Seventh Day Adventists: Fundies that are on the Left

[Taverner]

I've known people who are SDA and they are bona fide fundies - only their fundamental interpretation means no meat, no war and no death penalty. It also means feeding the poor and in many cases - not the vitriol and hatred of gays present in other fundies - most SDA'ers I;ve met take an attitude of "What's more of an abomination? People dying in a war or having sex the wrong way?"

What does everyone here think?

[hfojvt]

1. hmmm... I have tended not to like SDAs

First because they are so intolerant of most other denominations. I guess most fundies are like that, but not as much as SDAs. There was a lot of cooperation between Free Methodists and Nazarenes in one town where I lived and connections with the Methodists and Baptists too. SDAs would be apart from all that.

I live on the same block as an SDA church. They seem like nice enough people. Where I work a group of SDAs is giving a seminar on "the last days" :puke: They also seemed really nice, friendly, easy going. However at the end I was kinda struck by the new sportscar the pastor got in and saw other fancy vehicles driving away, including a Ford Expedition. That's kinda typical church, but revolting every time I notice it.

[Taverner]

2. Well they are fundies

That's a fundie hallmark, intolerant of any other beliefs.

I didn't say they were perfect, just that they are lefties

[Katina]

3. I try to avoid

discussing religion with anyone. I had neighbors move in once and they invited us over for an evening to "get to know" each other. We brought a bottle of wine with us. They turn out to be fundies who were on a recruitment mission for their church. It was all I could do to keep from telling them I was a wiccan. I just wanted to see the look on their faces....and damn, I wish I hadn't brought the wine. They didn't drink and served us bland lemonade. We got out of there pretty quick.

[Taverner]

4. Should have peppered your speech with "thank goddess!"

and like terms.

You could have had even more fun by bringing a bottle of Absynthe :evilgrin:

[LostinVA]

5. Well.... unfortunately not true

They are extremely anti-gay, that Genesis is inerrant (ie are anti-Evolution), non-government schooling is preferred, movies are evil, women are considered subordinate to men, women are not allowed in positions of power within the church, abortion is only allowed for rape or incest, divorce and remarriage are greatly restricted, etc.

They are anti-war.

[Taverner]

7. Like I said, they aren't perfect

And I wouldn't want to hang out with them - BUT as a voting block they're ones to court.

[WoodyTobiasJr]

6. When I was a kid..

I thought they were known as Seven Days In Venice. I thought it sounded like a pretty cool religion.

[neebob]

21. Before my grandpa died in 1972 -

and that would be my mom's dad, the Mormon-hating atheist - he was in the hospital. He kept saying there were Seventh Day Adventists after him. Grandma and my parents thought he must be referring to the interns, for some reason, so I figured Seventh Day Adventists must wear white coats. I can't say as I've ever met one, but I always picture them that way.

[Spirochete]

8. I was one as a kid

But I could never get behind the horrible things my mother described that would happen to everyone who's only apparent crime was not going to our church. I did enter a SDA church in 1999. My mother was dying, and wanted to be rebaptized in the church. The only one in the family that showed up for it was the godless heathen of the family - me.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. no meat, no war, no DP?

That doesn't strike me as terribly fanatical.

[Taverner]

10. Yes but keep in mind they ARE fundies

They think they are the only ones going to heaven
They have a literal interpretation of the bible
Divorce, Homosexuality, Premartial Sex, and Masturbation are all sins
I don't think they can drink alchohol either

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Hmm.

The "only they're the ones going to heaven" thing is forgiveable. That's basically every religion on Earth.

If they believed in a literal interpretation of the bible, they wouldn't believe in no meat, no wars, and no DP. But if you're talking about Creationism, that sucks.

Divorce, homosexuality, premarital sex, masturbation... it's not a huge deal if they think they're sins, it sort of matters how they judge people for it.

Stay away from alcohol's not a big problem for me either, as long as they ain't those temperance bastards.

[Aristus]

12. My former boss was an SDA. He was EXTREMELY right wing!

He was nice enough, and a good boss, but OH was he far to the right! Sheesh! He had a fun man-to-man joking demeanor with me. But I accidentally saw a letter he had drafted to Governor Gregoire after the recount proved she won the election, and I have never seen such an angry, venomous, hate-filled letter in my life. He definitely had a dark side. SDA's scare me. :scared:

[yellowdogintexas]

13. really stuck on the end times too. One of my best friends years

ago was not only SDA but daughter of a big SDA minister.

