The Spectrum Blog

Ultimate prior claim

By Pastor James Coffin

From the Orlando Sentinel:

   May 31, 2007

   In  her Sunday column "Peering Through a Glass Half-Full, Darkly," Kathleen Parker lists among her "less-happy" statistics about American Muslims that 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds consider themselves to be Muslim first and American second. But is that really a problem?

   Oh, I recognize that at first blush it might seem scary to have people in our midst who openly admit that national loyalty isn't their ultimate priority -- that they have other, higher considerations.

   But wait a minute. Don't we often admire people whose moral/spiritual values leave them to some degree at odds with the rest of U.S. culture? I mean, don't we actually feel a sense of pride knowing that in the United States a Quaker can be a pacifist -- even though pacifism isn't the cultural norm, and even though many Americans think pacifism is a crackpot idea?

   The point is, Quakers are pacifists because they place a higher importance on their moral/spiritual values than on America's majority norms. In fact, religion, by its very nature, stakes a prior claim on one's loyalty.

   One of the radical aspects of early Christianity was its disregard of the nationalistic, gender and socioeconomic traditions that had long held sway. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus," says the apostle Paul. For those early Christians, a new moral/spiritual value system took prior claim over existing cultural practices.

   I would suggest that in an ideal world, 100 percent of the citizenry would place their sense of moral/spiritual obligation ahead of their sense of nationalistic obligation. And I'm not talking just about Christians. I'm talking about Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims.

   I'm not even talking solely about religions. I'm talking about any moral ideology that governs our individual lives and by which we as individuals evaluate the morality of our national culture and the actions of our government. So atheistic morality is included in this list of value definers.

   Our country was founded on the belief that there are certain "unalienable rights" that don't come and go at majority whim. Certain freedoms and certain values are transcendent.

   Our Constitution declares that our nation's citizens have a right to live their lives on the basis of the transcendent values to which they subscribe -- unless the collective national interest is so compelling that conformity must be forced. Our nation's founders seem to assume that forced conformity would be rare, but that it can and should be implemented if a true need arises. So there are safeguards.

   The real threat to the United States isn't that 60 percent of a certain religious group acknowledge a prior claim on their loyalty. Rather, it's the danger that the rest of us might forget that such a prior claim should exist for everyone.

James N. Coffin, senior pastor of the Markham Woods Church of Seventh-day Adventists.

A brief history of the cigarette and Adventist action

By Alexander Carpenter

Allan Brandt researched "The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America," and after doing so for twenty years, he has become one of the top expert witnesses for tobacco-related state and federal cases. In 2004 Brandt took the stand as an expert witness for two full days of cross-examination in the case of U.S. vs. Phillip Morris. The judge's opinion referenced Brandt's testimony nearly 200 times and for the first time ever tobacco companies were found to be in violation of Federal racketeering statutes.

Now, in "The Cigarette Century," Brandt presents the definitive history of the cigarette, both as the ultimate cultural icon and as the produce that shaped US agriculture, big business, medicine, and regulatory policies in the 20th century. Making extensive use of previously secret corporate documents which became available in the last decade as a result of litigation, Brandt offers critical analysis of the cigarette controversy and how the industry used sophisticated public relations to invent a modern "disinformation" campaign. -- Cody's Books

Allan Brandt is the Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and holds a joint appointment in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University.

Here's an article from China in today's People's Daily Online:

A recent survey by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) showed that a tobacco control policy will receive enormous support in Cambodia, local media said on Wednesday.

Over 90 percent interviewers supported the government's adoption of a law on tobacco control, according to the survey of a sample of 144 staff members from the ministries of Education, Youth and Sport, Women's Affairs, and Defense across the country.
[snip]
According to official statistics, more than 70 percent of the Cambodian families spend over 10 percent of their incomes on cigarettes and a pack of locally produced cigarettes costs as much as one kilogram of husked rice.

The World Health Organization (WHO) once stated that each year about 5 million people die of tobacco-related diseases worldwide and the figure could increase to 10 million by 2020.

Taking our public temperance witness seriously, Adventist leaders, such as former Spectrum editor Roy Branson, have been very active in working with health and consumer groups to limit the reach of tobacco advertising and raise cigarette taxes.

Liberty for church, chaplain & state

An Adventist Peace Fellowship conversation with Alexander Carpenter, Ryan Bell, Johnny A. Ramirez and Monte Sahlin

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I find it immoral to have military chaplains. While they don't actually kill, they are involved too closely in the machine of war to lay claim to the Adventist tradition of "objection." Or anything resembling the non-violent witness of Christ.

