To put the question even more pointedly, with lots of stereotyping to go round, when do Lutherans of German descent who settled mainly in the northern mid-western states pay attention to Baptists in the South? This was the subject of the recent recording when co-hosts, Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) discussed Scott Yenor's article on what Southern Baptist conservatives might learn from Missouri Synod Lutherans about "the left's" attack on denominational institutions. Part of the discussion involved the Southern Baptist Convention's place in conservative politics and the New Calvinist movement. Another part involved the dark side of church politics -- how much officers and members need to strategize and organize to defeat opponents within a communion where everyone is supposed to agree.

Articles the co-hosts mentioned included: Korey Maas on the controversy in the LCMS over Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; and the place of civil rights politics in the LCMS controversy. For any Presbyterians who might see parallels in the Lutheran and Baptist controversies with the Presbyterian conflict of the 1920s, especially over control of seminaries, this discussion at The Reformed Forum may be of use.

This episode's sponor is the National Public Radio show, "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me."