See also    
Letters published in past printed issues of Lutheran Partners    
Letters submitted from the website    
Submit a letter to the editor    

All letters to be published in Lutheran Partners magazine / Lutheran Partners Online must include your name and where you reside. Address: Editor, Lutheran Partners, 8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631-4101; e-mail, Lutheran.Partners@elca.org, Lutheran_Partners@ecunet.org, or LUTHERAN PARTNERS (if on Ecunet/ Lutherlink). Because we wish to publish as many letters as possible and at the same time maintain some control over the length of the letter section, letters should be no more than 600 words in length. Shorter letters are preferred.

Strong Objection to Ad
I strongly object to the advertisement on page 5: “The Infantry Provides Firepower. Chaplains Provide Comfort” (September / October 2008).

Our church, the ELCA, does not believe unjust wars are justifiable (see ELCA social statement “For Peace in God’s World”). The present Iraq War is certainly not justifiable. Aiding and abetting this Iraq War, and aiding and abetting the policy of pre-emptive war, and aiding and abetting the policy of permanent war is equally not justifiable.

Surely providing comfort to people is our task as pastors. But surely we must insist that those who give comfort are also free to be critical of official policies that are unjust, and free to work toward changing those policies. We must insist that the church is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather its conscience. We must insist on this for every one of our pastors, including our chaplains. If we forfeit our prophetic zeal we will surely lose our spiritual and moral authority.

Unfortunately, facing intimidation from parishioners who have been accommodated to cultural patriotism, parish pastors too often forget their prophetic task. Surely the loss of advertising dollars should not intimidate Lutheran Partners.

In the name of the one who is our peace.

Jerry Pedersen
Sacramento, California

Evaluating Global Response
Thank you for the article “Cleaning the Editorial Well” (Comment, November / December 2008) outlining the plans for Lutheran Partners for 2009. I would like to point out an essential topic which is not included: evaluating our (the ELCA) response to the great command which Jesus left us with — to make disciples for him of all [ethnicities].

[Questions I would ask include] Is sending people overseas for a few months of “overseas experience” a serious and effective response to that command? What kind of responsibility does the ELCA have toward the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world? What shall we do about the 7,600 language groups which do not have the Bible available in their language? In our “walking together” with our sister churches overseas, do we get deeply enough into their situations so that we can work together on reaching the unreached in their areas? Which groups are still unreached or inadequately reached and how can we work together to reach them?

As things stand at present, members of the ELCA are simply not being informed about the people whom Jesus wants us to reach in our day. Lutheran Partners could do something to try to correct that neglect. Blessings in your ministry.

Ronald Nelson (retired missionary to the Cameroon)
Hettinger, North Dakota