He is just a comedian not an elected member of anything worth while. He is not even a role model to anyone I know. He puts people to sleep at night by saying silly joke and inviting stale celiberities. If he has broken any corporate law then CBS should take care of him.  

A new one? There is nothing new about the theme of guilt amongst the Lutherans. Lutherans are infamous for guilt, especially amongst the heavily Lutheran areas of the upper Midwest. It is a cultural core. The basis of Lutheran doctrine is that man is a worthless sinner who cannot save himself and who is in dire need of grace. Lutheran mothers raise their children on a battery of guilt trips. A Midwestern Scandinavian Lutheran grandmother could make a Jewish or Italian Catholic mother quake in her boots at the grand guilt-off.  

You guys are totally misinterpreting this -- he was being sarcastic. Lutherans are known for NOT feeling guilt. The point is he was saying that he's not, for example, Catholic, in which case he would have Catholic guilt. Lutherans are known for being stolid, boring, what you see is what you get types. Guilt is antithetical to the concept of being reliable and boring.  

If you were from the Dakotas or Minnesota, you would be thoroughly familiar with the theme of Lutheran Midwestern guilt. Lutherans are stoic, stubborn and saturated in a certain quietude which is a byproduct of the Scandinavian-Lutheran societal law of "janteloven." It doesn't sell in Hollywood; but it makes good reading. Lutherans are not dramatic, but introverted about this internal dilemma, which seems "boring" compared to the dramatic Roman Catholic or Jewish guilt-ridden character. He referred to himself "a towering mass of Lutheran Midwestern guilt," which is in contrast to the flailing, sobbing melodramatic Jewish or Catholic guilt-ridden character. Luther himself flogged himself in solitude to incapacitation because of guilt and sin. Lutheran doctrinal reforms are rooted in the theology of original sin and the need to constantly "die to the self" because of sin and inadequacy. Lutherans begin each liturgy with the words: "We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves..." Even if a "cradle Lutheran" becomes non-religious later in life, the guilt plagues the consciousness as if it were genetic. Letterman was making a subtle reference to the little-known Lutheran Midwestern "guilt complex" to his largely non-Lutheran audience. It's obscurity made it funny to those who know and silly to those who didn't.  

Edvard Munch, Sigur Ros... NOBEL  

Yes, lutherans are known for guilt. David Letterman has mentioned his guilty lutheran conscience before. My mother never even raised her voice at me. She just looked at me with those lutheran mother's guilt rays and I felt worse than if she would have screamed at me.  

From the WELS website: 'It’s jokingly referred to as “Lutheran guilt.” It’s the feeling that your life is so much better than you deserve and that something bad is bound to happen. It’s the somber “church face” that suggests Lutherans more easily believe their confession of sin than the pastor’s assurance of forgiveness. “Lutheran guilt” is a subtle form of legalism in which people believe the gospel but live under the law.' It's like living in an Ingmar Bergman film.  

Even in Europe the Lutherans are known for their sense of guilt. Letterman does not fit the description of a good Lutheran. A true Lutheran looks down on excessive wealth and living an extravagant life. That is why the Scandinavian countries are socialist in economy while the Lutheran Church is the official state Church. Why must an entertainer publicly apologize for his personal life, anyway? He should confess only to his wife and his cleric.  

no reason to be guiltier than anyone else in show biz maybe its the religious thing  

Don't even get me started about Lutheran guilt. I TRY not to pass that on to my kids like my parents did to me. It is a curse. Yes lutheran midwestern guilt exists.  

[home.earthlink.net] Lutheran guilt. Uff da. Don't get me started. It's a requirement!