That Seminarian is No Lady

Further reflection on the degrading culture, and the participation of the mainline religious establishment in the descent...

While hunting down graphics for use on my own blog, I ran across a blog run by a Lutheran seminarian. I didn't give it much thought, but marked it in order to have a look in the future.

A few nights ago, the jackhammer inside my head was too loud to sleep. I don't get headaches very often, but this one was a doozy. So, I decided to surf the 'Net until Mr. Sandman evicted the construction worker in my cerebellum.

So, I had a look at the Lutheran seminarian's blog, and I found that the author wasn't exactly a seminarian, but rather a "seminarianette." She was obviously from a subset of American Lutheranism that has a different way of reading Scripture than my own synod. And that's not all that I found different.

It seems that the author attends a non-Lutheran seminary - which, in her denomination is fine - so long as the seminarian or seminarianette attends one of the approved Lutheran seminaries for at least a year. The higher-ups actually gave her an exemption, only requiring her to do part of the requirement - which still miffed her terribly, accusing the denomination of trying to break up her family.

In fact, she was so angry that her public blog post included the "f-word." Oh my! A previous post shows off her new tattoo. Another used a derogatory term for part of the body to describe the driver of a car that displayed a bumper sticker that she disagreed with. There was even a "sermon" she "preached" at a neo-hippie retreat center. For some reason, each person drew pieces of paper out of a bowl with words on them, and she cracked a lot of jokes. Not the kind of homiletics I'm used to.

She is also a huge fan of the "emerging" church - a youth-obsessed fad among disillusioned suburban young adults who seek to reject traditionalism while rejecting the anti-traditionalism of their baby boomer parents.

Many of her posts drop the "f-bomb" and other profanities - in what is simply a sad and juvenile attempt to look "hip." In so doing, she looks about as "hip" as a 12-year old with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth. Embarrassing, in fact.

What's more, this seminarianette has a husband and child. So, when she receives a "call" into her "ministry," I suppose hubby will have to quit his job and follow his "pastorette" wife wherever she is sent. So much for Ephesians 5:22 and following verses (though I realize not everyone believes the quaint notion that the Bible is the Word of God...).

And can you just imagine how proud this child will be growing up? Not only is mom a priestess, she has a tattoo with a quote from Martin Luther and she validates herself by public use of the f-word in her written discourse. That should go over well at the PTA. This is all very strange to me, considering that my own sainted mother was ladylike - no tattoos and certainly no such vulgarities being uttered - and most especially never in public!

Christian womanhood just ain't what it used to be when my sainted great-grandma was around. Lord, have mercy! She considered card-playing and beer drinking to be crossing the line!

I'm also a little surprised that her denomination considers such conduct to be becoming of a clergy-human. I realize that the Scriptures don't carry the same amount of weight in her world of Lutheranism, but, not only does such behavior seem out of line with 1 Timothy 3 and 4, but it just comes across as trashy.

I realize that we have some pretty trashy pastors and goofy churches in the LCMS, but I really do believe that if one of our seminarians were using such lowest-common-denominator trash-talk in his published writings, he would be rendered UFM (Unfit For Ministry) and sent back to sitting on his couch watching Maury with a mouth full of Cheetoes.

At least one can hope.