I get the impression, largely from family, but from christians in general that one can't simply leave their faith except in error, inability to truly grasp christian teachings or by clearly choosing to do evil after being successfully tempted by demons. I get this impression from the hundreds of times I heard someone's motivations for leaving the church described in these ways. As I am problematically vain about my intellect, I feel compelled to explain that no, it's not just because I am a simple lamb who wandered into a den of temptation and got hoodwinked by the first smooth-talking drag temptress that sauntered my way. I left because I no longer believed just about anything Seventh-Day Adventists believe, which seemed like a pretty good reason at the time. I have more to say on that process later, but for now, I'd like to start with the basics.
I am not a Seventh-Day Adventist because I don't believe in any of their 28 fundamental beliefs. Even though I was born into this church, and it took me a long time to leave it, I am not living under its shadow, living a "sinful" life in defiance of what I was was taught to be right. I have decided what was taught to me was NOT right (in part, but in important parts), and that I could not in good conscience try or claim to follow it. My problems with the 28 fundamental beliefs are many, so let's just start at the top and work our way down.
From the opening paragraph:
Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. These beliefs, as set forth here, constitute the church's understanding and expression of the teaching of Scripture. Revision of these statements may be expected at a General Conference session when the church is led by the Holy Spirit to a fuller understanding of Bible truth or finds better language in which to express the teachings of God's Holy Word.
I don't agree with any of this, but the bolded parts seem the most important. I do not claim any christian creed, let alone the Bible. And I certainly don't think there are fundamental beliefs I must take from therein. Why would I think that? It starts and ends as a tautology: believe the Bible is the holy word of God because the bible tells you to believe it is the holy word of God. This is the basic reasoning inherent in a chain letter, and like a chain letter it boils down not so much to an argument but a threat. "Believe in this book or die forever." I have so much more on that topic but it will have to wait until the next post. For now, let me just say I don't take kindly to random books trying to make me afraid of the unproven and untestable. And my life experience has not been that Bible believers are the most happy and well-adjusted people.
The second bolded passage could probably fill a post on its own, but it's hugely problematic. It essentially gives each congregation and the general conference leeway to cherry-pick biblical passages as they see fit or "as the spirit moves them." Which I might feel is an unfair generalization if they weren't on their 32nd year of discussing whether women are capable of being spiritual and moral leaders of churches and on their first year of tentatively discussing whether running gay people out of their churches might not fit with christian principles. In short, I know they understand the idea of present and eternal truth because I've heard them preach about it and they freely wear mixed fibers and have a conspicuous lack of red tents dotting their church lawns. Therefore, if they were serious about discerning cultural from timeless truth and ongoing spiritual growth, they would have a formal method of periodically reviewing church beliefs as culture changes, and would apply what they understand of the context in which those verses were written, the core principles of the bible and modern society's biases to try and separate the two. I can't be part of or even a respect a religion that changes "when it feels like it," which is what it must mean to be moved by the holy spirit, a feeling, rather than as is deemed necessary by their intellect, understanding of the basic principles of their religious book and their experience.
As for the 28 beliefs, I will try to be concise, but I feel it's worth it to go through each one. I'm not going to provide exhaustive reasons for why I don't believe these and I'm not trying to convince anyone else to disbelieve, but I do want to go over them to show that I've thought about each of them. For the sake of not repeating myself, please note that the primary reason for not believing in any of these as stated is they all require me to believe that the Bible is true sans evidence.
1. The Bible was divinely inspired, is infallible, and contains the information necessary to live forever.
Again, we're back to the tautology: the bible is divinely inspired because it says it is. It is infallible even though several historical accounts therein contradict each other. You have to believe this or you will not live forever. I've dealt with the first and last bits, but regarding infallibility, not only is it obviously not true, I've seen this specific belief cause a lot of pain as people encounter facts that contradict the infallible, and then twist themselves into knots trying to make their experience fit the bible. I don't believe these things, I have no reason to and good reasons not to.
2. God is a trio of all-powerful, all-knowing, ever present, and infinite beings beyond human comprehension. Forever worthy of worship, adoration and service.
Belief in this requires that I believe the bible is true and unfallible. I do not, therefore I cannot claim I believe this. I have no evidence of it personally anyway. Like most of these beliefs, I admit the possibility but don't believe in the certainty. I admit the possibility of aliens too, but I don't think it's a great idea to build complicated belief structures around what MIGHT be. Also, I notice that "kind" is not the first way they describe him, although I guess that comes later.
