I've talked to Jews and they generally reply about my religion that "we Jews don't really think about Jesus unless a Christian brings him up". The same is probably true with most Catholics and Martin Luther. We never think "how would Martin Luther feel about this?" We only reflect on Martin Luther's teachings when a Lutheran mentions him.
I think you'll find most Catholics today would agree that Martin Luther had some valid points, the Catholic church had become really corrupted and worldly at the time (the 1500s). No doubt I can see why someone would be outraged that the Catholic church was selling indulgences to get into heaven (of course my church hasn't done that for 400 years, but was mainly prompted to stop due to Luther and his followers holding them accountable). But Martin Luther still remains "excommunicated" according to official Catholic doctrine, and the church shows no signs of rehabilitating him and undoing that since Lutherans won't renounce some of the "errors" that got him excommunicated in the first place (Christian churches are notorious for old wounds taking a long time to heal... when the Catholic and Orthodox church split in 1054, they didn't undo the excommunications until 1965)
The thing I would say my church has going for it is consistent doctrine. With Lutherans (and Protestants in general) you have all these little groups off on their own making up their own moral teachings as they go along. We have three major Lutheran groups in the U.S., the ELCA, the LCMS, and the WELS. I always assumed they were in communion with each other. I learned on FR that they are NOT, and that each interprets scripture differently. So for Catholics to reach a joint agreement just with American Lutherans, you'd have to negotiate with all three groups and get them to agree on the same statement. Needlessly complicated.
The Catholic church has a billion members. There are all kinds of different "factions" and types of Catholics out there, little movements and denominations, there are even little known Catholic churches under the Pope that AREN'T 'Roman' Catholic, for example the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the Byzantine Catholic Church. But no matter what "faction" of Catholicism they belong to, they all have the same doctrine. A lot of protestants have a problem with a universal head of the church, but it does ensure little groups within won't "do their own thing" and fall victim to heresy. The main weakness I see in the Catholic church is they often fail to ENFORCE their doctrine and allow renegade priests to do whatever they want, as a result you have wacky heretical "Catholic" churches like Fr. Pfleger at St. Sabina worshiping Obama and promoting pro-abortion people.
I'm not trying to rehash the old Catholic vs. Protestant fight, but if you take a look at this video from 1:25 onward, you'll see the point I'm trying to make:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eluVxhM2qJo
You also may want to look into this group, if you want to maintain your Lutheran beliefs but don't feel comfortable being a member of any of the "official" major Lutheran denominations and want something closer to Catholic unity. But if you can find a conservative, traditional Lutheran group that you feel comfortable with, more the power to you.
“You also may want to look into this group, if you want to maintain your Lutheran beliefs but don’t feel comfortable being a member of any of the “official” major Lutheran denominations...”
No, I don’t want to join a “group.” I want the church I was raised in, and the doctrine it taught, back. I want the Anerica I was raised in back.
Thanks for trying, though. I have no problem becoming Catholic. I would have no problem staying Lutheran if they’d get it together. The church deserted me with all their PC foolishness, not the other way around.
I know I’m not the only one out there that’s angry about this stuff. No wonder so many churches are bleeding members. Just get back to the basics.