I Object

Lutherans Armor Up to Defend Women - Story in the WSJ

Lutherans come in two main flavors: the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Missouri  Synod. The Evangelicals, of which I am one, like to make fun of the Missouri Synod on account of the rigid structure of their services. Or so I'm told. I've never been to a Missouri Synod service.

When we lived in Phoenix we were attending a Bible study group and the pastor was telling was a story about a theological argument that had been at the crux of a conflict between two divisions. It was something about how the sacramental wafer became the body of Jesus Christ when it was put on your tongue. I can't remember the issue exactly, but the important part of the lesson was that some of the participants in this debate, or at least our pastor, realized that it was a "distinction without a difference". The two sides were describing the same event using different words, and because they were using different words, they declared that the event was different, even though no one could tell us what the difference was, other than the two groups were using different words to described it. That pretty much satisfied my desire to learn how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.

Not too long ago, maybe ten years or so, the Lutheran Church and the Anglican church (otherwise known as the Episcopalians) were working on an agreement to join forces. They had recognized that all the essential tenets of their faith were the same, so why shouldn't they all be part one great glorious religion? Well, there was this one minor issue of who appointed the leaders of the church. The Lutherans used some sort of democratic method, whereas the Anglicans had a rigid, top down hierarchy. This minor point was enough to torpedo the whole deal.

Anyway, that's what I know about theology. The WSJ story is about how the Missouri Synod has been arguing about women's role in the military and the latest pronouncement from the DoD that opens combat positions to women puts them on a collision course. Korey Mass makes some good points.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch I'm looking for a US Army recruiting commercial for women in combat roles and I'm finding bupkis. I could have sworn I've been seeing it non-stop on TV recently, but on the internet? Nothing. I would think with so many people watching what everyone else is doing someone would have noticed it had glommed onto it. I mean the NSA couldn't have scrubbed the entire internet, could they? Or maybe they just co-opted the big search engines so nobody could find it. Something is rotten in Denmark.