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Old Readers Corner
#50: "Thanks for your good summary of the military tribunal proposal, which sets a dangerous precedent under the U.S. Constitution. And, regarding your final section, I agree that the most consistent position for Christians is anti-abortion and anti-death penalty. Many Catholic leaders seem to understand that, but it seems most American evangelicals are anti-abortion and pro-death penalty, while many mainline Protestants are pro-choice and anti-death penalty.” Eldyn L Karr.
Thanks for your well thought comments! I am anti-death penalty, because the consequences are irreversible. There have been many cases where innocent individuals have been jailed for crimes they did not commit. Recently, lawyers have been able to free some inmates with the help of the scientific advances made in DNA technology. My position is: if you are going to kill, make sure that you target the guilty and not the innocent. Much less five thousand of them at one swoop. And don't be so coward as to target the most indefensible members of the human race: the unborn! Nic Samojluk.
#49: "Please, delete my name and e-mail address from your list. Thank you.” Bob Mendenhall.
#48: This item was deleted at the request of the correspondent.
#47: "Who did the most damage to this nation, a betraying President Clinton or the terrorists? ... Just look how the nation has quickly brought God back into the picture as a direct result of this horrible terrorist act! I wonder how the school children were allowed to call on God! Will we hear of teachers called into court for violating American laws? Great speech by Bush, by the way. I am proud of him as a man and as our president ... Yes, Mr. Cronkite says that God loves all peoples, but he hates the sins mentioned by Falwell. Scripture is very specific about that. He even does not like his sharp words against Mr. Falwell's statements as being 'the most abominable thing I have ever heard.’” Hugo Schmidt.
#46: "Your SDA Forum helps clarify many ideas, so it is an important service to the Lord and to others ... It is a continuing source of embarrassment that other churches are engaged in pro-life activities and we SDAs are not." Hector Hammerly
#45: "I received the last (article) entitled 'Day of Infamy,' and I read it with great interest. To begin with, I must tell you that I join my voice in condemnation of such a cruel and bloody act aimed against the innocents. That day (9/11/01) all the Argentine television channels were broadcasting directly from N.York. President's Bush reaction was strong and, to my judgment, arrogant: '72 hours of grace for Afghanistan. If they do not deliver bin Laden dead or alive, we will turn Afghanistan into rubles.' ... Why such a reaction? The answer makes sense. It is the first time, since the Civil War, that the U.S. sees the blood flowing in its own territory. Up to now, (the U.S) would send their soldiers to kill, and the only ones able to see blood were those soldiers ... The United States unloaded its military strength upon Iraq because it invaded Kuwait, which was formerly an Iraqi province. Iraq was defeated, reduced to abject poverty. Then the president, in an act that the world could not understand, bombed Iraq again with the pretext that there were atomic buildings there. What they managed to destroy was an aspirin factory. ... Iraq had built an underground shelter for women and children, and one of those sophisticated missiles ... hit the ventilation system of said shelter, killing 750 women and children. ... Americans publish the pictures of kindergarten children in N. York whose parents will never come to pick them up. It's a sad picture. But they never publish the pictures of Iraqi children that they massacred. And poor powerless Iraq, deprived of USSR help, was forced to its knees, unable to react. War, like any terrorist act, is tainted with infamy, and it is like a two-sided coin. In God's sight, innocent victims and children have the same value, be they Americans, Afghanis, or from Iraq.” Basilio Zawadzki.Thanks for writing. Coming from a man who has lived and worked for the church in Argentina, the former Soviet Union, and Israel, it bears significant weight, and you have painted a moving picture of the suffering imposed on the innocents by both terrorism and war. Regarding the conduct of Osama bin Laden, I would like to call your attention to the following difference between what he did as contrasted with the conduct of the U.S. You will probably grant that there is a huge difference between aiming at innocent civilians, at a time when the N.York Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were full of workers, with the evident objective of maximizing the number of civilian casualties; and the unintended death of civilians who died when the U.S targeted what was thought to be military installations. There is another difference that you might have noticed. Americans were sad when confronted with the pictures of innocent civilians dying in Iraq, which was reported as unintended collateral damage. Americans made every effort at aiming their missiles at a time of day when there would be a minimum of civilian victims, and they did not cheer at the unintended death of women and children. When the Twin Towers collapsed, sending to their death around five thousand innocent workers of multiple nationalities, including many Muslims, you could see the Iraqis dancing on the streets; and the message from the Osama bin Laden's camp, according to a radio report, was: " We must rejoice at the sight of infidel's body parts flying through the air."With respect to Kuwait, do not forget that Argentina was once a colony belonging to Spain. Likewise, the territory of the United States was once a British colony. Does this mean that either Spain or Great Britain have the right to claim their former territories back, or take them back by force? I doubt that you would encourage them to try. I do not think that the sovereignty of Kuwait was ever questioned by the civilized nations of the world. If Saddam Hussein had not been stopped, his next target might have been Saudi Arabia, and then Jordan and Israel. This was perfectly illustrated by the actions of Hitler, whose appetite increased by each conquest until, in a short time, he had all western Europe under his Nazi regime. Nic Samojluk.
#44: "Good article. I enjoyed reading it ("Another Day of Infamy") I am, however, pro-choice.” Ovi Popescu.
#43: "The following article, though in Portuguese, is nothing but a collection of E.G. White's statements about God's judgments soon to be poured out, not on Muslim concentrations, but USA cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco ... Either she or you are in terrible error. What is your answer to that? ... If Bush or Powell is so determined to go after Bin Laden, why don't they show some manhood and show to the world that they do indeed have proof of his involvement as he challenged them to do? Is America so arrogant thinking that the rest of the world's population is nothing but apes? Please try to open your eyes a little and don't let your brains be washed by politics but rather by the blood of Christ!” Salo Roth.Thanks for writing! If you are in doubt about Bin Laden's involvement in the terrorist attack on New York, read the following story written by Jeff Franks entitled "U.S. Links Bin Laden to Attack." This should not surprise anybody, since there is ample published evidence linking this sponsor of terrorism to many previous similar acts in the recent past. The Apostle Paul told us that the government is "God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." This is what President bush was elected for, to protect U.S. citizens, and to punish men like Bin Laden.
If a criminal is threatening to murder a member of my family, my duty is to call the police, and I hope he comes with a gun, and that he can shoot straight. Turning the other cheek is not part of the police training. Shooting straight is! A policy of appeasement has been tried in the past and it has failed. Evil must be stopped at its inception. Prime Minister Churchill said that appeasement is like feeding a crocodile. It does not work. Bin Laden's aim is the total destruction of both Israel and the U.S., and of anybody helping them, including his own country of birth, Saudi Arabia.You sent me a number of E.G. White quotations predicting the destruction of many U.S. cities. I am familiar with those statements. I was tempted to use them, but I decided not to, since my audience is made up of individuals belonging to many religious persuasions who have never heard about E.G. White, or perhaps even the Bible. My mission is not to shove E. G. down their throats, but rather to appeal to their common sense, which the good Lord amply granted every honest human being. You probably noticed that prior to 1973 the U.S. was rather free from terrorism.
Why is the Lord withdrawing his protection from our cities, from our schools, and from our formerly safe streets? One of the reasons, I believe, is rooted in what happened in the last quarter of a century: In 1973, the U.S. supreme Court decided that a woman has the right to murder her own children, provided she does this before they are born. This received the blessing of most Christian organizations, including our own SDA church, which sided with the Pro-choice position. The result is that over 40 million unborn babies have been either dismembered or poisoned since then with the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court.We are so paranoid about loosing our religious freedom, and about being eventually persecuted, that we are willing to excuse the genocide of the unborn. I can send you a copy of an article written by John V. Stevens, which was published in the "Pacific Union Recorder" on August 20, 1990; where the author adamantly defended the Pro-Choice position, arguing that Jesus died on the cross to protect our freedom! Since the topic of the article was abortion, the only conclusion I get is that Jesus allegedly died to give mothers the freedom to murder their unborn children. Can you accept this? He also argued that the unborn are devoid of personhood, which is a blatant justification of what the Supreme Court did when it removed the legal protection from the unborn on the same personhood pretext, thus exempting them from the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
To this published article, we can add two books published by renowned Loma Linda professors whom I admire for their exceptional talent and dedication to Christian education, but who do not share my view about the evil of abortion: "What is a person," in which the author tells us that in order to be considered a person, an individual must possess "the power to think and to do" which the unborn lack, and "Abortion. Ethical Issues & Options," which includes a collection of articles written by a large number of influential Adventist authors, the majority of them justifying the killing of the unborn.I believe that the Lord is slowly removing his protection from America because, in addition to all the other sins we are guilty of, we have added this great sin of keeping silent while the genocide of the unborn is taking place. And do not forget that the legalization of abortion, which is a breach of the Sixth Commandment, was the natural aftermath of the sexual revolution of the sixties, which is condemned by the Seventh Commandment. We have been telling the world that we are the "Remnant," keeping God's Commandments, yet we justify the murder of the innocent. We have no time nor interest to write or publish about the evil of abortion, but we have plenty of printed space for preaching and teaching about the sacredness of God's Holy Sabbath, which is protected by the Fourth Commandment.
