Satan's Suit

[Dr. Shane]

While I did find this a bit funny... It is a serious issue in the church.  The issue is radical-minded people that feel they need to force others to conform to what they believe to be right.

 

There was one such member that attended a church when I was in college.  He belonged to one of those independent ministries (which I am not aware of any here in deep south Texas).  He felt it his mission to tell the Sabbath School class and prayer meeting about where the Pastor was teaching unbiblically.  On one occasion I had invited a friend from college to a Bible study and he was argueing with our pastor (who was a bit liberal) about being able to live without sinning.  The arguement got so heated that the man finally stood up and told the pastor that if he would step outside they could settle the issue like men.  Well,,, my friend from college later commented, that was certainly showing that pastor that one could live without sinning.  On another occasion one of the man's daughters told me he would wake them up in the middle of the night and make them repeat the Ten Commandments from memory before letting them go back to bed.  I heard his wife finally divorced him and "oh the scandel" that an Adventist pastor actually encouraged her to do so.

 

Well, a few months ago - out of the blue - he sent me a Facebook friend request.  I accepted and this week I got this message from him.

 

"Why are you dressed up in your Satan's suit? You really need to get it together Shane. Let me know when you and I will refriend you."

 

Well, I am dressed up in my santa suit in the picture on Facebook.  I had the suit made for me when my children were young to teach my children that santa isn't real - that I am their santa.  I have never taught my children to believe in santa.  Dad is santa.  I have also used the suit to go into nursing homes and sing Christmas carols.

 

The strking thing here is that this man, and others like him, cannot even be Facebook friends with someone they disagree with.  That is a bit disturbing, especailly in the light that as Adventists we are suppose to be preaching (and demonstrating) religious liberty.  A major part of religious liberty is allowing others to disagree with us.

 

Now I did decide this year to stop celebrating Halloween and I removed my Halloween pictures from my Facebook.  My, my, my... imagine if he had seen my Halloween pictures.

 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

LOL "Satan suit"?  Oh brother.....  I'm not sure I'd want to be FB friends with someone who demands you conform to *his* ideas and opinions!

[Aliensanctuary]

These kinds of psychos are the ultimate control freaks.

 

We can already read about how people like them tried to kill Jesus for not following their rules. They would be the very first ones to pick up the stones and throw them at unfortunate sinners, unlike Jesus, who tactfully guided people into the knowledge of the Kingdom. These browbeating manipulators don't fool too many, though, because it's usually quite obvious that they're all hypocrites who are blind to the mercy of our Father.

 

I know one of them personally, and it upsets me on the rare occasion when I'm present while he verbally abuses his wife. She escapes to our house for a few hours of sanity most Saturday evenings. We serve pizza, hot chocolate, and cookies, something her crabbed husband forbids. A gifted artist, she spends a lot of time illustrating his autobiography, which includes his religious beliefs.

 

I suspect the book will never be a bestseller.

[Tom Wetmore]

The fitting term seems to be "Killjoy"...

[whbae]

Those extremes are not limited to SDAs.  They are all over in the world, you know very well about the extremists among Moslems.

[CoAspen]

:reyes: