Comment on Board requests progress reports from LSU administration by Sean Pitman, M.D..
The Post-Modern Hubris of Erv Taylor
Ervin Taylor: Based on their recent responses and other comments they have made on EducateTruth, both Sean Pitman and David Read seem to share with all other fundamentalists—ancient and modern, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu–a profound and pervasive hubris—otherwise known as pride—in their special ability to think God’s thoughts and do God’s will.
It is especially dangerous since these individuals tend to think that their understanding of what God wants them to believe about what the Bible teaches is what God wants everybody to believe about what the Bible teaches. There is only one truth and they just happened to know what that truth is. That is pure hubris.
If I didn’t think what I believe was worth while or beneficial for anyone but myself, I’d not try to share what I think I’ve discovered that is helpful and hopeful.
What is amazing here is that those like Erv think to chastise others for having an opinion on what they think is true or false while forgetting they they also have very strong opinions as to what is and isn’t true as well. And, they are perfectly willing to share their opinion and to declare that they are right and that others who disagree with them are almost certainly wrong – and likely a little mentally warped or even evil. Talk about arrogance!
The fact is that anyone with any opinion whatsoever has just a little bit of hubris to think that perhaps, just perhaps, he/she knows something that is worth sharing. Don’t let Erv fool you. He’s just as opinionated and passionate about his ideas as the rest of us – and he doesn’t mind telling you his opinions either and why those who disagree with him are clearly nut cases.
Also, it is disingenuous of Erv to suggest that I am trying to coerce or even force others to accept my point of view. That’s completely unfair and untrue. As Erv knows, I have consistently pointed out that freedom to leave the SDA organization without any fear of civil reprisals or moral accusations or recriminations is vitally important. However, this does not mean that the SDA Church can simply hire anyone and everyone as paid representatives either. No one has a right to claim money from an organization simply for being sincere and honest. That simply isn’t enough to be an official paid representative. Sorry Erv. Organizations require rules of internal order and government. A complete lack of internally enforced rules ends in anarchy, not a productive organization.
This fundamental misunderstanding is, in many ways, a kind of disease that appears often among the highly religiously motivated. We all need to help these individuals to see the nature of their problem and assist them to channel their passionate beliefs in more productive and positive ways. Don’t tell them they are wrong. Just suggest that as Adventist Christians they have a right to their beliefs just as every other Adventist Christian does.
Everyone has a right to his/her beliefs in a free civil society Erv. We have this in these great United States of America. However, not everyone has a right to expect to be paid by any particular organization for his/her beliefs – not even in the good ol’ US of A. That’s the rub here and you know it. Don’t try to confuse this issue by suggesting that I am making moral judgments regarding those who happen to disagree with me. I’m not – except to suggest that taking a paycheck from any organization while deliberately doing contrary to what that organization is paying you to do is stealing of the employer’s time and money (a moral wrong in anyone’s book).
Also, we might also suggest that they should work passionately towards having all of us make a special donation to ADRA. All Adventist Christians—liberal, conservative, historic, evangelical, or whatever—would probably support that. It seems to me that this would be a more appropriate and helpful way to channel their religious enthusiasms than what they are currently doing. Why not believe and do something that really helps people? Is that too much to ask?
We should all being helping the poor and needy continually, regardless of religious affiliation. This is basic morality that is written upon the hearts of all. This is also the basis of salvation. However, it isn’t the basis of a solid conscious hope in a bright literal future. In order to obtain such a confidence in the Gospel’s “Good News”, you need to understand the validity of the Christian Doctrines.
Let me ask you a simple question Erv. You claim to believe in God – right? Would you say that those who don’t believe in the existence of God are mistaken? Should the SDA Church pay people, as official representatives, to go around explaining to our Churches and schools why they think God doesn’t exist? Would that be a proper use of church funds?
