Missouri Synod High School Bars Gay Valedictorian From Giving Graduation Address

Nat Werth.

Hate is alive and well at Sheboygan Lutheran High School, a private secondary school in Sheboygan, Wisconsin near the University of Wisconsin–Sheboygan campus.  The school is operated by the Lutheran High School Association of the Greater Sheboygan Area, Inc., an association of Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod congregations in the Sheboygan area.  Not to be confused with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") - the good Lutherans, if you will - to which I belong, the Missouri Synod churches seek to out do the Southern Baptist Convention when it comes to embracing ignorance and directing hatred toward those who do not subscribe to the denomination's Bronze Age version of scripture.  Thus, it is no surprise that the "godly folk" at Sheboygan Lutheran High School would not allow the school's 2019 valedictorian to give the graduation address because he is gay and, heavens forbid, acknowledged that he is gay. A piece in LGBTQ Nation looks at the bigotry that sadly is the norm in the Missouri Synod and its affiliated institutions.  Here are excerpts:

A school in Wisconsin has been accused of preventing their valedictorian from delivering his speech at commencement because he’s gay.

Nat Werth graduated first in his class at Sheboygan Lutheran High School. He was going to deliver the valedictorian’s speech, until school administrators read a draft.

“On my own journey to self-acceptance, I have trekked through the depths of depression, found that God’s love is endless, and embraced the fact that I’m gay,” Werth planned to say in his speech.

“Absolutely no one should have to go through what I have gone through simply to come to the conclusion that homosexuality is not a sin. God created everyone just the way they are and never intended for the church to disenfranchise an entire group of people.”

The speech went on to say that homophobic readings of the Bible are “outdated, mistranslated, or misinterpreted in their respectively Biblical, cultural, and historical contexts.”

“The Bible mentions ‘love’ over 500 times,” Werth’s speech continued. “I sincerely believe that the next generation of Christians will eradicate homophobia in the church and proclaim God’s love to the LGBT community.”

Werth said that when he handed in the draft he “wanted to work together” with the administration to make a speech that they would approve of, but they said that they didn’t “trust” him to deliver anything they could agree to.

So he had to watch the salutatorian deliver a speech in his stead.

This isn’t the first time Werth has faced discrimination at his school. He said that he was banned from joining the dance team because he’s a boy and that teachers said on multiple occasions that homosexuality is an “abomination.”

The school’s executive director, Paul Gnan, did not comment on this situation but said that the school’s policies are based on biblical principles.

“It’s degrading and it makes a person feel terrible about themselves,” Werth told WISN.
He said that he took his story to the media because “I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I went through again in the future.”

As the school executive director stated, hate, bigotry and discrimination are "biblical values" at Sheboygan Lutheran High School.  It is a shame that Werth's parents sent him to such a reprehensible school that seems fixated on turning out closed minded bigots for graduates.  Anyone seeking to share their outrage with the school can use this contact information:  Sheboygan Lutheran High School, 3323 University Drive, Sheboygan, WI 53081; (920) 452-3323

Fax (920) 452-1310.

Anti-Gay Missouri Synod Pastor Who Condemned Gays Outed by Grindr Screenshots

There are two main branches of the Lutheran Church - the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which is gay accepting (I am a member) and the reactionary, ignorance embracing Missouri Synod Lutheran Church that is virulently anti-gay.   As seems to be always the case, it turns out that it is the vociferous anti-gay folks who are self-loathing closet cases and/or psychologically disturbed and obsessed with all things sexually.  A case in point: now former associate pastor Matthew Makela of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Midland, Michigan (pictured above).  As Queerty is reporting, Makela nearly drove one gay teen to suicide through his condemnation of homosexuality and attacks on the teen via social media.  Meanwhile, the hypocritical bastard was on Grindr seeking hook ups and describing himself as "a top who likes to cuddle."  Thankfully, Makela's career as a pastor is over and his foul, cowardly church been driven to apparently take down its website and post a mealy mouthed message to its parishioners.   Here is a portion of Queerty's story that blew the lid off of Makela's hypocrisy:

Until 2 p.m. on Monday, the ‘Our Church Staff’ section of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School’s website described Reverend Matthew Makela as an associate pastor who enjoys, “family, music, home improvement, gardening and landscaping, and sports.”

