The Spectrum Blog

Ceremony or commitment?

By Nathan Brown

Figures from the US show 4 in 10 of babies born last year were born “out of wedlock.” The additional interesting dynamic to this is that teen motherhood is at the lowest levels for years and the big increase is among unmarried women in their 20s. It seems it’s part of a larger trend. An Australian study of young married couples has reported only 9 per cent of these couples had not lived together before marriage. Add to this statistic, the significant number of couples who choose not to get married at all and the sad realities of divorce and we have a picture of a society in which the traditional, legal forms of marriage are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

These trends pose some tough questions in relations to our church’s stand on marriage, particularly in relation to “discipline” procedures and the impact these have on the involvement on young people in our church.
Before we go running for the Church Manual to brush up on our censure procedures—thus excluding another young couple from the contribution they can make to our church—we need to ask ourselves some questions: Have we reached a stage or will we reach a stage at which we have to recognise that a traditional marriage ceremony is simply a fading cultural tradition and that perhaps our focus on such an event has been—or may become—misplaced?

Would we be better to focus on commitment between couples rather than the trappings of a white dress, a large church and a legal document? Are these trappings what we mean when we refer to “God’s plan” or is He more interested in the heart of the matter? Or do these things evidence the heart of the matter? In short, are we more interested in a wedding or a commitment?

It is unlikely Adam and Eve had a wedding ceremony we would recognise as such. Certainly, it would not be legally recognised in our society, due if nothing else to the absence of witnesses and a “qualified” marriage celebrant—the legal requirement for a valid marriage in my part of the world.

Jesus, when questioned on marriage, referred His listeners back to the story of Adam and Eve and the statement made by God at that time, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife and the two are united into one” (Mark 19:5). But the Bible does not limit this ‘becoming one flesh’ to a man and wife (see 1 Corinthians 6:16): “Paul did not limit it to married couples. Mere copulation, for him, makes ‘one flesh’… The truth is that wherever a man lies with a woman, there, whether they like it or not, a transcendental relation is set up between them which must be eternally enjoyed or eternally endured” (C S Lewis, The Screwtape Letters).

Undoubtedly, simply drifting into an uncommitted sexual relationship which then evolves into cohabitation is a poor start to a lifetime commitment to each other: a wedding ceremony can mark a significant moment of commitment. But there are many examples of weddings simply being a part of such a drift and certainly providing no guarantee that the couple will not similarly drift apart. Marriage can be an important life step but as it is practiced in our society it has become equally a social and cultural event.

As such, increasing multicultural influences and the decline of organised religion contribute to the decline of the traditional forms. Our society now affords unmarried couples similar legal relations to those formally married, perhaps recognising something of the commitment involved in such relationships—despite the lack of legal form and traditional ceremony.

It is not marriage as commitment that needs questioning or even as concept but marriage as a traditional, cultural form—of which we can even find variety in the Bible. Jesus urges, “Let no one separate them, for God has joined them together” (Matthew 19:6). Perhaps in a changing culture, we need recognise this choice some couples have made, question our insistence upon the uncomfortable suits, white dress and all the paraphernalia assumed to be the necessary ingredients of a "proper" wedding, and encourage their continuing commitment to God, each other and the church.

Is evolution just a theory?

By Alexander Carpenter

I want to hat tip perpetualstudent where I found another of these excellent discussions by scientists on the methods and controversy between creationisms and the theory of evolution. This one is also related to the antifoundational argument about truth that I've been knocking around with Cliff over here.

Clergy as officers of the state no more?