Having tax paid chaplains in these mostly "symbolic" roles in the legislature and the military allows religion (and its prophetic voice) to be co-opted to spread a symbolic patina over the proceedings. A Hindu or Atheist tax payer should not have to fund Christians or religious work in governmental institutions. I think that Christopher Hitchens is right to point out that this is offensive in a liberal democracy, and counter to the non-establishment clause. In addition, certainly not having a chaplain does not preclude free exercise. Any church that wants to hold services should pay for their own chaplains to accompany soldiers into battle. And while they are on base, they can always worship at local (off base) churches.

There's no way that the military can have a chaplain for each faith represented in a fighting unit and so we get a watering down of religion or conversion pressure like this report posted by a Buddhist chaplain about a Jew and a Pentecostal. (Not a joke set up.)

While there may be an arguable good for Adventist PR to have Adventist Senate chaplain Barry Black paid to pray over politicians and some chaplains praying with soldiers before they kill to ease their conscience or fears, tax-paid religious leaders run counter to American principles of "separation" and the Adventist practice of "conscientious objection." Not that I don't cross a few Adventist principles myself, but work for peace and keeping religion and government apart seems like core ways to keep faith free and prophetic.

Chaplains exist in the chain of command, they are not autonomous, but employees of the Pentagon. As every chaplain I have talked in depth about this acknowledges, they function as morale boosters. As Bush et al keeps emphasizing, this (contra cut and run rhetoric) morale is necessary for the war machine. The presence of chaplains in the military adds to the moral authority of the Bush administration and the military-industrial complex.

The bottom line: chaplains should not be funded through taxes. it is a violation of the establishment clause.

- Alexander Carpenter studies critical theory, visual culture, and religion at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA.. He is a member of the Adventist Peace Fellowship.

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I think there is a difference between mingling with, eating  with, befriending and ministering to people who do any manner of contemptible things. But military chaplaincy is part of the military institution. I think if we can give serious thought to this it will more than the denomination has done in a long time. There was never a question in the Seminary. It was just assumed that military chaplaincy was an unqualified good. From talking to military chaplains and reading various articles and websites, I would have to conclude at least two things bother me deeply.

1) Military chaplains serve the role of asking the blessing of God on the military campaign. Chaplains do not get to decide which campaigns to support and which to protest. As a member of the armed services you are expected to follow orders. That includes asking God to bless the efforts of our military as they head off to wage preemptive, immoral and unjust wars as well as those that might pass the "just war" tests.

2) Military chaplains serve the role of helping the soldiers manage their emotions. If a soldier is all messed up because they had to kill a child who had a gun pointed at him, the commanding officer can't have that guy on the sidelines. He needs him ready to go back to war the next day. The chaplain has to counsel him through that and get him read to do some more killing.

If a military chaplain became convinced that a certain war were immoral and a soldier came to him or her and expressed their conviction that the war was immoral, that chaplain cannot counsel the soldier to follow his or her conscience.

I think when you really see what the chaplains are required to do, it pretty atrocious. Can there be civilian ministries to military men and women? Absolutely! I think this is a must, in fact, and if an Adventist church were located near a military base (there must be dozens like that) I would say this is a primary mission field. How would that ministry be carried out? I have no idea!

Ryan Bell pastors in Hollywood and is a member of the steering group for the Adventist Peace Fellowship.

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In my opinion there is a difference between endorsing a war state and ministering to troops.  I believe that this line is best walked by the chaplains themselves who are working a hard job in hard situations. 

Is there an industry that our clergy should avoid?  Is there an institution where our clergy shouldn't minister?  I talk about my fear of becoming a compromised pragmatist but I don't think we're helped by absolutist positions either.  In my humble opinion having clergy ecclesiastically endorsed serving in the military says more about our commitment to the salvation of the troops than our approval of war or armed conflict. The notion that we should abolish the chaplaincy within the military is not worthy of our great commission church- I believe that yes, politicians and soldiers are worthy of our ecclesiastical attention.

It is pretty obvious when we look at the job done by military chaplains that their position is morally compromised.  But when I look at Adventist parish pastors I also see plenty of moral compromises- I don't think that chaplains have a monopoly on morally compromised clergy.

I would argue that we are all compromised at some level by the world and that our lives are, if anything, a series of inherent inconsistencies and compromises.  I would say that is true of our personal lives, the lives of our clergy, parish clergy, evangelists, chaplains and beyond.  I do not believe we can be entirely sanctified or perfected until Christs second coming.  Until then we will continue to have institutions in need of continual reform and people in need of continual renewal. 

My question is not if the system is good but if we should be present in it.  In Nazi Germany Adventist nurses did pretty atrocious things.  It is the best example of compromised pragmatic Adventist relations with the state and serves as a stern lesson to us as we discuss how deeply our clergy should be embedded within the state today.

I do believe that we should strive to perfect our institutions and protect the integrity of our clergy in its relations with the state and its institutions as we should strive to consistently side with right against might. Speaking truth to power is a Christian duty we should never abandon.

