!
Honestly, he had plenty of time to repent and plenty of opportunities. That's why it's foolhardy to put it off.
Don't forget that he quipped that performing abortions was worth going to hell for.
For those who bemoan his missed opportunities to repent, don't forget that he got what he wanted. Sometimes God gives us that.
Well, at least in Hell he can't murder another innocent human being. God is just.
The ELCA provides medical coverage for its employees that includes coverage for abortion procedures. The ELCA is no longer a Christian Church in my eyes but a left wing political organization.
Mollie is the daugher of an LCMS pastor, and her husband, Mark Hemingway, writes for National Review Online (many of his columns have been posted here).
Mollie Z. Hemingway and I (Charles Henrickson) both have blogs--on the battle for confessional Lutheranism within the Missouri Synod--at the Brothers of John the Steadfast website, steadfastlutherans.org.
You’re a slow learner. Mr. CGG and I left more than 15 years ago!! :)
I think it was lightman who sent me a link to your blog. Thank you. I shared it with our pastor.
Yes, Mollie, if you are reading this, you are . . . NOT GUILTY! ;^)
I'm not exactly an ELCA apostate, because I left an ELCA-predecessor body before there was an ELCA! As a kid in Chicago, I was a member of the old Swedish Augustana Synod, but so many of the Swedes were moving out to the suburbs in those days, and we lived in the city. So when our little neighborhood Augustana congregation disbanded, we joined a nearby LCMS congregation.
Thanks for the pings. We were discussing this very topic about the question why Tiller was not excommunicated by his church. This is not being reported by the SRM. He WAS excommunicated by the LCMS.
BTW Charles, I shared this link with many of our members and I got a number of positive comments. Thanks again.
http://www.issuesetc.org/ondemand.html
Issues Etc. is a great site, and they are all over these type of stories, where politics and religion intersect. (BTW, Issues Etc. is another area where Mollie has devoted her considerable energies. She and I both were involved in organizing the demonstration outside LCMS headquarters in support of Issues, and we each have been on the program a number of times.)
re Tiller, Glad to see again the difference between ELCA & LCMS brought up.
I knew Tiller could not have been LCMS and still doing his dirt.
Wichita, Kansas, was the home of TWO serial killers who had at one time been LCMS but later became members in good standing of ELCA congegations: Dennis “BTK Killer” Rader and George “Tiller the Killer” Tiller. At least the ELCA church where BTK was a member didn’t know about his penchant for murder.
Wichita needs another Wyatt Earp in town...
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Also, I seem to recall that a serial killer by the name of John List may have been a member of an LCMS church.
Sin and Satan know no boundaries, but where open impenitent sin is publicly known, church discipline should be exercised.
Thus endeth the "choir-specific" portion of Pastor's sermon.
I'd heard List was a Lutheran, but don't recall hearing which church he belonged to.
And I'm not sure he's properly classified as a serial killer. He murdered his family, but I don't recall his ever having killed anyone else. While this qualifies as a miltiple murderer, I don't believe this qualifies as the serial type.
Also, he was on the run for a number of years. What I know comes from an old TV program so may not be that accurate.
OTOH, John Wesley Hardin was a Methodist, I believe (note the first and middle names). He was one of the most prolific killers of the 19th Century. What does that tell us about Methodists (just kidding, folks...)?
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