However she was quite moderate in her own life and attitudes. Not cut in the mold so to speak.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ghostsofgiants]

15. The absense of rational thought in that statement makes my head hurt.

[mitchum]

16. Why?

Leftist thought is informed by a Marxist critique. And we know what Karl thought about the narcotizing role of religion.
Unlesssssssssssssssssssssss...you want to play real fast and loose with the definition of Left. Granted, Leftists and people who have been conditioned to believe in some ridiculous superstitous horseshit can share common goals about social justice, blah, blah, blah, but that doesn't make the latter Leftists.
There...does your head feel better now?

[ghostsofgiants]

17. Yeah, Marx is the only thinker who had any influence...

On leftist political thought. Using just Marx's influence on leftist thought to state that anyone who believes in God (or any other supernatural being) cannot be defined as a leftist is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

[mitchum]

18. Ah, so you are playing fast and loose with the definition of Leftist...

as evidenced by your use of lowercase "leftist" as opposed to my stringent use of uppercase "Leftist" There is a difference between the two (just as there is a significant difference between Libertarian and libertarian)

Unlike you, I am correct. The original poster made the case that the SBA fundies were Leftists. They are not, and I responded approriately.

The reason that the class struggle has never moved beyond an imponent, well meaning encounter group is because Marx's analysis has become diluted by the addition of other "thought" resulting in leftism. And leftism really is only defined by the common trait of "not being conservative" Such an approach has only resulted in the proles getting a slightly bigger scrap from the master's table. The power structure has not changed.

[SPKrazy]

19. Are You Saying That Leftism and leftism

are different because Leftism is Marxist, and leftism is watered down left leaning politics?

If so, then I'm certainly a leftist, not a Leftist.

Leftism has failed miserably in reality despite it's possibilities in theory.

The problem with it? Seems to me it is human greed and powerlust.

Additionally, they never succeeded in eliminating the people's want for religion. The failure to give equally to all is just another failure of Marxism.

I disagree with your reasons:

The reason that the class struggle has never moved beyond an imponent, well meaning encounter group is because Marx's analysis has become diluted by the addition of other "thought" resulting in leftism. And leftism really is only defined by the common trait of "not being conservative" Such an approach has only resulted in the proles getting a slightly bigger scrap from the master's table. The power structure has not changed.

Marxism has failed in reality because of human nature's failures, not leftism. Totalitarianism tends to fail whether it has fascist roots, or Marxist roots.

[mitchum]

23. Yes, that is exactly what I am saying...

and I can understand your antipathy toward Soviet style totalitarianism, but that was a gross corruption of Marxist critique.

I do disagree with you about people's "want" for religion. It is not innate, but rather conditioned. A conditioning that runs from the cradle to the grave to "the sweet bye and bye" It just comes down to those who want to control others exploiting the fear of the finality of death. Nothing more. The fear is perhaps innate, but not the huckster superstition solution. Dr Pavlov's dogs hear the bell and drink from a chalice.

[SPKrazy]

24. "It Just Comes Down To Those Who Want to Control Others"

of course there are those, they exist whether there is religion or not, and use whatever is at their disposal to achieve the ends of power and control.

I didn't say that religion was innate. I said that people wanted religion, not just leaders, but the people.

As a person who believes in the spiritual realm, I find that my beliefs may have been infiltrated by superstition, but there are many aspects of my beliefs that aren't along the lines of superstition.
How do I know? Lots of experience with superstitious beliefs that are far different from my spiritual beliefs.

That's not to say that there are many superstitious beliefs practiced in the world as religion.

I think that one of the messages of Christ was to let go of superstition (as in one can actually be "good enough" to be worthy, when we in fact are already worthy of love)

[JerseygirlCT]

20. I've only gotten to know one, and that description suits very well. nt

[SPKrazy]

22. Lots Of Clergy Of Lots Of Faiths Are Anti War

anti death penalty, and not anti GBLT

of course they aren't fundies either, just mainstream protestantism

[TallahasseeGrannie]

25. I've never met

any that I know of. It isn't very big down here.