In one of my favorite shows, Yes, Prime Minister, there is a statement that in today's world politicians want to talk about faith and parsons want to talk about politics.  Well I am a Christian first and an activist second.  When we see the military we should see them as Christ does.  And I can't believe that my Lord would not cavort with politicians, soldiers or military.  Call it my evangelistic impulse. Yes, even they deserve the good news. 

Military people involved in armed conflict overseas need salvation too and the status quo is that you have to join up to reach them.  And we should be there in Iraq amongst the troops.  I don't envy the chaplains who have to confront these dilemmas we've outlined day in and day out!

- Johnny A. Ramirez, is starting an M.Th. in Christian Ethics & Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen. He is a member of the Adventist Peace Fellowship.

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Let me try to re-frame the debate here. I am a pacifist and believe that the worst case of "lowered standards" in the Adventist Church is the way in which we have moved from being a Peace Church in the beginning to one that (like most American Protestants) teaches that killing in war is such an inconsequential moral decision that, unlike whether or not to attend the cinema or wear earings, the church leaves it up to the individual to decide. But, having spent a lot of time interacting with a number of chaplains (Adventist and others, military and others), I don't think their role has a whole lot to do with the institutional witness of their denomination toward war or even their personal stance on the matter.

This may surprise you, but when they feel free to share with fellow clergy whom they trust as close friends, some military chaplains are not at all supportive of current war policy. The role of a chaplain (military, brothel or hosptial or prison ... or industrial?) is very much like that of an noncombatant battlefield medic. It is a slightly counter-cultural presence, not at a decidely counter-cultural presence. It is paying the price of  ambivalence on some moral issues in order to be right where people are hurting and in need of immediate care.

After 40 years as pastoral worker, I am acutely aware that in almost every instance in which I provide care for someone, I must pay that price of some moral ambivalence. When I go to the bedside of a many dying from lung cancer after decades of smoking, it is not the time to talk to him about his smoking habit. Nor, do I rightly represent the compassion of Christ by having a personal policy of refusing hospital visits to people who inflicted their disease through long years of bad health habits. When I go into a prison to lead a worship service, the men singing hymns with me are almost all people who (a) have committed violent crimes and (b) are not completely honest about accepting responsibility for what they have done. They will all tell you a story that puts them in a positive light. And that is human nature.

Almost no one I talk to as a pastor is ready to plead guilty to all their sins, open their minds to the moral implications of their lives that go beyond their understanding and radically change the entire tenor and character of their lifestyle and social position. We would all like to think that we regularly have such 100% conversion stories, but that isn't reality. The nature of pastoral ministry is not just to accept people where they are, but to go to them where they are and bring the presence of Christ into their lives; to do otherwise is to  deny the character of God who loves us in our sin and continues to
extend patience to us for a lifetime as we continue to sin no matter what he does to help us grow.

Thankfully, the ministry of the Christ is not all pastoral. It is also prophetic! Any wholly-formed clergy person has in his/her heart and mind both the image of Barry Black and the image of Jim Wallis. I have marched for peace and civil rights as well as sat at the deathbed of an unrepentent murderer. I am the same clergyman both places, but in one context I function as prophet and in the other I function as pastor. This is entirely consistent with the full character of God; he loves us and hates our sin. He hates our sin for what it does to us, as well as what it does to others. If this is too complex and
compromised for you, then that is because the character of Godis that complex and compromised.

- Monte Sahlin is the Director of Research & Special Projects for the Ohio Conference and chairman of the board for the Center for Creative Ministry and a member of the steering group for the Adventist Peace Fellowship. He is also a part-time teaching as associate faculty at the Campolo School for Social Change at Eastern University and adjunct faculty for the DMin program at Andrews University. His next book, "Mission in Metropolis," comes off the press in July.

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POLLS

Badventists a boon?

By Alexander Carpenter

Spectrum magazine editor Bonnie Dwyer sent this over with a comment about the parallel between Lockhart and Bull's sociological reasons for Adventist success and what NYTimes columnist David Brooks notes about The Catholic Boom in the last fifty years. In addition to the situational irony, the similarity proves stark and elucidates that phenomena some call Badventism.

Brooks writes:

In fact, if you really wanted to supercharge the nation, you’d fill it with college students who constantly attend church, but who are skeptical of everything they hear there. For there are at least two things we know about flourishing in a modern society.

First, college students who attend religious services regularly do better than those that don’t. As Margarita Mooney, a Princeton sociologist, has demonstrated in her research, they work harder and are more engaged with campus life. Second, students who come from denominations that encourage dissent are more successful, on average, than students from denominations that don’t.

