tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post1340605544931848795..comments2024-03-18T12:54:19.748-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: A Minnesota ConundrumPastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-10066586849416422802010-05-01T10:28:31.841-05:002010-05-01T10:28:31.841-05:00Interesting comments about Minnesota! I lived the...Interesting comments about Minnesota! I lived there(Mankato) in the 1980s and graduated from Bethany Lutheran College in 1987. I'm originally from South Carolina. Yes, Minnesota is a very Lutheran state. I guess I don't understand the "conundrum." Just because it is very Lutheran, are you expecting it to be super conservative, Republican and more similar to a Southern Bible Belt state? When I lived in Minnesota, I did not find that everyone was "liberal." Sure, there were some liberals there. But there were real conservatives too. Just visit any WELS church there and talk to the elders about politics. I guarantee you you won't find flaming liberals. Go a little east from Mankato to Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna. You won't find too many liberals there, either. Go up to Fergus Fall and visit the Lutheran Brethren. Go to New Ulm and visit Martin Luther College. I doubt you'll find anybody at those places advocating for gay marriage. Minnesota is really just like any other state. It has all kinds of people in it. The liberals just get more press. Actually, Minnesota reminds me a LOT of Georgia, in that it has a huge gigantic liberal city that is both the state capitol and educational, economic center of the state. (Atlanta and Minneapolis are about the same size and both are very gay friendly.) Yet when you get out into small town rural Minnesota (think Sleepy Eye or New Ulm) things don't seem so radically leftist. New Ulm almost reminded me of 1950's America: all white, a church on every corner, all middle class, lots of polite people, no slums to speak of, very little crime and BORING. <br /><br />I do think one reason Minnesota has a more "tolerant" feel to it is because about 90% of the people are either Catholic or some flavor of Lutheran. It seems to me that the Catholic and Lutheran traditions rarely get up in the faces of strangers and tell them they are "going to hell" the way Southern evangelicals can. Lutherans, even the most conservative, are far too reserved and polite to do that kind of finger-pointing. In addition, don't forget the New England influence in the founding of Minnesota as well. Lots of people from New England and Upstate New York moved west and settled in Minnesota before the Lutherans moved there. They established a very "mind your own business" attitude and culture that prevails in Minnesota to this day. <br /><br />I enjoyed the years I spent in Minnesota. I have fond memories of the place. I found the people down-to-earth, kind, tolerant, compassionate, and helpful to those in need, with a remarkable absence of snobbery and self-righteousness.<br /><br />Minnesota may not be perfect, but I think many of the best traits of Lutheranism shine forth in its culture.<br /><br />BorisBrotherBorisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-27836707332043303412010-04-20T13:17:03.422-05:002010-04-20T13:17:03.422-05:00Dear Sir:
You ask: Would somebody tell me how to r...Dear Sir:<br />You ask: Would somebody tell me how to reconcile the fact that all of this? “ I assume you mean how does one reconcile the fact that much of liberal belief is at variance with what Scripture says. I have a theory about this. In psalms there is a line “It is good for me that I was afflicted.” This seems to me a rather strange thing for God to say; my theory is that prosperity allows a person to ignore some of life’s realities. Prosperity, it seems to me spoils a person or causes them to have an immature attitude toward life so that they do not know the world or acknowledge its realities. They may see that people suffer but have unrealistic solutions to helping those people. Very often, it seems to me that some people think it is a mark of their intellectual sophistication to deny that a duck is a duck. <br /><br />Respectfully<br /><br />MarkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-50980778020597869242010-04-19T17:55:51.593-05:002010-04-19T17:55:51.593-05:00So Norman Teigen claims Michele Bachmann is a weir...So Norman Teigen claims Michele Bachmann is a weird politician based on the following:<br /><br />1. "She's one crazy lady."<br />2. "She's aligning herself with Sarah Palin."<br />3. "This weekend she spoke irresponsibly about 'gangster' politics"<br /><br />Well if that doesn't peg <a href="http://www.joebrower.com/PHILE_PILE/ANIM_GIF/MISC/BSMETER.GIF" rel="nofollow">the political aroma meter</a>, then the claim, "I would vote for Keith Ellison before Michelle Bachmann at any time," surely will.<br /><br />With even a brief whiff it's easy to tell that Norman, like his <a href="http://wingnutsunited.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/al_franken_bunny_web.jpg" rel="nofollow">senatorial mentor</a>, is carrying a full political load.