By Johnny A. Ramirez                  

A bill has been introduced into the Maine legislature that would separate the religious role of clergy in performing marriage ceremonies from the legal recognition of marriage. The bill, LD 779, titled An Act to Remove Clergy as Signatories on Marriage Licenses, was introduced by a legislator on behalf of Rev. Mark Rustin, a Congregationalist minister, who says that he does not want to be an agent for the state of Maine. The bill calls for the legal aspect of the marriage contract to be carried out by lawyers, justices, judges or notaries. Today's Village Soup Times reports that Rev. Rustin is concerned that the present role of clergy places them in a difficult position when they need help a couple get through a divorce.
From Religion Clause

It would seem, from prior expressions by Adventists in Canada, that this would be a compromise our church would be happy with.  When that nation was debating same sex marriage our church said:

"Our concern has always been that of maintaining freedom for our religious expression of faith," said Bussey, who is also an attorney. "The government's bill appears to protect clergy from having to perform marriages against their conscience. However, the Supreme Court in December stated very clearly that the federal parliament has no authority to grant such protection -- it is the role of the provincial legislatures."
From the Adventist News Network

Would our traditional notions of marriage remain unscathed and protected if the state were to separate their legal recognition and unions from our church ceremonies and clergy?

Art: Printmaking Takes Us on an "Art Loop"

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

The Japanese have a word game called shiritori, in which players must come up with a word that begins with the last syllable of the previous word: "neko" > "kotatsu" > "tsuru," and so on. I think the English equivalent is called a "word loop," which is a cousin of the word association game. (I say, "sweet potato," you say, "potato chip," I say, "chip-n-dip," and so on). In any case, in these word games like these, one rides the magical loop of mental associations. Here's an "art loop" of sorts, beginning at an Adventist college near you (well, if you're in Southern California, to be exact):

"€œWomen in Printmaking€"

March 1 - April 5, 2007

Opening reception: March 5, 2007

Brandstater Gallery in the Visual Arts Center, La Sierra University

Open Monday-Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday 2-5:00 p.m., closed Friday, Sabbath, and University holidays. The exhibit celebrates the 30-year anniversary of Women in the Arts Movement and is curated by the Riverside Art Museum. Closing reception: April 5, 2007. Info: 951-785-2959. 

 

Printmaking is also on exhibit in New York City: "Artistic Collaborations: 50 Years at Universal Limited Art Editions," at the Museum of Modern Art, January 17 - May 21, 2007. As featured in the New York Times article "Even in the Digital Age, a Strong Case for Printmaking" (registration necessary, or log in from "bugmenot.com.")

 

And in New South Wales, Australia:

Still on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary art, New South Wales, Australia is "Multiplicity," a printmaking exhibit that aims to tell an alternate history of prints and multiples over the past 40 years. October 18, 2006 - March 25, 2007

 

Speaking of Australia...
"Where the Rivers Meet: New Writing from Australia," the current issue of MANOA, the journal of the University of Hawaii, is an outstanding collection of fiction, essays, poetry, and photography representing a complex society in which diverse groups seek belonging and the preservation of community.

 

Speaking of belonging...

The "outsider art" of Mexican artist Martin Ramirez is garnering interest:

Article: "Mystery Train: Martin Ramirez, outsider," New Yorker 1/29/2007

Review: "Outsider In," New York Times, January 26, 207

 

And finally, speaking of community and art and you...

Futurefarmers is an organization that seeks to bring people together to create new work that cultivates consciousness. Project for Public Spaces is dedicated to creating and sustaining public places that build communities.

The future of science and its common recursive awareness with religion

By Alexander Carpenter

I post this video of digital culture expert and genius Kevin Kelly talking about the future of science. About 8 minutes in he describes the recursive nature of truth in science and religion which is vitat to the discussion about the relativity of truth that I've been having with Cliff over here. It's also essential in light of discussions with those who doubt the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community on the need to stop global warming. Science merely is connections in process.

A meditation

Animation for a poem written and read by Billy Collins

Jim Coffin talks about Adventist offspring

By Alexander Carpenter

Over on the Spectrum website, Florida pastor James Coffin responds to Luke Ford and discusses what happens to the children of conservative and progressive Adventists.

Coffin notes:

"You need to believe that your religion is the chosen one [if you’re going to be willing] to stay and make sacrifices to keep the religion going. The assimilators in Loma Linda and their children will be gone. It’s the Africans and Third World Adventists and the fundamentalists who will take over."                   

Those are the words of Luke Ford, son of defrocked Adventist theologian Desmond Ford, in a recent interview that was posted on the blog progressiveadventism.com. Luke Ford left the Seventh-day Adventist Church several years ago, ultimately embracing Judaism. But his comments definitely touched a nerve among current Adventist blog readers.

