A late headline___________

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____________but any less portentous of its' developing world civil authority in religious affairs?

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UPDATE REPORT: Walter Veith Responds to EUD and is Banned in German Churches by German Adventist Leaders

An inquiry is currently underway in Germany concerning Walter Veith and anti-semitism charges. In our previously published report, the circumstances and dialogue that took place in this incident are outlined. On December 4, 2012, the two German SDA Unions NDV and SDV in an annual general meeting made the decision 45 in favour, 4 opposed, and 1 undecided to ban Walter Veith from speaking in German SDA Churches for the second time. The previous ban took place in 2004 due to his lectures on Bible translations and what was termed as "conspiracy theories" which were highly disapproved of by German leaders. The ban was lifted in 2010, but now has been reinstated.

Readers should note that there have been no complaints from Jews in regards to Walter's comments, nor have any non-SDAs had issue with the contents of his series. All complaints and disapproval originated from fellow SDA brethren, specifically those associated with the private news agency EANN (similar to Spectrum), and from Church leadership that sided with the accusers. The ban from speaking in German SDA Churches stems not from any public offence actually made, but rather from leadership so desperate to be politically correct that they rather sacrifice truth. Or is there a more sinister reason for their strong opposition to this message??

God cares!

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Walter Veith - Accused of Anti-Semitism in Germany

On October 20, 2012, Walter Veith preached the lecture "King of the North (Part 2)" from the new series Repairing the Breach in German [German title Sturm aus dem Norden] in Marienberg SDA Church in Nurnberg, Germany, to an audience of approximately 350 people. The lecture was also live-streamed to approximately 1500 people. Almost immediately after the presentation, Walter Veith received violent opposition by way of an article by EANN (an independent Adventist magazine in Germany sharing similar ideas and mindset as Spectrum magazine) about his claims of Freemason/Jesuit involvement in the creation of the State in Israel after WWII and the way he expressed himself in regards to the Jews during Hitler’s regime. Although EANN is run by a few Adventist individuals, it is not an official institution of the SDA church in Germany but a privately funded online news magazine that designates itself as an “Independent Journal for Religion, Church and Society”. Three points specifically were brought up as points of contention:

This section will help you to stay informed about the events unfolding as a continuation of the opposition against Walter Veith in Germany and other countries in Europe.

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The following letter was sent on December 5, 2012 by Walter Veith to Bruno Vertallier in response to his November 30, 2012 letter of disapproval and request to meet.

Dear Brother Vertallier

Thank you for your letter to which I would like to respond. Firstly, I never received any e-mails from you as you might have sent them to an old address and our telephone lines have been stolen so you would not have been able to reach me on the land line. Secondly, from the tone of your letter it is obvious that you did not accept my explanation of the ‘small yellow cloth’ phrase and I therefore assume that you suppose that it was intentionally derogatory towards the Jews as a people. It seems as though some people are bent on assuming evil intent because that is what they want to hear. The fact of the matter is that my lectures are too close to home for some and therefore every word is placed on the gold scale to find something objectionable and they refuse to accept my explanation that it was an issue of language barrier and nothing else.

Let me spell it out for you: In my home language (Afrikaans) all diminutives are endearing and express empathy and we even have double diminutives and triple diminutives to express feelings. In German diminutives are often deemed derogatory and since German and Afrikaans share phrases it is natural for me to use Afrikaans nuances when speaking German. In fact I got into trouble before in Germany for saying that someone had a ‘small heart’ (kleines Herz) as opposed to ‘large heart’ (groβes Herz). In Afrikaans someone with a small heart (klein hartjie –which by the way is a double diminutive) is kind, full of empathy, gentle, easily hurt, or endearing, but in German it means ‘hard-hearted’ or ‘stingy’. In Afrikaans one would use the phrase ‘small cloth’ to distinguish it from the opposite extreme such as a large cloth like a bed sheet and no one would even think to interpret it otherwise. I therefore reiterate that I did not mean it in a derogatory sense and that I harbor no anti-Semitic sentiments. Moreover, having grown up in Africa and not in Germany, I was never associated with discrimination against the Jews nor did I ever side with or share any sentiments with those who did. On the contrary, discriminatory ideologies are abhorrent to me.

My statements have been wrenched out of all proportions and since the actions of the SDA leadership in German-speaking Europe during the war were not exactly exemplary (as is clear from their apology in the 2005 declaration on anti-Semitism and also the recent reiteration of that declaration) I assume that you overreacted for fear that the past should haunt you. In line with that declaration, I too am against all forms of discrimination on the grounds of race or religion and stand firmly for religious liberty but I draw a clear line of distinction between the theological issues and the racial issues involved. It seems to me that some find it difficult to distinguish between the two because they carry this burden of guilt. The fact that the SDA church in Germany shares this guilt does, however, not give them the right to transfer this baggage onto me and to swing to the opposite extreme of discriminating against the ‘antitypical Jews’ who preach the Three Angels’ Messages. If they do this, then their confession becomes a repentance of King Saul without the change of heart, because they demonstrate by their action that they are just as willing now to repeat their folly as they were then.

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[LifeHiscost]

The URL that will help to follow up for any and all who are interested in where we are in God's timetable.

http://amazingdiscoveries.org/12.12.06-walter-veith-responds-to-eud-banned-in-german-churches

___and a comment to help those who believe it necessary to prepare themselves for what is to come.

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All who in that evil day would fearlessly serve God according to the dictates of conscience, will need courage, firmness, and a knowledge of God and His word; for those who are true to God will be persecuted, their motives will be impugned, their best efforts misinterpreted, and their names cast out as evil. Satan will work with all his deceptive power to influence the heart and becloud the understanding, to make evil appear good, and good evil. The stronger and purer the faith of God’s people, and the firmer their determination to obey Him, the more fiercely will Satan strive to stir up against them the rage of those who, while claiming to be righteous, trample upon the law of God. It will require the firmest trust, the most heroic purpose, to hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints. {AA 431.1}

God desires His people to prepare for the soon-coming crisis. Prepared or unprepared, they must all meet it; and those only who have brought their lives into conformity to the divine standard, will stand firm at that time of test and trial. When secular rulers unite with ministers of religion to dictate in matters of conscience, then it will be seen who really fear and serve God. When the darkness is deepest, the light of a godlike character will shine the brightest. When every other trust fails, then it will be seen who have an abiding trust in Jehovah. And while the enemies of truth are on every side, watching the Lord’s servants for evil, God will watch over them for good. He will be to them as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. {AA 431.2}

God cares!