3. God the father is the creator and sovereign of all creation (the universe). He is just and holy, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
God is a patriarch. In charge but kind and fair. It's a nice idea that I don't have evidence for in my own experience.
4. God the son became human to save us from our sins by dying as a mortal man. He then was resurrected, returned to heaven and will someday return to earth to judge the wicked and the righteous.
The left out the part where God the father, merciful and kind, has to kill us all for being imperfect from the above apparently. Yes, I'm paraphrasing, but you can check the link above if you want the original jargon.
5. God the spirit inspired the writers of the bible. He powered God the son when he was mortal. He acts upon the minds of men to draw them towards God.
Again, the writers of the Bible are just asserting they have holy power driving them.
6. God created the earth in six days, set the seventh day as a rest day, made humans the crowning work of creation and gave them dominion over the earth.
Nothing in science really agrees or points to this conclusion. So much asserted, so little proven.
7. Men and Women were given free will. They are indivisible units of body, spirit and mind and depend upon God for each breath. Our first parents disobeyed God, became subject to death and a fallen nature. All of their descendants are born with weaknesses and a tendency to do evil. God the spirit restores penitent mortals to the image of God and they are called to love one another and care for their environment.
What's interesting to me about this one is the reminder that Adventists don't believe in the soul and are not dualists, unlike most Christian religions. Their belief that the consciousness is tied to the brain and dies when the brain does is right in line with most modern scientific materialists. The belief that a supernatural being will resurrect that body and mind at the end of time is not of course. Further, I have direct evidence in my life to the contrary that people are intrinsically evil: the over-whelming majority of people who choose not to do evil every day.
8. The World is involved in a great controversy between God and Satan over which of them is right and control of the universe essentially. Satan is a fallen angel who challenged God and was cast out of heaven with his angel followers. He is the source of our downfall, having led Adam and Eve to sin. This world is now the focus of this conflict, and the entirety of creation (implying other populated planets) is looking down to see how it plays out. God will, of course, be triumphant. God sends God the Spirit and the angels to assist in this battle for the hearts and minds of mankind.
This was always my favorite part of Adventism because it's a good story. I always thought of it as a science fiction epic. In any case, I have no proof it's anything other than a story and I have never seen events in my own life conform to these ideas.
9. Jesus was perfect. His death was the only means of atonement for human sin. The resurrection show's God's triumph over evil and every knee on earth shall bow to him eventually.
My problems with the "you are bad, bad, bad and you could at least be grateful that someone died for you." are many. But again, I'm being told I'm evil and divergent from divine purity and in dire need to redemption, this isn't actually something that pops out at me as obvious from living my daily life.
10. God the spirit leads us all to know our own guilt, to seek salvation through worshipping Jesus, after which God the spirit "renews our minds" and gives us the power to live a holy life.
I'm not sure how people are supposed to distinguish "feelings inserted by an outside divine source" and "feelings that occur naturally in the course of human experience." The usual advice is "whatever brings you to the church" which is pretty convenient for those pushing the church experience, no? It's certainly circular logic. In any case, I have never felt any feeling I am convinced did not originate from within my own psyche.
11. Jesus triumphed over evil by dying. Demonic forces are already broken. We are set free from the burden of past (mis?) deeds. No longer do we live in darkness, fear of evil powers, ignorance, meaninglessness of our former way of life. We are called to become more like Jesus by meditating on the Bible, worshipping him, and participating in the mission of the church. As we give our selves in loving service to the people around us, God the spirit turns every moment into a spiritual experience.
This one has two of my least favorite ideas from Adventism. That anyone not in the church is lost in darkness and if you aren't having a euphorically happy spiritual experience all the time, every day, then you aren't submitting correctly. I don't find either to fit with my experience. In some ways, I have encountered substantially more compassion and justice and kindness outside of the church than in it.
12. The church is the community of people who believe Jesus is their lord and savior. It derives authority from God, serves mankind and is Jesus Bride. It will be presented to him as pure at the end of time.
Heavily condensing this one, but I think the first bit knocks me out of the running. I don't believe that.
13. There are many churches that believe in Jesus, but only one is the remnant church. The remnant church works in concert with heavenly judgement to bring about repentance and reform on earth.
