Is Sharing a News Item a Cardinal Sin?

[Guest]

Is Sharing a News Item a Cardinal Sin?

by Nic Samojluk

Can the simple act of sharing a news item with a few friends and acquaintances be treated as a cardinal sin? It depends on the circumstances, the type of news, and the bias of the individuals who are the targeted recipients of said news. Consider the following events. On March 22 the news media reported the tragic crash of an airplane in the State of Montana which resulted in the deaths of 13 passengers and its pilot. The lives of three families were cut short, including seven children. The story of this terrible tragedy was widely reported by the general media and also by Christian organizations, including the Adventist media, since most of the adults were graduates from the Loma Linda University.

Most of the reports mentioned the fact that the majority of the victims were related to Irving "Bud" Feldkamp, owner of Allcare and Hospitality Dental Associates and CEO of Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino, but failed to mention that Feldkamp’s major investment is the Family Planning Associates, a chain of 17 abortion clinics in the State of California, a major provider of abortion in the State. Other Christian news service organizations did include Feldkamp’s connection with the abortion industry. I thought that this omission by the general and the Adventist media might have been intentional instead of circumstantial, and I decided to share one of these more candid Christian news items with a limited number of friends and acquaintances on my mailing list. The reaction of some of the recipients was positive, while that of others rather negative and even vitriolic.

Some of the recipients thanked me for taking the time to share with them a candid reporting of the news, while others insisted that I was revealing a lack of judgment, that the timing of my action was inappropriate, that I was heartless in the midst of tragedy, that my action revealed a lack of Christian love, and that I was suggesting that God had punished three innocent families, including seven children for the alleged sins of the parents. I responded that I was willing to apologize for the inappropriate timing of the news item and asked what would have been an acceptable timing for me to share said news item. No one did ever take the time to answer my question.

I explained that I was not the author of the “offensive” news item, and added that writing about tragic events was not new to me, and that as the editor of the www.sdaforum.com news reporting web site, I had written about events such as the Tsunami, Katrina, the 9/11 terrorist attack, and even about the tragic death of my daughter in a car accident. In all of these stories, I had declared that I did not believe that God was directly responsible for such tragic loss of life, and cited Jesus’ explanation for such happenings: They were not evidence that the victims were more sinful than others, but that all needed to repent of their sins. I assumed that this explanation would solve the problem. It didn’t. It merely fanned the flames.

I received from my pastor, the man I did admire as the best preacher in the Adventist denomination, the sternest rebuke of my entire life. He sided with those who insisted that my explanations simply were evidence that I was guilty as charged, and that I was merely attempting to soften the blow I deserved. He also faulted me for the “deplorable” way I had interpreted Scripture, and asked me to delete his name from my mailing list. This I promptly did, and responded with a lengthy explanation of my position regarding these two related issues: My alleged sin of sharing a news item at a time of mourning and the sin of the church of justifying the death of millions of unborn babies under a variety of circumstances including rape, incest, when the pregnant female is a minor, when having a baby interferes with school or career, and even when the pregnancy seemed to affect the mental health of the pregnant woman.

Regarding the first issue, I do admit that it would have been much wiser to have waited a week or two before sharing said news item with others. What I probably should have done was to share said story only with those I knew were on the pro-life side of the abortion controversy and avoided including those who believe that there is nothing wrong with killing the unborn before they have had a chance to take their first breath. This was an error in judgment on my side, and I do apologize for having offended the sensibilities of those who do not share my views about the evils of abortion.

Having said this, I would like to ask those who were offended by my action to contrast my sinful behavior with that of those who see nothing wrong with justifying the genocide of the unborn. Every day, approximately three thousand innocent babies are sacrificed on the altar of convenience in honor of the modern counterpart of the pagan god Moloch and we, the “Remnant” people of God who have the last message of warning for the world, instead of sounding the trumpet, have been siding with God’s enemy, finding excuses for this terrible crime, and justifying the execution of the innocents in order to satisfy the whims of women faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Please, as you condemn my sin of sharing a story at a time of mourning, compare it with the sin of looking the other way while thousands of babies are mercilessly butchered before they are born.

This experience reminds me of an editorial published some years ago by William Johnson, the former editor of the Adventist Review in which he explained why he refused to report certain news items in the church official magazine. He cited what King David had stated in his lament following the tragic death of King Saul: “Publish it not in Gaza.” Of course, Johnson misapplied the biblical text, because though it is true that David did not publish the tragic news of Saul’s death in the Philistines’ city of Gaza, yet he published this in Jerusalem; other wise we wouldn’t be reading it today in the Bible. Biblical writers were candid reporters, and did not make an attempt at sanitizing the sacred pages of Scripture.

We need to bear in mind that the awful sin of King David with Bathsheba was published in Jerusalem; likewise the shameful denial of Jesus Christ by Saint Peter was also published in Jerusalem. This is the reason I felt it was proper to publish the airplane crash news item in Jerusalem; and for the same reason I am publishing this material in Jerusalem; but do not tell this to my pastor. He will tell you that I am doing a “deplorable” eisegesis of Holy Writ. Perhaps I should have consulted him before making such application of Scripture to this case, but how can I do this, since he did cut the spiritual umbilical connection between him and myself? This means that I am forced to rely on my own wisdom.

I need to assure the readers that I think I do understand what the Feldkamp family is going through. The last couple of decades have been rather painful and even tragic for me. I did experience the loss of my parents, my father and mother in-law, my sister and my brother in-law, and even my own daughter who died in a tragic car accident in the city of Redlands. Loosing loved ones is something I have no desire to experience again. Nevertheless, we need to bear in mind that as we mourn the loss of loved ones, every time an abortion is performed, our heavenly Father mourns the loss of one of his precious children; and we must not forget that God has mourned already the deaths of fifty million unborn children since that awful day when nine unelected Justices of the Supreme Court removed the protection from the most vulnerable members of humanity: the unborn.

Those who criticized me for sharing a story I had not even written which established a connection between the airplane crash and the abortion industry should remember that, if they really believe that our church’s official position regarding the killing of the innocent is morally justifiable, then common sense would indicate that there should be no stigma attached to activities connected with abortion. If taking the life of unborn children is morally acceptable as our church teaches, can someone explain to me why sharing a story of morally acceptable behavior should be so offensive? If performing an abortion is morally comparable to removing an appendix, why would it be offensive sharing a story about such activity or investment in said type of business?

We can’t argue that performing abortion is morally neutral and at the same time condemn anybody who reports such activities through Emails or the Internet; can we? How can we have a double standard for this? If taking the lives of the most innocent members of human kind is ethically acceptable, there should be no stigma associated with the investment of funds in this kind of business. If our church justifies the practice of abortion under so many circumstances, including when the pregnancy interferes with the woman’s studies or career, or when it affects her mental state, then there should be nothing wrong with profiting from the abortion business; and if there is nothing wrong with abortion, then reporting that someone is connected with such a business should not be condemned either.

If you argue with me over abortion and are convinced that the Adventist “Guidelines on Abortion” are morally acceptable, then you can’t at the same time condemn me for reporting the fact that someone is engaged in the abortion business. It would be akin to publishing the fact that a member of the church is engaged in the dental, the real estate, the insurance, or any other morally and legally acceptable business. You can’t have it both ways: Justify the killing of the unborn and at the same condemn someone who reports such allegedly noble enterprise whose objective is to solve the problem of women’s’ unwanted pregnancies. You can’t condemn my action of sharing a news item written by someone else and insist that abortion is a morally neutral behavior.

I have no problem apologizing for sharing said news item at an inappropriate time for those who were victims of such a terrible tragedy; nevertheless, I think that the Adventists needs to also apologize for blessing an activity which the Lord has not blessed, but rather did condemn. I am willing to participate in a joint repentance and contrition over a sin which was condemned by our earliest pioneers, including James and Ellen White, John Andrews, John H. Kellogg, and many others. Our modern practice of abortion is no other than the modern counterpart of the child sacrifices offered to the pagan god Moloch which was the target of the strongest condemnation by Old Testament prophets.

You are probably aware that my doctoral dissertation dealt precisely with the dramatic shift of the Adventists attitude towards the practice of abortion, a practice which was condemned in the strongest terms by the Adventist pioneers, including James & Ellen White, John Kellogg, John Andrews, and many others. If this topic if of interest to you, you can access my dissertation online at http://sdaforum.com/page13.html . What follows includes the comments I received from some of those I shared the candid reporting of the above mentioned tragic news event which resulted in the death of 14 precious human lives. But first, here is the offending story I shared with others by Email. You need to click on the Internet link to access the full story.

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[Nic Samojluk]

Richard,

Thank you for posting a portion of my article on this forum. It reveals the incredible apathy towards the fate of the unborn among Adventists especially in the liberal West. I never imagined that the Adventist Church would take such a major shift against the clear teaching of the Bible. In the Old Testament, the shedding of innocent blood was considered as a major offense against God.

Our Adventist pioneers had the strongest words of condemnation against the killing of the unborn, and labelled such action as "murder" and a direct violation of the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue. We watered down the meaning of said injunction, but we continue to wear the label as the "Remnant of God who keep God's Commandments."

If you would like to read the rest of the article as posted in the www.sdaforum.com here is your chance:

Is Sharing a News Item a Cardinal Sin?

http://sdaforum.com/page245.html

[Guest]

Richard,

Thank you for posting a portion of my article on this forum. It reveals the incredible apathy towards the fate of the unborn among Adventists especially in the liberal West. I never imagined that the Adventist Church would take such a major shift against the clear teaching of the Bible. In the Old Testament, the shedding of innocent blood was considered as a major offense against God.

Our Adventist pioneers had the strongest words of condemnation against the killing of the unborn, and labelled such action as "murder" and a direct violation of the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue. We watered down the meaning of said injunction, but we continue to wear the label as the "Remnant of God who keep God's Commandments."

If you would like to read the rest of the article as posted in the www.sdaforum.com here is your chance:

Is Sharing a News Item a Cardinal Sin?

http://sdaforum.com/page245.html

I thought I had posted the whole thing. I meant to.