Read it here.

After you digest the article, share a well-considered thought below.

Adventist Blog Potluck

By Johnny A. Ramirez & Alexander Carpenter

Image taken by the exploratory group for the upcoming NAD sponsored "cruise with a mission". 

On that line Tompaul Wheeler notes that mission work effects teen faith more than worship.  Makes one wonder if that cruise wouldn't be a bad thing for your adolescent children and church members after all!

Marcel Schwantes writes on a new edition of the Bible entitled "Jesus Loves Porn Stars".

The Loma Linda University School of Religion (kudos!!) is full of blogging Profs: Julius Nam of Progressive Adventism says  “I am the Ghost of Ash Wednesday!”  and also writes about Project Whitecoat. Incoming dean Jon Paulien writes about Biblical Apocalyptic and the problem of worry.   Johnny Ramirez-Johnson says that God is in Hollywood and David Larson provides a great essay asking How Biblical is the Christian right?

Adventists in Alabama (Birmingham) run an active blog from their Sabbath School class called Epicenter Conversations.  Read their latest post on the season of bright sadness.

Hollywood Pastor Ryan Bell hangs out with celebrities while fighting human trafficking and slavery.

Canadian Adventists and CUC alums might appreciate bookmarking the blog of the Student Association at Canadian Union College.

Canadian Adventist author Trudy Morgan-Cole writes of her good day, good cause and good film.

The entire Adventist church in Ireland and Great Britain together as part of the British Union Conference really steps up and owns its community.  From the environment to their latest stand against crime, they are present, vocal and active.  They are a role model for us all!

All the faith and none of the guilt?  A Cultural Adventist writes about the history of cultural Adventism.

Go back to school with Claremont School of Theology student Trisha Famisaran as she shares a bibliography and more in her post Theology of the Body.

Adventist feminist Johnny A. Ramirez hears Mary Byler and remains cynical of, and mostly unimpressed by, Amish forgiveness.

Law student locus standi must have attorney friends to take on the subject of Israel, Apartheid, and the Occupied Territories.

Brethren Priestess writes that the HOW matters, too in her criticism of Sojourners sexism.

Frequent Spectrum Blog commenter Dr. Thomas J. Zwemer in his new blog Goethic (great title!) writes on the four G's of Christianity.

Spectrum contributor and newly installed Pastor Trevan Osborn lets us in on the key to quality ministry.

USC Ph.D. student Ron Osborn still has us laughing with his latest haiku.

Adventist Environmental Advocacy talks about trashing outer space.

Catalan Adventist Ferran Sabate writes from his missionary journey in Bolivia on Precarnaval.

Read about Adventists and Masons at Hobbes Place.

We want to encourage Jonathan Scriven of Just Inside the Beltway to start blogging again!

Revisit the evolution vs. creation debate with Michael Petersen.

Newbold alum Andrew Willis asks- How does the US Adventist view the rest of the world?

The Adventist Peace Fellowship and Christians for Peace in Iraq are organizing events on  March 16, 2007(PDF).  Is your congregation joining this effort? 

Adventist Women for Peace thinks you should be involved in the Adventist Peace Fellowship partnership.

Our own Alexander Carpenter writes a worthy roundup of the Christian web for Faith in Public Life.

Britain's great abolitionist, William Wilberforce, worked to change society's values, not just its laws, reports Christianity Today. 

Read Monte Sahlin at Faith in Context review the Amazing Grace Sunday movement which draws on the recent movie on William Wilberforce, Amazing Grace.

And finally, test your Sabbath School Skills by taking this Bible Quiz from Just Pastors. 

Amazing grace in faith and politics

By Alexander Carpenter

I saw this film at a prescreening in Berkeley and I strongly recommend the moving experience to all my Adventist community members.