Screenshots obtained by Queerty from a source who asked that his name be withheld shed light on some of the Reverend’s other favorite past times — namely nude make out sessions and sex with other men.

Of course, how someone behaves between the sheets is really nobody’s business but his own, except when he’s actively doing damage to others. We’ve seen it time and time again. The lawmaker who spends his days fighting against gay rights and his nights cruising for bottoms, or the ex-gay activist who isn’t quite as ex-gay as he’d like everyone to believe.

Which brings us back to Makela. The married father of five from Midland, Michigan doesn’t just preach Jesus’ love and help with bake sales. He also uses his position of authority and respect in his community to broadcast his self-loathing view on same-sex attraction.

If Makela made even one LGBT kid at St. John’s “Christ-based” elementary school, their parents, friends, family or anyone who ever stepped foot in the church feel like being true to yourself is shameful (and it seems all too likely that he did), then we’re glad to share his hypocrisy with the world.

Thankfully, the story has gone viral and Makela is getting his just deserved.  Yes, I feel sorry for his family, but it is precisely because of the "teachings" of denominations like the Lutheran Missouri Synod that gays too often feel compelled to marry women and live false lives.  Here is how the main stream press is reporting on Makela's outing:

Officials at St. John's, 505 E. Carpenter in Midland, could not be immediately reached for comment. A phone number listed for Makela has been disconnected.

Makela was the subject of a story on the gay news website Queerty that showed screenshots of messages Makela posted to the mobile app Grindr — a male location-based social network. Grindr uses a mobile device's location-based services to show other posters closest to the user, according to its website.

Queerty reported that Makela confirmed the authenticity of the screenshots and declined comment.

Sadly, there are lots and lots of individuals like Makela on church staffs and within the Republican Party.  Each and every one of them needs to be outed and their hypocrisy put on open display.  

Anti-Gay Churches File Brief in 10th Circuit Appeal of Utah and Oklahoma Marriage Cases

Proving once again why their respective churches all deserve to lose their tax-exempt status, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Missouri Synod Lutherans have all joined in a brief trying to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that the civil laws must conform to their fear, ignorance and hate based religious beliefs. Never mind that Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code states in relevant part as follows:

(3) Corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment), or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation . . . . .  and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office. 

But as we see time and time again, the "godly folk" consistently view themselves as above the laws that govern everyone else.  They accuse LGBT individuals of wanting "special rights" but it is they themselves who want and demand special rights.  ABC News looks at the effort of these vile organizations to effect the civil laws so as to deprive gay and lesbian couples of equal rights under the United States Constitution.  Here are excerpts:

A coalition of religious organizations has come together to urge a federal appeals court to uphold same-sex marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma, saying unions between a man and woman are best for children, families and society.

The argument is being made in a 42-page brief filed Monday afternoon to a Denver-based court reviewing cases that could reverse gay marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma.

Lawyers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote the brief, which was signed by the National Association of Evangelicals and Southern Baptist and Lutheran organizations.

The religious groups say opposite-sex marriages are sanctioned by God as the best setting for raising children.

They say accusations that their opposition to gay marriage represents bigotry are "false and offensive."

Besides this effort, all of these churches worked to influence the passage of the anti-gay amendments in most of the states across America.  The IRS needs to revoke their tax exempt status, levy taxes against all of these organizations and then start levying against their assets as if they refuse to pay.  Perhaps the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City and  and St. Patrick's would be good assets to seize first.

Oh, and let us not forget the hypocrisy these churches show in their selective picking and choosing of Bible passages.  Their leaders are modern day Pharisees.

Norfolk Pastor Arrested for Child Porn

Yet another example of hypocrisy in the pulpit has arisen.  This time it involves David William Smith (shown at left), pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Norfolk, Virginia.  Interestingly and perhaps tellingly, Trinity Lutheran is a member of the vociferously anti-gay Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church which largely ceased all cooperative work with the larger Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (which I belong to) when that denomination adopted gay friendly policies and voted to allow gay clergy.  Like the stridently anti-gay Southern Baptist Convention, the Missouri Synod Lutherans need to focus more on cleaning out their own foul house as opposed to stigmatizing and denigrating gays on a regular basis.  Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

The pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church was arrested this afternoon on child pornography charges.