We publish hundreds of articles, and we devote entire magazine issues designed to induce readers to worship God on the correct day of the week. Tell me, which is worse: worshipping the Lord on the wrong day of the week, or murdering our own children? And do not forget that one of the most successful California abortionists is a graduate of Loma Linda University, whose notorious work jars with the noble humanitarian service of those who have graduated from the same institution. We teach that God's final test of loyalty, which will determine our eternal destiny, is the Sabbath; forgetting that Jesus told us in Matthew 25 that it will be the way we treat the "least" members of the human race. Who do you think has the correct view of eschatology?You say that I am in error, but you fail to identify my error. Are you implying that the over six thousand New York victims were killed by God? Were the 300 firefighters and the sixty-five policemen, who lost their lives while rescuing as many people as they could from the burning inferno, also guilty in God's eyes and therefore punished with death by him? Do you realize the enormity of the evil of targeting the Twin Towers of the World Trading Center at a time when it was full of civilians who did not represent a threat to the terrorists? By citing Ellen White's prediction, you seem to imply that the Lord miraculously intervened to make sure the firefighter's engines would be unable to operate, in order that over six thousand civilian employees, whose only crime was to faithfully show up for work on a peaceful Tuesday morning, would be instantly annihilated. One man got lazy that day, and he survived, while those who had a strong sense of duty did not.
On one occasion, Jesus' disciples asked their Master who was to blame for the death of those killed by the collapse of a tower, and the Lord surprised them with the statement: "Unless you repent, you will all perish. " And perish they did, when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem a few decades later. If you want to cite Ellen White, then do not forget that she also has a statement where she declares that God allows evil to punish evil. The seeds of evil are in evil itself. There is no need for the Lord to supernaturally intervene every time evil needs to be punished. All he needs to do is to allow us to reap the natural consequences of our sin and rebellion. If we adamantly persist in sowing the seeds of evil, let's not be surprised about the harvest! And if you want to know what is the General Conference thinking about those E. White statements, I suggest you visit the G.C. web site! Nic Samojluk.
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#42: "I hope the terrorist action didn't affect your city. I pray for your protection.” S. Fadairo.Thanks for your concern and prayers. Fortunately, we are three thousand miles from New York and Washington. Nevertheless, what happened there is a sign that nobody is safe from harm no matter his location. We live in a strange world. Targeting innocent civilians whose crime was to go to work is hard to comprehend! We can't feel safe anymore. I remember the days when the greatest threat was an atomic missile from the Soviet Union, which only the two leading nations could afford due to its prohibitive cost. Now, if we see a hijacker with a $ 2 dollar box cutter, it scares the daylights out of us. This was recently masterfully expressed by Fred Reed in his article entitled "Where is it going?" that was sent to me by Merwin Spragg. I can't resist the temptation of quoting the following paragraph:
"Our enemies ... have demonstrated that with a $ 2 box-cutter and an airliner full of fuel you can damage hitherto possible only with a sustained attack by heavy bombers. They've mangled the stock market, humiliated the United States, seem to be putting airlines out of business, cost hotels billions, grounded our crop-dusters, caused massive lay-offs; and seem to be, because of the stock market, about to keep a lot of kids from going to college. They have also frightened the country permanently. They may well turn us into a semi-police state, and have certainly caused us to go into a war of indeterminable outcome. All this for, presumably, under a thousand dollars. It is probably the best return on investment in military history. Their crucial realization was that a vehicle is not a target, but a weapon."
