October 14, 2008 Manila, Philippines
Megan Brauner and Ansel Oliver/ANN

Seventh-day Adventist world church officers approved several education proposals during an October 14 business session, including an initiative to promote and fund research, as well as a policy change delegating education oversight to local administrations.

Thanks to some DIY work by some young Adventist filmmakers, here are some short interviews with Adventists discussing their religious liberty concerns with Prop. 8. To date, 630 folks have signed the petition, and over 500 people (there is some overlap) are members of the Adventists Against Prop. 8 Facebook site.

h/t to Stephen Eyer for sharing this NPR comment , by Annie Williams:

"When you cut through all the rhetoric, there is only one reason you would deny gay couples the right to marry: bigotry.

It is wrong for one group of people to deny basic civil rights to another group because they do not share your religious beliefs. And that is exactly what this boils down to: legislating religion.

A signed "Happy Sabbath" from Timothy, a deaf Seventh-day Adventist Christian.

Happy Sabbath from Jozang Querida and his friends and family in the Philippines.

In an attached document on the front page of the Pacific Union's Church State Council website, Alan Reinach states, "In our own advocacy of Proposition 8, there are two points worth repeating here: first, the Church State Council has not opposed gay rights generally, or domestic partner rights in particular."

Not true.

• A sixteen year old goes on her thirteenth drug free walk to demonstrate you can have a happy life without drugs;

Loma Linda University in California and Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts announce they have begun exploratory discussions toward a close working relationship between the two Seventh-day Adventist institutions. Academic and financial leadership at both institutions are studying various concerns and possibilities, such as rotating teaching assignments, strengthening existing programs and consolidation of support services. Plans are progressing to develop a proposal for consideration by their respective boards in late October and early November.

Last night, the Adventists For Prop. 8 site continued its parroting of the Religious Right by featuring a video of Tony Perkins on its front page.

Tony Perkins is the political front man for James Dobson and has said that the separation of church and state is a "myth."

Our friend Trisha Famisaran has been working very hard organizing a revolutionary April 24-26 conference entitled:

“Adventist Women & the Earth…a Response to Ecofeminism”

She writes:

The Presidential Town Hall Debate between Obama and McCain will air live tonight, Tuesday October 7th at 9pm eastern, 6pm pacific time on every major broadcast network and every major cable news network.

Time: 9PM ET / 6PM PT