David William Smith, 35, faces 10 counts of possession of child pornography, a felony, police said. He is in city jail on no bond. The arrest followed an investigation by Norfolk police’s computer crimes section.

The church, which also operates a school, is in the 6000 block of Granby St. According to the church’s website, Smith was installed as the pastor in November 2010.

It almost always seems to be the far right denominations that are bizarrely obsessed with all things sexual like the Missouri Synod crowd that have the sexual deviants in the pulpit.

Bigotry is Bad for Business - Jan Brewer and the Arizona Business Community

It seems that most bigots in politics are largely opportunists who often place personal advancement and/or media exposure ahead of the true best interests of their state or country. It's all about them and pandering to the lowest common denominator for short term political gain. It seems Arizona Governor Jan Brewer - a far right Missouri Synod Lutheran Christianist who is against LGBT equality - is a case in point. She jumped headlong into immigrant bashing and has seen an uptick in popularity in some circles, but the Arizona business community is none to happy with her because what's good for Brewer's ego satisfying celebrity is not so good for business. Newsweek has an article on the growing schism between Brewer - who seems to think she's the president of Concerned Women for America rather than the governor of a state where she is supposed to represent the needs of all citizens and residents - and the business community. Here are some highlights:
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Back before they grew distant, Barry Broome, head of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, would talk to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer every few weeks. . . . he never imagined what was to come: that she would sign into law one of the nation’s most draconian illegal-immigration bills; pick a costly, high-profile fight with the federal government to defend it; and create a public-relations fiasco for the state.
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Strains between Brewer and the state’s business community are starting to show. Though her championing of the immigration measure has proved politically popular and catapulted her to national prominence, that success has come at a price. . . . Several companies have packed up and left. At least 40 groups have canceled conventions and conferences, says Debbie Johnson, CEO of the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association. And the Phoenix area alone is projected to lose $92 million in business, according to Mayor Phil Gordon. “Anyone who says our image has not been hurt is living in a bubble,” he says.
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Many business leaders are reluctant to criticize Brewer publicly. . . . The state is perilously close to sealing a reputation as a bastion of intolerance. Phoenix “risks becoming the next Birmingham,” says Robert Lang of Brookings Mountain West, a think tank based in Las Vegas. Noting that Arizona is trying to diversify into the solar-energy and biotech industries, he adds, the state is “playing with fire…Who is in solar? Not the kind of people who are listening to Rush [Limbaugh].” It makes Gordon cringe.
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Many Latino organizations, both local and national, are leading the charge to punish the state economically. In many ways, the effort is shaping up as a de-fining civil-rights struggle for Hispanics. They’re pressuring baseball teams to boycott the state. They’re petitioning cities and states to cut off business ties (many have done so, including Los Angeles and St. Paul, Minn.). They’re urging artists to forswear performing there (among those who have agreed are Kanye West and Rage Against the Machine). And they’re warning other jurisdictions considering similar legislation that an equally potent backlash would await them.
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“We will make clear that the damage to Arizona can happen anywhere else that tries to pass a law like this,” says Alfredo Gutierrez, a former Arizona state senator . . . . He’s modeling his approach on the anti-apartheid campaigns against South Africa and has been reaching out to Latin American countries to discuss the possibility of sanctions. “We even have a committee in Rwanda,” he says. “I just discovered it while Googling.”
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Brewer’s likely Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Terry Goddard, may yet prove to be a tough adversary. He has fought crime linked to illegal immigration for years—credentials that give him legitimacy to attack her and the GOP for their handling of the issue. “This is the worst thing that ever happened for business in Arizona,” he says.
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One can only hope that Brewer and the forces of hate and intolerance lose in November. Arizona is certainly a state that the boyfriend and I won't be planning to visit anytime soon even though I have a family connection to the state that reaches back to the early 1920's. Meanwhile, Virginia's clinically insane Attorney General Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli is encouraging police to stop and question those in Virginia who look like they may be immigrants and ask for their documentation.