About the 18th century abolition work of parliamentarian William Wilberforce, the film captures the honorable struggle for justice that takes place when Christians use the power of their faith to change institutions. As blogger Brethren Priestess wrote after seeing the film:

It glamourizes political activism without obscuring the realities of the difficulties of the struggle. There is pain, there is hopelessness, there is self-doubt, there is loneliness, there is mistrust among the community. There are people saying ‘Go slower,’ ‘It’s bad for the economy,’ ‘People are too fearful for change,’ ‘You’ll be called a traitor,’ and, the most damaging of all, ‘Yes, I agree with you, but I don’t think yours is quite the right way to act, so I will work against you and support the status quo out of my own unoriginality.’
[snip]
The story also makes a great case for overcoming the typical division between political life and spiritual life. It shows convincingly that the best way to live as a Christian is to struggle to end injustice - that political activism is no less a Christian life than a life of solitude, and often an even ‘more’ Christian life, depending on the specific gifts of the Christian in question.

Today 27 million people continue to live as slaves. Many Christians are joining in a new campaign to end human trafficking in this generation. Learn more about the Amazing Change campaign.

Young Adventist Podcast roundup

What some Adventist emerging leaders are talking about.

Ryan Bell tells a tale of two hills.

Trevan Osborn has an open door theory.

Sherman Cox II's Second Advent Pulpit for memorizing scripture.

Trisha on a theology of the body. (Ok, not actually a podcast, but worth reading since this will be the future.)
 

Have you thought about a Sabbath Economics? Johnny Ramirez channels Ched Myers. 

Happy Presidents' Day: I like Ike, too

By Alexander Carpenter

As our representatives turn their attention to the Bush administration's new 100 billion dollar request for funding the war on Iraq, let us consider these words from President Eisenhower, a man who actually knew how to plan and win wars (WWII) and also knew when to redeploy (Korea).

As President Eisenhower notes, our money is not just going to the troops, but also to the new American war industry.

Oh yeah, and there's more:

It could cost the VA at least $350 billion to provide disability compensation and health care to Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, according to a Harvard University researcher's conservative estimate. Those costs could climb as high as $663 billion, if many troops remain at war much longer and health care costs inflate. "We're running up a bill that we'll be paying for the next 50 years," said Steve Robinson, director of veterans affairs for Veterans for America, a national veterans advocacy organization. The nation has committed $427 billion to war costs, not including VA expenses. Pending budget requests would raise the total to $662 billion.

Want to do something informed by your faith? Join the Adventist Peace Fellowship.

Amazing Grace for all

Amazing Grace sung by a homeless duo in San Francisco.

The GC's stained-glass ceiling

By Alexander Carpenter

"Imagine a Black youngster approaching their Adventist-worker parents with these questions: “Dad/Mom, are all positions in the church open, or are some closed to people like me?," so asks Roy Adams, Associate Editor of the Adventist Review.  His rhetorical child continues, "Are there glass ceilings in the church?"

And then Roy asks us, "What would be the honest answer from an informed Adventist parent?"

Recently the Adventist Review changed leadership and Roy Adams was passed over for Bill Knott who recently finished his dissertation in journalism, actually history. As noted before in Spectrum, some Adventists expressed sadness that someone so qualified, experienced, and gracious not even be nominated.

Adams asks: "What are people really like in their true selves, behind closed doors, away from the cameras and microphones?"

And then he hammers it home.

We’ve been in existence now for more than 160 years; and we’ve represented ourselves as an interracial, multicultural, multiethnic global community. But what do our actions say?

 

That thought came to me about three or four years ago as I walked the halls of the General Conference, looking at the pictures that adorn the walls of key departments in the building—pictures of the church’s topmost officials over the years. I counted 92 leaders, 89 of them (96.7 percent) Caucasian. This one reality trumps all our professions about diversity. They tell the story of a glass ceiling beyond which certain folks cannot rise. It’s as if there’s an unwritten understanding that certain positions in the church are too sensitive for certain ethnic groups to occupy. The United Nations can afford to take that risk, but the church is much too delicate for that!

As a fifth-generation white Adventist I'm  proud of my community's history; but reading Roy I'm ashamed too. Sure some racists out there will laugh him it off as quota-calling, or mumble something about white guilt, but the reality is that they just fear new power shifts and they have not yet seen that long arch of history bending toward justice. A record of 96% is the kind of color bleach out that Clorox craves. We don't need a quota for this wash, we need a whole new laundromat, and maybe a bit less silver and some more red & yellow, black & white in our spring. There's no doubt that right now it's an old white boys-only club with power given to those who look and sound right--theologically, sartorially, votingly, i.e., culturally.