This embodies the social gospel annex to the quasi-religious creed: Always try to be the least believing member of one of the more observant sects. Participate in organized religion, but be a friendly dissident inside. Ensconce yourself in traditional moral practice, but champion piecemeal modernization. Submit to the wisdom of the ages, but with one eye open.

The problem is nobody is ever going to write a book sketching out the full quasi-religious recipe for life. The message “God is Great” appeals to billions. Hitchens rides the best-seller list with “God is Not Great.” Nobody wants to read a book called “God is Right Most of the Time.”

I once heard LLU psychology professor (and blogger) Johnny Ramírez-Johnson define an Adventist as someone who calls him or herself an Adventist and pays tithe. While at Andrews I had a caring professor lower his voice and say to me and a group of students that whatever we end up believing, we should never stop going to church. Thus, to professor Ramírez-Johnson's definition I would add that an Adventist attends church regularly on Sabbath.

The point Brooks makes about mixing healthy Catholic doubt with commitment to community seems to apply to the story of Adventist success as well. What Brooks calls the quasi religious, in our context I would call Badventism, the phenomena of thousands of persons who identify with Adventist culture - and even mission - while harboring serious doubts about this or that belief. They are pastors, doctors, mothers, professors, students, homosexuals, and administrators. They often read Spectrum. Most are graduates of our school system - too well-read to buy it all, too committed to Adventism to fit in anywhere else. They are the least believing members of a very observant sect which means that they take it all pretty seriously.

Is paying tithe to the denomination, attending church on Sabbath, and calling oneself an Adventist enough to define a person as a Seventh-day Adventist? 

The McPassion?

By Alexander Carpenter

Sometimes it is good to pause and reflect on the ways that commercialism and marketing exploits the kingdom of God.

Discussing Sabbath School qua Sabbath. School.

By Alexander Carpenter

Several discussions erupted over at Johnny's Justice post. Let's let ethics stay there and open up a discussion below about improving Sabbath School.

Cliff, what exactly is the purpose of the quarterly?

At least here's the Church Manual on Sabbath School in general:

The Sabbath School is the primary religious education system of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and has four purposes: study of the Scripture, fellowship, community outreach, and world mission emphasis.

Wouldn't it be interesting if a new SS guide incorporated all of these, say, connecting scripture to taking care of God's "global warming" creation? And then helping people realize that how we treat our environment impacts our witness around the world. And doing it as a community creates fellowship.

In cooperation with world divisions, the specific mission of the General Conference Sabbath School Department is to distribute the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide for all age levels, provide designs for Sabbath School programming within the context of the various world division cultures, provide resources and training systems for Sabbath School teachers, and promote world mission Sabbath School offerings.

I wonder what "provide designs for Sabbath School programming within the context of the various world division cultures" means.

Does it include a culture of affluence, culture of epistemological uncertainty, a culture of apathy toward the suffering of other, a culture that increasingly misunderstands what "religious liberty" means, a culture at war, perhaps even creating peace in the so-called "culture wars".

I'd love to see a SS lesson that compared research and analysis from Adventist literature, sociology, religion profs, et al and the head of ADRA, BRI. Why not compare our various viewpoints on contemporary issues.

There are a couple of churches that do denomination-wide bible studies on the issues of the day and it seems to really get people engaged. Especially in this age of cheap video and YouTube, the NAD could send out teams of young two person camera teams from SAU and PUC media program to local churches interviewing real live people on their views and then at the beginning of SS each week, everyone could check in to see what other average, lay, church-and-SS-attending Adventists think. (Just another radically liberal idea from Spectrum.)

The SS time is slipping away from our church culture and it has so much potential to increase the sense of Adventist community and commitment to discovering present/eternal truth.

I wonder if separation of church and state is an eternal truth, what about civil rights, caring for creation, helping the least of these, Jan Paulsen recently brought up AIDS in Africa, issues of spirituality. Could we have a church-wide study on the issue of women's ordination?

As the Church Manual says, this is our community's primary religious education system. It appears that many Adventists feel that we're more kindergarten than primary these days. . .who has ideas about changing that?

Justice: A Journey in Moral Reasoning

by Johnny A. Ramirez

Video
Moral Reasoning 22: Justice

A critical analysis of selected classical and contemporary theories of justice, including discussion of present-day applications. The course examines debates about justice prominent in moral and political philosophy, and invites students to subject their own views on these controversies to critical examination. Principal readings are drawn from the following books-

• Aristotle, Politics
• Locke, Second Treatise of Government
• Kant, Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals
• Mill, Utilitarianism
• Rawls, A Theory of Justice

Other assigned readings include excerpts from Jeremy Bentham and contemporary writers such as Nozick, Dworkin, MacIntyre, Sandel, and Walzer. 

