Letters to the editor


Wangerin spot on, as seen in Matthew text Mention of Alinsky, comment on capitalism draw reader objections


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ELCA assembly: Full speed ahead


LIFT report, genetics statement, malaria campaign all gain approval 20


SEPTEMBER 2011 www.thelutheran.org $2.50


Marty on Bible stories 3 Wangerin: Least of these 30 ELCA women, men meet 34, 37


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The congregation’s transformation is astounding. However, according to the IAF website, it is nonideological and strictly nonpartisan but proudly, pub- licly and persistently a political orga- nization. The congregation has become part of an organization that is not faith-based but rather one that “gathers power from many sources.” True, IAF- based community organizations like the Leaven Project often do good things for communities, but please find out IAF’s true motives. It was the creation of Alinsky, whose primary mission was to dismantle the capitalistic system that


In that text there is no mention of a profession of faith, doxology, homosexuality, liturgy, theology—just charity, also known as caritas, agape.


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Walter Wangerin Jr.’s column (Septem- ber, page 30) was the kind of article that I would have liked to hear as a sermon. I was only surprised he didn’t support his text with the only important message of the entire New Testament: Matthew 25:31-46. In that text there is no men- tion of a profession of faith, doxology, homosexuality, liturgy, theology—just charity, also known as caritas, agape.


It’s all so simple, isn’t it? Dick Swenson Walla Walla, Wash.


Find out more


I was shocked and surprised at the men- tion of Saul Alinsky and the Industrial Areas Foundation in the “Becoming the leaven” article (August, page 16).


48 The Lutheran • www.thelutheran.org


has made our country exceptional. H.S. Lambert Woburn, Mass.


Another lefty vs. righty? When I began grade school in the 1940s, I remember a distinct prejudice against left-handed people. They were often subjected to “conversion” efforts by parents and teachers so they could be “normal” like us right-handers. In time, lefties weren’t an oddity but one of us, born to be who they are. I wonder if this is analogous to the sexual identity controversy in our culture and religion. Does God have a list of “abnormal” peo- ple who must be changed or be damned? Is it another right vs. left issue on its way


to resolution? I hope and pray so. The Rev. Luverne A. Jacobson Wilsonville, Ore.


Ridiculous comparison To equate gay people ordination (July, page 4) with the ordination of women starting 40 years ago is ridiculous and non-scriptural. The rule against wom- en’s ordination was largely man-made. In contrast, God did not create man and man or woman and woman. While


respecting the gay life, we need not


encourage it by ordination. Jan Cyphers Roseville, Minn.


Out of touch Our seminaries for decades have been teaching that Western civilization, the free market/capital system and our nation—all engineered by citi- zens with ambition, competitive spirit, strong work ethic and education—are un-Christian and don’t fit into the king- dom of God (August, page 32). The evil buzzwords in our seminaries are many: globalization, nuclear weapons, Pales- tinian right, climate change caused by man. Not a word about accountability, results and so forth. These teachings result in a feeling of deep resentment by the educated, successful, patriotic


members, a huge portion of the ELCA. Luther L. Marshall Jr. Fort Worth, Texas


Hope for others


My heart tearfully goes out to the fam- ily depicted in the “choking game” arti- cle (July, page 18). When my son took his life by hanging, he also took mine and my wife’s. I felt this thing he had about tying stuff around his neck was a passing phase and surely not something that could or would result in his death. The terrible tragedy is that this was such a waste of a precious life. Thank you for publishing the article. If parents see marks on a child’s neck, I pray the same


thing does not happen to their family. Eric H. Frandsen Duluth, Ga.


Back to basics With our ELCA hemorrhaging mem- bership in recent years, it would seem


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