I have nothing against the Review with its crashing circulation numbers (less than 25,000), but if our church paper is going to continue calling itself the "flagship journal of Seventh-day Adventist Church"--it had better raise its colors a lot higher and soon if it's going to witness to a world smashing through marble, glass, stained-glass, and even celluloid ceilings.

The last time I checked "Revelation," I recall an eschatological vision where every nation, tribe, tongue, and people aren't floating around in ships. No, in fact, the saints stand together with Christ on top of, yes, that sea of glass.  Come on church leadership--let's look and act like we mean it today.

What can churches do about climate change?

By Alexander Carpenter

Often Adventists have been intellectually torn over how much faith to put in the scientific method. After all, we are the progenitors of George McCready Price and the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Unlike the Scientologists and Christian Scientists, historically Adventists have attempted to apply the findings of science about health care while eschewing the same method's findings on geochronology or the origins of life.  While historically significant, the work of Price has pretty much been discredited and while fifty years ago few Adventists would admit to multi-million-year-old geological column, now even some staunch defenders of a literal six-day creation admit that the rocks have been around long before.

But we certainly won't solve this on a blog. Perhaps here's a emerging third way to mix our science and faith.

These days a new science is in the controversial air: climate science. Why is it controversial? Because it is about American power with apocalyptic overtones--which should be right down our eschatalogical  alley.  Faced with the most comprehensive report on global warming--thousands of scientists, hundreds of countries--how will we respond? Should we care about our earth? Should we do it because science suggests that if we don't the eco-system will collapse? Does the bible and our lifestyle support creation care? Some friends of mine at Interfaith Power and Light published the following op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle. As you read, consider the implications: might this be an issue where pastors and the local congregations can work together to save the world?

Science and religion unite on climate

In the wake of the most significant scientific report to date on the potentially dire consequences of global warming, a ray of hope has emerged. Ironically, it emanates from the convergence of forces that have often been at odds. One force, the world of science, has long been on the forefront of the issue of climate change. Another equally powerful force, religion, has often remained on the sidelines  --  until recently.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of more than 2,000 of the world's top scientists from more than 100 nations, stated in a Feb. 2 report that global warming is "unequivocal," that it is rapidly changing the nature of our planet and its ecosystems, and that it is "very likely" being caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.

In the course of the last decade, a significant movement within the faith community has been mobilizing around the call to care for God's creation, the web of life that sustains us all. This calling is the essence of religious life, and people of faith are beginning to hear it, even as scientists sound the alarm that we may be nearing a climactic tipping point.

We view science and religion as powerful potential partners. The hope is that the clarity of the science will inspire a concerted effort by the leaders in both communities and thus avoid the most catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis.

Scientists have also provided us with insights that raise serious ethical challenges, particularly the issue of the choice between stewardship and fatalism  --  the moral dilemma of our time. We can accept the challenge with hope or sit on our hands and do nothing. For people of faith, the moment of truth has come, and we must open our eyes to the knowledge that modern science is showing us. The choice offered us is to move beyond denial and doubt that global warming is caused by human activities to play an active part in a global effort to save this fragile creation or suffer the consequences.

The active involvement of religion is necessary for wide-scale social change. Social movements from the abolition of slavery to the civil rights movement have been led by the religious community. Some  64 percent of Americans belong to a church or synagogue, and nearly  50 percent attend a service every week, according to a 2005 Gallup poll. (By comparison, only 14 percent are active participants in environmental organizations.) 

Evidence that religious people are making the choice in favor of environmental stewardship is coming in every day. This fall, more than 400,000 people in congregations across the country viewed Al Gore's global warming documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," in packed houses. Almost every major denomination has adopted statements of concern on global warming. Evangelicals, often skeptical of science, are breaking with the president to join the call for action on reductions in greenhouse gases.

