The Nihil Rule

"These enthusiasts [Schwärmer] likewise drag the evangelical freedom and equality in Christ down into earthly political things and show that they have no idea of the spirituality and splendor of the kingdom of Christ." - C.F.W. Walther ... "Today women have rightly progressed in their rights as citizens of the United States in many needed ways ... as you look at the story, God is unraveling slavery! ... we don't have slavery, but we have incarceration, and we incarcerate everybody because we have no other tool to use to deal with problems" ... These are quotes from a sermon preached by now-retired Pastor James Behringer. At the time Rev. Behringer was the Director of WELS Special Ministries, serving as a substitute Pastor this particular Sunday.  Feminism, slavery and prison reform are of course hallmark topics of the Social Justice Warriors. Even just a few years ago, I would lament that books like Jon Harris'  Social Justice Goes to Church  had so much lo...

Read more at The Other Dr. Phil ... FYSA, as I mentioned in closing out 2024 , and further fleshed out in March , I'm moving to long form (and video-form) on the Substack . The Nihil Rule will live on (in infamy! at least in the minds of some) and will receive the occasional update when something breaks the threshold of Woke in the WELS or WELS Whitepill.  Make sure you are following me on substack or via RSS .

  WELS pastors are sharing Stone Choir content, and you're  black-pilling ? ... (Update 29/08/2025) Dear John, don't worry, I also got an email asking similar questions.  A "black pill" is a metaphorical term referring to views that lead to fatalism and nihilism. If all I ever posted was Woke in the WELS, I'd be "black pilling" people on the WELS, presenting a nihil( heh )-istic view of Synod.  The Stone Choir is a podcast run by Corey J Mahler and Woe. I listen to episodes here and there as they pique my interest, and I find them to be solid on content and enjoyable in dialogue. They have quite the following on Twitter - mostly lay, but you'll find a few pastors as well, but they also have a number of LCMS pastors that are increasingly adversarial.  You see Corey and Woe were LCMS laymen. It's easy to find information about Corey's rather public excommunication online. They are both persona non grata for what you might call "race rea...

In Part One , Rev. David Thompson (ELS,  Center for Apologetics and Worldviews ) presents "Discerning Parents and Teachers - Identifying Deceptive False Worldview Assumptions That Sneak Into the Classroom and Into the Home" In  Part Two ,  Chaplain Don Moldstad, (ELS,  Bethany Lutheran College ) presents "Heaven's Little Embassy - The Importance of Teaching God's Word at Home" In  Part Three , Mr. Joshua Nelson (WELS, Wisconsin Lutheran High School ) teaches high school chemistry, "The Need for Discernment in Social Emotional Learning (SEL)". SEL is something we've talked about quite a bit  over the years. Joshua speaks from years of experience in our synodical education and speaks masterfully to the subject.

  "For the past few years, Immanuel Lutheran School piloted a Christ-centered social-emotional learning curriculum, but it has fallen short philosophically and theologically. The “Christ-centered” part was more of an add-on than a foundation. We needed something better for our students and families. There were many practical and psychological strategies that can help students and families healthily manage their time, talents, and treasures; however, to what end? The end was human flourishing through psychological means, not by Scripture alone. It is a secular curriculum, imbedded with Woke Marxism, that perpetuates an Anti-Christ agenda" God be praised! A reader of the blog, with permission, shared with me Immanuel Lutheran  School's plans to ditch "Christianized" SEL for a home-grown curriculum: "This curriculum will begin this year (2025-2026) with grades 3-8 with the plan that next year it will include all grades. There are five key units that follow th...

  A fantastic presentation by Rev. Karl Hess and the Bugenhagen conference. Pastor Hess  compares our current existence as a Lutheran church in a modern, enlightened, socially liberal society to that of the Lutheran church under the Augsburg Interim. Thank God for pastors who can speak clearly on these issues and let us pray for / encourage those who have succumbed to the interim.

As reported by a convention attendee... Convention Whitepill: An attendee of the convention reported that St Mark's in Watertown WI, announced that the school will be transitioning to a classical school, is apparently not taking vouchers , and the enrollment page lists options for "St Mark's Members" and Non-Member (WELS)". The explanation was that they believed that Lutheran education is primarily for raising Lutherans, and if outsiders valued their education they would need to go through membership classes in order to attend. Very Wauwatosa of them! I was able to confirm that every Sunday  church attendance  is part of their covenant: "St. Mark’s new campaign is titled Forward— Together in Christ, Forward in Faith. When we enroll our children at St. Mark’s school, we are creating a school-family partnership in Jesus. The clearest way we show this is gathering for worship every week to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we wrap up this school year...

Joshua Nelson - Reflections on the Convention Additional commentary to follow in the coming weeks...

  altarandhearth.com " My goal is to reprint a selection of wonderful articles, poems, and more from old Lutheran church magazines and other sources that are now in the public domain but are still locked away in PDF scans, and make them more readily available today on a nice website with topical tagging and the ability to browse by source, author, or year. The focus will especially be on Christian life, family, vocation, and courtship and marriage. The Lutheran church and the Synodical Conference of a century ago was gifted with many faithful pastors, men like Carl Manthey-Zorn, Hans Manthey Zorn, Walter A. Maier, and many others, who spoke with boldness and faithfulness as they saw the sins and dangers facing America and the Church, and their voices are still needed just as much today if not more so. God grant that the church today might learn from their bold witness and still speak with the same faithfulness to the pure teachings of Holy Scripture, no matter what the culture aro...

A guest post... you, too, can submit a guest post to layman@nihilrule.com Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and WELS Teaching Standards   Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has made a wide beachhead in the WELS, from high school (e.g. Wisconsin Lutheran High School delivers it “at each grade level”) to elementary schools, and even in Early Childhood Education . What is driving this campaign, in a documentary sense? What rule or mission statement has set the WELS on a seemingly-inevitable journey into SEL? The answer appears to be WELS Teaching Standard Two:     In particular, Standard Two states, "The teacher understands how students learn and develop and provides instruction that supports their spiritual, intellectual, physical, social, and emotional growth." This would strongly imply that WELS schools must provide “instruction that supports [students’] … social, and emotional growth” as a matter of conformity to the Teaching Standard. From this perspective, the...