Such distress in our discourse these days. Why do Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden even want to be Catholic?
Catholicism! We have acknowledged this beast as being so important all our lives. Why? JFK was on the defensive about being a Catholic. He had to overcome that. Do you believe in God and Jesus? Do you accept the Bible even if not in literal terms? Do you see it as a guidepost for living and how you treat others? Do you feel compassion for the less-well-off? Well fine, you're a Christian.
So then why does it matter if some stuffy clergy person doesn't want to offer you a little wafer and thimble full of grape juice on Sunday? More importantly, why should it matter to the stuffy clergy what political opinions you have? So you believe in continuing Roe vs. Wade as precedent? This is a disqualifier for being a Christian?
Pelosi and Biden should tell the Catholic Church to take a flying leap. What's the big deal with just switching to another Christian denomination, one that does not have a longstanding problem of clergy molesting kids? Do you realize the lifelong psychological damage done to the kids? Shouldn't it matter to you pretty profoundly? Have you seen the movie "Spotlight?"
Journalists were the heroes in that movie, just like in "All the President's Men." So I ply journalism myself. "Spotlight" went after the Catholic Church, "All the President's Men" against Nixon and the accumulated baggage of those times. Nixon could have been a hero by simply getting the U.S. out of Vietnam as fast and safely as possible, upon his election in 1968. Some things in life are so obvious.
It's obvious that if Pelosi and Biden are proud Christians, they should take serious affront to efforts at barring them from communion.
Morris MN has had its own issue with Catholic communion. This is from a funeral. You're not supposed to receive communion unless you're a Catholic. I never knew about this until there was a dust-up in connection to "Rit" Eul's funeral. It got into the letters section of the Morris newspaper. Someone was denied communion based on not being Catholic.
I'm sure the rule is normally not enforced in a rigid way - so many out-of-town people at funerals, so how would the clergy even know? Shall we assume they are normally pretty indifferent? Shouldn't they be happy to share communion with all who put themselves forward as Christian? I'm betting there was a backstory to the Eul incident, maybe a grudge. And isn't that disgusting?
Me, I belong to an ELCA church in Morris. The ELCA faces headwinds all over the U.S. I do believe Morris is a reflection. This morning I shared an email with a friend who I once saw in the pews but no more. I know he expressed a liking for the online service of a non-Morris church, so I suspect he and his family have shifted their allegiance.
ELCA people generally speaking are not rigid with their devotion to church these days. That's my perception.
First Lutheran in Morris was once as mainstream as you could get. Today it's considered "liberal." That means we'd like to see Roe vs. Wade just left alone. Abortion is a difficult and uncomfortable subject, to be sure. But I have to believe that a woman's right to control her own body is paramount. Let's leave it at that. The recent Supreme Court (leaked) decision would not have been made if men could get pregnant. No doubt.
Nancy and Joe, come on over to the ELCA. Just think of the bombshell in the media if they did that. But it would be so logical, should be no big deal. You should belong to a church where you are respected.
Go to an ELCA church and you'll hear a totally wholesome sermon every Sunday. What's wrong with that? I'd bet even all the local Apostolics would be happy with that. So, why the rigidity with so many people's thinking? Why this drift toward churches where it's essential you vote Republican all the time? For Donald Trump? To where this aim seems to supersede the gospel?
Maybe I'm the only sane person around in a community or country where everyone has gone nuts. There's an old "Twilight Zone" episode like this. Anyway, I will now share the email I sent this morning to a fellow long-time Motown person. We have seen a lot, the two of us. We have survived school-based controversies, at least I think we have. We are UMM boosters and benefactors. Whither the future of UMM? I begin my email with reference to the ELCA churches of Morris. Naming names, they are First and Faith Lutheran.
The churches have given up on having anything on Wednesday night. There was one poor attempt, and it was just the Uphoffs and me. Everyone else had an excuse. That's the way this community is. "We're going to be gone." That should be on the water tower. This community built the Killoran stage at the park and now it's useless. If it gets used once all year, it's a miracle, and yet the city spends money to maintain it. The Morris Community Church used to have summer services there, but that church is gone now. I found it refreshing to hear the sounds of that service wafting through town.
The ELCA churches of Morris, I think, are struggling, and nationally the ELCA continues in a steady dive, based on what I research. I'm skeptical about giving any more money. Very small turnout for church last Sunday, and who's to say things will pick up in the fall? Mostly, people think we're "too liberal." So we're all supposed to belong to "conservative" churches where it's essential you vote Republican all the time - that's more important than the gospel. With some churches I'm really not exaggerating. So, where for me to go now?
If no band or choir for UMM graduation, that has to spell real trouble. I have written that there is "no excuse" for this. Something is in the wind, if UMM allows graduation to happen with no student ensemble music. It had been a big highlight all through the years. Now this is gone too. I have written online that the UMM students in band and choir should put the graduation on their calendar, even if they have no other reason to be on campus that day. But that's just me. What happened to commitment?
I'm sure I have written too much about the softball complex, in a negative way, but I can't help it. We had the sub-section games there Tuesday with fans from 'Waska, ACGC and West Central coming over, and the fans are absolutely screwed at this place. If you don't bring your own chair, you are basically forced to stand. Many fans are sitting out by the outfield fence, and what's up with that? They must think there is no better place. How do the outfielders feel about having fans sitting behind them all game? I wonder if the visiting fans have been venting complaints. If they haven't, then I just have to shrug my shoulders. The old UMM field is now torn up and a new field being constructed in place. Why? Drive by there, take a look, and consider if the batters will be looking into the sun too much. The original UMM field was probably designed with that consideration in mind. Is it possible the new planners didn't think of it? For one day, people obeyed the signs for not parking on north shoulder of Prairie Lane, but last night, cars were back to being on both sides again.
The sub-section softball games should have been played at Big Cat Stadium. Fans have it made there, get a great view of the field.
Prices out and around are going up but I don't sense any panic yet among the citizens. Yesterday I noticed prices were up at Caribou Coffee. Two bacon egg cheese bagels and coffee is now $15.25. And to have a contractor come to your house to do ANYTHING? Sheesh. I have two big evergreens down in my front yard. I bet Craig Beyer will be backed up for months with all the work waiting for him now. I'm on his list. How much roof work is going to be needed around town now? Maybe we should all live in large multi-family dwellings that are built like a brick outhouse.
- Brian W.
Addendum: Media is my lifelong specialty and I get exasperated seeing how the U.S. media has to do cartwheels any time the Pope visits the U.S. I am waiting for this attitude to be (far more) restrained. It is elementary that the Pope does not speak for all Christians. The Lutheran Church Wisconsin Synod, represented by St. Paul's Lutheran in Morris, considers the Pope to be the antichrist.
Addendum No. 2: It's with great satisfaction that I conclude this post with something positive, so it's a link to a YouTube post lasting just a minute and 53 seconds. It's from a young and refreshing member of St. Andrew Lutheran of Eden Prairie. It is titled "God Gives Us Strength." She draws on Psalm 29. Here's the link:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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