Confessions of a "Conservative" Lutheran

I belong to what is generally regarded as among the most "conservative" church bodies in America:  the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).  I put it in quotes, because I don't want the so-called conservatism of the church to be confused with political conservatism.  While it is true that the vast majority of WELS members are politically conservative, that's simply because they are a bunch of conservative Germans, not because our doctrine demands it.  Historically, the WELS has been meticulous about distinguishing between the heavenly and earthly kingdoms (kingdoms of the "right hand" and the "left hand"), but this changed with the Clinton administration and got even worse with the election (twice) of Barack Obama.  By now it is beyond dispute that the synod has become more politically active.  The vocabulary used demonstrates this, with an increasing use of language that is from the lexicon of right wing conservatism and the Tea Party.  This is most blatant from some of the affiliated organizations, such as Christian Life Resources, but it has also crept into sermons that I have heard now and then, as well as in Bible classes.  While most of the Synod pronouncements try to stay politically neutral, even official publications like Forward in Christ display an assumption that the reader is politically conservative.

With that background in mind, what follows below is a random and unorganized list of my own "confessions" from the perspective of a Lutheran who happens to be far to the left on the political spectrum (way to the left of Barack Obama).   You will not see these thoughts in Forward in Christ.

• I am 65 years old and I have never been discriminated against or persecuted because I am a Christian.
• My kids went to Lutheran grade schools for K-8 and then to public high school.  I've  never had to "unteach" anything from a religious perspective from the public school, but I have had to correct false  religious teachings that my kids brought home from Lutheran school.
• WELS President Schroeder went public, describing the HHS birth control mandate as an "unprecedented threat to...religious liberty".  I want to declare loudly and publicly that Schroeder does NOT speak for me.  My religious liberty hasn't been curtailed one iota because of this.  I worship and receive the means of grace the same as always.  This was never about religious liberty;  it was about money.
• In contrast to the phony "threat to religious liberty" in the last bullet, there are plenty of real infringements of religious liberty about which WELS has been silent. A few examples:  (1) When I was in the army, I was routinely in situations where I was expected to bow my head in prayer.  (2) Air Force Academy officers attempted to force their religion on cadets. (3) There are public events (like football games in Texas) where kids are coerced into praying or listening to prayers. (4) Under the Faith-Based Initiatives started by G.W. Bush and continued by President Obama, some "counselors" won't declare a patient "cured" until they declare certain religious beliefs.  See the pattern here?  Real threats to religious liberty in this country are overwhelmingly perpetrated by Christians.  I haven't heard anyone in WELS express outrage about these things.  Why?  I can only conclude that they are less controversial to WELS pastors because they are perpetrated by conservatives.  But the HHS mandate is identified with us godless liberals, so the world is coming to an end.
• I have been a WELS member since 1970.  I hear about abortion, evolution, and homosexuality almost every week in church.  I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever heard the word "racism" in a WELS sermon. 
• We rarely go to Bible classes anymore, because too often it ends up being about politics. I don't go to a Lutheran Bible class to talk about Glenn Beck or the Affordable Care Act.  Kind of ruins one's Sunday, so we just stay away from it.
• Politically-charged issues like climate-change denial, creationist "science", and intelligent design seem to be encouraged.  These are entirely political and have nothing to do with Lutheran doctrine, so the fact that they are encouraged--even tacitly--shows how far the WELS has come politically.

Small wonder that we find ourselves more and more questioning whether we are still in fellowship with the Wisconsin Synod.