Comment on My Goal for La Sierra University by Shane Hilde.
Professor Kent: There is no point in engaging a lynch mob on what one believes or does not believe.
Lynch mob? Jeff, you definitely have a flare for the dramatic. Bradley could have at least engaged with Becker to clear up any confusion. It appears that he didn’t because there was no need to.
Professor Kent: There is a PUC professor who tried this and everything he stated was roundly rejected.
I think he largely failed because he wouldn’t be upfront with people about what he believed. Based on comments in his lecture on here, there was little room to believe he did believe in the church’s position on creation. For example, he always carefully stated his position as supporting the Adventist position, but here’s a comment that clearly states he doesn’t buy into the SDA understanding of the biblical creation:
I respect those who believe in a literal Genesis flood, but I also have to be honest about the scientific difficulties with such a belief.
Professor Kent: I myself have repeatedly declared my beliefs here, and I have repeatedly been called a liar. As the saying goes, “In war, truth is the first casualty.â€
I don’t think you’ve been able to appreciate confusion you communicate to creationists. This is how you come across to me: you’re like a soldier in battle running from one side to other and just before the side you’re running to shoots you, you yell out that you’re on their side while at the same time pulling out your gun and firing on them. Yes, you make plenty of claims, but for all the claims you make there are an equal amount of arguments against creation that you make. Your approach is much like a politician who wants to be friends with both sides.
Professor Kent: Your “Educate Truth†website is not about truth; in fact, it is more about rumor, innuendo, accusation, and ad hominen more so than “truth,†and therefore is little more than an oxymoron.
Let me explain the name of the site to you. The truth we’re referring to is the truth of creation. We’re advocating that our universities/colleges teach the truth regarding creation, that they present the evidence for short life etc. You’d be hard pressed to find anything that has been published on here that isn’t true regarding LSU.
Professor Kent: They very rarely do, Shane.
The ‘they’ I was referring to was LSU. Are you saying you assume that LSU did not speak to Bradley before they released their statement about his comments? I think they did. I don’t have proof though. I would argue it more likely that they spoke with him prior to releasing that statement than not.
One more not about the “rumor, innuendo, accusation, and ad hominen.” The allegations Educate Truth made in the very beginning and still does to this day were confirmed independently by both the LSU board ad hoc committee and AAA visiting team. LSU is guilty! It’s that simple. The “apology” from LSU probably would have never occurred had it not been for AAA. There is no argument over what LSU has been doing. That’s been made crystal clear. The question now is if they’re going to change.
Shane Hilde Also Commented
My Goal for La Sierra University
Phillip Brantley: I believe everyone at Educate Truth shares your high regard for that organization. That Educate Truth has a high regard for Discovery Institute tells us everything we need to know about Educate Truth.
You’ve made a bit of leap. Bob, while an avid commenter here at Educate Truth, does not represent Educate Truth. I or Sean do not have a high regard for ICR. I don’t recall ever referencing it either in any post. I don’t think Sean has either.
My Goal for La Sierra University
LSU Alumnus 1996: is it truly your understanding that your beliefs are in the majority among your peers?
Your question is a bit broad but if you’re referring to my belief in a recent, six-day creation, then yes, I believe the majority of Seventh-day Adventists believe in the historicity of Genesis 1-11. But we don’t believe this to be true because the majority of the church also believes it, we believe it because we believe the Bible to be true. Having the majority on your side is a luxury and says absolutely nothing about the truth.
This isn’t our church, it’s God’s church, and as a representative of his church I have a responsibility to represent the beliefs of the church in all aspects of my life.
Now regarding your question about a survey, there was a survey done by the Institute of Church Ministry at Andrews University in 2002. You can read the whole thing here. Question 31 asked members if they believed “the creation took place in six literal days several thousand years ago.” The survey response mean was 92.83% agreed with the statement.
This was 9 years ago, so it would be interesting to see what that statistic would be now.
My Goal for La Sierra University
LSU Alumnus 1996: There were never any hidden, underground classes meeting in the basement of San Fernando Hall to undermine the church by teaching evolution. There were no undue restrictions placed on students desiring to take the classes, no secret handshakes, no non-disclosure agreements signed on the first day of class.
Did you read the expanded version? Allow me to cut and paste it here for you:
There is an inconsistency between the biology department and the university administration in regard to how evolution is taught. The administration says evolution isn’t promoted, yet the evidence from the biology department strongly suggests otherwise. In other words, the professors have been open about what they believe and teach, but the administration denies what they’re doing.
LSU Alumnus 1996: Dr. Bradley and rest of the biology department supported the rights of students to believe in the creation myth OR the facts of evolution.
I agree; however, LSU is employing professors who are not representing the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in their classes. When applicable, we would like to see evidence for the biblical creation presented and promoted in the relevant science classes.
LSU Alumnus 1996: I can assure you that the environment at LSU is nothing but “fair,†and furthermore, that it is unfailingly supportive of those who choose to align themselves with the official church position.
That’s great! I really hope things are improving in this area. This doesn’t negate the experience of Seventh-day Adventist students who have not been treated as they ought.
LSU Alumnus 1996: Those passages of the Bible that describe the origin of the world are fundamentally incompatible with science, and any attempt to bring them into harmony is a fool’s errand.
If you’re talking about mainstream interpretation of science, then I’d absolutely agree with you. This is primarily why I have a problem with how the LSU biology department is teaching evolution.
Recent Comments by Shane Hilde
La Sierra University Hires Another Darwinist
ADvindicate has also published an article about LSU and Raul Diaz that expands on a few details.
http://advindicate.com/?p=2625
A little-known history about Belief 6
@Eddie: The Bible does not specify an age of accountability (to my knowledge), but the Israelites considered the age of 12 to be the turning point. I wouldn’t base a theology off of tradition though. Also, it’s not our place to judge what happens to those who have not been able to make a decision.
Perspectives from alleged LSU students
@Blodgett: Was there a comment you’d like to add?
At La Sierra, Biology Faculty Affirms Importance of Teaching About Creation in Curriculum
@David Read: And perhaps not something Christ would do. I can understand your frustration though. I’ve been on the verge of quitting this whole thing many times. I’ve been guilty of letting that frustration control and influence things I shouldn’t have said.
I have to remind myself to look at the big picture. In the end all those who are not supposed to be in the church will be sifted out. I pray I am not one of them.
Board of Trustees Addresses Curriculum Proposal
I know from talking to a couple of reporters from Press Enterprise and Inside Higher Ed that Randal Wisbey was effective in shutting down communication between any outsiders and the biology faculty. It appears he made himself the only channel of communication between the board and biology faculty.
I emailed Larry Becker about what bylaw the board members broke that was worthy of dismissal, and I have yet to hear a response from him.
I would also note that board members at other universities appear to be free to talk to the faculty.
Another interesting point. He removes three board members for trying to work on the problem and come up with a solution, and then turns around sort of embraces what they’re doing. He can’t publicly condemn it because everyone can see, whether you agree with what they wrote or not, that it’s a significant step for the faculty to be speaking to the church.
Did he forbid the document from being published? No. If you’re really excited about seeing the biology department making advancements in solving the issue, why are you removing the people who are making that happen. He never did anything like that.
What has Wisbey done to address and fix this issue? Nothing. He’s dragged it out, lied about what’s been happening, and told everyone involved to shut up or get in trouble. What on earth is he trying to do?
Who knows, he might even be a part of the underground movement to sever LSU from the church by using WASC as the big hammer. It’s obvious from one former board member, there was interest in using WASC to manipulate the situation.
