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.

Reviewing the Adventist Review
September 18, 2008
Vol. 185, No. 26

GENERAL COMMENTS
This issue is pretty standard SDA fare. I do, however, have two Bouquets to award and two comments.

BOUQUETS
$8 Million Raised for Missions at ASI Convention, reported by [the very cool] Steve Hamstra, is a tribute to Adventist laymen and women who live and breath Christ’s admonition to feed the hungry, provide clean water for thirsty, build shelters for the homeless, and preach the gospel message of love.

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;

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

Both of them are sturdy, adventurous and fun loving. Both have large engines and are equally at home on the streets or on rugged off-road terrain.

But if you had to choose just one, which Pathfinder would you prefer and why?

In a contest of speed, power and agility, which Pathfinder would you put your money on?

There are fair questions to be debated about the future social impact of same-sex marriage.

Adventist Forum (AF)

creating community...

It’s the toughest assignment in the Bible; and yet, its status as the New Commandment given by Jesus means it is one that we dare not shirk. How do we go about loving one another? We begin by talking to each other. It is through
significant conversation that we build friendships and a sense of belonging within a community.

Adventist Forum is a lay organization with a mission, a vision, a publication, and a website: www.spectrummagazine.org

Click on the cover, below, to view the full report PDF file.

At the crossroads of Adventism and Catholicism, blogger Hugo Mendez gets right to the danger inside the Church State Council arguments.

Mendez writes: Oddly, many of the same arguments used by NARLA in that article [against Adventists Against Prop. 8] could easily be used to defend a national Sunday law framed in secular language. I have taken the liberty of making the necessary substitutions:

Happy Sabbath!

Giving the news and this last week's blame game over the subprime mortgage crisis, appropriately the Gospel lectionary reading is "The Parable of the Tenants" (Matthew 21:33-46).

Opening Meditation/Prayer

"Sub-prime Mortgage Blues"

Lyrics and Slide Show by Gregg Somerville
Music by Chris Conti

Someone just passed this along after finding it online.

As one can see from the endorsers and theology, it's clear that this new site Adventists For Prop. 8 is supported by some of the media folks surrounding 3ABN and Amazing Facts as well as Weimar and some at the Central Sacramento Church.

Watch and comment on the vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Pacific Union Recorder just published a story about the growing controversy over the Church State Council's endorsement of Proposition 8 from a theological perspective.

h/t to Julius Nam for passing this along.

“Nothing motivates us as much as seeing people do what we admire,” Roy Branson told the attendees of the Adventist Forum Conference at the final session. His interviews with two Adventist activists concluded the sessions on Christians in the Public Square.

The new video from the Florida Hospital Church team, which was shown for the first time last Saturday nite at the Forum Conference.

Now on YouTube.

Enjoy.

Seventh-day Adventist congressional representatives Roscoe Bartlett (R – Maryland) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D – Texas), in the face of dire warnings from both President George Bush and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, voted against H.R. 3997, the financial markets bill that would have bailed out collapsing private financial institutions using $700 billion of taxpayer money.

The Conference closed the Sabbath with vespers, led by Dr. David Greenlaw, President of Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences (FHCHS). Music was again provided by Soul Reason. Dr. Greenlaw spoke about an Adventist Journey, using his own experience and maturation process to parallel how the church-at-large has grappled with issues and problems throughout its history. David did not grow up Adventist, he joined the church at age 19. And his father was leery of churches in general - 'They want you to be involved in groupthink'.

Jack is a very successful conservative (evangelical Christian) former securities trader who heads his own boutique investment management firm.

Conversations in the Public Square

Panel: Barry Lynn, Charles Scriven, Avis Buchanan, Ryan Bell, Glenn Coe
Moderated by Roy Branson

This morning Barry Lynn, a minister and lawyer and the high-profile executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, took the stage to talk about how separation is the cornerstone of our religious freedom.

He was incisive and humorous (as Charles Scriven later described) and his point was very clearly made.

9:00-10:00

Worship: The Outer Court as Sacred Space

There was no sermon, instead the liturgy (by Stefanie Johnson) mixed hymns (accompanied by an all teen ladies string quintet from the Orlando area), video interpretations of scripture, public readings, a skit, and a conversation with Roy Branson.

I particularly enjoyed the hymn singing and found new meaning in the words of each hymn in the context of our conversation this weekend about Christians in the Public Square.

The Church Has One Foundation
Faith of Our Fathers
Rise Up Oh Church of God

"The Conversation"

Live from the Adventist Forum Conference in Florida.

On the first night of the Adventist Forum Conference, the chairs were almost full with people who came to hear Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland church in Florida who has achieved national prominence.

The conference is taking place at the Mission Inn Resort and Conference Center in rural Howey-in-the-Hills, outside Orlando, Florida.

Far from the ruckus of Disney World and downtown, the conference center complex is surrounded by orange groves and horse farms.

Welcome – virtually – to the 2008 Adventist Forum Conference beginning this evening near Orlando, Florida. The topic is Christians in the Public Square. For a full look at the weekend agenda click here. Since most people who visit our website will obviously not be able to be with us we hope our web coverage here will be the next best thing (short of video streaming – not this year, but maybe next year).

I got to thinking while responding to some comments in the Prop. 8 thread. (Yes, I know - to some readers that may seem like a shocking development:)

But seriously, where did we followers of Christ get sidetracked that we're so focused on defining marriage based on gender?