Leaderboard

Disclosure: For nine years, I served as a Steward for the AFGE Labor Union. SDA Position: Membership in a Labor Union is a personal decision. It is permitted, but not encouraged in actual practice. Types of US Labor Unions: Labor Unions in the US age governed by three distinct sets of laws and therefor may be considered to be of three types. 1) The typical national labor union in the U. S. is what is normally reported in the news. It is allowed to strike and can negotiate just bout every work-place issue. They are governed by Federal law. 2) Federal employee labor unions are governed by a different set of Federal labor law. That law does not allow for a strike. Membership in the Union is voluntary. Some restrictions on the issues that can be negotiated exist. In return, the Federal agency must allow Union Officials (of which I was one) to perform Union activities while being paid by the Federal agency. So, if I went off for 40 hours of Union training, I retained my normal pay while I was taking that training. In addition, Federal agencies are required by the law to bargain in good faith with the Union. NOTE: As a point of interest, while I was a Steward, a 310 page national contract governed how the agency and the Union interacted with each other. So, I had to comply with that document. 3) Labor Unions for local and State employees, are normally subject to the laws of that State and generally not to federal law. Additional Comments: As I understand it, in Brazil, to be employed at a good job, you will likely be required to join a Labor Union. In England a Labor Union has defended the rights of Sabbath keepers to be free of working on the Sabbath.

American Political Life: In the U.S. election for President in 1896, William Jennings Bryan was the candidate for President on both the Democratic and Populist tickets. However, the Vice-Presidential candidates differed. The Republican candidate, William McKinley won the election.

SDA Church Threatened: The following article reports the police being called to a SDA Church that was threatened to be shot up by a gunman. https://atoday.org/gunman-threatens-new-england-sda-church-service/

An example: In your quote you had the following term: " . . . a unity of three co-eternal persons . . .." Seventh-day Adventists today differ in their understandings as to what that means. They do not all agree. I suspect that you understand it in a manner that does not agree with many SDAs today. But, I may be wrong. My point is that a very limited amount of the book you cited is actually the official belief of the SDA Church. Much of the book, reflects the beliefs of a group of SDAs.

Challenger: I did not intend to imply in any manner that your statement was not correct. I simply stated that it was incomplete. There is a difference. To fully understand what was stated in the book that you cited, one must read much more. That book has some 50+ pages on God. There is an additional factor that must be considered in understanding that book. The official position of the SDA Church is stated in a very brief statement, printed in bold type, on a page prior to each chapter. That, and only that, is the official SDA position. The individual chapters constitute an unofficial understanding of SDA thought on the subject of each official statement. They are nothing more than the thoughts of some SDAs.

Christians in Nazi Germany: As Hitler came to power, he was supported by Christians in major ways. The following article informs as to the work of the Lutheran pastor, Julius von Jan and a sermon that he preached in 1938. He paid a high price for the sermon, which included years in concentration camps that left him a cripple. The message to us today, is that sometimes the call of Christ requires Christians to speak out, even at a great cost. See: https://atoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AT_Summer_24_pages_Religion-and-Politics.pdf