I agree, Adam. If every Christian would get executed and then disappear, things would improve immensely. 
Hey! I resemble that remark!
[hijack]
Dropzone wrote:
You are quite right. The ELCA was the product of a major merger in, I believe, 1977. The American Lutheran Church (ALC), Lutheran Church in America (LCA) and the much smaller Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) got together. In general, Lutherans in America tended to remain in ethnic groupings until quite late, compared to other denominations. Each of the above organizations was formed from the merger of smaller bodies. There were major differences between the ALC and the LCA, not simply in terms of Swedish or Norwegian, but in terms of church polity, decision making power of congregations, and general attitude toward conflict within the denomination, to name a few of the major differences. The ELCA has never fully reconciled these differences. On the plus side, this has created a very inclusive denomination, as you noted. On the minus side, there is very little denominational loyalty per se, and quite a few issues are buried just under the surface. Someone mentioned the ecumenical agreement with the Episcopalians. (Called to Common Mission - CCM) Because this, as written, involves the ELCA accepting the Episcopalian understanding of the historic episcopate (a long topic in itself-just trust me that it has been a problem) a large segment of ELCA congregations has flatly refused to implement CCM. (They stress that they are not anti-Episcopalian, see http://www.wordalone.org for more information.) This has brought a lot of the above mentioned differences to the surface, and the ELCA could conceivably break apart over this. I hope not.
The Missouri Synod is quite different. Unlike other Lutherans, who emigrated to America and just happened to be Lutheran, Missouri came to this country from Germany in the mid-1800’s en masse, specifically in order to have freedom of worship. They have always been more independent than other Lutherans, and less prone to assimilation. In the 1970s, as the result of Seminex (don’t ask unless you actually want an explanation!), everyone relatively liberal was thrown out of the Missouri Synod. Most of them joined the ALC, and eventually the ELCA. The ones who were left have been getting more and more conservative over the years, kind of a self-reinforcing spiral.
[/hijack]
The more liberal members were thrown out in the Seventies? Sounds like what happened to us Liberal Republicans, which didn’t USED to be an oxymoron: Lincoln, Rockefeller, Anderson, etc.
As for atheists, pagans, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, etc coming out ahead after a properly-run pogrom, no such luck, guys! Ya’ll are dead FIRST!
Of course, that’s all theoretical. 
[Futurama]OK, nobody destroy Libertarian. Unless you have to. [/Futurama]
An Erisian Hymn
by Rev. Dr. Mungojerry Grindlebone,
KOB Episkopos, THE RAYVILLE APPLE PANTHERS
Onward Christian Soldiers,
Onward Buddhist Priests,
Onward Fruits of Islam,
Fight till you’re deceased.
Fight your little battles,
Join in thickest fray;
For the Greater Glory,
of Dis-cor-di-a.
Yah, yah, yah,
Yah, yah, yah, yah.
Blfffffffffft!
Moderator’s Notes: Sheesh. You guys sure know how to give a moderator fits. This thread could be in nearly any forum; we have IMHO, GD & BBQ material in here, probably some MPSIMS, too.
But …
After a bit of deliberation and some good advice from the other moderators, I’m sending it to Great Debates. You’ll just have to restrain yourselves a bit.
Gaudere, David, here ya go!
I’m a Celtic Christian. We believe that nearly ALL other religions (with the exception of satanism, etc) to be valid and have some core truths. Yes, and especially Pagan religions, we absorbed most of the druids, and at least one pagan Goddess (St. Bridget). The only thing we are intolerant about is … intolerance. Oh, sure, we believe our Way is the best, but that does not mean other ways are wrong.
Danielinthewolvesden: Sounds to me that being a Celtic Christian is not that dissimilar to being a Uniterian Universalist, am I correct?
A UU member could, of course, follow Christ and still be a UU member, though they are in the minority, I will admit. Are there “Celtic” churches and is this a separate denomination? How and where do you worship?
Yer pal,
Satan
I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Three months, two days, 12 hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds.
3741 cigarettes not smoked, saving $467.70.
Life saved: 1 week, 5 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes.
“de-excommunicated Martin Luther” ROFL!
doesn’t that mean that God would have to go to hell, find Martin Luther and take him out of hell? wouldn’t he need satan’s permission?
do those clowns in rome have any brains whatsoever? we just tell god how to run the metaphysical universe any time we want. LOL!
do you get the impression i’m not catholic?
Dal TimgarNo.
Just not very informed.
Excommunication does not send anyone to hell (although I’m sure any number of people have felt that it should or does).
Excommunication means that a person is no longer a member of the group/denomination/religion/whatever. It is up to God to figure out who is or is not in hell.
Actually, I doubt that the RCC ever removed M. Luther’s excommunication. There have been several statements by the RCC that indicated a softening of the hard line attitude toward Luther’s theology, but I have never seen anything indicating that he was “re-instated.”
It is unlikely that the RCC would ever “remove” the excommunication, even if it comes to embrace his theology (an unlikely event in its own right). During his life, Luther took certain steps and committed certain acts that put himself outside the RCC. The RCC could decide that 94 theses were correct and it still would not change the fact that Luther took himself out of the RCC.
Satan: well, the core of our belief is Jesus, so that is one major difference, Ie, you can’t BE a Celtic Christian without professing a belief in Jesus as Saviour. The Church was also called the “Culdee” or St. Columban Church. If you read the book, “How the Irish saved Civilization”, you can get an idea of our heyday. The Church suffered persecution by the Catholics, and it nearly died out. However, there has been a recent upsurge, now that Celtic stuff and mysticism is popular. Most actual Churches are in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, etc. I participate by Email, believe it or not. Just to give you an idea how “modern” my Church is, my Bishop is a woman. Please note, I am not all that religous, being somewhay of a 'doubter", but the CCC fits my beliefs to a T. Intolerance is the BIG “no-no” just as JC preached. We hold the Gospels to be the only “holy” NT books, and consider the rest to be “holy history”, as opposed to “the Law”.
Actually, the world would be saved if we all became Unitarian Universalists - that way we could all believe our own faiths without having to fight about them all the time. Sheesh! When will you people learn?
Esprix
Esprix
I was reading an article in Rolling Stone about gay boy scouts. There was a marvellous picture of a “pastor” with a placard which said “GOD HATES FAGS” (his caps not mine). How’s that for tolerance and turning the other cheek?
Turn the other cheek - is that a come on for queers?
Get thee behind me Satan - is that another one?
Ah, you are referring to the infamous Rev. Fred Phelps and his wonderful website, GodHatesFags.com. He’s a wacko, but at least he’s consistent - he truly believes that the only way to save homosexuals from an eternity in Hell is to use shock tactics to make them change their sinful ways. He also brought his happy little band (mostly his own family) to Matthew Shepard’s funeral and the Millenium March on Washington this past April.
You’d have to ask Drain Bead about that last one…
Esprix