Hundreds of students pack Harvard's Sanders Theater for Michael Sandel's "Justice" course—an introduction to moral and political philosophy. In a project to extend the reach of this legendary course, Harvard has created a film that takes you inside the classroom. Come join the lively exchange of ideas as Sandel and his students grapple with hard questions of ethics and civic life.

Take advantage of this great lecture on moral philosophy from Harvard College here.

UPDATE: Now with Podcast.

Save your church money and save our planet

By Alexander Carpenter

Whether or not one believes that humans affect the climate, or our water, or that energy should be renewable, here's a way that congregations can at least save money. And if you or your pastor happens to care about the environment, that's a bonus as well. Plus, there's the bonus of being a witness and seeing if that beatitude holds up: blessed are the meek for they shall inherent the earth. . .

Your tax dollars help pay for the Environmental Protection Agency, and here's a way for Adventist congregations to put our government to work. The ENERGY STAR Congregations program notes:

Most congregations can cut energy costs by up to 30% by investing strategically in efficient equipment, facility upgrades and maintenance. With free, unbiased information and technical support from ENERGY STAR, your congregation can more easily improve stewardship of your budget’s energy dollars, and of the earth by reducing energy waste and energy costs, while protecting the environment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Congregations Network provides free information, technical support and public recognition for congregations that take significant action against energy waste. In 2005, with the help of ENERGY STAR, Americans saved enough energy to power 28 million homes and prevented global warming emissions equivalent to those of 23 million cars – while saving $12 billion on utility bills.

They offer awards to congregations based on their conservation efforts and energy savings. Your congregation can apply for one of these awards if you fulfill the following criteria:
-Have a facility of 100,000 square feet or less.
-Practice exemplary energy efficiency that translates into real dollar savings.
-Occupy current facility/have been in location for at least 12 months. 
The deadline to apply is June 30, 2007. For more information, call 1-888-STAR YES or check the Congregations website. (It takes about five minutes.) And it would a nice gift to the next generation of Adventists. . .

And the winners are. . .

By Alexander Carpenter

Here are the winners of the Spectrum Blog 3000th comment celebratory essay contest. These replies are in answer to the question: If an Adventist were running for the US presidency what would you expect his or her top three principle-informed policy priorities to be?

The first three will receive a free one-year subscription to Spectrum: The Journal of the Association of Adventist Forums.

Jonathan Pichot (age: 19)
1.  The center-piece of this candidate's platform, influenced by the Adventist emphasis on education, would be a comprehensive plan to reform the American school system.  Adventist teachers, dedicated to the church's mission, often sacrifice better positions in order to teach.  The reform would attempt to inspire that sort of devotion (a la Teach for America).

2.  Whether or not universal health-care is feasible or appropriate, this candidate, influenced by the history of Adventist health-care and its increased national attention, would pursue a significant public health campaign emphasizing Adventist beliefs: exercise, day of rest, moderation, etc.

3.  Understanding that the recent social tensions in America stem largely from religion, this candidate would emphasize freedom of religion and conscience for all Americas, continuing the significant work Adventists have already done in this regard.

Jared Wright (age: 26)
1. Making health care affordable, universal, and effective. Adventists have always emphasized holistic health.  An Adventist might include healthful lifestyle initiatives in the health care package.

2. Ending the Iraq War and working toward peace. Adventist teachings strongly emphasize God’s love.  Non-violent peace building is perhaps the clearest expression of God’s love that human beings can practice.   An Adventist would oppose war.

3. Combating Climate Change.  Because climate change primarily affects the poorest of the poor, policies combating climate change would be a priority for any presidential candidate who takes seriously Scripture’s injunction to do unto the least of these.

Kirsten Nixon (age:19)
In order to be true to the Adventist roots of religious liberty, an Adventist President would acknowledge their representation of all people, and therefore emphasize the separation of church and state.   

Secondly, an Adventist President, conscious of the importance of  education in Adventist history, and an advocate of smaller government, should repeal/alter the "No Child Left Behind" Act and  give more authority over schools to state governments. 

Finally, such a president would advocate better health of Americans (obviously attached to the Health Message).  This could be done by subsidies, or educational programs encouraging better eating habits and exercise.

__________________

These two are included for honorable mention:

Bill Cork
Universal Health Care, with incentives for preventative medicine and healthful practices.

A Peace-Making Foreign Policy, with emphasis on de-escalation of rhetoric, negotiated settlement of differences, building bridges between cultures, developing of grassroots economic initiatives aimed at building self-sufficiency of villages.

First Amendment Restoration, including applying Sherbert Test to governments at all levels, elimination of voucher programs in education, and respecting individual choice in union membership.

Kent Kingston
1) Poverty reduction - Readjust budgets so that the world's poor (including the American poor) have enough to eat, clean water, safe housing, access to education and healthcare and the means to earn a living.

