WELS Church Censors Interview Between Accused Child Porn Possessor and Mark Neumann

Update: Child porn charges filed against church official (MJS).

WELS church communications director, and advisor to the WELS Synodical Council and Conference of Presidents, Joel Hochmuth, [since removed from linked page], has been arrested on child porn charges, WISN reported.

This morning the WELS church scrubbed Hochmuth's interview with prominent WELS member, U.S. candidate Mark Neumann [and member of the WELS Kingdom Workers national Board of Directors (Spring 2011 Newsletter; p.5),] from the WELS site, where the two discussed the "Good Lord," "Christian principles," "abortion," and God's plans for Neumann in politics.

The interview page now reads: "You do not have sufficient privileges to view the requested page. If your user account has access to this page, please log in." [Now replaced with different video.]

This message began appearing after the piece, WELS—Mark Neumann's Church—Comm Director Arrested on Child Porn Charges, was posted here this morning.

The claim of "sufficient privileges" contradicts the site's Technological page reading: "Sign In is not required for http://www.wels.net/, ... ."
 
WELS Board member, Neumann and whole of WELS leadership should condemn Hochmuth and Neumann should use his considerable influence with his church to ax this guy.

WELS should stop covering up, and start speaking up.

Do what Joe Paterno refused to do.
 
I don't care if it's Penn State football, the Catholic Church or WELS, preying on children is flat-out wrong, and silence is acceptance.

Update: WELS—Mark Neumann's Church—Comm Director Arrested on Child Porn Charges

Joel Hochmuth, director of communications
for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Update: Child porn charges filed against church official (MJS)

WISN is reporting Mark Neumann's church's (WELS)communications director, and advisor to the WELS Synodical Council and Conference of Presidents [since removed from linked page], Joel Hochmuth, has been arrested on child porn charges.

Listen to WELS Communication Services Director, Joel Hochmuth, speaking with Mark Neumann [Note: In the last hour after 10:30 A.M., WELS has shut down this link. Seems Neumann is putting some distance between Joel Hochmuth and his campaign.] ... about serving the "Good Lord," "Christian principles," "abortion," and God's plans for Neumann in politics.

WELS is notorious as an extreme right-wing church demanding submission to church doctrine.

See for example, WELS Q and A on fighting Satan, who evidently has just won a round.

No comment yet reported from the Mark Neumann for U.S. Senate campaign, though Neumann as recently as Spring 2011 served on the WELS Kingdom Workers national Board of Directors (Spring 2011 Newsletter; p.5), and is arguably WELS' most famous member 'submitting to Church doctrine.'

Recently, Neumann's biography was inexplicably removed from the WELS website.

Writes Neumann on his religious involvement in politics on the WELS site: "In the Old Testament God directly called leaders. One need only think of Moses. He was living comfortably in Midian, tending his father-in-law's flocks, when God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He became the political and religious leader of Israel. He was not elected. The people were not involved in deciding he should be their leader."

At our particular time in history, God in his wisdom has permitted us to elect our governing officials. It was with this understanding that after much prayer and careful consideration my wife, Sue, and I decided to run for the United States House of Representatives. The Lord's planning was clearly present in our efforts."
From WISN:

A Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod employee was arrested Tuesday on child pornography charges, according to Waukesha police.

Investigators said the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force provided them with evidence that child pornography was distributed from a home in the 1900 block of Hunter Court. Police searched the home and arrested Joel Hochmuth after they found numerous images of child pornography, according to a police report.

Hochmuth, 52, is the director of communications for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. He was in the Waukesha County Jail on Tuesday night and was expected in court on Wednesday.

12 News spoke with the group's president, Mark Schroeder, by phone. He said he is hopeful the allegations prove to be a false alarm or a mistake. He said Hochmuth's job does not involve direct contact with children.

See also:

Mark Neumann in His Own Words
Mark Neumann: The Mean Machine
Mark Neumann for Gov. - Please Jesus, Yes!

Neumann's WELS Church on Jews: Accept Christ or No Heaven for You!

In a March 9, 1997 address to the Madison Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) church [preaches no abortion even in cases of rape, women need to submit to men and gays are to spend eternity in hell], Neumann said his political advisers warned him not to mention his religion in his 1998 run for the Senate against Sen. Russ Feingold.

“When I first ran I had all kinds of consultants telling me not to mention religion. They told me to tone down any discussion we might have. … they did ask me to tone down the concept of religion or values that are taught in our churches and synagogues as being a part of what we were,” said Neumann.

Nice of him to mention synagogues.
---
From Mark Neumann' WELS Church: Did and do Jews go to heaven?