Science and religion have proved to be capable of independently inspiring social change and reshaping global consciousness. Just imagine what these forces could do together, in a united effort to reverse the damage we have done to our planet.

In 2007, we stand at a crossroads and there is a choice we must all make. Thanks to science, we have the knowledge of the damage we have caused to our planet, and how to stop it. Greenhouse gases need to be stopped. 

Now, with religious institutions becoming engaged, will we, as a society, have the collective wisdom to break with our destructive behavior and choose another way? We have seen the religious community putting aside differences to solve a moral problem in the past with issues such as slavery and the civil-rights movement. We might also see differences put aside and rejoice in the marriage of religion and science. It is a pivotal moment, and the consequences of our choice will be felt for generations to come.

Stephen H. Schneider is a professor of biological science at Stanford University. He has been studying, writing and speaking about the issue of climate change for 30 years.

The Rev. Sally Bingham is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of California and a member of the board of Environmental Defense. She is the leader of a national campaign, Interfaith Power and Light, which is mobilizing the religious community in 22 states to become leaders in the fight against global warming. See www.InterfaithPowerandLight.org

 

Amazing Facts shoots down the smokescreen of rape and incest

By Johnny A. Ramirez

Listen to an Amazing Facts recording here to hear about this "rape and incest smokescreen". There is also another recording discussing if God is pro-choice or pro-life. 

The Bible teaches pro-life, they say, and abortion is a serious sin.  Personhood is ascribed to the fetus by the Amazing Facts personality in opposition to well respected Adventist perspectives on what is a person.

The Church does not serve as conscience for individuals; however, it should provide moral guidance. Abortions for reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are not condoned by the Church. Women, at times however, may face exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. The final decision whether to terminate the pregnancy or not should be made by the pregnant woman after appropriate consultation. She should be aided in her decision by accurate information, biblical principles, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, these decisions are best made within the context of healthy family relationships.

From the official Seventh-day Adventist church Guidelines on Abortion.

Is Amazing Facts propagating its own divergent views on the abortion debate?  In my honest opinion our official statement, and common sense, tell us that victims of rape and incest are more than mere rhetorical ploys.

Hell- a great reason to be Adventist?

By Johnny A. Ramirez

Three Models of Hell
"Is hell nothing more than eternal torture of the unsaved? Why would God engage in punishment that seems so cruel?" -- Tony De Luca, New York, New York
By R. Todd Mangum
God would not be party to anything as sordid as torture; Christians can agree on that. However, theologians are divided about how eternal judgment is not tantamount to such. Two competing answers are proposed: (1) Yes, hell involves eternal pain inflicted on the unsaved, but this should not be regarded as gratuitous, unjust, or cruel; and (2) the final judgment will not involve eternal, conscious torment as has been traditionally assumed, and this misreading of biblical teaching needs modification. Both sides raise legitimate concerns worth careful consideration.

Read the rest: Three Models of Hell at Christianity Today.

For a summary of the Adventist position read Does hellfire torment the lost eternally or consume them permanently? by Samuele Bacchiocchi

College Spirituality

By Alexander Carpenter

At Pacific Union College (Angwin, CA), like at many Adventist colleges, there exists a debate about the role and relevance of weekly chapels and vespers. Few doubt that people should come together in spiritual community, but problems arise when students feel that the worships don't work and administrators notice that the students aren't participating properly. Here is a video cast of students and a chaplain discussing ways to understand how best to mix spirituality and today's fragmented academic experience.

Faith and Evolution - A De-volutionary Encounter

By Alexander Carpenter

Some friends of mine at CrossWalk America posted this video and it's gotten almost 2000 views in the last 24 hours.

"Two unsuspecting Grand Canyon tour guides representing opposite beliefs about faith and evolution collide in a de-volutionary encounter that points beyond itself to the mystery of God.

Prejudging vs. judging

By Alexander Carpenter

On Sabbath Bob raised a thoughtful question about my language celebrating Senate chaplain Barry Black's decision not to grace the Coral Ridge Ministries folks with his presence. I'll grant the point on the loaded use of "informed," but speaking of loads, consider the stuff that Coral Ridge puts out.