2) Arms reduction - Cease subsidies to arms manufacturers.  To prohibit arms sales to groups and governments who use them irresponsibly.  To sign the anti-landmines treaty.  To reduce America's nuclear arsenal.  To negotiate with other countries to do the same.

3) Human rights - Put pressure on governments who continue to abuse their citizens (not just the ones that have oil either).  Close Guantanamo.

Update: The Adventist Review has a list of priorities  by James Standish. H/t to Bill Cork for the link.

Speaking of religious liberty

By Alexander Carpenter

You might want to check out this Adventist News Network story on the Liberty, International Religious Liberty Association, North American Religious Liberty Association annual banquet. The keynote speaker was Sen. John Kerry this year. In the past they've had John McCain.

Sen. Kerry said that, We all uphold the right to practice what we believe as a matter of religious freedom. The ability to be able to do that is a crucial part of our national identity; [it] is what we hold up to other nations and it's what we take great pride in." He also spoke about the environment noting that,"Every faith shares a commonality, a universality of principle. All share a fundamental respect for the earth itself, of creation and what it is." He then quoted 1 Corinthians 10:26 to remind his audience that 'The earth is the Lord's, And everything in it.'

No god but God of war?

By Alexander Carpenter

I enjoyed this interview with hipster Iranian scholar Reza Aslan. His informed points about Iraq cut right through the fearmongering about the "war on terrorism" and noting that Iran has the best Muslim democracy in the Middle East needs more attention.

As Michael Scheuer, the former station chief of the CIA's Osama Bin Laden task force, has correctly noted:

Osama doesn’t hate our freedom: The fundamental flaw in our thinking about Bin Laden is that ‘Muslims hate and attack us for what we are and think, rather than what we do.’ Muslims are bothered by our modernity, democracy, and sexuality, but they are rarely spurred to action unless American forces encroach on their lands. It’s American foreign policy that enrages Osama and al-Qaida, not American culture and society.

 

Book Review: Swimming Against the Current by Chris Blake

Reviewed by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Put simply, Swimming Against the Current: Living for the God You Love gave me hope for the future of Adventism. I’m a lifelong Adventist and the product of Adventist education, the missionary field, and veggie meat, and I’ve already seen some of my friends leave the church—although not God in most cases—because they found little connection between corporate faith and real life. They aren’t rebellious, angry types, these friends of mine; they’re intellectuals, creative minds, and seekers. What they want is spirituality with more substance than cotton candy. What they want is theology to be brought down from the stratosphere to earth. What they want is less tradition for the sake of tradition and more grace. I can’t blame my friends for seeking elsewhere what they didn’t find in the Adventist church—I want the same things myself.

Blake wrote Swimming Against the Current for people like my friends, and me. In the preface, Blake says that his earlier volume, Searching for a God to Love, was for “people who believe in God but who don’t believe what they hear about God” and that Swimming Against the Current is for those who have found a God to love and who are now searching for more. If you’re a longtime Adventist or a Christian believer struggling to connect the God you know and the religion you practice, this book is for you, too.

Swimming Against the Current is divided into three sections: “Do Justly,” “Love Mercy,” and “Walk Humbly with Our God.” Blake says that the first section is the most countercultural, but it’s by far my favorite. I think Blake is at his best here as he tackles topics as various as Adventists and activism, spiritual bullying, prejudice, the state of Adventist writing, integrity, and valuing the church’s youth, in chapters with titles like “Why I Don’t Pray for Jesus to Come ‘Soon.’” It’s thought-provoking theology for those who want more than to await divine rescue from a world that supposedly isn’t our home.

Blake is serious about his topic, but the tone of the book is never preachy or heavy. The reader encounters, instead, openness, warmth, and humor in Blake’s assorted anecdotes about skydiving, romance, prison, and even sitting behind the G.C. platform with buddy Clifford Goldstein (whom he describes as “giving a first impression of a ruffled politician with ADHD”), and in quintessential Chris Blake style, he provides refreshing insights on the makings of a thriving spirituality.

Blake doesn’t set out to thrill everyone on every single page. Reactions to this book will be as individual as its readers and as various as its chapter lengths, tones, and topics. Some chapters may elicit a shrug; others, fierce dissent. But I posit that at least one of the chapters will leave you awestruck by the God you love.

Read this book. Read it if you’re Blake’s intended audience—people like my friends and me who are looking for an authentic spirituality. Read it if you’re a family—“even a family of one,” as Blake puts it—just for the chapter titled “Family Values.” And finally, read it especially if you’re one of the leaders, pastors, and theologians who collectively steer the direction of the Adventist church. The theology in this book is daring but grounded, principled but pragmatic, and at its core, compassionate. Along with Stuart Tyner’s Searching for the God of Grace, it hints at the direction in which Adventism must move in order to be alive and relevant: against the current.