While these terrorists, allegedly supported by Bin Laden and the Taliban regime, were planning their devilish massacre, we were sending tons of food in order to save the Afghanis from starvation, and also training some of their kamikaze pilots in order that they could aim straight at our Twin Towers with our own highjacked airplanes. Nic Samojluk.
#41: "Do we wonder why God would allow this to happen? Hasn't God given us enough examples in the Old Testament of how He withdraws His blessings and protection when His people turn from His ways? We heard that possibly 20,000 people were in the World Trade Center tower when the first plane crashed into it. That is as many people are killed every 5 days in America deliberately and 'legally' by way of abortion. Yet, how many Christians grieve for them and put any effort into stopping abortion? ... We must go to God in true, humble repentance for the sins of our nation: murder of innocent babies, acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, pornography, divorce, sexual promiscuity, materialism, putting our children in godless schools ... and so on.” Sharon Guengerich. Three days after the New York tragedy, Dr. Billy Graham spoke at the National Cathedral and affirmed that as a nation we need "to repent of our sins." Unfortunately, he did not spell out what we needed to repent of. This gap was filled up by Jerry Falwell, but he was savagely criticized by Walter Cronkite, by the media, and by the feminists; and was forced to apologize. Rush Limbaugh, for example, argued that in order to believe Dr. Falwell's indictment, he needed to hear some evidence that all those who perished in the New York tragedy, including the 300 firefighters and over sixty policeman who gave their lives in order to save as many as they could from the burning inferno, were all guilty of the sins enumerated by the renowned Christian spokesman. I am glad that you do not blame the victims of the tragedy, but rather the whole nation. It seems to me that we could safely say that in the event of national sin, God does not perform a miracle in order to prevent us from harvesting the natural consequences of our evil behavior, and innocent people suffer. This is quite evident from the fact that not even God is immune to suffering, as the story of the crucifixion of the most innocent man that walked on earth amply demonstrates. Nic Samojluk.
#40: "Let us respond to the terrorist attacks through the power of prayer." Merwin E. Spragg.
#39: "Once again a marvelous piece, inspired by God. However, you did not need to give recognition to me! ... Babies with a beating heart are dismembered or poisoned by the millions, and our church looks the other way, while preaching incessantly about the need to worship God on the correct day of the week. How can you expect SDA's to suddenly become concerned about frozen human embryos which have no chance to be implanted in a woman's belly.” Hugo Schmidt.
Thanks for your generous assessment of the article for which you contributed with valuable source material. If the article reflects ethical truth, then God gets the credit. Otherwise, I am willing to take the blame. The Editor.
#38: "I admire the fact that you have the fortitude to unabashedly address the issue of abortion ... However, please be aware of the fact that abortion and infanticide have been practiced by the nuns in Catholic cloistered convents who had been impregnated by the holy fathers for centuries. This is a well-known and documented fact. The Pope's stance on the issue is purely one of many smokescreens hiding the dragon agenda within. I have heard that at the Adventist hospital in Washington DC more abortions are performed than anywhere in the district. Can you confirm this even partially as fact, or is it merely an unfair and fictional report? ... Place me on your mailing list. I find your perspective very interesting and informative." Michael Delaney.
Thanks for writing! I did comply with your request, and I included your name in my mailing list. Regarding the Adventist hospital in Washington, I do not have factual information. The focus of my concern has not been so much what our hospitals do or don't, but rather our Adventist silence while the genocide of the unborn is taking place. We publish entire magazine issues on the Sabbath subject. Yet we have no time, energy, or interest in addressing the evil of abortion. Did not Jesus assert that the "Sabbath was made for man," and not the reverse? Doesn't that imply that human life is sacred as well as Holy Time?
And do not forget that SDA's are not alone in this silence about this life and death issue. The large majority of pastors and even Catholic priests prefer to avoid the subject in their weekly holy services. If Jesus were to come again to earth as a baby, he would probably be targeted for abortion, not by another King Herod, but by our Christian physicians! There is more money to be made by abortion than by delivering a live baby. An abortionist can profit from his services, plus the extra profit from the sale of baby parts.