As far as I can tell this is just, "all churches are special, but we are the most special." I don't see what Adventists do as all that different from other protestant denominations.
14. "The church is one body with many members, called from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. In Christ we are a new creation; distinctions of race, culture, learning, and nationality, and differences between high and low, rich and poor, male and female, must not be divisive among us. We are all equal in Christ, who by one Spirit has bonded us into one fellowship with Him and with one another; we are to serve and be served without partiality or reservation. Through the revelation of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures we share the same faith and hope, and reach out in one witness to all. This unity has its source in the oneness of the triune God, who has adopted us as His children."
I quote this one in whole to point out that this is specifically why they are hypocrites in their dealings with LGBT. What part of "serve and be served without partiality or reservation" did they miss? Also, I note that most people tend to remain comfortably within their own biases no matter which church congregation they are a part of. It's a nice idea that is only followed as convenient. I don't believe that this is only possible through "creation through Jesus" though, because so many people outside the church choose to be decent to people the church chooses not to be decent to.
15. Baptism is a symbol of our union with Jesus, the forgiveness of our sins, and our reception of the Holy Spirit.
This is the ritual for joining the club. A ritual for things I don't believe in is meaningless to me.
16. The Lord's Supper is a participation in the emblems of the body and blood of Jesus as an expression of faith in Him, our Lord and Saviour.
Again, if I don't believe in any of the underlying beliefs, this ritual has no meaning to me.
17. Some church members have spiritual gifts such as prophecy and healing. They are called upon to spread the church's message and protect it from "false doctrine."
In all my years in the church I never saw evidence that anyone had a some kind of supernatural gift. Nor do they give a specific definition of "false doctrine." I have no evidence that would lead me to believe God has gifted church members with even minor powers and abilities.
18. Ellen White had the gift of Prophecy.
I like who Ellen White turned into as an older woman. She was compassionate and more liberal in her old age. However, she was also sent into a three-week coma in her youth by a rock to the head. This seems like the more likely cause of her visions.
19. The Ten Commandments and the life of Jesus are the embodiments of the law of God and are universally binding for every human being. Obeying these laws results in a sense of well-being. Obeying the law demonstrates the power of Jesus to change lives.
"Stop breaking my rules, and I'll stop making you feel so guilty," is not the same thing as providing a sense of well-being. They use nice language here about the holy spirit's promptings, but in practice this amounts to other members policing you on breaking the visible rules. This is where terrible ideas like reparative therapy for gays comes from. If only you listen to the holy spirit and follow the rules you'll be changed. And yet, everyone tries this and they are not changed. The stated belief here is completely out of sync with my own experience with myself and other humans.
20. God set aside the seventh day as the Sabbath. The fourth commandment of God's unchangeable law is the joyful observance of the Sabbath. Observance is categorized as resting and communing with God and fellow man.
In practice, this amounted to more rule-policing. Were you swimming today? Well that's not correct observance. Did you read a book that wasn't about God? You've broken God's law. It is yet another fuzzy rule, that people interpret according to their own biases and police everyone else on arbitrarily. I have no evidence that this statement is true from my own experience.
21. We are God's stewards, entrusted with the earth and it's resources. We are responsible to God for their proper use. We acknowledge God's ownership by service to Him and our fellow men and celebrate it as a victory of selfishness and covetousness.
This idea led to the formation of the only two things I like about the Adventist church: ADRA and the hospital system. Those are helpful. It, for some reason, did not lead to an environmental movement from within the church. I have the least amount of problems with this one. But I don't need to believe in God to believe in being helpful and smart with resources.
22. We are called to be a godly people. Our amusement and entertainment should meet the highest standards of truth and beauty. Our dress is to be modest and simple, our only beauty should be a quiet and gentle spirit. We must care for our bodies intelligently with a proper diet, exercise and rest. We are to do only that which brings us closer to God.
My biggest problem with these statements is the assertion that any focus on the self is harmful. Or that you can only love yourself properly if you love God and recognize yourself as His property. Yes, taking care of yourself without being completely self-absorbed is wonderful, and a little humility goes a long way. It's not necessary or wise to give yourself over to the priorities of a divine being as imperfectly interpreted by his very flawed advocates to get there. And again, the language leaves a lot of room for cultural bias in the interpretation of godly behavior and entertainment.
23. Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship. Only mutually faithful people should wed. Model your marriage after Jesus and the Church. No divorce is permitted except in the case of unfaithfulness.
This one has caused a lot of people I know a great deal of pain. People ready to leave bad marriages have been given social judgement because it isn't based on infidelity. On top of that, this idea of marriage is a VERY selective reading of the bible which had quite a few more varieties of marriages and long-term sexual relationships. Not only do I not believe it, I once again find it to be opposite of what I know to be good from my own experiences
24. Jesus has a tabernacle in heaven, and since 1844 has been performing an investigative judgement on every human being, dead or alive, to determine who will be going to heaven or not. "Probation will eventually close and the holy will go to heaven and the bad won't.
Not only is this a specific read of a few verses, it's mostly ass-covering from the great disappointment, when William Miller thought he'd correctly determined the date of the second coming. So in order to save face, the event was re-imagined as the start of the investigative judgement, which has the benefit of being completely untestable in any way. So not only do I have no reason to believe this if I don't believe the Bible, I could probably make an argument that it was made up to save face.
25. The second coming is the hope of the church and the grand climax of the gospel and the great controversy. The second coming will be literal, personal and worldwide. The righteous dead will be resurrected and taken up to heaven with the righteous living and the unrighteous will all die. The second coming is always imminent, we must be ready at all times.
Not only do I not believe this because I don't believe in the Bible, I don't believe it because it seems like an actively harmful mindset. I have seen people in church crying loudly for the lord's return, even though it would mean the death of friends and loved ones who aren't saved. They simply want to go, whatever that entails. Not listed here, but the most common pre-condition to the end of the world is the rapid spiral of society into sin, depravity and wickedness, from which God eventually saves us. In practice, this leads people to view the world through molten-red glasses, seeing only the a slide towards depravity leading towards eternal life for them and their friends. And yet, people who don't believe that see a more neutral or even progressive trend in society. My point is, people invested in the world getting worse ALSO tend to be invested in making sure it gets worse because it HAS to or their belief system collapses or it means they will probably have to die before they get to go to heaven, which is admittedly scary. Looking forward to the end of the world takes the focus off of looking to the here and now and how to make it better. I don't think the christians I've met are better off for having a paranoid mindset about the end of the world and I see plenty of evidence to contradict this story in any case.
26. The wages of sin is death, but God will grant eternal life to his followers who are redeemed by submission and service. Death is an unconscious state. The righteous will be resurrected at the second coming. The unrighteous will be resurrected at the second resurrection a thousand years later.
I think this is interesting, as mentioned, because it indicates the more modern scientific materialism inherent in Adventist idea of death and the soul, but still. It's a story from an interpretation of a book that requires you believe the book is true just because. Nobody knows what happens after we die. You can make up a "what if," but that doesn't mean it's true. Also, note the heavy emphasis on the destruction of the wicked.
27. The righteous will spend 1000 years in heaven, during which time the wicked will be judged, the earth will be desolate and roamed by satan and his angels. At it's close, Jesus will descend to the earth in a heavenly city, the unrighteous dead resurrected. The devils and the unrighteous will surround the city, and then they will all be killed with fire so that sin can be eradicated from the universe forever.
This is a nice story, but it basically amounts to: all your enemies will eventually be killed forever. Hooray for holy vengeance! I have a hard time reconciling this with an ever-loving, infinitely intelligent God, who, one would think, would try, at least once, use his infinite powers to convince people directly that he is who he is and to use his infinite intellect to patiently persuade each individual not to be evil. I can't believe that most, if not all human beings, would respond positively to the divine king of the universe sitting down with them personally, and talking it out. This whole scenario seems cruel and completely at odds with the idea of an infinitely powerful, compassionate and loving God.
28. God will renew the earth, and provide an ever-lasting home for all mankind. The great controversy will be ended, sin will be no more, and God will reign forever, amen.
This is a nice idea. But I have no evidence for this in my experience.
So, I'm not an Adventist. Does this mean I believe in nothing? Or that I am fallen in darkness? Or that I have a demon on my back feeding me lies? Or that I have abandoned the idea of good entirely? Or that I am incapable of being good without submission to God? A firm "NO", to all of those things. I will write about what I've moved to next time, but in the mean time, please rest assured that I still believe in being good for goodness' sake.
