I received this email from a friend. It’s sad that the current “revival and reformation” mantra requires conscientious Adventist members to sacrifice science and reason on the alter of blind, irrational belief.
“It's official: I'm no longer an Adventist. It took a surprising amount of persistence to get this done, but I'll admit to feeling a bit nostalgic now that I've actually succeeded! One does not abandon an entire upbringing easily, I guess. "Abandon" is too strong a word, really... "Release" might be better.
“I harbor no resentment against Adventism, no bitterness about the way I was raised. Being raised as part of this church gave me much that I greatly value. A strong sense of morality, and a reasonably healthy lifestyle, and a deep knowledge of the most significant literary work in Western civilization. A low tolerance for caffeine and red meat. The love of my life, who I met at PUC. The training to become a pretty good teacher, and the drive to always learn more. And, ironically, it gave me the foundation for the rationality ---perhaps excessive rationality--- that eventually brought me out.
“When I look at the discussion boards at sites like exadventist.com the people there don't seem particularly rational. Or content. I see no need, as they and many others do, to define myself by what I am not. Nor have I found it particularly productive to reform Adventism from within. Kudos to those of you still trying, but such a reformation would require that a lot of people make changes to something that works fine for them as it is. Perhaps it's just laziness on my part, but I've come to accept that it's not really my problem.
“So I'm out. Keep in touch, though, you who are my SDA family and friends. I'm still the same person, just not officially Adventist any more.”
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