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| "Brett, even that hideous blog has to admit - we are fairly honest in ELCA." |
I have noticed for the last 25 years that ELCA and WELS have similar agendas:
- Universal absolution - without faith - in the name of "grace."
- Anti-inerrancy of the Bible.
- Studying at Fuller Seminary.
- Marketing the Gospel.
- Emergent Church/Church Growth.
- Recognizing and honoring Roman Catholic leaders.
- Homosexual clergy and activism.
- Women teaching men and usurping authority over men.
- Open Communion.
- Unionism - aka Ecumenism.
WELS hides all of this and denies it with great passion, clever concealment, and memorized evasions.
ELCA is out in the open about every point.
A recent example is the handling of killer Bishop Bruce Burnside, drunk driver. When he struck down a woman on a jogging path, he tried to escape and lied to the police about drinking. Piously, he asked about the welfare of the woman he had just hit and left to die. ELCA published the news immediately, suspended the bishop from all duties, and publicly announced his removal from office.
When WELS DPs, seminary professors, or pastors have DUIs, it never happened. Everyone denies it. Stories are invented. New calls are issued. Lawyers remove convictions. The lies become "the truth" and anyone telling the true is defamed as a liar and - gasp - a breaker of the Eighth Commandment.
Two young members of my congregation in Sturgis were murdered by drunk drivers, so this is not an abstract concept for me. One was troubled and on his road to recovery from drug abuse. He was walking home when the drunk driver swerved all over the road and struck him down. I saw the crash photo.
The other member was a young woman, still living at home, a well known athlete. She was driving home when the drunk entered her lane and hit her head-on.
Needless to say, both families were awash with grief. Losing a child from a disease or an accident is difficult enough. When the death of a loved one is caused by the stupidity of someone driving under the influence, the pain is magnified many times over.
I have to ask again, if it is love and fidelity to God's Word to let an alcoholic church worker continue an addiction, covering up for that person and enabling another tragedy.