Parallel H, Age 36
The second bolded passage could probably fill a post on its own, but it's hugely problematic. It essentially gives each congregation and the general conference leeway to cherry-pick biblical passages as they see fit or "as the spirit moves them." Which I might feel is an unfair generalization if they weren't on their 32nd year of discussing whether women are capable of being spiritual and moral leaders of churches and on their first year of tentatively discussing whether running gay people out of their churches might not fit with christian principles. In short, I know they understand the idea of present and eternal truth because I've heard them preach about it and they freely wear mixed fibers and have a conspicuous lack of red tents dotting their church lawns. Therefore, if they were serious about discerning cultural from timeless truth and ongoing spiritual growth, they would have a formal method of periodically reviewing church beliefs as culture changes, and would apply what they understand of the context in which those verses were written, the core principles of the bible and modern society's biases to try and separate the two. I can't be part of or even a respect a religion that changes "when it feels like it," which is what it must mean to be moved by the holy spirit, a feeling, rather than as is deemed necessary by their intellect, understanding of the basic principles of their religious book and their experience.
As for the 28 beliefs, I will try to be concise, but I feel it's worth it to go through each one. I'm not going to provide exhaustive reasons for why I don't believe these and I'm not trying to convince anyone else to disbelieve, but I do want to go over them to show that I've thought about each of them. For the sake of not repeating myself, please note that the primary reason for not believing in any of these as stated is they all require me to believe that the Bible is true sans evidence.
1. The Bible was divinely inspired, is infallible, and contains the information necessary to live forever.
Again, we're back to the tautology: the bible is divinely inspired because it says it is. It is infallible even though several historical accounts therein contradict each other. You have to believe this or you will not live forever. I've dealt with the first and last bits, but regarding infallibility, not only is it obviously not true, I've seen this specific belief cause a lot of pain as people encounter facts that contradict the infallible, and then twist themselves into knots trying to make their experience fit the bible. I don't believe these things, I have no reason to and good reasons not to.
2. God is a trio of all-powerful, all-knowing, ever present, and infinite beings beyond human comprehension. Forever worthy of worship, adoration and service.
Belief in this requires that I believe the bible is true and unfallible. I do not, therefore I cannot claim I believe this. I have no evidence of it personally anyway. Like most of these beliefs, I admit the possibility but don't believe in the certainty. I admit the possibility of aliens too, but I don't think it's a great idea to build complicated belief structures around what MIGHT be. Also, I notice that "kind" is not the first way they describe him, although I guess that comes later.
3. God the father is the creator and sovereign of all creation (the universe). He is just and holy, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
God is a patriarch. In charge but kind and fair. It's a nice idea that I don't have evidence for in my own experience.
4. God the son became human to save us from our sins by dying as a mortal man. He then was resurrected, returned to heaven and will someday return to earth to judge the wicked and the righteous.
The left out the part where God the father, merciful and kind, has to kill us all for being imperfect from the above apparently. Yes, I'm paraphrasing, but you can check the link above if you want the original jargon.
5. God the spirit inspired the writers of the bible. He powered God the son when he was mortal. He acts upon the minds of men to draw them towards God.
Again, the writers of the Bible are just asserting they have holy power driving them.
6. God created the earth in six days, set the seventh day as a rest day, made humans the crowning work of creation and gave them dominion over the earth.
Nothing in science really agrees or points to this conclusion. So much asserted, so little proven.
7. Men and Women were given free will. They are indivisible units of body, spirit and mind and depend upon God for each breath. Our first parents disobeyed God, became subject to death and a fallen nature. All of their descendants are born with weaknesses and a tendency to do evil. God the spirit restores penitent mortals to the image of God and they are called to love one another and care for their environment.
What's interesting to me about this one is the reminder that Adventists don't believe in the soul and are not dualists, unlike most Christian religions. Their belief that the consciousness is tied to the brain and dies when the brain does is right in line with most modern scientific materialists. The belief that a supernatural being will resurrect that body and mind at the end of time is not of course. Further, I have direct evidence in my life to the contrary that people are intrinsically evil: the over-whelming majority of people who choose not to do evil every day.
8. The World is involved in a great controversy between God and Satan over which of them is right and control of the universe essentially. Satan is a fallen angel who challenged God and was cast out of heaven with his angel followers. He is the source of our downfall, having led Adam and Eve to sin. This world is now the focus of this conflict, and the entirety of creation (implying other populated planets) is looking down to see how it plays out. God will, of course, be triumphant. God sends God the Spirit and the angels to assist in this battle for the hearts and minds of mankind.
