Letters
Love for ELCA led to congregation start Marty, immigration, taxes, ‘hands up,’ mythbusting rouse readers
Obey the law An essential element of love and hos- pitality is to help people see where laws have been broken and to deal with rectifying the situation. Illegal immigration is indeed illegal (Feb- ruary, page 14). If this is ignored, an essential element of love and hospi- tality is ignored. The Rev. Ronald W. Nelson Hettinger, N.D.
My husband and I were raised in a different church but joined the Lutheran church when we married (February, page 16). When we retired and moved to a small town in Ari- zona in 2006, we found no Lutheran church closer than 25 miles away. So with the help of that distant church, we started a mission in our town, and we are now an organized and thriving congregation of the Grand Canyon Synod. Need I say more about what being a Lutheran means to me? Sue Fletcher Maricopa, Ariz.
Take a bow Peter W. Marty’s column “Faith” (February, page 3) was absolutely ter- rific. Closing with Frederick Buech- ner’s quote was a stroke of genius: faith is “the direction our feet start moving when we discover that we are loved.” Stellar job, take a well- deserved bow, Marty. Joe Pfendt Lombard, Ill.
48
www.thelutheran.org
Ditto Words mean things. Sanctuary is defined as “a sacred place, a place of protection to criminals.” Pretty clear meaning—but not to the new sanc- tuary movement. We are indeed our brothers’ keepers so long as they obey the laws of the country they desper- ately want to be part of. Deferring deportations is not “a compassion- ate first step” (January, page 9) but an unlawful encouragement to societal breakdown, leading to anarchy. Barry G. Rogers Huntsville, Ala.
Not guilty Other than a thief, who reaches into someone else’s pocket to give to the poor? Our government does this through lawful tax policies. Taxa- tion cannot be equated with thievery (February, page 48). The Lutheran is not guilty of advocating illegal or un-Christian economic policies. Tom Driscoll Poulsbo, Wash.
Justice for all In response to a comment (February, page 49) regarding the photograph on the #Handsupwalkout event that Lutheran School of Theology
at Chicago students organized, one of the police officers who escorted our walkout, an African-American woman, testified at our rally near President Barack Obama’s house: “I’m standing here with you because I believe in what you’re doing, and I live this mess every day, and I pray every day (that I don’t lose my mind up in here).” The LSTC commu- nity and ELCA seminarians, faculty and clergy pray fervently that peace with justice would come to all in our communities. Anna Ernst Student, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Busting mythbusting I wonder if the church is better for the demythologization of Martin Luther (January, page 16). I was par- ticularly troubled by the illustrations that gave a National Enquirer feel to the whole piece. In our postmodern age the trend among many theolo- gians is re-mythologization. No one in anthropology or religious stud- ies believes that myth means a false story, and we do our best to disabuse our students of that notion because it so diminishes one of the most impor- tant dimensions of religious culture. The Rev Donald Heinz Chico, Calif.
Send “Letters” to: The Lutheran, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631;
lutheran@thelutheran.org. Include your name, city and state. All letters are subject to editing. Be brief and limit your letter to a single topic. Requests for anonymity will be considered but not guaranteed.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52