Is It Sinful to Laugh at Your Denomination?

I have recently discovered Garrison Keillor's Prarie Home Companion. His tales of life among the Lutherans give me a smile. I didn't grow up in a predominantly Lutheran community, so that his tales of small-town Minnesota life are just familiar enough to provoke nostalgia. Keillor's cultural Lutheranism is far more begnign than the schisms which are rocking the Evangelical Lutheran Church at this time. The controversy has roused Lutherans to do those things which are within our nature: we have formed committees, issued statements of principle and written thoughtfully worded open letters. Since this is the 21st Century, we have even put up websites where you can read the statements of principle and thoughtfully worded open letters.

However, recently I have come across a guilty pleasure which is a bit more hard-edged. Bishop Barbie is a smartly written blog(www.bishopbarbie00.blogspot.com) which parodies the goings on at Higgins Road in Chicago (home to the national church office). Bishop Barbie is the Stephen Colbert of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which is to say, she plays the character of a faux liberal to mock the sillier strains within the church. And you have to admit that sometimes the church gives her some pretty good material. The very first post that I read, which you can find here featured Bishop Mark Hanson giving a long-winded explanation of why Lutherans distinguish themselves from other denominations by not distinguishing themselves from other denominations.

Some of her postings get a bit pretentious as she gets carried away by her character, but others are wickedly funny. Am I going to go to Hell for laughing at my denomination? Good thing the ELCA doesn't believe in Hell.