Regarding what has taken place in the past inside Catholic cloistered convents, I am well aware of, but that should not reflect on the character of John Paul III. A man who had the fortitude of apologizing over one hundred times for the sins of his church, according to some counts, must get some credibility for the sincerity of his concern for the sanctity of human life. I do not consider this a smokescreen, but rather an evidence of his unquestionable commitment to his holy vocation. I do not share some of his dogmas, but I do admire his incredible courage to stand for the truth on this issue, when the whole world seems to have abdicated their responsibility to raise their voices against the slaughter of the innocents. The Editor.
#37: "After reading about the young mother who stabbed her just born baby to death, I think that I would like to give the following advice to those young women who might be struggling with a similar predicament: 'Young ladies, take notice, you don't kill your baby yourself, it's against the law! Be smart, and let physicians, who were trained to heal, do the killing for you in a way that will keep you out of jail: before the baby is born, or perhaps while it is being born, through the partial birth abortion procedure. It is so easy, they just puncture the baby's brain instants before the head is out of the birth canal, and no law has been broken. Be smart, and keep within the safe limits imposed by the legal system.'" Hugo Schmidt.
#36: "Please remove me from your mailing list. I used to be an Adventist, but now am focused on helping people become Christians at the University of Washington, because of the amazing things God has done in my life." Todd N. Schoepflin.
Thanks for writing! I did remove your name from my list. It is very encouraging to hear about somebody really excited about the Lord. May God continue to bless you in your Christian witness. My burden is for those who are members of the SDA community, those who are convinced that they have the "last message for a perishing world," who believe that they belong to the "true church" keeping the "Ten Commandments," and yet are determined to keep silent while the genocide of the unborn is going unabated.
I believe that keeping the Sabbath holy is important, but the "Sabbath was made for man" and not the reverse. Which means to me that human life is also sacred, and more so the life of the innocent, the most vulnerable members of the human race: the unborn. We have labeled the Catholic Pope as the "Anti-Christ" and the "Beast of Revelation," in spite of the fact that he is the most adamant defender of the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception. This is a mystery to me. We have developed a blind eye regarding this issue. We pour most of our resources into preaching about the sanctity of God's holy time, but hardly any word about the sanctity of human life. My aim is to be a witness to my own church first. Nic Samojluk, Editor.
#35: "I changed my email address recently, and I would like to continue receiving your SDA Forum." Nestor Bruno.
#34: "The following E-mail communication I received from Gerhard Pfandl, Associate Director of the Biblical Research Institute, explains why the Church is not disturbed at all over the millions upon millions of unborn children who are sacrificed yearly inside the abortion clinics for the sake of convenience: 'This is in response to your inquiry concerning the sanctity of life. The Seventh-day Adventist Church does not have an official statement indicating when the sanctity of life begins.’” Hugo Schmidt
#33: "Please remove my address from your mailing list. I encourage you to become more acquainted with the Bible. Sincerity is no excuse for ignorance. Zealots without truth or substance have always been morally offended by those who disagree with them, harbor the belief that they speak for God, and are convinced that God's blessings will burst upon the world when it enforces the zealot's belief system.” Arthur McLarty MDiv, MD.
Thanks for writing! Your name has been removed from my list. I wish you had taken the time to point where I am in error. The Bible has always been my favorite source of truth, and it is the first book I have been opening every morning since my youth. Are we reading the same book? Nic Samojluk, PHD Study, Editor.
#32: "The SDA Forum is good ... I did enjoy reading your article about school reform. You and I have exactly the same thoughts, except you expressed them perfectly. By the way, you will never get rich managing these web sites. They take a lot of time. Especially writing the SDA Forum pieces ... Regarding "The Right to Kill," I respectfully disagree. God gave us the right in the Old Testament to kill ... If the death penalty was properly administered in a quick fashion, then you would see a significant decrease in murders. A lot has been written about the innocent in jail. But what has not been well reported was a recent fact that took place in California, I believe. The inmates on death row were given the opportunity to take the DNA tests to prove their innocence. Not one inmate agreed to take the test." Ovi Popescu.