Swimming Against the Current is available from Pacific Press Publishing and at Amazon.com.

Biblical environmentalism

By Alexander Carpenter

For our final event of the year, my Graduate Theological Union chapter of the Beatitudes Society teamed up with California Interfaith Power and Light to co-host Dr. Matthew Sleeth. An evangelical environmenalist, Dr. Sleeth shared the textual and moral reasons why he gave up his medical practice and cut his families' carbon footprint. Now he works full time to share the good news that following Christ includes caring about creation and changing our consumer culture to stop global warming. We had a packed room with about a quarter of the audience made up of people from local churches.

Here's a link to his site, Serve God, Save the Planet.

Ethical living on earth

By Alexander Carpenter

Check out Jared Wright's thoughtful three point post on why stopping global warming is a moral issue.

Mother of My Adventism

By Alexander Carpenter

I just got off the phone with my mother wishing her a happy Mother's Day and listening to all her work worries. After I hung up it occurred to me that I wouldn't be an Adventist without her biological and social influence. Moreover, it was during college that I just realized that both my parents molded much of how I relate to authority - both divine and human. As a result, I pray to GOD, not a heavenly father or mother, grandpa or grandma. It is precisely because I appreciate the contributions of my relatives of both genders that I don't want to saddle one side as less Godlike.

My mother raised (often homeschooling) four boys. All our pets were male as well. As a result, even though she read more Ellen White than Gloria Steinem and probably still doesn't know who Simone de Beauvoir is, she embodied a practical Adventist feminism. For family worships, we'd read Adventist Home as well as spend what seemed like agonizing hours memorizing Psalms or a particularly terrible episode with Rudyard Kipling's "If—".  It's tough to appreciate the character building power of 19th century poetry while Legos await.

A creative thinker, I remember her objecting to the mindless male-first mentality at our small local church. I recall being embarrassed as a teen in adult Sabbath School class cringing out a thought: "Why is it that my mother always has to comment on the lesson?" An RN, health is her passion, and I remember after my parent's divorce her voicing a worry that she wouldn't find a partner who could keep up with her on morning runs. Still an Australian citizen, with Eastern European roots, she's lived in America as a resident alien since the sixties. Her family knew Des Ford and Bob Brimsmead from plenty of Sabbath afternoon "discussions" Down Under and always fighting the old battles through the late 80s and early 90s during the holidays they'd sit around the table and reveal to me the overlooked ideological variety of Adventism. Her relatives were all conservative immigrants but they championed Des as much as any 1980s AAF academic. Not a graduate degree among 'em, but they still loved the struggle for good theology, and tempered by life under Communism, they worried about a movement where institutional authority and moderate apathy become more essential than the daily walk to define present truth.

And that's what I appreciate about the Adventism of my mother: that passion for truth. She and I argue about inspiration and she tells me to eat this or that weird food. Do I listen? Not as much as I should. But as I remind her (and my father) we don't listen to God as much as we should either. They know they're in good company! And perhaps that's part of the point in Spectrum community and Adventism. We know that we don't hear God as much as we should. But we're in good company, all equally the offspring of God.

On this day, in remembering mothers we often neglect all those women who lost, never had, never wanted, aborted, could not have, were legally prohibited from having children. Let's not. And let's also remember the original purpose of Mother's Day: to promote pacifism.

As Digby writes:

It's unfashionable and vaguely unpatriotic these days to talk about "peace" but back in 1870, it was a pretty compelling concept. As the country was still reeling from the effects of the civil war and still dealt daily with its consequent illness, poverty, injury and death, feminist Julia Ward Howe wrote the following proclamation creating a Mother's Day convention and a demand for "the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace." How quaint.

Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870
by Julia Ward Howe

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Human rights good for spirituality?

By Alexander Carpenter

In light of our recent discussions of Adventist spirituality, I thought that this quote in a recent Adventist News Network article adds a judicious point. During a visit to Manila, Philippines, GC Communications Director Ray Dabrowski writes a profile about so-to-retire Philippines Judge Crispin B. Bravo. It concludes with two quotes:

For Bravo. . .his departure from the trial court will not mark a break with the legal profession. He plans to "offer legal services to human rights victims suspected as enemy of the state without strong evidence."
 
Judge Bravo also plans to be more involved with the plight of the poor. "The church is not [fully] spiritual if it is not helping poor people," he said.

This gives me hope. Even blessed hope. Sure, lots of Adventists help the poor and care about human rights. It's just good to see people talking about these forms of loving one another as essential to Adventist spirituality. And Judge Bravo has only been an Adventist for eight years. Bravo indeed. . .and in word.