At some point we humans all decide some ground rules for understanding our world. Frankly, I'm going to trust those folks who spend years studying origins rather than TV preachers with dubious doctorates who link Darwin and Hitler. Yes, I'm making a judgment--that the totality of my evidence is greater than theirs. It's not hubris--it's how we all get through each day.

And noting that bias, Bob homes in on the problem of judging others:

"How can one -- or how can we -- come to the table of Christian -- and human -- fellowship all-the-while insisting OUR version of Christianity is the purest, best, most informed?? Isn’t that what "THEY” are saying too? Why respond in kind? Why are some SO willing to demonize and smear the so called “Christian Right”? Don’t they KNOW that to talk of “tolerance” that does not “tolerate” the right’s and opinions of EVERYONE -- even a caricatured “religious right” -- is self negating?"

Bob concludes by wishing that Barry Black had gone and "said EXACTLY what was on his mind about the largeness of God, and about the smallness of the vision of those before him…"

Even here there lies a distinction. I used the term "informed;" Bob measures vision. My point: there is no such things as tolerance for everything. It's both a logical and practical impossibility. The rub lies in that we always judge. Here I'd like to elucidate a core evaluative difference between the religious right and a prophetic faith.

Two distinctions are vital (at least for me):

1. The difference between defining the heavenly and the earthly community. I have no idea who will get to heaven. In fact, most of the distinctions we humans have made in the past seem completely backward now (no Protestants, no dancers, no Jews, no homos) -- you get the idea. But we humans do have a duty to envision the community on earth. I'd say that we agree that outright racists can no longer lead xenophobic Sabbath School classes and even though many Adventists wouldn't say that only Sabbath-keepers go to heaven, many of those same Sevies still get together to worship God on Saturday. Why?  Because the community has defined itself as coming together in "this" and not "that" way.

2. The second point I'd like to make here lies in the difference between prejudging and judging. It's why I support women's ordination and the full communion of homosexuals, and youth involvement in church but I do not accept racism, homophobia, or ageism (both directions). We all make judgments, but we should not make prejudgments--and racists, homophobes, sexists say that how a person looks determines their essential goodness. I don't care much how people look in Christianity, but I do care about what they think and what they do. The difference spins on the question of inherence. I believe that most women, minority ethnicities in America, and homosexuals don't choose their identity. On the other hand, while social experience does play into it, a racist, sexist or homophobe has much more choice over his or her ideology.

That's why I salute Barry Black -- he refused to let his position as a religious leader be used by folks who propound incorrect and quasi-racist ideas like this:

“Islam has expanded throughout the world from its beginnings, always by aggressive war and by the subjugation of conquered people.” Christians, according to Dykstra, “need to challenge that idea that Islam is a religion of peace. It is not; it never has been.” Dykstra helps readers understand the implications for America if it becomes lax in its immigration policies." Or twisted science like this, or weird homophobia like this.

I'm a firm believer in dialogue and get into great discussions with other grad students I share a house with-- Catholics, agnostics--who differ from me on abortion, metaphysics, hermeneutics, and when the vacuuming should be done. (It is good fun.)

I pay my taxes and tithe to support what I hope will be the free exchange of ideas in America and in Adventism. However much I love someone clothing their children in "God Hates Fags" shirts I decline to overtly support those whose a priori judgments assume that a women, an Arab, or a queer, Arab women are less valuable than anyone in the eyes of God. Could one define a Christian for the future as one who never prejudges the access to power of a male or female, Jew or Greek, queer or straight.

I'm happy to converse to convince "prejudgers" that there are better ways of understanding human relations, but we have to start somewhere and the great Christian vision lies in the hope that the kin-dom of God includes everyone first, because we are all inherently kin of God.  That lived (and voted) reality of  human interconnection might just stop terrorism a bit faster than invading Iraq. . .

Julius converses with Luke Ford

By Alexander Carpenter

Hat tip to Julius! I think that this is an especially interesting interview because it goes beyond the usual attitude towards "bad" behavior in the Adventist community. When people leave Adventism we tend to mention a new "sin" in their lives as if to explain why they left. We often imply: "oh yeah, well they couldn't handle our high moral standards. . . ." But as this interview shows, sometimes there are more than just the skin deep reasons to believe. I was particularly moved by his description of his affection for PUC and his loneliness after Glacier View.

