Messages

1

Your Turn / Re: Politicizing the Eucharist? The pope vs. American bishops?

« on: Yesterday at 07:04:03 PM »

Because, Pastor Culler, the Bishop of San Francisco is widely known as a conservative who favors the Tridentine mass, who worked at the Vatican for a number of years and through his actions and writings as Bishop certainly deserves and probably appreciates the appellation “arch conservative.”
Bishop Gregory is not known for being identified with any particular faction.
Do people even read the stories? Or do you dismiss everything and pick it apart simply because of the source?

No I just like to point out that the words used often indicate some more than mere facts, but the position of the speaker/writer.  To call anyone an "arch" anything is very close to calling them a nasty name.  You know that as well as I do.  No one is ever called an arch liberal, at least in my experience.  It is a phrase used to denigrate and nothing else.

Luther, famously, is a Heresiarch.  That's Arch to the Max.

Dave Benke

Not since 2016, though, right? When The Vatican stated Luther was a "witness to the gospel".
Never heard them say the same about Marcion, Arius, or Mani....

2

Your Turn / Re: Coronavirus news

« on: June 05, 2021, 02:10:15 PM »

One of the issues about charter schools in Arizona is that they do not have to have certified teachers (and they pay their teachers less). One charter high school offered all their classes online, the "teachers," in the school were primarily to help the students if they had difficulties getting connected to the online class.


Charter schools do not offer ESL courses, so the new, immigrant youth are excluded. They do not offer special education class, so that group of students are excluded. By pulling some of the best students out of the public school system, that decreases the revenue those schools receive from the state. It results in the public school having the more expensive students (those needed ESL or special ed) with fewer funds to provide for them.

I just checked 3 random Charter schools here in the Kansas City area.  The ones that post their staff on their website (one doesn’t) have ESL teachers.  All teachers appear to be certified, and most have post-graduate degrees.

Of course, the KC Missouri* public school system is....not that great.  They lost accreditation in 2000 (the first school system ever to do so), and have struggled with accreditation since- gaining and losing provisional accreditation multiple times.  I know the expectation was that they would lose it again in 2020.

I can see why parents would choose Charter (or private) schools over the public school system here.

*Sorry- took it for granted you all knew I was referring to the KCMO public school system. 

3

Your Turn / Re: Coronavirus news

« on: June 04, 2021, 05:54:34 PM »

As Bishop Benke muses about the next Mayor of New York City, we focus our attention
on the greatest Mayor that city ever had.....Fiorello LaGuardia.

Mayor LaGuardia served from 1934 to 1945 during the Great Depression and WWII.
His charismatic appeal allowed him to get things accomplished during his terms.
The adoring citizens of New York City called him: "The Little Flower".   He was 5' 2"
and always wore a fresh carnation in his lapel.

I thought “Little Flower” was the literal translation of his first name 

4

Your Turn / Re: Another contribution to the endless controversy

« on: June 03, 2021, 08:53:09 AM »

Martin Luther (1483-1546)
John Calvin....(1509-1564)

As a public service this modest forum offers the dates for the lives of Luther & Calvin
To quote historian Lewis W. Spitz, "From 1555 to his death in 1564, Calvin's presence
and influence in Geneva was great. He published his Institutes in their final Latin text
in 1559 and the final French edition in 1560."  .

And according to the editor's introduction to the Large Catechism in K&W, Calvin's first edition of his Institutes was influenced by Vincent Obsopoeus' 1529 Latin translation of Luther's Large Catechism with his additions of classical citations and allusions to ancient history. So, he was aware of Luther even if Luther wasn't aware of him.

You wrote:
“Not so much in Luther's Day. The opposition came later and is expressed in the Formula of Concord. There is nothing against Calvin in any of the earlier confessions.”

The point being made is that Luther would not have written anything against Calvin in Luther’s earlier confessions, because Calvin’s works were published well after Luther’s death.

No one is suggesting that Calvin wasn’t aware of Luther.

5

Your Turn / Re: Tulsa Racial Massacr

« on: June 03, 2021, 08:43:04 AM »

Receiving compensation (I would imagine ) would be the same.   You pay for insurance for them to compensate you when accidents like yours happen.  I don’t think you pay the government to cover your losses when they occur.

We pay taxes so that the governments (local, state, and federal) can invest in things to make life better for all Americans.

“My hunch is she ended spending time in jail because she couldn't make restitution for what she cost us and the insurance companies.”