This was always my favorite part of Adventism because it's a good story. I always thought of it as a science fiction epic. In any case, I have no proof it's anything other than a story and I have never seen events in my own life conform to these ideas.
9. Jesus was perfect. His death was the only means of atonement for human sin. The resurrection show's God's triumph over evil and every knee on earth shall bow to him eventually.
My problems with the "you are bad, bad, bad and you could at least be grateful that someone died for you." are many. But again, I'm being told I'm evil and divergent from divine purity and in dire need to redemption, this isn't actually something that pops out at me as obvious from living my daily life.
10. God the spirit leads us all to know our own guilt, to seek salvation through worshipping Jesus, after which God the spirit "renews our minds" and gives us the power to live a holy life.
I'm not sure how people are supposed to distinguish "feelings inserted by an outside divine source" and "feelings that occur naturally in the course of human experience." The usual advice is "whatever brings you to the church" which is pretty convenient for those pushing the church experience, no? It's certainly circular logic. In any case, I have never felt any feeling I am convinced did not originate from within my own psyche.
11. Jesus triumphed over evil by dying. Demonic forces are already broken. We are set free from the burden of past (mis?) deeds. No longer do we live in darkness, fear of evil powers, ignorance, meaninglessness of our former way of life. We are called to become more like Jesus by meditating on the Bible, worshipping him, and participating in the mission of the church. As we give our selves in loving service to the people around us, God the spirit turns every moment into a spiritual experience.
This one has two of my least favorite ideas from Adventism. That anyone not in the church is lost in darkness and if you aren't having a euphorically happy spiritual experience all the time, every day, then you aren't submitting correctly. I don't find either to fit with my experience. In some ways, I have encountered substantially more compassion and justice and kindness outside of the church than in it.
12. The church is the community of people who believe Jesus is their lord and savior. It derives authority from God, serves mankind and is Jesus Bride. It will be presented to him as pure at the end of time.
Heavily condensing this one, but I think the first bit knocks me out of the running. I don't believe that.
13. There are many churches that believe in Jesus, but only one is the remnant church. The remnant church works in concert with heavenly judgement to bring about repentance and reform on earth.
As far as I can tell this is just, "all churches are special, but we are the most special." I don't see what Adventists do as all that different from other protestant denominations.
14. "The church is one body with many members, called from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. In Christ we are a new creation; distinctions of race, culture, learning, and nationality, and differences between high and low, rich and poor, male and female, must not be divisive among us. We are all equal in Christ, who by one Spirit has bonded us into one fellowship with Him and with one another; we are to serve and be served without partiality or reservation. Through the revelation of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures we share the same faith and hope, and reach out in one witness to all. This unity has its source in the oneness of the triune God, who has adopted us as His children."
I quote this one in whole to point out that this is specifically why they are hypocrites in their dealings with LGBT. What part of "serve and be served without partiality or reservation" did they miss? Also, I note that most people tend to remain comfortably within their own biases no matter which church congregation they are a part of. It's a nice idea that is only followed as convenient. I don't believe that this is only possible through "creation through Jesus" though, because so many people outside the church choose to be decent to people the church chooses not to be decent to.
15. Baptism is a symbol of our union with Jesus, the forgiveness of our sins, and our reception of the Holy Spirit.
This is the ritual for joining the club. A ritual for things I don't believe in is meaningless to me.
16. The Lord's Supper is a participation in the emblems of the body and blood of Jesus as an expression of faith in Him, our Lord and Saviour.
Again, if I don't believe in any of the underlying beliefs, this ritual has no meaning to me.
17. Some church members have spiritual gifts such as prophecy and healing. They are called upon to spread the church's message and protect it from "false doctrine."
In all my years in the church I never saw evidence that anyone had a some kind of supernatural gift. Nor do they give a specific definition of "false doctrine." I have no evidence that would lead me to believe God has gifted church members with even minor powers and abilities.
18. Ellen White had the gift of Prophecy.
I like who Ellen White turned into as an older woman. She was compassionate and more liberal in her old age. However, she was also sent into a three-week coma in her youth by a rock to the head. This seems like the more likely cause of her visions.
