Seventh-Day Adventism – Life On The Margins

I spent last Sabbath at the Seventh-Day Adventist university of Loma Linda. During my 30 hours there, I spent a lot of time wondering why this group of Sabbath keepers lived on the margins of society while Sabbath-keeping Jews were so influential in this world.

I came up with these reasons:

* Judaism focuses on this world, Adventism on the next.
* Judaism believes that this world is capable of goodness, Adventism holds that this world is wicked and incapable of reform.
* Judaism believes in study, Adventism in coming to God like a little child.
* Judaism holds that you can save yourself by your deeds, Adventism is conspiracy theory, which appeals to losers and discourages individual achievement.

Khunrum1: I’m listioning to this conferance thing you sent us…ZZZZZ! how do you stay awake?
Khunrum1: anymore of this guy rattling on about the Holocust and I’d volunteer to be stuffed in an oven
Khunrum1: but 300 clams is 300 clams hahaaa!
Khunrum1: hahaha You look like Andrew Jackson
Khunrum1: maybe Rutherford B. Hays
Khunrum1: that woman sitting next to the…doesn’t look bad…waiting for a close up
Luzdedos1: adina is a hottie
Khunrum1: hope you got her tel number
Khunrum1: Luke Ford distingished?
Luzdedos1: yeah?
Khunrum1: Luke Ford.net
Khunrum1: hope they don’t misfire and type in Luke Ford.com hahahaa!
Khunrum1: Adina…yesssssss!
Khunrum1: “come together for companionship” You need companionship..give her a call
Khunrum1: I’m afraid my knowledge of religion is severely limited. I enjoy watching my wife stick her arse in the air when she’s praying at the Buddhist Temple
Khunrum1: I think you have a future in this field
Luzdedos1: I think so too – revivalist preacher!
Khunrum1: absolutely…
Khunrum1: you’re on the right track
Khunrum1: new black suit?
Luzdedos1: yep, my sister bought it for me on her visit two weeks ago
Khunrum1: looks great…a bit larger than in olden days eh! hahaaa!
Khunrum1: have to go. keep up the good work bro…smart idea giving up porn…I look forward to seeing you in a tent revival in my area someday….hallelujah!

The black novelist Richard Wright wrote in his autobiography Black Boy:

GRANNY was an ardent member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and I was compelled to make a pretense of worshiping her God, which was her exaction for my keep. The elders of her church expounded a gospel clogged with images of vast lakes of eternal fire, of seas vanishing, of valleys of dry bones, of the sun burning to ashes, of the moon turning to blood, of stars falling to the earth, of a wooden staff being transformed into a serpent, of voices speaking out of clouds, of men walking upon water, of God riding whirlwinds, of water changing into wine, of the dead rising and living, of the blind seeing, of the lame walking; a salvation that teemed with fantastic beasts having multiple heads and horns and eyes and feet; sermons of statues possessing heads of gold, shoulders of silver, legs of brass, and feet of clay; a cosmic tale that began before time and ended with the clouds of the sky rolling away at the Second Coming of Christ; chronicles that concluded with the Armageddon; dramas thronged with all the billions of human beings who had ever lived or died as God
judged the quick and the dead.

While listening to the vivid language of the sermons I was pulled
toward emotional belief, but as soon as I went out of the church
and saw the bright sunshine and felt the throbbing life of the
people in the streets I knew that none of it was true and that
nothing would happen.

About Luke Ford

I've written five books (see Amazon.com). My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).
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