The government didn’t cover those costs, correct?  Why not?  Both you and the insurance companies “pay taxes so that the governments can invest in things to make life better...”

6

Your Turn / Re: Tulsa Racial Massacr

« on: June 02, 2021, 11:24:25 PM »

Peter writes:
But who is to apologize to whom? Whose forgiveness is valid? How does one atone?
I comment:
The first and second generation descendants of those whose property and fortunes were lost in that event are known and are still alive. They are the people who would’ve owned those properties and benefitted from those fortunes today, had not the property and fortune been stolen from them.
Seems to me, someone owes them something.

That is always the case. But should all Democrats pay to rebuild the sections of Minneapolis that were destroyed by hate-filled rioters last year? Of course not.  Somebody owes somebody something for every burned building and lost livelihood. We know that. That answer doesn’t address my question. Who owes whom? Who is in a position to forgive? What constitutes atonement? Foolish people who believe in identity politics think the Tulsa massacre is something that has to be resolved between me and my black neighbor. Christians think the guilty should pay restitution to the victims.

The U.S. tax code allows an itemized deduction for "unsatisfied judgments."  For example, suppose that you are a landlord.  One of your tenants falls behind on the rent, goes on a drinking binge, trashes the apartment, and leaves.  You sue him for unpaid rent and damages, and the court rules in your favor.  However, he has also lost his job, has no wages to garnish, and the court's judgment goes unpaid.  Although no one except your former tenant bears moral responsibility for the wrong done to you, your loss is effectively partially defrayed by the taxpayers, essentially on the theory that you should be compensated for an injustice that the courts have been unable to remedy.

Is this a just policy?  If so, how do you distinguish this policy from a policy of using public funds to compensate people (or their heirs) who suffered documented loss of property to lawless rioters, whether in Tulsa in 1921 or in Minneapolis in 2020?  In the landlord-tenant scenario, one could argue that you are less deserving of compensation, because you showed poor judgment in selecting a tenant.  Yet under our current laws, this is the only scenario where compensation is available.

How is receiving compensation from the government for loses that perpetrators of the loss are unable or unwilling to pay any different from receiving compensation from an insurance company for losses that perpetrators, e.g., the one who caused the car accident are unwilling or unable to pay; like the $30,000 in damages to our house when a woman crashed a stolen pickup into our garage?

Receiving compensation (I would imagine ) would be the same.   You pay for insurance for them to compensate you when accidents like yours happen.  I don’t think you pay the government to cover your losses when they occur.

7

Your Turn / Re: Tulsa Racial Massacre

« on: June 02, 2021, 06:26:39 PM »

Just for the heck of it, I will ask the question again. Do any of those fires equal the life of a man? Or do any of those broken windows equal the broken lives of those who have been abused by the police over the decades? Does any of the angst among white people brought on by these activities equal the terror felt by African-Americans every time they are pulled over by a traffic cop? And placed in handcuffs for not having the proper license tag?
By the way, one man was just sentenced to prison time for arson in one of those burnings.

You DO realize there were a significant number of minority-owned businesses that were damaged or completely destroyed during these riots, right?  What about their angst brought on by these activities?

Do they not deserve reparations?

8

Your Turn / Re: Another contribution to the endless controversy

« on: June 02, 2021, 04:34:36 PM »

Not Kieschnick, Barry.

This one?
https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/2925

9

Your Turn / Re: Tulsa Racial Massacre

« on: June 02, 2021, 01:32:01 PM »

Here’s another sad reality. A man died. A man who didn’t need to die died, that is, was killed. That’s a little more important than some broken windows and a bit of fire damage.

Wow.   >500 million dollars in damage to the Minneapolis area as a result of the riots is “some broken windows and a bit of fire damage.”

I see why you dropped out of this discussion.

10

Your Turn / Re: Tulsa Racial Massacre

« on: June 02, 2021, 08:45:01 AM »

Peter writes:
But should all Democrats pay to rebuild the sections of Minneapolis that were destroyed by hate-filled rioters last year? Of course not. 
I comment:
Lord, have mercy, Peter! Your overstatement betrays a galloping prejudice, in my not so humble opinion.
"Destroyed"? No "sections of Minneapolis" were "destroyed".
"Hate-filled rioters"? Prove that one.
Your description is inaccurate and your words... well... wrong.

“The city released a new map that breaks down the damage into four categories: cosmetic damage, minor damage, major damage, and wholly destroyed, which included 12 structures, many with multiple businesses within them.”

