Were/are there any SDA's in the KKK?

[lazarus]

German and Austrian Adventist churches apologise to Nazi victims

Frauke Brauns

Bielefeld, Germany (ENI). Leaders of Seventh-day Adventist churches in Germany and Austria have 60 years after the end of the Second World War drafted a declaration saying they "deeply regret" participation in or support of Nazi activities.

http://www.eni.ch/articles/display.shtml?05-0645

The above story makes me wonder if there were/are any Seventh-day Adventists who were/are members of the Klus Klux Klan? I know its far fetched but.....

[Dr. Shane]

Hmmm, interesting question. Did the church, as an organization, in North America ever endorse the Klan? I hope not. If it did, would any good come from digging up old dried bones?

[lazarus]

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Shane said:

If it did, would any good come from digging up old dried bones?

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I hear you, but perhaps "you will the know the truth and the truth will set you free"

[cricket]

Hardly a far-fetched question. Undoubtedly, there were SDAs in the Ku Klux Klan.

Certainly questions like these matter. History has a tendency to repeat itself. We need to be aware of our past.

[Dr. Shane]

There is a difference between what some individual members of the church do and what the church, as an organization, does. From what I understand, the church, as an organization, endorsed the Nazis (at least the German church). I am not aware that any conference, union or division of the church ever endorsed the KKK. If it did, that may be worth discussing. However before any discussion began, goals should be established to what should be accomplished by such a discussion.

[cricket]

Well, Lazarus didn't ask if the church endorsed it. He just asked if any members of the church were involved. To me, that's still a worthy question. Feel free to disagree.

[LifeHiscost]

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dgrimm60 said:

because church denomination is different than

chrisitans.

dgrimm60

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It seems like first one would be best served by separating

denomination from church, especially if church is recognized as the body of Christ. However, even if the church were recognized as the body of Christ, we need to then separate the tares from the wheat, which our Father says He will do in His own good time.

[:"red"] "Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." [/]

Matthew 13:30 NKJV

[lazarus]

The interesting thing about the SDA apology in Germany was that there was an obvious acknowlegement that there was denominational involvement in the support of Nazi activities albeit on a local level.

I was just wondering if any SDA churches in any locations gave any support or gave leadership to any local KKK groups.

It is clear that the SDA church in many parts of the US did not stand against the worst excesses of racism in America. I am curious tosee whether any SDA entities, churches, schools, conferences, Pastors, elders were part in the more dastardly end of racism in America.

Its interesting to note that JW's were in the concentration camps. There were heavily persecuted for their stand against the Nazi regime.

[Ron Lambert]

Many of the stops on the "Underground Railroad" were in the homes of Seventh-day Adventists. Sojourner Truth (Isabella Van Wagener), who made many trips conducting others along this escape route from slavery, remained grateful and friendly toward Adventists for the rest of her life, often speaking at Adventist meetings long after the Civil War. She is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, near the White family burial place.

Here is an excerpt from an Adventist Today article by Ciro Sepulveda:

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John Byington, first president of the General Conference, not only welcomed Blacks and Indians into his home in Vermont but also helped many fugitive slaves escape to freedom. He had left the Methodist church when it became clear that they would continue to support slavery. And John Preston Kellogg, father of the doctor and cereal maker, ran an underground railroad station on their farm in southern Michigan.

....

Many Adventists were willing to go to jail before obeying the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, which required Americans to return runaway slaves to their masters.

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Link: http://www.atoday.com/Reinventing_Adventist.74.0.html

[Bravus]

I did a fairly extensive google search on the topic and didn't come up with anything - any documents that mentioned both organisations were about SDA opposition to the KKK. There were some Sabbath-worshipping people who ended up blending into some of the 'identity' (white supremacy) organisations, but I think that would have happened long after any individual had left the SDA church.

Are there child molesters who are SDA? Yep. Spouse beaters? Yep. Theives? Yep. Being SDA isn't a guarantee of moral character, so there's no reason to assume there couldn't also be racist SDAs: I'm sure there are. We need to learn, and we need to give our *own* beliefs and attitudes over to God.