Comment on Open letter to General Conference by Sean Pitman M.D..
Ervin Taylor: The problem is not in the excellent leadership provided at La Sierra University first by Dr. Guy, then by Dr. Geraty and now by Dr. Wisbey. With dignity and integrity, all of these enlightened educational leaders have contributed to making La Sierra University an Adventist Christian university committed to the pursuit of truth—both in science and theology—wherever it leads.
All of them have stood resolutely against their misguided fundamentalist coreligionists who seek to turn a fine Adventist university into a Bible college.
Currently, the real problem is the myths and half-truths created and promulgated by the supporters of the EducateTruth web site.
All true Adventists committed to the pursuit of “Present Truth†should actively resist and reject the work of those who wish to follow the example of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Torguemada in how to deal with contrasting opinions in a religious community.
Please do point out any myths or half-truths listed in my letter – or even any exaggerations – however slight.
Do you really deny that many of the science professors at LSU are actively promoting the modern synthesis view of evolution as the true story of origins to their students? If not, why doesn’t LSU at least admit this obvious fact instead of putting out misleading PR campaigns which suggest that LSU is not in fact doing what it is doing – promoting the “truth” of the evolution of life on this planet over hundreds of millions of years of time? You do not actually deny this. You simply argue that the promotion of theistic evolution over vast ages of time shouldn’t be a problem for an “Adventist” university…
So, why is LSU trying to cover up what you think is so obviously beneficial? Why are the teachers of LSU actively trying to prevent access to any of their lecture materials or exactly what is being presented in their classes? Why try to sequester this information? Why be so secretive about what is really being taught at LSU? – if it is clearly what the SDA Church, as an organization, wants? Why is LSU putting extreme pressure on those LSU students who are trying to increase transparency about what is being actively promoted within numerous LSU classrooms?
This isn’t the inquisition Erv. No one is threatened with any civil penalty. It is just that LSU owes it to those who are paying good money to support LSU to explain what they are really getting vs. what they think they are getting. Everyone has a right to get what they are really paying for with their own money…
And, if transparency is so good, why isn’t LSU being forthright, open, honest and transparent with current and potential parents, students, and the SDA Church at large? Why the use of slick language that is calculated to mislead? – such as the oft repeated statement that, “Everyone at LSU believes in creation”? Clearly this statement is given with the intent to quiet the concerns of those who think that the term “creation” means support for a literal 6-day creation week – when clearly this isn’t the actual meaning of this word when it comes to LSU science professors who publicly deride such a “ludicrous” notion…
Please… who is the one telling “half truths” here? It’s time to come clean Erv. We’ve had enough of these word games…
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
Sean Pitman M.D. Also Commented
Open letter to General Conference
Jonathan Smith: Ignorance of the law is never an excuse in any jurisdiction. As the texts above show, lack of proper knowledge is NOT an excuse since the knowledge is accessible but they simply refused to access or believe it.
You’re mistaken when it comes to God’s Law. Jesus himself excused wrongful acts of the ignorant saying that if a person didn’t know of the wrongfulness of a thought or act, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin (John 9:41).
It is therefore only when one knows that something is wrong, and deliberately does it anyway, that one is guilty of sin. And, only God clearly knows what someone really does and does not know or has or has not deliberately rejected or refused to know… i.e., sinned.
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
Open letter to General Conference
Jonathan Smith: I sincerely hope that the evolutionists will realise the error of their ways and repent before it is too late.
Why should they die when God does not love the death of the wicked? Why should they despise Someone who has only shown them love? Why should they reject the word of One who cannot lie? Why should man be so arrogant as to believe he knows more than God? The mystery of iniquity does indeed work.
Be careful Jonathan. You are making a moral judgment here when you cannot do so. A belief in an error is not, in and of itself, a sin. Evolutionists are not wicked just because they believe in a false theory. Certainly there are many very good and very honest and sincere evolutionists. Salvation isn’t based on knowledge, but on motive…
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
Open letter to General Conference
Shane Hilde: @Sean Pitman M.D.: Granted they were not specific but I thought the statement that they shouldn’t exist as an SDA institution was pretty strong.
The conversation was longer than expected. I’m glad the questions were asked. It puts the issue in the public eye.
True…
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.
