At first, I had thought it was merely an Internet rumor, and hoped it had not been true, but it appears that “Issues, Etc.”, one of the most constant and reliable sources of information and discussion for confessional Lutheranism, has been removed from the air, and its staff terminated with no notice and no apparent reason for this action.
I admit that I am deeply distressed by this action and do not understand why such a thing would have taken place.
Once again, we also unfortunately see that the tendency of our church body to secrecy and lack of communication has led to the churning of the rumor mill, in which good and solid theologians—solid Lutherans—of both lay and ordained types have begun to speak of the situation and to make discussion concerning the reasons and the motivations behind this action. For true, I highly doubt that more than a few people really know what has taken place here and why this decision was made.
(This does not mean that I agree with the decision. Far from it.)
As with many, my prayers go out to the men directly affected by this decision and to their families. For those who are interested, a fundraiser has been set up at The Wittenberg Trail to assist them in this time of transition. My prayers are also with those who were loyal listeners of “Issues, Etc.”, as well as those to whom the message of “Issues” had not yet come, whether they are not yet of the faith, or adrift in the sea of American evangelicalism.
As many others have pointed out tonight, if you wish to express your discontent with this decision, it is the general understanding that those concerns should be directed to Mr. David Strand, Executive Director of the Board of Communications Services at the International Center, at david.strand@lcms.org, or by mail at 1333 S. Kirkwood Ave., St. Louis, MO 63122.
For more information on the situation and what is happening, there are posts by Pr. Randy Asburry and by Pr. William Weedon concerning this decision. I am certain that a more thorough search of the Lutheran blogosphere will turn up many more articles and opinions on what has certainly been a strange event.
If you are blogging about these events and/or about the situation in general, please tag your entries with the tag issuesetc so that other bloggers can more easily find you and to foster discussion.
Please, as suggested by many others tonight, let us remember and hold fast to the Eighth Commandment and our confessional understanding of what that means as we discuss this and other things.
Yeah, I have an opinion, just like everyone else. I’ll be brief.
Those responsible for this decision have a choice presented before them. Two people have lost their jobs on account of this event; of course, it is not necessarily responsible nor wise for their employer to discuss with the public the terms of their dismissal. This is normal. However, canceling a program with such a long and distinguished history as “Issues, Etc.”, and leaving its listeners stranded and confused, without giving reason or cause for such a change, is a horrible decision. The silence coming from those who executed this decision speaks much more loudly than any statement—well-received or not—ever could, and it is this silence that is leading our good people to disagreement and stirrings of unrest.
Note also that someone has gone to great pains to ensure that any and all evidence of the existence of “Issues, Etc.” has been erased from the Internet. The main web page at issuesetc.org has been replaced with a simple statement that it is no longer available, and no mention that the show ever aired on KFUO remains on the station’s official Web site.
All too often, we close the doors of communication in our synod, from congregation to congregation, from leadership to congregations (and vice versa), and even sometimes from institution to institution. This silence serves no useful purpose, and indeed serves only to foster dissent and to aid our people in placing unfortunate constructions on actions that seem to have no rhyme or reason. (I suspect that many conversations are to come concerning the Eighth Commandment as it applies to this sort of situation and to rumor-mongering.) I am certain that this tendency towards paranoia of the dissemination of information and the need to keep things not private, but secret is unhealthy.
Why aren’t we talking to one another? Why aren’t we more openly sharing our troubles and our difficulties, as well as our successes and our triumphs? It’s nearly impossible to gather good information on what is happening within our church body, both because we appear to not want to share that information, and because it seems as though the various institutions and portions of our synod are—with some notable exceptions—horrible at providing this kind of information to our congregants. Would it be such a bad thing if more of our people knew what was going on and became invested in the process? Are we scared of what those results might be?