Thanks for writing. I am glad you enjoyed reading the article about school reform. Regarding the other one, you might be aware that DNA tests have revealed that innocent people have been incarcerated and executed. The Los Angeles Rampart Division is one recent example where dishonest cops have framed innocent individuals. Once you execute an innocent person, there is no way to rectifying the injustice. I am not opposed to the death penalty in the event you can be 100 percent certain the accused is guilty, and McVeigh might be a good example. My concern has to do with the danger of killing the innocent. Killing the innocent does not act as a deterrent of crime. The Editor.
#31: "I have a hard time waiting to see you become a newspaper commentator, where you could really make an impact on the world ... Thousands of pages are written in defense of the Sabbath, and not a word in defense of the one for whom the Sabbath was made!” Hugo Schmidt.
Thanks for the generous assessment of my work. I do not crave success as much as faithfulness to God's calling. A reporter once asked Mother Theresa if she was concerned about her lack of success in eradicating poverty and misery from the world, to which she responded: "The Lord does not demand success from me, but rather faithfulness." By the way, we can't say "not a word" anymore. The Adventist Review has published another article showing the blessings of avoiding abortion. Check page 12 of the April 5, 2001 issue. Nic Samojluk.
#30: "I will look forward to reading your piece on killing; I have just downloaded it. Thanks." Jim Walters.
#29: "Please remove my address from your mailing list. I encourage you to become more acquainted with the Bible. Sincerity is no excuse for ignorance. Zealots without truth or substance have always been morally offended by those who disagree with them, harbor the belief that they speak for God, and are convinced that God's blessings will burst upon the world when it recognizes (or better yet, enforces) the zealot's belief system.” Arthur McLarty MDiv, MD.
Thanks for writing! Your name has been removed from my list. I wish you had taken the time to point where I am in error. The Bible has always been my favorite source of truth, and it is the first book I open every morning. Are we reading the same book? Nic Samojluk, PhD Study, Editor.
#28: "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Luke 3:9) "Said the angel, 'The axe must be laid at the root of the tree.' (2SG 232)” David Cordes and Family.Not in my backyard! When the tree expert came to cut four huge trees in my backyard, they told me they had to start with the branches. The trees were humongous, and there were dangerous electrical wires, and the roof of my neighbors’ home nearby. Had they attempted to uproot the trees the way you suggest, my neighbor's roof and the worker's lives would have been in jeopardy. The roots were the last things they dealt with. God gave us common sense, besides the Bible and the Red Books! The Editor.
#27: "Please drop me from your list. I find the Forum extremely offensive and unbalanced. It would appear to me that the authors promoted by your organization are so preoccupied with abortion that they would neglect the subject of premature courting, familiarity, and modesty among the genders-which are the root causes of abortion in the first place.” David Cordes and Family.
Thanks for writing. I have complied with your request. Your name is no longer on my E-mail list. I cannot agree with you more that the root causes are the ones you describe. We do have to deal with the root causes of abortion; nevertheless, when you decide to cut a huge tree, you do not start with the root, but rather with the branches, unless you are in the open field. This evil of abortion is too big, and you cannot uproot it the way you uproot a small weed without endangering lives and property. The Editor.
#26: "Please delete us from your list. Thank you.” Gabe & Michell.
Thanks for writing! Your name is off the SDA Forum list. If you have the time, I invite you to visit the following Christian Internet site: http://www.promiseofgod.com/rosepetals/ I consider it the most beautiful site I have ever visited on the Internet. Not simple and unadorned like mine. It has blessed my heart, and it may bless yours. God bless. The Editor.
#25: "Bless you for what you are doing ...I was curious about your mention of Bethel and Unalaska-both remote Alaskan villages. We were in Anchorage when the kid in Bethel shot the principal-it was truly a shocking and horrible thing-but to live in Bethel is to live in a third-world country-there is so much violence and alcohol/drug abuse there ... Thanks for your ministry of writing. What publication do you do (paper-wise) and how do I get a subscription?” Karolyn Kasprzak.
My ministry is limited to the web site and the electronic mailing of articles to a limited number of readers as they are released on the web, and I have included your name on my list. There is no fee involved. The service is free. "Freely you have received, freely give!" The Editor.
