Petition has 1000 signatories and it’s not yet up 24 hours! Here are Some Choice Comments Like “Leave My Daddy Alone”

The petition to ask the LCMS Board of Directors to back off from their threats of legal action against Issues, Etc. radio show host Pastor Todd Wilken and show producer  Jeff Scwharz is not even 24 hours old and we already have over 1,000 signatures. To view the Scott Diekmann’s  (the author of the petition) introductory letter   to the petition click here.

Also, we have already made iPetitions.com’s top 5 list.  The Issues petition is the #4 most popular petition on that site.

We encourage you to look through the signatures but if you do not have time, here’s our summary version starting off with a rather emotional and personal comment.

#677 Emma Wilken: Leave my daddy, Jeff, and Craig alone! They have done you no wrong. I find it interesting that at 17 I can see the simple solution to this issue while a group “Christian” of men three times my age cannot.

#680 Loren Beth Wilder: I am dismayed, as a recently converted LCMS Lutheran, to find such a shameful and dishonorable action being considered by the leaders of LCMS. I was one of those “on-demand listeners” that was converted to Lutheranism by Issues, etc. (a listener who apparently had no value to LCMS inc.).

#806 Pastor L. Jay Reinke: “Issues, Etc.” has been a God-send for ELCA clergy who depend on it for a life-line of sanity and clear theology, and a boon to LCMS laity throughout synod who are looking for such relevant Lutheran programming. The content of “Issues,” and the effort it has made to live up to its name, deserve a humble thank you and a “bless you” from the LCMS Board of Directors, not opposition and dispute.

#931 Julie Paulsen: As a newer member of the LCMS, having left an ELCA congregation, I am very disappointed in how the LCMS national leadership has conducted itself in regard to Pastor Todd Wilken and Mr. Jeff Schwarz. Issues Etc. has been of great help to my family and me in understanding true lutheran doctrine and should be allowed to retain the program name. I will be praying that LCMS eadership reconsider this unscriptural action they have taken against fellow brothers in Christ.

#947 Rev. Kurt Hering: The LCMS needs a conscience. In addition to providing ongoing theological education for both laity and pastors, Issues, Etc. provides the prick of Scriptural, Christian conscience the synod has effectively squelched in recent years. Perhaps those pressing the trademark issue ought remember Luther’s assertion: “. . . it is neither safe nor honourable to act against conscience.”

#855 Pastor Shawn L. Kumm: The devil is in the details. Missing the simple detail of renewing a trademark seems to have unleashed very devilsh behavior and actions.

#826 Eric Matthaei: LCMS has no valid common law claim to the Issues Etc. trademark, having abrogated that claim by applying for registration under statutory law. LCMS has no valid statutory law claim to the Issues Etc. trademark, having allowed its previous registration to lapse. LCMS has no equitable claim to the Issues Etc. trademark, having canceled the program and made clear repeatedly by word and deed its intent not to use the name again. The current effort to re-acquire the trademark registration serves no other purpose than to re-assert power over the content of the program. President Kieschnick has a fiduciary duty and a pastoral responsibility to give the Synod a clear explanation as to why he cannot tolerate this radio program.

#777 Ray Gawlik: Why is the LCMS BOD and SP wasting money pursuing a lapsed Trademark? What is the motivation to sue brothers? Why is Pres Kieschnick, who has stated his understanding of I Cor 6:1-8 in the past, now silent in the face of people suing via the LCMS? Has he no voice to stop it or does he agree with it? How is it the LCMS “has to transfer ownership” of a trademark that has not been theirs since 1999? Answers need to be forthcoming!

#613 Rev John Mueller: If the Gospel is properly proclaimed by the program, why is it so important to Synod that the name be removed? Sounds like the disciples (Mark 9:38-41) or Joshua (Numbers 11:26-29) who thought first of privilege of place rather than the fact that the work of God was being done.

#530 Paul Buelow: All the information given by Synodical officials since the Issues, Etc. show cancellation and the hosts’ removal from LCMS employment presented an amicable separation due to financial and programmatic reasons and the LCMS has not re-initiated any show utilizing this name via KFUO or any other media. No reasonable explanation for the LCMS trademark challenge and subsequent legal threats can be drawn except contempt and malice toward the show, it operators, and its LISTENERS. President Kieschnick and the Board of Directors – cease and desist.

If you haven’t done so already, e-mail your friends and relatives, ask them to consider the cause and if so moved, sign the petition.

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