During Old Testament times, did believing Jews go to heaven? How about since our Savior Jesus Christ completed his work of redemption?

Answer:

Salvation, including heavenly citizenship, was always part of the Messianic faith. Believers of all ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups went to heaven in Old Testament times. This included Jewish believers. The testimony of prominent Jewish believers affirm that they knew about and believed this: David in Psalm 16:11, Asaph in Psalm 73:23-26, Isaiah in Isaiah 26:19, and Daniel in Daniel 12:1-3 are good examples.

The same is equally true during the New Testament era and will be so until the Last Day, at Christ's Second, Final Coming. Believing Jews are citizens of heaven just as believing Gentiles are. The original disciples and apostles were Jewish believers. The New Testament Letter to the Hebrews was addressed to Jewish believers, and Hebrews 12:22-24 affirms that heaven is their eternal home.

If your question is about unbelieving Jews (or unbelievers from any other ethnic group) or followers of Judaism who have rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior of mankind, then we must sadly answer that they did not and do not go to heaven. Acts 4:12 affirms that Christ alone is the Savior of mankind. The grief of all believers regarding the loss of unbelieving Jews (Israel) is well expressed by Paul in Romans 9:30-33 and Romans 10:1-13.

On the Pope as the "Anti-Christ" and the "the Jews and Their Lies"

Mark Neumann's rightwing ideology and intolerance is pervasive in his politics, and his rigid religion drives him, so says Neumann, to his credit.

Go to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and use Roman Catholic as a search term (upper-right search engine), or gay or Jew.

Some examples from Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS):

- "Our confessional writings from that period, still the official position of our church body today, address the papacy with unmistakable clarity and vigor. Perhaps the dearest statement is in Luther's Smalcald Articles: 'The pope is the real anti-Christ who has raised himself over and set himself against Christ.' "

- We recognize the Pope as the Anti-Christ by his false teachings and by his matching the traits of the Anti-Christ as revealed in Scripture, not by the alleged symbolism of something he wears or carries.

- (Luther) had hoped that the Reformation with its clear preaching of the pure gospel would convert the Jews. Luther himself provides examples from the Talmud in 'On the Jews and Their Lies' (Luther's Works 47:226-228): 'Their Talmud and their rabbis record that it is no sin for a Jew to kill a Gentile, but it is only a sin for him to kill a brother Israelite. Nor is it a sin for a Jew to to break his oath to a Gentile. ... '

- Christians must take care during their lifetimes not to regularly associate with any group or organization that would take their focus off Christ alone as their salvation.

- We must warn the impenitent that homosexuality, like all sins, excludes people from eternal life (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The church, therefore, must not, bless same-sex marriages or unions, since these are contrary to the will of God. The church must not place into nor retain in the public ministry of the Word people who defend, condone, or persist in words or actions that are contrary to God’s law.

The Reason Why Progressives Want Mark Neumann; It's Not the "Lord's Will," as Neumann Says

- It's Mark Neumann's extremism that comes from Neumann's church, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) instructing its members in explicitly anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-choice and anti-gay teachings; hate that does not play well in Wisconsin no matter that Neumann calls his hate "morals," "ethics" and "values". Hate will make Neumann a weak candidate in the general election. -

Neumann's political decision-making process—that in Neumann's own words is directly guided by his religion—micromanages its members' lives in a manner that is exclusionary, bigoted and hateful.

Heartland Hollar had a piece out last May, Neumann's the One, linking to an interview with Christian Life Resources, a religious organization that "subjects itself to the doctrine and practice of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod."

And as the Christian Life Resources interview and another interview, Faith in the Political Arena, make clear, it is Neumann who makes his religion the public basis upon which he seeks public office, specifically citing scripture text as interpreted by his church. So we're supposed to ignore it?

We expose the hate, and come next Tuesday wish for Mark Neumann, a gifted man in many respects, to be the GOP gubernatorial nominee. Wisconsin will not vote hate, progressives believe: Call it "faith."
---
Christian Life Resources Interview
- Clearly Caring Magazine, Sept/Oct 2008, Vol. 28, No. 5

Will you run for office again?

The words of James 4:13-17 are useful tools in planning my life. If it is the Lord's will I would consider it a privilege to run for office again and serve the people if elected.

Was there any portion of God's Word that you leaned on while serving in public office?

The most worn page of my Bible referenced Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus tells us not to worry. James 1:2-7 also reminded me that trials lead to maturity and that wisdom will be provided to those who do not doubt.