#24: "I think it's a brilliant idea to have your newsletter in electronic format. Congratulations!” Jim Walters.
#23: "Great job. You haven't lost your touch. Keep up the good work.” Gene Moneymaker.
#22: "We are fortunate that we have a pastor who preaches that to be human includes the brokenness of the human experience ... After 30 years as an Adventist looking for the Power of Jesus to heal my loved ones from addictions ... we just saw my niece ... happy with the Lord. She has about a year of being clean and sober. This would not have happened without this church and this pastor.” Name Withheld.
#21: "Please remove my name from your mailing list. Thank you.” Abe Mouracade.
#20: "Thank you for your report... I am still in Korea and will leave for Russia on March 21st. Pray for me.” Chul Wan Kim.
#19: "I appreciate your response to my response. I do have a burden for our denomination's silence on abortion. Here is a paste of the article I wrote, which was considered, then rejected by both Ministry and the Review. They are struggling with the issue, or they would not have even considered it. Pray for them.” Jennifer Schwirzer.
I am not surprised. Many years ago I submitted an article to the Review about a different subject. It was approved for publication, and I received a $ 50 dollar payment for the submission. I am still waiting for them to publish it! After many similar experiences both with the official and independent Adventist publications, I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to have anything published, I had to do it myself. This is what prompted me to build this web site. You can do the same. The editor.
#18: "If you feel the Catholic Church is more obedient to God than the Adventist church, why don't you join the Catholic church? ... I agree that abortion is a mute issue in Adventism. I have tried to get articles on abortion published myself, with no results. This bothers me as it bothers you ... Abortion wasn't legal in Ellen White's day ... If abortion had even been an issue in her day, she would have decried it as passionately as she decried liquor and meat eating.” Jennifer Schwirzer.I have no desire to join the Catholic Church. Jesus did not renounce his Jewish faith just because he disagreed with the Jewish leaders on some fundamental points. Why should I? Our church, through its numerous educational, medical, and evangelistic institutions, has been doing a lot of good in the world. I believe that the Roman Pontiff is right in his defense of the sanctity of human life. At the same time, I am convinced that he is wrong on the fourth Commandment, the State of the Dead, and a few other dogmas. The Editor.
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#17: "This is the second time I write to request who is writing these articles, is it a male or female...that is all I want to know. I really do not desire your names. It is very important for me to know if when you folks are talking about the sanctity of life if you are someone in authority to speak on the subject. Hopefully it is a female, because only the female can really stand up and speak with authority on the sanctity of life. Please respond. Thank you.” Patci Serrano.
Thanks for writing! This is the first time I have received this request from you. Evidently, you may have missed my name from the main page of the web site. If you click on <http://www.sdaforum.net> you will notice that at the bottom of the first paragraph entitled "Warning to Visitors" I am identified as both the editor and Webmaster. With a few exceptions, I write the majority of the articles.
In response to your other question, I need to tell you that I was born a male, and I have no plans to have a sex change. Neither am I planning to change my mind regarding the authority to speak about the sanctity of human life. The reasons are as follows: A. Half of the genes in any human being are of male origin. No woman has the right to claim sole ownership over what is not entirely hers. B. If your logic is correct, then abortion is still illegal in the United States, because the members of the Supreme Court that decided that abortion would be legal were all men. All abortions should be halted until we have a Supreme Court integrated by females only. C. The Bible, the final arbiter about all moral questions was written by men.
I suggest that you try to convince John Paul II about the soundness of your argument. I believe in the equality of the sexes, and in the sharing of all moral responsibilities on an equal basis. Therefore, I intend to continue expressing my opinion on the subject, in spite of the fact that I am a male. The editor.
#16: "Your forum offers good information. Thank you very much.” Hector Ramos.
#15: "Remove my name from your list. Thank you.” Carol Swinyar.
#14: "Thanks for adding me to your list. I enjoyed your thoughts on Ashcroft. I was surprised, but somehow not surprised, by the Kennedy quote. As it happens, I think he's already been confirmed.” Donna Carlson.
