Comments of the Week May 6-12
Comments of the Week May 6-12
“But will we be using the traditional white/black smoke in St Louis?” –Luci Rice Roberts on the upcoming election of new SDA Leaders
Comments on Editorial, Church Leaders & Their Selection, Alex Bryan’s Post-Protest Vespers, Reverent Otherdoxy, Satire, Danish Union’s Pro-LGBTQ+ Statement, & the Domestic Violence Disclaimer in the SS Quarterly
EDITORIAL: What Are We For? A Call to Beautiful Vision
“We need people who are willing to build something so radiant, so rooted in love and creativity, that the old systems begin to fade into irrelevance. This isn’t naïve optimism. It’s a strategy for enduring change.
Three Church Leaders, & What Their Selection Means
“But will we be using the traditional white/black smoke in St Louis?“
–Luci Rice Roberts
“If an alleged enemy would know what I know about his plans to harm me, then he never would choose such plans. So all these scribbles of persecutions and Sunday – Saturday controversies are too childish to be taken seriously. And after all, we are too small to be a threat to an organization the size of the Roman Catholic Church. Let us bother about our own problems. and it is the leaking of members through all doors and holes.”
–Tihomir Odorcic
A Reflection on President Alex Bryan’s Post-Protest Vespers at Walla Walla University
“Excellent article, Shelley! Thank you for speaking out. ‘The church’ may not yet have ‘split,’ but I now have. I refuse any longer to endorse chauvinism, misogyny, homophobia, and the religious elitism embraced and practiced by pharasaical religionists who arrogantly and blasphemously presume themselves to be the voice and authority of God on this earth. I absolutely cannot, as a matter of principle, have my name used in any way in support of such offensiveness. The recent Walla Walla University issue was the breaking point for me. I have always admired Alex; and I understand how difficult his position is. But he did not speak out strongly and courageously against the reprehensible discrimination inflicted on one of God’s children. It was a very diplomatic dodge-the-bullet effort to placate everyone without angering those in positions of power over his career, to whom he is more answerable than to a seriously wronged student. The student can be patted on the back and marginalized. Those who control Alex’s career cannot. I find it nauseating.”
–Don Drury
“I appreciate the thoughts in this article! That sense of awe and wonder, when cultivated, truly is a most powerful motivation. So it seems that reverence in the religious sense comes from experiencing God, rather than just being something that is owed to Him.”
SATIRE: Loma Linda Adventists Greatly Disappointed Cloud the Size of a Hand Just LA Smog
“Will Adventist Trump supporters be disappointed by cloud size?”
–Reg Lawson
Danish Union Releases Generous LGBTQ+ Statement
“‘If we fail, let it be on the side of mercy and not by condemnation and harsh behavior.’
“I have heard it said domestic violence is adultery. It is a breaking of the covenant of marriage every bit as physical sex with another person who isn’t your spouse. That much seems clear when Jesus explained sins such as adultery occur as much in our hearts as with our bodies.
