Another 95 Theses

10: The church has encouraged its members to put aside racial prejudices and accept as equals its new members in South America and Africa.

70: The church considers a multitude of activities sinful and will not long accept those who willfully engage in those activities, but doesn’t like references to “rules” or “dos and don’ts.”

72: Few of the rules have any biblical basis, and some (e.g., against alcohol, dancing, and earrings) are frankly contradicted by the various parts of the Bible that the church hardly ever mentions.

73: The rules seem primarily motivated by authoritarianism, Christian asceticism, the fundamentalist need for societal differentiation and keeping people within the fold, selective adherence to biblical edicts, and maintaining ample material for the all-important forgiveness of sins to work with.

74: Despite claims of divine guidance and unchanging doctrine, much more is accepted in the church now than would have been even thirty years ago: wearing of short, styled, uncovered hair and pants by women, some form of video entertainment in nearly every home, instructional video in school, fiction books, classical music, and a new medium (not contemplated by the Holy Spirit that is congratulated for warning against TV in the 1960s) now making high-resolution images and video of any “worldly” subject instantly available for the private viewing of any member.

75: The rules are questioned and even disregarded by many of its members, but the church seeks to promote an illusion of unity by holding groupthink “discussions” where few opinions are expressed but those of standard-bearers.