Comments on: What Kind of Church Accepts George Tiller?

By: DeanOR

DeanOR — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:47:55 +0000

“the bewilderment often from the left (”Tiller was religious?!?”).”

Some people REALLY need to get out more.

By: aardvark

aardvark — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:13:13 +0000

I have known George for almost thirty years. He was unquestionably a man of great Faith; as caring and compassionate a physician as one could wish for. George’s Faith was manifest in his daily action of caring for the needs of women and their partners–as well as the simple act of being an usher at his church.

One cannot yell “fire” in a crowded theater; how can those who clamored for violence–indirectly or not–be shielded from their responsibility in facilitating his murder.

By: surfer

surfer — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:10:44 +0000

I had the same question. I don’t know the answer, but oddly I find myself hoping it is a church that lives by a narrow list of rules because I would not like to think that honest, conscientious intelligence could lead to such a terrible conclusion.

Thank you Peter. I always enjoy your thoughtful perspective.

By: wmd1961

wmd1961 — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:09:29 +0000

You distinguish faith and superstition by how they manifest in daily action.

By: nahant

nahant — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:07:55 +0000

Thanks for the post PeterR.

But all this begs the question “How many More Must die in the name of Jesus?”
Jesus certainly would say no lives should be taken in his name.
But We will never learn his message of Peace and humility.
Oh by the way abortion was allowed in the old church

By: Mayfly

Mayfly — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:03:47 +0000

I saw this H.L. Mencken quote in a sig line & looked it up to make sure Mencken said it. He did.

“We should respect the other fellow’s religion in the same sense that we respect his belief that his wife is beautiful and his children are intelligent.”

By: bobpine

bobpine — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:45:48 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDV1jsPlKD8

http://www.salon.com/opinion/w.....lly_walsh/

By: robctwo

robctwo — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:40:31 +0000

I was raised in the Lutheran Church in America, LCA, one of the predecessors of the ELCA. I was active as an adult, on Church Counsel, lay ministry etc. We sent our daughter to a private christian school for middle school and high school for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with fundamentalist christianity.

She was shocked to find that most of the staff and students at her school did not believe that Lutherans were christians. She went with the crowd and found herself having some very interesting discussions with our wonderful young female associate pastor at our church. A little history of the development of the protestant faiths was an eye opener. What was more interesting was that she discovered that most of the teachers at her school had no idea about the history of their denomination, nor any awareness of the diversity of religious thought existing at the time that their denominations developed.

Religious persecution, common to most of the groups now claiming to have the right to dictate to the rest of us was also completely ignored by most of the members of her faculty. The separation of church and state, critical for the very existence of these groups seems to be forgotten.

Ignored and ignorance, cornerstones of the religious right.

By: DavisXMachina

DavisXMachina — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:32:44 +0000

How do you distinguish between those who are superstitious vs those who are honestly faithful?

She can’t. She’s using the terms synonymously, with intent.

By: Peterr

Peterr — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:24:01 +0000

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The “Evangelical” goes back to Martin Luther, and comes from a greek word meaning “to proclaim good news” (think about the angels at Christmas: “good news . . .”). We in the ELCA are not happy at the connotations that word has developed due to the fundamentalists, but we’re not going to give it up to them either.