19. The Ten Commandments and the life of Jesus are the embodiments of the law of God and are universally binding for every human being. Obeying these laws results in a sense of well-being. Obeying the law demonstrates the power of Jesus to change lives.
"Stop breaking my rules, and I'll stop making you feel so guilty," is not the same thing as providing a sense of well-being. They use nice language here about the holy spirit's promptings, but in practice this amounts to other members policing you on breaking the visible rules. This is where terrible ideas like reparative therapy for gays comes from. If only you listen to the holy spirit and follow the rules you'll be changed. And yet, everyone tries this and they are not changed. The stated belief here is completely out of sync with my own experience with myself and other humans.
20. God set aside the seventh day as the Sabbath. The fourth commandment of God's unchangeable law is the joyful observance of the Sabbath. Observance is categorized as resting and communing with God and fellow man.
In practice, this amounted to more rule-policing. Were you swimming today? Well that's not correct observance. Did you read a book that wasn't about God? You've broken God's law. It is yet another fuzzy rule, that people interpret according to their own biases and police everyone else on arbitrarily. I have no evidence that this statement is true from my own experience.
21. We are God's stewards, entrusted with the earth and it's resources. We are responsible to God for their proper use. We acknowledge God's ownership by service to Him and our fellow men and celebrate it as a victory of selfishness and covetousness.
This idea led to the formation of the only two things I like about the Adventist church: ADRA and the hospital system. Those are helpful. It, for some reason, did not lead to an environmental movement from within the church. I have the least amount of problems with this one. But I don't need to believe in God to believe in being helpful and smart with resources.
22. We are called to be a godly people. Our amusement and entertainment should meet the highest standards of truth and beauty. Our dress is to be modest and simple, our only beauty should be a quiet and gentle spirit. We must care for our bodies intelligently with a proper diet, exercise and rest. We are to do only that which brings us closer to God.
My biggest problem with these statements is the assertion that any focus on the self is harmful. Or that you can only love yourself properly if you love God and recognize yourself as His property. Yes, taking care of yourself without being completely self-absorbed is wonderful, and a little humility goes a long way. It's not necessary or wise to give yourself over to the priorities of a divine being as imperfectly interpreted by his very flawed advocates to get there. And again, the language leaves a lot of room for cultural bias in the interpretation of godly behavior and entertainment.
23. Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship. Only mutually faithful people should wed. Model your marriage after Jesus and the Church. No divorce is permitted except in the case of unfaithfulness.
This one has caused a lot of people I know a great deal of pain. People ready to leave bad marriages have been given social judgement because it isn't based on infidelity. On top of that, this idea of marriage is a VERY selective reading of the bible which had quite a few more varieties of marriages and long-term sexual relationships. Not only do I not believe it, I once again find it to be opposite of what I know to be good from my own experiences
24. Jesus has a tabernacle in heaven, and since 1844 has been performing an investigative judgement on every human being, dead or alive, to determine who will be going to heaven or not. "Probation will eventually close and the holy will go to heaven and the bad won't.
Not only is this a specific read of a few verses, it's mostly ass-covering from the great disappointment, when William Miller thought he'd correctly determined the date of the second coming. So in order to save face, the event was re-imagined as the start of the investigative judgement, which has the benefit of being completely untestable in any way. So not only do I have no reason to believe this if I don't believe the Bible, I could probably make an argument that it was made up to save face.
25. The second coming is the hope of the church and the grand climax of the gospel and the great controversy. The second coming will be literal, personal and worldwide. The righteous dead will be resurrected and taken up to heaven with the righteous living and the unrighteous will all die. The second coming is always imminent, we must be ready at all times.
Not only do I not believe this because I don't believe in the Bible, I don't believe it because it seems like an actively harmful mindset. I have seen people in church crying loudly for the lord's return, even though it would mean the death of friends and loved ones who aren't saved. They simply want to go, whatever that entails. Not listed here, but the most common pre-condition to the end of the world is the rapid spiral of society into sin, depravity and wickedness, from which God eventually saves us. In practice, this leads people to view the world through molten-red glasses, seeing only the a slide towards depravity leading towards eternal life for them and their friends. And yet, people who don't believe that see a more neutral or even progressive trend in society. My point is, people invested in the world getting worse ALSO tend to be invested in making sure it gets worse because it HAS to or their belief system collapses or it means they will probably have to die before they get to go to heaven, which is admittedly scary. Looking forward to the end of the world takes the focus off of looking to the here and now and how to make it better. I don't think the christians I've met are better off for having a paranoid mindset about the end of the world and I see plenty of evidence to contradict this story in any case.