Obey Your Thirst

By Tim Dunston

When I was in Africa a few years back I saw a billboard that reminded me why I need to carry my camera with me more often. It looked like your everyday Sprite advertisement--green bottle, slogan, all larger than life--but, underneath the green bottle wasn't a picture of Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James, just these words:

"Want to succeed in life? Drink Sprite."

I didn't know if I should laugh or borrow an axe and chop it to pieces. I didn't do either, in fact, I didn't do anything. Really, what can you do when marketing hijacks art?

"But a picture of a Sprite bottle is hardly art," I can hear you say to me. And you'd be right. It's not art. "Then why bring it up?" I hear you ask. I bring it up because revealed in that billboard is the essence of marketing. We have learned to have so much fun with marketing--as many of us watch the superbowl for commercials as to see the game--we forget that its essence is deceit. The slogan on the billboard had nothing to do with the product being sold. It was meant to take advantage of the anxiety we feel. Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad thing to obey your thirst, it will often lead you to meaning. But even when we buy their product, even if we drink it, we find it doesn't really satisfy. Not the way we wish it would.

So, what do we do with that anxiety? If we can't buy our way out of it, how do we exchange it for meaning? For starters, you can put down your remote, stop channel surfing and pick up your paintbrush, or camera, or microphone. Art has the power to save us from that anxiety, marketing only has the power to make us spend.

"You really think art has power?" I hear you ask. Well, art is a bottomless well, always has been. It has been there in every generation, in every period of history to help bring us back from the brink, to quench the deepest thirst. When we create, we reveal a divine playfulness that draws us toward something more deeply human. That is the power of art. It re-humanizes us, it reawakens meaning in our lives. And the beauty of art is that there is even more re-humanizing power when we share it.

Often when we think of art, it's as a painting or a poem, but art is so much more than just works of art. It's a way of life, a way of living. When we reawaken the parts of us that play and create, not only do we produce works of art, but our everyday, mundane existence becomes art--we become living works of art. Art has this power because the essence of art is the revealing of truth, and it is that revealing that gives art the power to save.

So, back to the earlier questions. What can we do when art is hijacked? And what do we do with the anxiety we feel? Same answer to both questions. Ultimately, I'm glad I didn't chop down that billboard. Since then I've learned that creating is a more powerful form of change than destroying. But, on to the answer. I've got just two words for you. Create. Share.

There's power in art, there's even more when we share it.

Friday Randomness

By Alexander Carpenter

Check out these great posts.

Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation Adventist Women 4 Peace

Black and Adventist and Environment and Sabbath. Sherman

Adventists and international relations. Jonathan

The Radicals of Adventism Anonymous

Mitt throws Sharp Jab Johnny Sr.

Speyer and religious liberty Bill

A Theology of Ecology Jared

Immigration and JFK Glenn

10 Commandments Monte

Ethical Realism Johnny

Grace Marcel

And what's on your mind these days? What are you doing this weekend?

Art: Interview with Karen Gimbel

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Karen Gimbel first contacted us at Spectrum after picking up a back issue of the magazine at a college bookstore. As an artist who had long been away from the church, Karen says that Spectrum gave her hope of an opportunity to engage in dialogue on important issues. For Karen personally, one of those issues is art and its convergence with spirituality. Karen says of creating art, "For me, my works are prayer made visible, the invisible made manifest in this world."Karen's email to us led to the showcasing of one of her artworks on the cover of Spectrum. The newest issue of the magazine, with Karen's beautiful abstract piece, "Through a Glass Darkly," on the cover, will be landing in the mailboxes of subscribers in the next few days.

It has been a pleasure to correspond with Karen and to hear about her spiritual and artistic journey. Following is our conversation on the significance of art in a spiritual life, desire, why the act of creation is like pregnancy, and much more. A subtle point Karen makes is about the importance of listening. "I seek to deepen my capacities to listen to the spirit who moves through me and creates art," she says. It struck me that, artist or not, listening--to one another, to the world around us, to the voice of the divine--is a significant part of the journey of spiritual growth.  

SF-J: Tell me about your journey--with art and with the Seventh-day Adventist church.

K. Gimbel: I grew up in a large extended family of devoted Seventh-day Adventists - several generations on both sides. I also had an intense yearning to create art. When I was 30 I had enough disillusionment about the church that I left the church in a very conscious and articulated (and angry) way. In my journey to individuate and find my own spiritual path, my efforts toward finding creative expression was a vital element. Any ability that I might have to receive inspiration that I am able to manifest in works of art is a result of this deep inner spiritual work – and the fruit of my long years of searching for my own relationship to a God of my own understanding. It is a very sweet kind of homecoming to see my art on the cover of Spectrum. I am only now turning to my history with a curiosity about how to integrate and understand my first 30 years of Seventh-day Adventist religious and social conditioning. 

SF-J: Do you find parallels between the journey of the artist and that of the believer?