WELS Interview

Asked how he made his decisions in Congress in an interview with the WELS Communication Services Director, Neumann replied, "What we did in our office, and Sue (wife) helped me a lot with this, we established a checklist, so to speak, on any bill that would come before us. And we'd ask ourselves first, 'Is there a moral or ethical reason to a cast a vote in any particular way.' And if there was, it didn't' matter what anybody else said to me, we were going with the morals and ethics first."

[This an edited version of a previously published piece.]

See also:

Mark Neumann in His Own Words
Mark Neumann: The Mean Machine
Mark Neumann for Gov. - Please Jesus, Yes!
Mark Neumann's Church: An Unfair Topic?
Mark Neumann Is Ready, Wisconsin Is Not

Mark Neumann Website Is Up, It's Good

The Mark Neumann for Governor committee filed its GAB-1 Campaign Registration Statement with the Government Accountability Board last week.

But a modern campaign is a campaign only when it gets its website up. Mark Neumann's site is up and it is not too shabby, though it's still in development.

Good colors, not text-heavy, and easy-to-find information.

Constructive suggestions, Mr. Neumann.

The upper-right and bottom quadrants of a given web page (in green in the above graphic) should be comprised of low-priority information. EyeTrack studies show readers’ eyes don't see these quadrants well. so whatever info you put on these spots ought to be low-priority. Your upper-right is a high-priority “Donate” button. Move this over to the left an inch or so.

Also, an industry standard is that hyperlinks should maintain the page a reader is using and open to a new, seperate page.

So your linked headline, for example, "Press Release: Mark Neumann Enters 2010 Gubernatorial Race," should open to a new window; it does not now. Easy fix. The current code for the linked headline is (in part):

-- a href="http://markforgov.com/pg/blog/MarkNeumann/read/53/press-release-mark-neumann-enters-2010-gubernatorial-race"> Press Release: Mark Neumann Enters 2010 Gubernatorial Race --

Simply place the following code target="_blank" between the " and > charactersin the code (that are bolded in above graf and in red) and the reader will open up a new window.

Like as follows (try it and hit this following link): Press Release: Mark Neumann Enters 2010 Gubernatorial Race. ... Whallah, a new window.

Mr. Neumann, I want you to win the GOP nomination for governor and then I sincerely want the best man to win the general election. I disagree with you on much policy; but you are an earnest man and such men don't grow on trees.

Lots of more ideas. Contact me if you are interested on my working on your primary as a consultant at: maleon@charter.net.

Mark Neumann Is Ready, Wisconsin Is Not

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann announces today that he is running for the Republican nomination for governor.

Neumann will face Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker in a contentious and likely divisive GOP primary campaign.

Though Neumann will run on a saccharin high taxes and wasteful spending platform, Neumann in his own words and deeds is a hard-right ideologue packing the same anti-gay, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic ideology as former state senator Tom Reynolds.

Daily newspapers and television news won't feature this aspect of Neumann though he makes it clear that his religious ethics and morals guide his politics and public behavior.

But the doctrines of Neumann's über-rightwing church, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), are mean-spirited and exclusionary and will become an issue.

The media campaigns of 2009-10 are not like those of 1998, the year Neumann last ran for statewide office.

And the result will be a focus on Neumann's rightwing ideology that is contrary to the views of the majority of Wisconsin citizens, but may prove an asset in the race for the Republican nomination. The new media will be an important part of Neumann's downfall.

See also:
Mark Neumann in His Own Words
Mark Neumann: The Mean Machine
Mark Neumann for Gov. - Please Jesus, Yes!
Mark Neumann's Church: An Unfair Topic?

From a past column, some examples of meanness and bigotry from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS):

- We recognize the Pope as the Anti-Christ by his false teachings and by his matching the traits of the Anti-Christ as revealed in Scripture, not by the alleged symbolism of something he wears or carries.

- (Luther) had hoped that the Reformation with its clear preaching of the pure gospel would convert the Jews. Luther himself provides examples from the Talmud in 'On the Jews and Their Lies' (Luther's Works 47:226-228): 'Their Talmud and their rabbis record that it is no sin for a Jew to kill a Gentile, but it is only a sin for him to kill a brother Israelite. Nor is it a sin for a Jew to to break his oath to a Gentile. ... '

- Christians must take care during their lifetimes not to regularly associate with any group or organization [like the Catholic Church] that would take their focus off Christ alone as their salvation.

- We must warn the impenitent that homosexuality, like all sins, excludes people from eternal life (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The church, therefore, must not, bless same-sex marriages or unions, since these are contrary to the will of God. The church must not place into nor retain in the public ministry of the Word people who defend, condone, or persist in words or actions that are contrary to God’s law.