From that master of the interlogue, ProgressiveAdventism.com:

Born in 1966 as the third child of Seventh-day Adventist theologian Desmond Ford in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia, Luke Ford spent the first 14 years of his life on the campuses of Avondale College and Pacific Union College—until his father’s dismissal from PUC stemming from the controversial position he took on the investigative judgment doctrine. After graduating from Placer High School in Auburn, California, in 1984, Luke Ford attended Sierra College in Rocklin, California, and University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA, Ford was deeply influenced by Jewish radio host and lecturer Dennis Prager which resulted in his conversion to Judaism in 1992. After struggling to break into acting and mainstream journalism, Ford’s career took a shocking turn in 1997 when he launched a blog devoted to reporting on the pornography industry. His controversial style of reporting quickly earned him the nickname, “Matt Drudge of Porn.” Since 2001, his blogging interest has expanded to larger social, cultural, political, and religious issues. He has also written four books including XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without a Shul, a personal memoir, and A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film. Ford continues to be active online through several websites and blogs. His official website (which does not contain pornographic content) is LukeFord.net, which includes his unpublished autobiography.

Read it here.

Art: The Paradoxical Truth

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

In our minds, we often place the life of imagination and the life of faith on opposite ends of the spectrum, but in reality the artist and the believer are partakers of the same beautiful paradox. Contemplate this:

"The paradox lies in this: we can experience presence--one might just as easily say grace--when art approximates the leap of faith, when it dares to place us directly inside an act of discovery. The risk of imagination, like the risk of faith, instills fear in those who believe we can only be saved by rational propositions. But the paradoxical truth is that unless we learn how to lives in that risk-taking leap of faith, we will lose touch with the meaning of those propositions."

-From Gregory Wolfe's essay, "Bearing the Image," Intruding Upon the Timeless (Baltimore, MD: Square Halo Books, 2003)

Before you enlist

By Alexander Carpenter

Should this film be shown to every Adventist academy student?

O.K.: some more dangerous science ( But wait! It's good for religion?)

By Alexander Carpenter

Okay, I'll get to Bob's fair questions. But before I post on the appurtences of open conversation. . .here's more "wacky" (and interesting) science. If you want more substance, read this brilliant interview at Salon: "Gods and Gorillas" in which "anthropologist Barbara J. King explains what our distant cousins can tell us about religion and why it's OK for scientists to believe in God." Click here.   

Barry Black talks back. . .to the religious right

By Alexander Carpenter

YEAH! That's what we're talking about. Mad props to Chaplain Barry Black for takin' a stand for informed religious values. Already a friend of mine, an Episcopalian Reverend priestess, mentioned his action. What people do makes a difference. [updated thanks to xy.]

From the AP:

WASHINGTON — Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black has canceled his scheduled appearance at a Christian evangelical conference after he was pictured with columnist Ann Coulter and other prominent conservatives in a brochure promoting the event.

Black told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that he wouldn't be addressing next month's Reclaiming America for Christ Conference because his appearance wouldn't uphold the Senate chaplain's "historic tradition of being nonpolitical, nonpartisan, nonsectarian," a spokeswoman for the chaplain said Thursday.

Spokeswoman Meg Saunders said Black, a Seventh-day Adventist and a former Navy chaplain, had received "a very generic invitation" in fall 2005 to speak at the March conference and had agreed because there was room on his schedule.

After learning more about the other speakers and the event's featured topics, Black became "concerned" and canceled his appearance, Saunders said. "He felt the information had been incomplete," she said.

Other featured speakers at the conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., include Father Frank A. Pavone, a Catholic priest and abortion opponent; conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly; and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. Listed topics include "making America safe for the unborn," "the battle to defend marriage," "homosexuality and the church" and "Darwin's deadly legacy."

Catch the whole story here.

Why young Adventists leave

Go over and read the issues raised by Trevan and Johnny about this very solvable problem.