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Spirit & Life
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version 4.0
•••"The
words I have spoken to you are spirit and life"
-- Jesus, John 6:63
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| Of Guilt and Association with Christian News | | Date Created: 20 Oct, 2005, 12:12 PM |
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| About three weeks ago, my wife and I travelled to scenic New Haven, MO for a mission presentation at Trinity Lutheran Church. Lutherans reading this post will perhaps recognize this famous (or infamous) location as the home and headquarters of the Rev. Herman Otten, editor and publisher of Christian News. |
| I admit I was nervous about the journey and presentation. I've made many such presentations over my years here among the Omaha. To my memory, the only such I've ever declined were due to scheduling conflicts. My basic rule is when someone asks, I go if I possibly can. Since the formation of the partnership between My People Lutheran Outreach and the parish I serve, Zion Lutheran Church, Bancroft, NE, my schedule restricts these outings more often than before. But there are six Sundays I can be gone on such travels 'built in' to the agreement. Other mid-week presentations are not so restricted, save by my duties in the parish and on the rez. Yet it was not the long distance, nor the topic which brought my unease. |
 I confess it was my own prejudice, pure and simple. I'm not proud of it at all. But it was mine, and I own it along with Christ's forgiveness for it.
I've been reading CN since seminary. Whenever the new stack would appear there on the tables outside the sem bookstore, I'd pick up my copy. I didn't care much for the policy of printing anonymous letters and articles, as I've always figured if someone had something to say they'd ought to believe in it enough to put their name on it.
There seemed to be an active administrative effort on campus to keep the students ignorant of events and 'politics' in the synod at large. CN was one of the only avenues to obtain such word from "out there" in the church. Back in those days, the affordable personal computer market was only beginning to bud into flower, and advent of the internet at a blazing 2400 baud appeared during my last years at sem. A decade and more later, the term "blog" would be coined, and news and views of synod events would be but a click away. |
 Professors and synodocrats generally tended to fear and dread CN, precisely because one would find there 'unauthorized' reports of current events. Frequent statements from many profs painted CN as the nominally Lutheran equivalent of the Weekly World News. Allegations against CN of persistent and unrepentant violations of the 8th Commandment were common. Unwittingly I learned to echo these things inwardly, though I'd still be there with the rest snapping up my copy of CN.
In the years since ordination, pastoral regard for CN and Rev. Herman Otten is kind of like the major media regard for Matt Drudge. On the one hand, there's a sort of 'seedyness' and some level of illegitimacy associated with him. On the other hand, one likewise notes a kind of begrudging respect and inability to entirely ignore him and what he says -- even by his greatest detractors. Famous or infamous, the name of Herman Otten and CN means something to most every churchworker and officer in synod.
In a rather ironic sense, Herman Otten is sort of the grandfather of the Lutheran blogosphere. Some love him, others hate him, but many more 'love to hate him' and 'hate to love him.' Whatever your opinion on Herman Otten and Christian News, it's probably strong enough to elicit a reflexive disclaimer, an involuntary approving smirk or a contemptuous grimace before you even realize it. |
 It was a nice trip, as my wife and I enjoyed some very rare travel time together without the kids. We arrived a few minutes later than we expected, but the Ottens were gracious and the meal Grace prepared was splendid and delicious. Our conversation was pleasant and wide-ranging, as we each got a sense of who and what sort of fellow the other was. I admit sadly I was somewhat guarded. Surprisingly, I noted, so was he.
After our meal, Rev. Otten took us on a tour of the Camp Trinity campus, where his log cabin home stands. We got to hear the stories of it's origin, the various people who had travelled and spoken there, and the features of each area. Then we got to see the Lutheran News, Inc. building -- the columns of extensive file cabinets, the rows of published stock of books, everything that goes into publishing Christian News each week. |
Because of my own background, which includes more than a few stints writing articles, editing and producing weekly newspapers, student journals, layout, and such, I was duly impressed. More than impressed, even, as I learned he still writes everything on a typewriter, personally eschewing the use of computers and the internet. He's a die-hard on a lot of levels, a fact one notes and grows to respect.
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 The presentation that evening went well, with good questions about my work among the Omaha, theology and practice of mission, and the general direction of synodical mission work today. The Ottens had reserved a room for us at the recently renovated, historic Central Hotel. Morning came and we met with Grace for a quick tour of the town before we set out for home.
I considered then another side of Rev. Otten, that of a pastor in his community for more than three decades. Long tenure in pastorates is not common now as it once was in the synod. Yet as we toured the town, one could not help but reflect on how the Otten family story is tied in with the story of the community of New Haven, MO.
The story of the Otten family is also tied in with the story of the Missouri Synod. Historians would be remiss should they try to tell the tale of Missouri without mention of Herman Otten. Especially so, because he himself has documented in great detail and with original sources so much of the synod's history through his work publishing Christian News. |
 Meeting Herman Otten and seeing him as more than an editor and publisher, but a flesh & blood human being, a husband, a father, and a parish pastor "in context" made me think very differently about him. It also made me realize how my own story is tied to that of the Missouri Synod too--and now, even more literally.
You see, the October 17, 2005 issue of Christian News arrived in our church's mailbox a couple of days ago, and that of every other congregation in the LCMS. The full-color, center-fold layout (p.12-13) and entirety of p.14 prints the full text of an essay entitled "Gone, But Not Forgotten [PDF]" by one Pastor Jeffery Warner, Missionary to the Omaha tribe, along with about a dozen photos of him and his work.