From a purely political perspective, this yuckiness does not work in Wisconsin. Where is Catholic League president Bill Donohue?

Mark Neumann's Church: An Unfair Topic?

A Madison politico (a columnist for Isthmus magazine now) some 10 years ago objected to a piece I had written for In Step newspaper, a civil rights LGBT paper that was published out of Milwaukee [issue pictured above].

His objection was that the piece explores the extremism of then U.S. Senate candidate Mark Neumann and Neumann's church, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) that instructs its members in explicitly anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic and anti-gay teachings.

And to this politico, a politician's church is off-limits. He's wrong.

A reader brings to our attention more insight on Neumann's political decision-making process that is in Neumann's own words directly guided by his religion that micromanages its members' lives.

Heartland Hollar has a piece out this week, Neumann the One, linking to an interview with Christian Life Resources, a religious organization that "subjects itself to the doctrine and practice of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod."

And as the Christian Life Resources interview and another interview, Faith in the Political Arena, make clear, it is Neumann who makes his religion the public basis upon which he seeks and holds public office, specifically citing scripture text as interpreted by his church. So we're supposed to ignore it?

That said, Neumann is smart, driven, well-spoken and has the money to knock the socks off any GOP opponent, and though his religion is a political problem [what Catholic wants to hear that a U.S. Senate candidate thinks the Pope is the anti-Christ), look for Neumann to put up one hell of a fight for the GOP nomination

---

Christian Life Resources Interview
- Clearly Caring Magazine, Sept/Oct 2008, Vol. 28, No. 5

Will you run for office again?

The words of James 4:13-17 are useful tools in planning my life. If it is the Lord's will I would consider it a privilege to run for office again and serve the people if elected.

Was there any portion of God's Word that you leaned on while serving in public office?

The most worn page of my Bible referenced Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus tells us not to worry. James 1:2-7 also reminded me that trials lead to maturity and that wisdom will be provided to those who do not doubt.

---

Asked how he made his decisions in Congress in an interview with the WELS Communication Services Director, Neumann replied, "What we did in our office, and Sue (wife) helped me a lot with this, we established a checklist, so to speak, on any bill that would come before us. And we'd ask ourselves first, 'Is there a moral or ethical reason to a cast a vote in any particular way.' And if there was, it didn't' matter what anybody else said to me, we were going with the morals and ethics first."

See also:

Mark Neumann in His Own Words

Mark Neumann: The Mean Machine

Mark Neumann for Gov. - Please Jesus, Yes!

Mark Neumann in His Own Words

As other bloggers and we have pointed out the anti-Catholic (and anti-Semitic and anti-gay) virulence of his church, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), Mark Neumann deserves to be heard.

Neumann is the first to say that his faith informs his decision-making in elected office.

Neumann served in the U.S. Congress (1995 -1999), and has indicated he will seek the governor's office in 2010.

WELS Communication Services Director, Joel Hochmuth, has a conversation up with Neumann recorded in November 2007 about Neumann living his faith as he served in Congress (podcast in right column entitled "Inspiration").

Nuemann comes across as amicable, well-spoken and earnest in talking with Hochmuth about his faith and his life, seemingly devoted to his family.

"What matters most in life is our faith, and being true to our faith and to our family," said Neumann.

He recounts being inspired by a trip to Washington D.C. and recalls later butting horns with Newt Gingrich for whom he later voted present in the election for Speaker in 1997, instead of voting for Gingrich.

Asked how he made his decisions in Congress, Neumann replied, "What we did in our office, and Sue (wife) helped me a lot with this, we established a checklist, so to speak, on any bill that would come before us. And we'd ask ourselves first, 'Is there a moral or ethical reason to a cast a vote in any particular way.' And if there was, it didn't' matter what anybody else said to me, we were going with the morals and ethics first."

Seems like a principled-enough guy, but if you happen to be Catholic, Jewish, gay or pluralistic, Neumann's extreme beliefs are worrying at best and deserve a hearing.

See, for example, his church's apparent blood feud with Roman Catholics:

Christians must take care during their lifetimes not to regularly associate with any group or organization that would take their focus off Christ alone as their salvation.

Mark Neumann: The Mean Machine

Update: See Bruce Murphy's Can Neumann Beat Walker in Milwaukee Magazine.

Why do political operatives think Mark Neumann is the best candidate for the GOP nomination for governor?

Neumann is running for statewide office with the same rigid anti-gay, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic ideology that sent state senator Tom Reynolds packing a few years back.

For those who don't recall Neumann's last statewide run (1998), it was unrelentingly negative against heavily-outspent Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Middleton).