26. The wages of sin is death, but God will grant eternal life to his followers who are redeemed by submission and service. Death is an unconscious state. The righteous will be resurrected at the second coming. The unrighteous will be resurrected at the second resurrection a thousand years later.
I think this is interesting, as mentioned, because it indicates the more modern scientific materialism inherent in Adventist idea of death and the soul, but still. It's a story from an interpretation of a book that requires you believe the book is true just because. Nobody knows what happens after we die. You can make up a "what if," but that doesn't mean it's true. Also, note the heavy emphasis on the destruction of the wicked.
27. The righteous will spend 1000 years in heaven, during which time the wicked will be judged, the earth will be desolate and roamed by satan and his angels. At it's close, Jesus will descend to the earth in a heavenly city, the unrighteous dead resurrected. The devils and the unrighteous will surround the city, and then they will all be killed with fire so that sin can be eradicated from the universe forever.
This is a nice story, but it basically amounts to: all your enemies will eventually be killed forever. Hooray for holy vengeance! I have a hard time reconciling this with an ever-loving, infinitely intelligent God, who, one would think, would try, at least once, use his infinite powers to convince people directly that he is who he is and to use his infinite intellect to patiently persuade each individual not to be evil. I can't believe that most, if not all human beings, would respond positively to the divine king of the universe sitting down with them personally, and talking it out. This whole scenario seems cruel and completely at odds with the idea of an infinitely powerful, compassionate and loving God.
28. God will renew the earth, and provide an ever-lasting home for all mankind. The great controversy will be ended, sin will be no more, and God will reign forever, amen.
This is a nice idea. But I have no evidence for this in my experience.
So, I'm not an Adventist. Does this mean I believe in nothing? Or that I am fallen in darkness? Or that I have a demon on my back feeding me lies? Or that I have abandoned the idea of good entirely? Or that I am incapable of being good without submission to God? A firm "NO", to all of those things. I will write about what I've moved to next time, but in the mean time, please rest assured that I still believe in being good for goodness' sake.
Parallel H, Age 36
I'm kinda similar. My background is russian orthodox. Not too long ago I decided its not for me anymore. So I stopped going to church and only ever go cos my mum asks me to come along (usually at easter).
ReplyDeleteI think the turning point for me was listening to my uncle (who is quite religious) talk with some guy who could've been training to be a priest or was just an altar boy, I can't remember. Anyways, they were talking about how they felt "with light", and happy and other religious imagery during service. I sat their thinking: I don't feel any of that, its meaningless to me.
What I remember mostly is being bored or having sore feet (mass at church takes around 2 - 3 hours depending on the priest and everyone stands, only elderly and small children can sit on the seats lining the sides of the church against the wall) or I'd have what I'm sure would've been deemed sinful and inappropriate thoughts!
I too find the hypocritical nature of people who call themselves christian. Especially when they are so involved in bible studies or similar, their compassion ends up being as dry as the paper they believe in.
(I remember listening to my auntie, the one married to my uncle mentioned above - she spoke in this jovial voice about some bikies who scared off or something a bunch of gay people, I can't remember exactly what it was, but she was also saying how she didnt like how some lesbian was a teacher at a school or something too -- just made me sad to hear that).
Personally I have come up with my own thing. I don't believe in a god that has been compartmentalised and made so human. The concept of God cannot be restricted in such a way. I guess he was written that way so that the lowliest of the low person could grasp a little bit of god.
But personally, I don't believe in that narrow concept of god at all.
I also have my own thoughts on the after life as such (suffice to say, I have a feeling there might be something more to it, but I do not know).
Anyways, I don't think you're an evil person :)
Anyone can have morals - christianity does not hold a patent over morals!! (and I get annoyed when christian cry how only they can have morals and others do not, especially when arguments/debates over "ethics" comes up)
Thanks Igor! I don't think you're an evil person either ;). I heard many of the same things and I also have just never felt anything particularly supernatural. I would like to maybe, it might be nice, but it hasn't happened to me. In the end, it's the hypocrisy that gets me too. I'll have more to say about that in the second part. But thanks for your thoughtful reply! I have always been curious what it was like for you in the russian orthodox church.
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