Evangelical Rigidity

Last week I made a mental note of an article about a Newtown, CT pastor of a Lutheran Evangelical Church who was made to apologize to his National Organization for taking part in an interfaith service honoring the dead students and teachers.

Why did he have to apologize for taking part in an interfaith service?  Because by doing so, he acknowledged that the other Pastors/Rabbai's/Priests/... have validity and religious souls.  His brand of Religion believes and preaches that they are the only valid religion and all other religions are invalid.

My 1st reaction was to ask myself what happened the the world of my youth when everybody went about their practice of religion in private; and, in public, pretty much acknowledged that every religion was valid and you should respect the right of people to practice their faith in whatever manner they chose.  Now, there is a strain of Evangelical Lutheran's that publicly believes any other religion is false.

My 2nd reaction was my father was a traditional Lutheran in the Scandinavian model and it was most definitely not Evangelical, and apparently, there is more than one type of Evangelical Lutherans so this one strain believes the other Lutheran churches are not valid.  This all pretty much sounds crazy to me.  If you believe in God, how could you believe that he would disavow anybody who follows another religion as opposed to your religion?  How could you believe that your sect of Lutheran is the only valid one when you evolved out of the religion created by Martin Luther back in Germany during the Middle Ages and the other sects did likewise?

My 3rd reaction was this is part and parcel of our political stalemate.  If Evangelicals are so rigid in something so private, this is why they are so rigid in their politics.  They are the only ones who are correct and everyone else's views are invalid so there is no need to compromise.

I wish we could go back to the attitudes of the 1950's and 60's where all religious beliefs were respected.  When one could be conservative in matters of personal responsibility, but open minded on issues of common good and the role of government.  That is still where I am and I like to think of myself a modern person.