Neumann has the money and drive to win the Republican nomination against Scott Walker. And apparently believes he can target rightwing constituencies sufficiently well to put up winning numbers in the general election.

But the Neumann "church" work that James Klauser cites as a qualification comes from a highly politicized rightwing, Pope-is-the-anti-Christ church that is in a word: Mean.

Just yuck. See for yourself.

Go to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and use Roman Catholic as a search term (upper-right search engine), or gay or Jew. It gets very yucky very fast.

Neumann's rightwing ideology and intolerance is pervasive in his politics.

Some examples from Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS):

- We recognize the Pope as the Anti-Christ by his false teachings and by his matching the traits of the Anti-Christ as revealed in Scripture, not by the alleged symbolism of something he wears or carries.

- (Luther) had hoped that the Reformation with its clear preaching of the pure gospel would convert the Jews. Luther himself provides examples from the Talmud in 'On the Jews and Their Lies' (Luther's Works 47:226-228): 'Their Talmud and their rabbis record that it is no sin for a Jew to kill a Gentile, but it is only a sin for him to kill a brother Israelite. Nor is it a sin for a Jew to to break his oath to a Gentile. ... '

- Christians must take care during their lifetimes not to regularly associate with any group or organization that would take their focus off Christ alone as their salvation.

- We must warn the impenitent that homosexuality, like all sins, excludes people from eternal life (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The church, therefore, must not, bless same-sex marriages or unions, since these are contrary to the will of God. The church must not place into nor retain in the public ministry of the Word people who defend, condone, or persist in words or actions that are contrary to God’s law.

From a purely political perspective, this yuckiness does not work in Wisconsin.

Where is Catholic League president Bill Donohue?

Mark Neumann for Gov. - Please Jesus, Yes!

Jim Klauser is a very smart GOP operative advocating that Mark Neumann throw his hat into the ring against Jim Doyle in 2010.

Writes Klauser in his open letter in WisPolitics:

Mark Neumann, a former Congressman who nearly defeated Russ Feingold [in 1998], is a potential candidate. Mark is a successful business man from Waukesha County (a growing county). He and his family are involved in choice and charter school reforms. He is involved in his community and church. While a Congressman, Mark worked with Speaker Newt Gingrich to develop a no tax increase alternative to Bill Clinton’s spend, spend, and spend. ... I have concluded that of the prospective candidates, Mark Neumann is best able to win and govern well. I encourage you to consider Mark Neumann for Governor.

Neumann is independently wealthy and did fight against Clinton and those huge budget deficits [oh, wait Clinton had giant budget surpluses, and was on a path to zero national debt]. Nevermind, Cheney proved facts don't matter and Wisconsin does not want Scott Walker getting killed in 20 months. And people in Wisconsin love Newt Gingrich.

The Knockdown

Neumann's problem is that he is a rabidly anti-gay, rightwing extremist with a long record of hateful ideological baggage that would make George W. Bush blush.

In a widely reported address to the La Crosse Christian Coalition in 1997, Neumann said that he would not hire a person who applied for a position in his legislative office after stating a gay or lesbian orientation.

“If somebody walks in to me and say, ‘I’m a gay person; I want a job in your office.’ I would say, ‘that’s inappropriate’ and they wouldn’t be hired because that would mean they are promoting their agenda. The gay and lesbian lifestyle (is) unacceptable, lest there be any question about that.”

In a March 9, 1997 address to the Madison Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) church [preaches no abortion even in cases of rape, women need to submit to men and gays are to spend eternity in hell], Neumann said his political advisers warned him not to mention his religion in his 1998 run for the Senate against Sen. Russ Feingold who is also up for reelection in 2010.

“When I first ran I had all kinds of consultants telling me not to mention religion. They told me to tone down any discussion we might have. … they did ask me to tone down the concept of religion or values that are taught in our churches and synagogues as being a part of what we were,” said Neumann.

I think Klauser is thinking that Scott Walker would wash out, and Neumann has lots of money and just might be crazy enough to run.

Open Brief Letter to Mark Neumann

Did you know that Jim Doyle has proposed a statewide domestic partner registry, is an elitist (went to Harvard Law School and was in the Peace Corp) and that he talks to gay people, like all the time.

Mr. Neumann, Jesus wants you to run. Just remember that Satan is closer than the shirt on your own body, to paraphrase Martin Luther’s admonition about the proximity of the Devil. And in Wisconsin politics this intimacy with the Devil emanates from another fallen man with five letters in his name: D-o-y-l-e.

And I think he's Catholic.

- via mal contends