by DKleinecke <dkleinecke@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Apr 18, 2008 at 04:49 AM
On Apr 16, 5:33 pm, Erland Gadde <erl...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> My question is then: Why is this pattern of oppressive ideas
> associated with Martin Luther? How did this (unfair) connection in
> peoples minds arise?
>
> It would also be interesting to learn if this popular malicious
> ****trait of Luther also exists in other traditionally Lutheran
> countries and communities than Sweden.
I was raised as a Presbyterian in a community without (detectable)
Lutherans. To us Calvinists Martin Luther was nothing but a name. I
believe that is true of all the non-Lutheran Protestants. So, at least
outside of Lutheran circles, there is probably no such malicious
****trait of Luther - nor even much awareness of him. This conclusion
applies to the United States.
Lately I had some close and fraught contact with the Missouri Synod
Lutherans. I entered into this contact with some trepidation because
the Missouri Synod has the reputation of being close-minded and old-
fa****oned. To my relief they proved to be perfectly normal (I doubt if
any of them were registered Democrats - but that is as far as the
conservative streak goes). They never brought up Luther. There were no
pictures of Luther or books with his name on them in their meeting
halls. In short, Luther was about as invisible to these Lutherans as
Calvin was to us Calvinists.