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-39737853452761875992010-04-19T16:30:49.249-05:002010-04-19T16:30:49.249-05:00Whether Michelle Bachmann is a sister in the Lord ...Whether Michelle Bachmann is a sister in the Lord is irrelevant. She is not worthy of re-election. This weekend she spoke irresponsibly about 'gangster' politics and this on the anniversary of Oklahoma City.<br /><br />I would vote for Keith Ellison before Michelle Bachmann at any time. Religion has nothing to do with it. It's all about competence.<br /><br />To suggest that I would vote for Michelle Bachmann because my synod is in fellowship with hers is ludicrous.Norman Teigenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13704523935095549165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-73902220487975140962010-04-19T09:46:23.515-05:002010-04-19T09:46:23.515-05:00Don't forget some Sotan's (5th District) e...Don't forget some Sotan's (5th District) elected the first ever Muslim, Keith Ellison, to Congress. Norman, why such animosity towards Ms. Bachman? She is a sister in the Lord and part of your fellowship (WELS). Perhaps that explains why she is so "crazy."<br /><br />Lutheranism in Minnesota is facinating. On one hand you have great men like the Preus' come forth, and on the other hand fallen men like Chilstrom.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-63498298196382716432010-04-18T15:50:19.130-05:002010-04-18T15:50:19.130-05:00Interesting. I live in Minnesota and it is always...Interesting. I live in Minnesota and it is always fun to see how others see us. It's true about Minnesota being home to weird politicians. I would, however, strike out Al Franken from your grouping and insert a current Minnesota congresswoman, Michelle Bachmann. She is one crazy lady. She is aligning herself with Sarah Palin and they don't get much stranger than that.<br /><br />There are more people of German descent here than Scandinavian. The Scandinavians, however, have predominated in politics, at least up until recent years. The early leaders of the state were overwhelmingly Norwegian or Swedish.<br /><br />The Scandinavians who came in the early days were, I am told, from the working classes. There was a certain distance between these immigrants and the people from my own personal spiritual lineage, the Norwegian Synod. The Norwegian Synod people were well-educated. Often there was social disconnect between the well-educated and those not so well-educated. <br /><br />Well, this is a long ramble. I don't know how to explain Chilstrom. He is a Swede, don't you know. One never knows about 'dem Swedes.<br /><br />There appears to be all kinds of strange things happening in the ELCA. <br /><br />Norman Teigen<br />ELS laymanNorman Teigenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13704523935095549165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-40016685741571287992010-04-17T22:32:14.294-05:002010-04-17T22:32:14.294-05:00I grew up in Minnesota. It's just as you say....I grew up in Minnesota. It's just as you say. My resolution of all that -- I live in Nebraska now. Go Big Red!Past Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10541968132598367551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-82562294451822989692010-04-17T10:26:51.717-05:002010-04-17T10:26:51.717-05:00Pastors,
At our church we are working our way thro...Pastors,<br />At our church we are working our way through both Hebrews and Revelation. Both of those books have definite things to say to Christians who fall away and spurn the Lamb of God. I'm not sure where all the answers lie but God's grace is mighty and his patience is long. But soon, (a time known only to the Father) we shall all see him, the world shall look on him whom they have pierced while those who have persevered will look upon the Lamb who won the victory for us and gave us the faith to "hear." The "even so, amen" of Revelation 1:8 is coming for sure.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02977465696758179388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-59916194316204989732010-04-17T09:43:47.448-05:002010-04-17T09:43:47.448-05:00Your previous post hit the button on the head - th...Your previous post hit the button on the head - the Gospel has become equated with "be nice to everyone". Thus, preaching the Gospel is simply being nice, and never never never being judgmental (where "judgmental" is defined by saying that X is wrong).<br /><br />It makes sense that it would be this way up there now because historically there was a strong Pietist streak, and all forms of legalism break down over time into libertine approaches -- once folks realize they cannot hold to the holier-than-thou approach they take, they will swing the opposite way (like the descendants of the Puritans becoming Unitarian-Universalists). If you felt good about the "good" that you did under the law. . . except you really can't, you will substitute a "let's play nice - oh, see how good I am" good in its place.<br /><br />Legalism will decay into antinomianism, just as democracy decays into tyranny. This is what Plato would have told us if he were a theologian instead of a political philosopher.Rev. Eric J Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17747919365522145094noreply@blogger.com