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/06/16/minneapolis-issues-map-showing-extent-of-buildings-damaged-in-unrest-over-george-floyds-death/

Maybe Pastor Speckhard gets his information from CBS.
Where do you get yours from?

11

Your Turn / Re: Conversion, In Between Space and Magazines

« on: June 01, 2021, 12:21:17 PM »

TRACS is recognized by both the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as a national institutional accrediting agency.  It is also a member of the American Council on Education. 

Missouri’s School of The Ozarks (one of the top 4 best regional colleges in the Midwest in 2021, according to US News and World Report) is TRACS accredited. 

Obviously, being accredited by a recognized agency matters.  Which of these recognized “national institutional accrediting" agencies?  Apparently not so much.

Anyone who offers accreditation services in higher education can be "recognized" by United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as a national institutional accrediting agency.  It just means your name goes on a list.

The American Council on Education is a membership organization.  Any institution or agency involved in higher education can join.

Tom Pearson

TRACS is recognized by the Secretary of the DOE as a "reliable authority concerning the quality of education or training offered by the institutions of higher education or higher education programs they accredit".
In order to be recognized by the DOE, they had to be recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity...It's a little more complicated than having their name on a list.
I honestly don't see a problem here.

12

Your Turn / Re: Conversion, In Between Space and Magazines

« on: June 01, 2021, 09:11:20 AM »

There is also a website for the planned college: https://www.lutherclassical.org/home/about/

Perhaps it is worth noting that, on the webpage for Luther Classical College, under the Prospectus, it mentions that the proposed institution will be "seeking accreditation with TRACS"; and TRACS, if I remember correctly, is an offshoot of the Institute for Creation Research.

Good luck to them, indeed.

Tom Pearson

TRACS is recognized by both the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as a national institutional accrediting agency.  It is also a member of the American Council on Education. 

Missouri’s School of The Ozarks (one of the top 4 best regional colleges in the Midwest in 2021, according to US News and World Report) is TRACS accredited. 

Obviously, being accredited by a recognized agency matters.  Which of these recognized “national institutional accrediting" agencies?  Apparently not so much.

13

Your Turn / Re: Conversion, In Between Space and Magazines

« on: May 31, 2021, 10:57:37 PM »

The links don't make it clear where one is going. But the commentaries and other matter make the connection with the "Steadfast" folk.
A college for only Lutherans? In Casper, Wyoming? It's a joke, right?

The only links to the magazine or college are the ones Father Slusser and I posted. The Steadfast Lutherans website isn’t even cited.  The links “don’t make it clear” only if one one doesn’t bother (or know how) to read.

By your argument,  since we both posted links to the website here, the magazine and college now have a connection to the ALPB folk.

As far as it being a joke, the regents (and their email address) are listed on the website.  Feel free to ask them.

De Hall

14

Your Turn / Re: Conversion, In Between Space and Magazines

« on: May 31, 2021, 09:46:33 PM »

FWIW, Charles seems to be talking about the Steadfast Lutheran’s website postings, rather than the articles in the “Christian Culture: A Magazine for Lutherans” periodical.

15

Your Turn / Re: Conversion, In Between Space and Magazines

« on: May 31, 2021, 07:55:49 PM »

It seems to have some connection with people from the "Steadfast...." site. I sense a certain spoofiness in some of the "titles," but Steadfasters have generally been very solemn folk, so maybe they are serious. The texts, after a quick look, still show signs of satire.
But maybe they actually are things from Der Lutheraner in 1884 and following, a rabid denunciation of "the papistic religion," a fire and brimstone description of a culture ravaged by idolatry and disorder.
The introductions to the articles are in serious, you-really-need-to-read-this language, whether directed at readers of the past or today, I'm not sure.
The "Kids Can Sing Good Hymns" seems to be in today's world, or at least bringing something of an older world into today.
What is this "Magazine for Lutherans"? I haven't a clue (and stating my dislike of what I do read might actually boost its subscribers.) Caveat lector.

It’s advertised on the Steadfast Lutherans site, but if you bother to read the advertisement, you’ll see it’s a publication of Luther Classical College, which is projected to open in August 2024.

Pastor Hans Feine (“Lutheran Satire”) wrote one of the articles...So, “signs of satire”?  I guess.
 
If you’re interested in a subscription (published quarterly), here’s the link:

https://www.lutherclassical.org/home/journal/