Note: "Now by itself that proclamation on a piece of paper did not free a single slave."
BTW, I see from your profile that you describe yourself as an "unreconstructed Southerner," which helps to explain your reaction. :-) Yes, I am aware of the complexities of the Emancipation Proclamation, but I only make the analogy as far as the few points of comparison I make in the sermon.
My reaction doesn't change historical facts. Are you in the Missouri Synod? I left my childhood church because they are in the ECLS. VERY conservative bunch of folks that I grew up with, and they can't see how they are being herded.