The Lutheran World Federation Assembly began last week in Winnipeg and is scheduled to end on July 31. The number of people who have connection with this very liberal ecclesiastical school of thought in Canada is estimated at 200,000, though in reality probably is much larger.
The theme of the assembly is “For the healing of the world.” ABC: agnostic, atheist, Buddhist or Baptist, Catholic and Confucian - isn’t that what we all want? But two strikingly conflicting Canadian views appeared in the context of getting this conference working towards its stated laudable goal.
First the good. Our most despised Crown Corporation, Canada Post, issued a commemorative domestic stamp on the day the assembly opened. There are obviously people beyond the unionists working there, who can think beyond the envelope. As we well know, the threat of a strike by postal workers, expressing yet again dissatisfaction with their own pay-envelope has still not been resolved at Canada Post. Yet, lauding all government employees who are dedicated to the weal, there are creative, talented people on the public payroll who are aware of what is going on in this country, and in true philatelic fashion celebrating it. A stamp has history, becomes collectible, often because of what it is commemorating.
Then the bad. Canadian Immigration ignorants denied numbers of Lutherans - including Bishops, for heaven’s sake! - visas, required to enter the country, so that they could attend the assembly. This news was made public on the same day that the stamp was formally issued. A stamp of approval from one government arm, a “denied” from another.
What gives?
Some facts. The Lutherans congregating in Winnipeg are committed to having 50 per cent of their delegates at such assemblies women. 20 per cent of the total as youth - the future. While a predominantly “white” (Northern European) religion, there are Indonesian, Indian and Bangladeshi Lutherans. Poor and rich alike. Seems like more than politically correct. What, then, is Citizenship and Immigration Canada fearing? That some women, some young delegates might decide to stay here after the assembly, plead refugee status, put a burden on our State?
How absurd. This country is already under fire for having a porous border. The Yanks are extreme in their charges, but it is true - among the thousands of good folks that come to make a new life in this country, there are bad apples. As is the case everywhere else.
Then the religion issue. Touchy one, that. These days you cannot question those that claim religious persecution. Muslims, Jews, Sikhs - all groups with a history of violence in their recent religious interest - many gain entrance. Few were denied visas to hear the Pope last summer in Toronto - was it because it was only economic interest that the officials had in mind? Lutherans are generally a quiet lot, thus no little outcry publicly.
• Bullet in between, please•
Martin Luther was in his time a radical. The radical credited with setting off the purifying and changing fires the Reformation by nailing his priciples on the door of the Witttenberg Cathedral. Of course, the Catholic Church saw this as heretical.
How heretical was Luther? Avoiding historical issues -after all, his reforms started rolling almost 500 years ago - Luther’s legacy can be summed up in a way that pokes through the religious envelope, questions the role of all organizations, governments that consider themselves to be supra vulgar: being above the common people.
Luther had, beyond religious reform, an enormous influence on political doctrine. Lutheranism has no clear theory of State - much like Calvinism. Thus no need to declare separation of Church and State. As the Americans have felt the need to do since 1776 - but ignore existing influences. What he argued for was salvation without interference from external forces. No earned merit (immigration points, Minister Coderre...) or institutional sanctions. Thus faith decides - and it is personal. As an attack against the unholy marriage of church and community ( NOT State) Luther’s resolve to find the free grace of God, earned personally, not through confession, repeated absolution of sins, was and is what has gained believers since the Augsburg Confession of 1530.
More: the individual communes directly with God, not through mediation of a human institution - be that government or any other. Hence, no human institution can have authority that can override human conscience, the call to believe.
The Lutherans gathered in Winnipeg, by the very fact that they chose to work towards the healing of the world, are acting on conscience. There is no conscience on the part of our government when they deny believers access to healthy, furthering debate, because of fears that don’t meet government edicts.
Edicts are what Luther fought against. Yes, historical evidence shows that he was not an easy man to get along with. Still, he made a difference.
What made the Western world such an attractive place for immigration was the knowledge that through belief in oneself, God, and what hard work earns might help improve on this sorry short life. Hope, in short. Max Weber, known for his treatise on the capitalism and the Protestant work ethic, built on the foundation that Luther laid. Weber’s work is behind the reason capitalism, by extension the allure of North America, is still the driving force behind humans wishing to better themselves. Why they wish to leave home for a new country. Immigration. The cornerstone of America.
These days Money is God. Why else would Canada allow aging, addicted, adulterous Peter Pans, known as the Rolling Stones, into this country with huge fanfare, deny access to quiet believers, whose message does not interfere with daily life?
Who, then, is working towards the healing of the world? The Lutherans are among the religious groups that have set their sights on this goal. Canada’s short-sighted visa rules denying Lutheran Bishops the right to spread their message, while allowing the Stones - notably Keith Richards, ( once arrested, here, in Toronto, for drug possession) renewed entry into the country shows that priorities are a-kilter.
Oh, what would Martin Luther say. Bring out the hammer and nails. The list of woes is long, and the doors in Ottawa lamentably closed shut.

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