Missouri Synod Lutherans Adopt Resolutions to Make Sure People Know They're Bigots and Homophobes

The level of contempt and bigotry that is the hallmark of so many allegedly Christian denominations never seems to amaze me. The latest case in point is the Missouri Synod Lutherans ("LCMS") who - God forbid - feared that people might confuse them with the more liberal and surely more Christian acting Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA"). Last year the ELCA voted at its Churchwide Assembly to allow partnered gay clergy and recognized the need to accept and affirm the committed relationships of same sex couples. Therefore, in order to reaffirm that they are bigots and homophobes, the LCMS adopted resolutions at its convention this week (see photo). While not voting to severe all ties with the ELCA, the LCMS roundly condemned gays and insisted on clinging to selective literal application of Bible passages. Like so many faux Christians and modern day Pharisees of the professional Christian set, the LCMS picks and chooses which parts of the Bible will be applied literally in order to condemn others while ignoring other passages that would condemn their own hypocrisy. Here are highlights from the Christian Post.
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Delegates of the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod on Tuesday overwhelmingly adopted two resolutions in response to last year's pro-gay actions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. One resolution commends for "study and reference" two documents that state that the ELCA's actions – including allowing partnered homosexuals on the clergy roster – are contrary to Scripture.
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When the ELCA's highest legislative body voted last August to allow gays and lesbians in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships" to serve as clergy, the denomination received wide media attention, prompting concerns within the LCMS that many may think all Lutherans share the same beliefs. The ELCA had also adopted a social statement on human sexuality acknowledging that there is no consensus on homosexuality while at the same time recommending that the ELCA commit itself to find ways to recognize lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.
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Meanwhile, the second document – "Theological Implications of the 2009 ELCA Decisions" prepared by an LCMS task force – notes that the LCMS and the ELCA have partnered together in works related to mercy and relief but that the controversial decision threatened the cooperative relationship.
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Slavery, treating women as chattel, and murdering non-Christian women and children have also been viewed as Biblically sanctioned in the past and I'm sure the LCMS's actions towards gays will someday be viewed as horrible and un-Christian. Until then, I suppose the self -congratulatory members of the LCMS will revel in its chosen bigotry, rejection of modern knowledge, and hatred towards those who are different than themselves. WWJD?

Republican Arizona Secretary of State Doen't Want to Tell Voters a Constitutional Amendment is Unnecessary

Jan Brewer, the Republican Secretary of State of Arizona, does not want voters to know that the yet again proposed anti-gay marriage amendment to the Arizona Constitution is unnecessary since same-sex marriage is already illegal under existing Arizona law. Not only is Brewer a Republican, but she is also a member of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church. The Missouri Synod is NOT in communion with the much larger and far more liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - the denomination I belong to - and is VERY, VERY anti-gay. Thus it seems that Ms. Brewer (as is typical of the Christianists) is allowing her own strongly anti-gay religious beliefs to interfere with her duties as Arizona Attorney General. Obviously, Brewer doesn't want voters to know that the proposed amendment only serves to (a) trying bring out wingnut voters in November, and (b) further marginalize LGBT citizens. Here are some highlights from the Arizona Daily Star:

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PHOENIX — Secretary of State Jan Brewer has gone to court to avoid having to tell Arizona voters that state law already bars same-sex marriage. In a lawsuit filed Friday, Brewer said the only thing she needs to explain on the ballot is approval of Proposition 102 would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman She wants to limit the legally required explanation of the effect of voting "no" on the measure would "have the effect of retaining the current laws regarding marriage."

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[S]he wants Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Aceto to block efforts by Attorney General Terry Goddard to expand the explanation to say existing laws already include "a statutory ban on same-sex marriage." . . . Goddard said voters are entitled to know what laws already are on the books. He contends that adopting the limited description Brewer wants actually could cause more confusion, that some people might conclude that if they vote against Proposition 102 they would be allowing gays to marry.

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The fight comes as proponents, stung by the defeat two years ago, seek to get it approved this time. One thing they did is narrow the scope. The 2006 measure would have not only constitutionally banned gay marriage but also barred state and local governments from recognizing civil unions or providing benefits such as health insurance to the domestic partners of their employees.