Conservative Lutherans compare ourselves to liberals like the ELCA, we’d like to think the key difference is that we adhere to timeless Biblical principles and they do not. Unfortunately, the recent reality in the LCMS does not at all live up to the ideal.
From my latest at American Reformer:
Walz’s congregation is, for example, committed to “Antiracism work” and “de-centering whiteness.” But last year, President Harrison of the LCMS sent out a letter to our entire church body to “categorically reject the horrible and racist teachings of the so-called ‘alt-right’ in toto.” He even demanded the excommunication of those who falls under that defunct and ambiguous label of “alt-right” or under meaningless labels like “racist” or “Nazi” which leftists use to slander conservatives every day. And yes, it has resulted in a number of individuals being unjustly expelled from their congregations. This work of antiracism is the only doctrine for which I’ve seen our leadership go the mat so hard since the “Battle for the Bible” in the 1970’s.
It’s hardly an isolated instance either. For example, President Harrison also wrote a lengthy statement on George Floyd’s death and the subsequent riots. Therein he denounced racism as “America’s original sin,” demanded repentance from all of us, and pleaded for new policies to end racial injustice. In 2017, Synod added racism to Luther’s Small Catechism under the 5th Commandment despite racism becoming an increasingly meaningless term. Our recent Large Catechism with Annotations and Contemporary Analysis (LCACA) likewise included an essay reframing the 9th & 10th Commandments using the concepts of Critical Theory to condemn sins of “privilege” like gentrification.
And when it comes to “de-centering whiteness,” LCMS leadership is quickly getting on board. Parishioners and leadership alike often complain that at 95% Caucasian, our churches are simply “too white.” In the face of our demographic decline, President Harrison has dismissed the idea that having children again will improve our numbers and favored programs that diversify the LCMS through outreach to immigrants and “diverse communities.” And on the website for our National Youth Gathering, the first and most prominent image representing our “overly white” Synod only features people of color (with a couple white youth barely visible in the background.) It seems that much of our leadership would prefer our congregations to be statistically random samples of the United States’ diversity rather than the non-random people God has actually entrusted to us.
You can read the entire thing here: https://americanreformer.org/2024/09/not-that-kind-of-lutheran/
The doctrine of original sin breeds licentiousness. Pelagius was the hero, and did not teach against grace. Read his Commentary on Romans. Augustine was lying swine and all denominations built on his theology fall into licentiousness.
Funny how the churchians infesting pews in the modern churches love to counter racism with much more racism.
The fact that President Harrison is talking through his hat and mouthing politically correct phrases can be shown by his use of the expression, “LGBTQIA+ “.
Now, I will agree that the LG and B belong together. I might even include the “T” although, strictly speaking, the members don’t have the same interests as the other three. After all, the whole purpose of transitioning is to live as much as possible like the opposite sex, not to join a group which, whatever else might be said about it, is way out of left field.
As for “Q”, for “queer”, I haven’t been able to determine how it is separate from the rest of the alphabet soup.
But the real absurdity is the inclusion of “I” for “intersex” and “A” for “asexual”. The first group are people with ambiguous genitals, but are otherwise normal internally and mentally. These days few are assigned to the wrong sex at birth. Some are now including people with unusual chromosome combinations, but they too are otherwise obviously male or female. They have no common cause with the LGBT and Q. They are not persecuted or discriminated against, if only because they are invisible.
As for the asexuals i.e. those with a very low sex drive, they are also invisible, and no-body objects to them. They have nothing in common with the others in the alphabet cluster.
And what is the “+” supposed to represent?
Everyone knows, and most won’t say, that the + is for pedophiles.