Friend and fellow-traveler, Pr. Joel Nickel, who is a retired LCMS pastor in Oregon, sent me the following quote from a recent online post by Tom Nichols (TheFederalist.com). ("Nichols" is the English spelling of "Nickel"). Joel thought the quote "seemed directly appropriate to [my] situation." He notes, as have others, that even after my expulsion from the clergy roster of the LCms the vitriol against me by my detractors has continued.
Joel's final question: "Who is the pompous self-righteous prig who 'prays for your repentance'"?
Here's the Nichols quote:
For a fair number of people in what's supposed to be a democracy, "winning" in any normal political sense simply isn't enough. What they really want, and what they in fact demand, is that you agree with them. They want you to believe. It is not enough for these Americans to say: "I have had my day in court and prevailed." In effect, they now add: "If you still disagree, I will attack you without quarter and set others on you to deprive you of your status in your profession, of your standing in your community, and even of your livelihood." You will be forced to admit the error of your ways. You must accept that you've sinned. You must discard your own values and accept the ideas of your betters. (Original source: http://thefederalist.com/; the quote was also published in The Week, July 17, 2015).
Robert Bertram's article, which I believe appeared in a Valpo publication a number of years ago, had much to say on how pervasive and strong one's own opinio iustitiae was. God's law which the public uses to justify its own rightness drives it to trust their own public opinion and then state that even God is on their side! They even try to prove with God's own words that they are right and just when God is using His own law to drive us deeper into trusting this deception.
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