Sadly, in days not yet far enough gone, I'd probably have been a bit embarassed. But today, I can honestly say:"Pastor Otten, Grace, thank you for the hospitality. Truly, it was an honor to meet you." |
| He Beareth Not The [Nuke] in Vain? | | Date Created: 12 Sep, 2005, 12:56 PM |
 Referring repeatedly to “non-state actors” — parlance for terrorists — the doctrine is designed to arm the White House and US forces with a new range of threats and sanctions to counter the situation of threatened nuclear attack by al-Qaeda or one of its affiliates.
The document’s key phrase appears in a list of pre-emptive nuclear strike scenarios, the first of which is against an enemy using “or intending to use WMD”.
Elsewhere it states that “deterrence of potential adversary WMD use requires the potential adversary leadership to believe that the United States has both the ability and will to pre-empt or retaliate promptly with responses that are credible and effective”. |
Last night's Washington Post story further notes:A Pentagon spokesman said Saturday evening that Navy Cmdr. Dawn Cutler, a public affairs officer for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has issued a statement saying the draft is still being circulated among the various services, field commanders, Pentagon lawyers and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office, .
Its existence was initially reported by The Washington Post in Sunday editions, which said the document was posted on a Pentagon Internet site and pointed out to it by a consultant for the Natural Resorces Defense Council.
The file was not available at that site Saturday evening, but a copy was available at http://www.globalsecurity.org . |
GETTING PAST REACTING TO THE MERE THOUGHT OF NUKING FOR INTENTIONS
I have to admit up front I do not like the thought of pre-emptive nuclear strikes against a state or organization for "intending to use WMD." Not one bit. I find the idea very troubling. These are my feelings on the matter. However, the simple fact I do not like an idea does not make the idea itself unnecessary or evil.
An example is in order, perhaps. I also do not like the idea of sawing a man's ribcage open in order to perform pre-emptive heart surgery and prevent a heart attack or stroke -- or even a transplant. I do not like the idea of sawing a man's skull open to perform brain surgery in order to remove a tumor or repair other damage. I find both ideas very troubling. Put a saw in my hands and send me into an operating room? I have serious doubts about whether I could do either. Yet I do understand that there are circumstances where inflicting this kind of trauma on a person may, in fact, be the only effective way of saving their life. The idea, the act of opening the rib cage or the skull, in and of itself, is not unnecessary or evil in such cases. |
 DOES THE PRE-EMPTIVE MEDICAL ANALOGY HOLD?
I'm not certain, however, that the argument carries across to the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons in response to a state or organization's "intending to use WMD." In the first place, our ability to reliably detect, diagnose and predict the course of grave medical conditions seems to far exceed our ability to reliably detect, measure and judge something so subjective as intentions. It can be somewhat easier when dealing with a group than with an individual, to be sure, particularly when a group seeks to communicate its intentions to its members. But not all groups are as cohesive as they appear (or strive to appear) to outsiders. Sometimes stated intentions are not true intentions, either, but intended to mislead one's enemy.
Whatever group manages to establish the material definition of "intending to use WMD" then manages to define the terms of war; the space between the finger and the button is measured by the legal definition of that phrase. Intention can be legally defined, after all, and often marks the difference between manslaughter and murder in the first degree--depending on whether intention can or cannot be legally demonstrated, proven beyond a resonable doubt. |
WHETHER HELL IS PAVED OR FILLED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS, WE'RE NOT
Legal definitions are one thing. Moral and spiritual implications are another. George Bernard Shaw is said to have claimed, "Hell is paved with good intentions, not with bad ones. All men mean well." Perhaps even "Hell is full of good intentions or desires," according to St. Bernard of Clairveaux. In a post 9/11 world, I don't think such optimism abounds as it once did. I don't think MoveOn.org considers President Bush has very many good intentions. I don't think terrorists suppose the US has good intentions. I don't think peaceful citizens of most countries reckon many terrorists have good intentions.
Things look a bit more these days as God declared them back in Genesis 6:
5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”So ask the question philosophically with Shaw and Bernard of Clairveaux, "Who possesses WMD with good intentions?" and we might answer "The whole population of Hell." If we ask the question theologically, "Well, what party possesses WMD with good intentions," we must answer with Scripture "None on the face of the earth."
But the question being asked by the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not primarily philosophical or theological. It's a legal question, and a geo-political question. There, your answers may vary. |
AN OUNCE OF HUMILITY WORTH A POUND OF CURE?
What will come of this? The Lord only knows--and perhaps time will tell. There seems to me a necessary line to be marked and maintained between a doctrine of pre-emptive strikes limited to conventional weapons and one which might well initiate a global nuclear war. |
 An ounce of humility in the wake of some marked difficulty and confusion establishing whether Iraq was in possession of WMD seems in order here. I'm not saying Saddam or Al-Quaeda did have them or that they didn't have them. I'm saying whether they possessed the weapons or didn't proved somewhat difficult to prove after the fact of the strikes. Shall a rogue group's intention to use them be any less so, after they're destroyed by a pre-emptive nuclear strike?
This is the kind of news story that stretches and strains faith. I understand and believe that the authorities that be are established by God; yet I don't ever pretend to understand always why the authorities that be choose to do what they do. I heed the command to honor each in their office, yet wonder sometimes when that office appears to extend itself beyond its proper bounds. I hear and confess the Lord's declaration,
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.Yet I also understand well enough no man--rich or poor, king or country boy--has free license before God to do whatever he wishes to whomever he wishes, even with the best of intentions. Contrary to the fatwas of the false-prophets like Pat Robertson, we Lutherans believe also those who rule in other lands rule as ministers of God too. Such was the apostle's contention in the case of a despot like the terrible Nero who ruled at the time Paul likely penned the words of Romans 13 to the Christians living in Rome. None of us, none of them stands exempted of giving account before Him of what he has done with that entrusted to his keeping.
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
--Psalm 2 |
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