#13: "I happen to be one Adventist who is concerned about John Ashcroft and his views. I find your commentary breezy and superficial, especially your assumptions and conclusions on gun control and the like. And the insinuation that all those who may think differently are somehow rejecting Christ is absurd. What troubles me more, much more, than the confirmation hearing on John Ashcroft, is the number of Adventists who have the heads buried deep in the sand.” Bryan Zervos.
In answer to your comments I must say that, if you are concerned about Ashcroft's position on gun control, then I have no comments in response. But if you don't like him because of his pro-life stance, then I would let the Lord, whose head is not "buried deep in the sand," provide the answer for you: "Inasmuch as you have done this to the least of these, you have done it unto me." I can't imagine anybody more vulnerable than the unborn, who has been the target of this merciless slaughter since 1973. We have been teaching that the final test that will determine the eternal destiny of every soul is how we treat the Sabbath. I think that our eschatology is wrong.
If the Lord were to come today, the final test would be, I suggest, how we treat the most vulnerable members of the human race. I will rather go by what the Lord himself said about the subject than what anybody else has taught, and that includes our own prophetess. On this point, the Pope is more in harmony with Jesus’ teaching, and we label him as "The Beast of Revelation!" What behavior is more beastly, worshipping God on the wrong day of the week, or condoning the either poisoning or dismemberment of 40 million babies inside their mother's womb? The Editor.
#12: "Nothing in reality should be considered more demeaning to women than to make their womb a slaughter house ... If human life is cheapened, the act that begins it will become even more so, as evidence seems to indicate!” Hugo Schmidt.
#11: "Thank you for the mail, and please don't take me off your list. I thoroughly enjoyed your article about the chads and I see by the index that you've been busy since last I viewed the site. Your site is now safely saved on my list of favorites in my browser.” Merwin Spragg .
#10: "This is our new address. Please keep in touch! We love your newsletters.” David Fukuda .
#9: "Thank you for writing to Dr. Dobson ... We found your positive reaction to our defense of the sanctity of life extremely heartening. We feel that abortion is one of the most pressing issues facing our nation today. It stands as an affront to the value God has bestowed upon every human life, and it serves as a revealing indicator of the tragic moral decline that is enveloping this modern age. As we continue in this work to which we have been called, it's a joy to know you are standing with us.” Scott Smith.
#8: "With respect and admiration I will continue to read the different articles appearing in your page. I must congratulate you for your clear and uncompromising interpretation of such important issues in the light of eternal principles, as well as your transparent vision in connection with its reasonable application to everyday life.
As a member of the human race that highly respects serious analysis of Christian teachings, I enthusiastically encourage you to continue with this effort for justice, love, mercy and compassion. Your presentations certainly reflect not only my belief but that of thousands of men and women in this country and around the world. May God bless and multiply your efforts.” Charles D. Rasi
# 7: "WOW!! I am so impressed with the website!! It is hard to believe that my little'ole dad put this together ... yet will not use his watch to change the T.V. channels!! I am very proud of your results!!” Nancy Petersen.
# 6: "Congratulations for the excellent web page ... I am beginning to feel guilty (after reading one of your articles) and I am beginning to look at my hands ... I had never considered the importance of comparing this subject (abortion) with the emphasis we have always given to the Fourth Commandment. I am going to tell my friends about this Internet site.” Anamaria Espada.
# 5: "I really admire your passion and Pro-life stance ... keep it up.” Hyveth Williams.
# 4: "Regarding your "Al Gore for President?" article ... I did not hear Karenna's speech ... Isn't she lucky that she was born during a time when her father was pro-life? ... At any rate, an excellent piece! ... I hope you will do a lot of good for humanity.” Hugo Schmidt.
# 3: "Thanks so much for sharing the info ... I can only say a hearty "Amen" to your inspired efforts to keep this issue "out in the open" instead of swept under the carpet. You said it pretty well in the article on protecting the children as against the protection of the unborn.” Kurt Berg.
# 2: "Excellent! Thank you for sharing it with us.” Hector Ramos.
# 1: "Greetings! SDAsource is excited to add a link for your Web site. Your site will now be listed on the Lay Ministries page of SDAsource, and will be temporarily highlighted in the "New on SDAsource" section of the home page. SDAsource is maintained as a service to the Seventh-day Adventists everywhere!” Geof Greenway.
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