Your post-modernist thinking is really self-defeating you know… all truth is relative – – except for your own of course ; )
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
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Sean Pitman, M.D. Also Commented
Board requests progress reports from LSU administration
Bravus: Could Moses understand the concept of a billion? It’s important to understand what ‘highly educated’ meant at that moment in history, rather than to read Bronze Age texts with literalistic Information Age minds.
Moses could indeed understand the concept that creation took much longer than six literal days if in fact that was the case. Arguing that God misled him regarding what actually happened because Moses couldn’t understand anything else is nonsense – completely opposed to God’s usual dealings with us and a suggestion that we cannot really trust anything God tells us to actually be true as stated in language that we can actually understand.
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
Board requests progress reports from LSU administration
Bravus: Recognising that *both* our reading of Scripture and our reading of the natural world might need work is all I’m talking about. Again, not that Scripture is wrong, but that our reading of it might be. William Miller’s was, yet led to us all being here. Our understanding may be wrong… “Trust in the Lord and lean not on thine own understanding†extends to our understanding of Scripture.
We all might be wrong Bravus. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have opinions or stand for what we currently think is right. You yourself clearly have very decided opinions about what is right and what is wrong. You think you clearly know some form of “truth” because of this. That’s Ok. What’s disingenuous on your part is your notion that no one else should be able to have solid opinions about what is right and wrong – especially when it comes to interpreting scripture. You may be right and I may be wrong. However, what is clearly wrong is for you to expect me to pay you for your views even if I don’t agree with you. Paid representation is a privilege, not a right. It doesn’t matter if the organization is actually right or wrong in what it is trying to do. Either way, it would still be wrong of you or anyone else to take money from any organization and then do contrary to what that organization is paying you to do. It would also be wrong of any organization to advertise one product for sale and then provide a completely different product. That’s deceptive – a form of lying. Clearly, such deception is a moral wrong…
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
Board requests progress reports from LSU administration
Bravus: Not a million miles from what I said: God exceeds us, and we need to shut our mouths, listen and learn, not spout forth our knowledge as Job’s friends did. Interesting what taking texts in context reveals.
According to your arguments Bravus, we cannot really “learn” anything about God – nothing at all. Even if God tells us something about himself, you’re saying that we cannot know if this or that idea about God is more or less correct. That particular post-modern notion of yours is what is troubling – that all ideas about God should be given equal weight without judgment as to which ones are right and which ones are not. Given that position why should anyone even be a Christian? vs. a Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist? – if all views of God are equally valid or invalid?
Your arguments are self-defeating as is post-modernism in general.
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
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Thank you Ariel. Hope you are doing well these days. Miss seeing you down at Loma Linda. Hope you had a Great Thanksgiving!
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Thank you Colin. Just trying to save lives any way I can. Not everything that the government does or leaders do is “evil” BTW…
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Only someone who knows the future can make such decisions without being a monster…
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Where did I “gloss over it”?
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I fail to see where you have convincingly supported your claim that the GC leadership contributed to the harm of anyone’s personal religious liberties? – given that the GC leadership does not and could not override personal religious liberties in this country, nor substantively change the outcome of those who lost their jobs over various vaccine mandates. That’s just not how it works here in this country. Religious liberties are personally derived. Again, they simply are not based on a corporate or church position, but rely solely upon individual convictions – regardless of what the church may or may not say or do.
Yet, you say, “Who cares if it is written into law”? You should care. Everyone should care. It’s a very important law in this country. The idea that the organized church could have changed vaccine mandates simply isn’t true – particularly given the nature of certain types of jobs dealing with the most vulnerable in society (such as health care workers for example).
Beyond this, the GC Leadership did, in fact, write in support of personal religious convictions on this topic – and there are GC lawyers who have and continue to write personal letters in support of personal religious convictions (even if these personal convictions are at odds with the position of the church on a given topic). Just because the GC leadership also supports the advances of modern medicine doesn’t mean that the GC leadership cannot support individual convictions at the same time. Both are possible. This is not an inconsistency.
