Comment on NCSE Report: Adventist Education in the Midst of a Sea of Science by Christina.
Eddie, Rhododendron and John J.,
If I may submit, you guys (and gal?) are like flies trapped in a car, vainly beating your wings against the windshield.
The simple reality is this: you are not going to change the way ET supporters think and write. It’s just not going to happen.
You guys are right to suggest that open criticism of individuals on a podium in front of the entire world is morally and ethically deplorable. This website does indeed operate outside of the church. The church, in fact, will never, ever, ever, ever, ever embrace this form of influence or correction because it knows that this approach goes against everything Jesus Christ represented. There are appropriate ways of dealing with such issues, but the approach of this website will never be deemed appropriate by the elected church leaders. Never.
The modus operandi of Educate Truth unquestionably contradicts the general PRINCIPLE of Matthew 18 and I Corinthians 6, which makes clear that issues of disagreement among church members should not be aired beyond the church, which inescapably brings disfavor upon the church. ET supporters here, beginning with Sean Pitman, insist that these chapters offer only POLICY, which does not apply to the situation they seek to address. But their view is fatally flawed and opposed by the official position of the SDA church, as set forth in the SDA Bible Commentary and in the SDA Church Manual.
The PRINCIPLE of Matthew 18 and I Corinthians 6 cannot be dismissed: we are counseled to take up our differences privately, then within a small group, and finally within the church. Nowhere are we instructed to take our grievances before the entire world, and it is ludicrous to suggest that both Jesus and Ellen White did so. We are NOT to use tactics that employ public humiliation, which ultimately make the church look bad to people like Ken and others who are shocked at the lack of civility in so-called Christian discourse.
The day the SDA church leadership officially embraces cyberbullying and cyberharassment as a means to an end will surely signify Bill Sorensen’s predicted demise of the church. Fortunately, we will never see that day. Ever. The church leadership will never stoop to such a deplorably low level. Never. Ever. And I praise God for the flawed but wise leaders we have in place today who refuse to endorse Educate Truth’s uncharitable tactics.
Let the smear campaign resume. I want no part of it.
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Christina Also Commented
NCSE Report: Adventist Education in the Midst of a Sea of Science
Sean and Shane are Adventist patriots and will be regarded as heros to the church for their bold and decisive action.
Funny. The majority of the church’s leaders (a number of whom have been vilified by Educate Truth) will never see it this way. Most would agree the 5-year-old bully on a playground is bold and decisive, but hardly representative of the church’s patriots.
NCSE Report: Adventist Education in the Midst of a Sea of Science
Rev 14:12 (who will remain anonymous like me) asked
Do you believe that God created the earth in 6 literal 24 hour periods?
YES, DEFINITELY
Do you believe in our Biblical 28 fundamental beliefs?
YES, ALWAYS AND FOREVER
Do you think that a parent of a college aged young adult should be able to send their child to an SDA college or university and be confident that the professors there (paid by the church) are going to help build the young person’s faith in God and the SDA church?
YES, ABSOLUTELY
I’m not defending any wrongs that might have been committed, as you wrongly assumed. I’m simply pointing out the gross violation of Christian principles and ethics in using the world wide web to publicly bully and punish others–behind their backs no less–especially when it makes Christians like you who claim to be representatives of the SDA church look so cold and calloused and judgmental.
You, sir or madam, do not reflect the values and behavior of Jesus Christ or my beloved church. If you are an SDA employee, I suggest you resign your position since you are going against the stated policies of the church’s manual. Your behavior at this website is reprehensible. Have you no conscience?
NCSE Report: Adventist Education in the Midst of a Sea of Science
“Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.”
And who is “all?” Is any sin among us to be subject to public exposure and ridicule? To whom did Jesus say, “Let him who is without sin throw the first stone?”
