Premier Issue; Waco; Abortion; etc.

General Response to the Premier Issue

I believe that Adventist Today can render a unique and valuable service to our church. …I believe that God is leading Seventh-day Adventists to accomplish a special mission. But by its very nature a bureaucratic organization is highly limited in the area of self-criticism…

There are a great number of us who are basically loyal to the church and believe its fundamental doctrines but who crave a safe and free atmosphere where thoughts can be exchanged. Your editorial voice is hardly that of a novice in search of attention or an embittered loser lashing out at those who rejected him. Your supporters include those who love the Lord and want to see His truth shine “more and more” as the Day approaches. May the Lord’s blessings be with you.

H. Ward Hill
Lincoln, NE 

I really enjoyed your first issue of Adventist Today, although I do hope that it does not become another Spectrum. (I really enjoy Spectrum, but find that often it becomes a camp for closed-minded liberals trying to disprove every church doctrine, and tends to be written in a style that is too much trying to impress us with their education.) I like the way that you are short and to the point in plain English, and have current events. I also like the way you balance the pro’s and con’s …Thank you for your journal.

Kevin D. Neidhardt
Redlands, CA 

I do not plan to subscribe to [Adventist Today]. I fail to see the need for additional publications to further confuse the issues, but if you think it is necessary, you can at least leave the name Adventist out of your title so readers can readily see that it is an independent publication.

If your staff would lend its talents to the upbuilding of our current leading publications, the Adventist Review and The Signs of the Times, we could speak with one voice…

I read with interest James Walters’ editorial “Let Freedom Ring.” This is a beautiful sentiment. I disagree with his assertion that we have reasonable trust in the editorial judgments and the stories of the Los Angeles Times or the Washington Post and the implication that we cannot give that confidence to our denominational periodicals. Try giving them your support instead of your criticism and see what happens.

Robert A. Dexter
Porterville, CA  

Of course we want to be part of [Adventist Today]. We believe that opportunities to discuss issues strengthen the church and encourage young people to remain with us.

Alice I. Holst and Geneva E. Durham
Angwin, CA

I am so glad someone is having the courage to start another Adventist magazine… I am 72 years old and I miss what used to be the good old Review.

…Please let us know what’s going on in the SDA churches and the conferences as there is more going on than anyone tells us anymore.

Daisy Chinn
Cincinnati, OH 

A pity so much time, means, talent and thought is so wasted. The SDA church is under the direct guidance of our Lord and He gave directions as to what was His intent and how it should be conducted… The lovely Jesus does not seem to absorb your attention. Turn your eyes upon Jesus …Your focus is inward—not heavenward.

Palmer [sic]
Glen, MS

I am pleased with the first issue of Adventist Today. I have talked to a number of people who have read the magazine, and the impression is without exception positive… I think you’ve come up with a winner.

Marvin Moore
Nampa, ID 

This is the first Adventist magazine I’ve read cover-to-cover in ages. It’s comforting to read an Adventist magazine that deals with unpleasant issues without assassinating characters or institutions.

Linda Brawner
Mansfield, OH 

I do hope that many who have thrown out the baby with the bath water and do not attend church anymore will have a chance to read this new publication. And I hope that some who have become fossilized in their beliefs win appreciate the articles and grow in their conception of church.

Joyce Rigsby
Hanford, CA

Waco Articles

The role of weapons in the Branch Davidian community is an important development neglected in your article, “History and Fatal Theology…” All other Davidian groups are solidly pacifist, as were the Branch Davidians as of a decade ago. The first weapon entered the compound in 1985, a pistol worn by George Roden…

I doubt that Howell/Koresh would have armed his followers if George Roden had not introduced arms into the compound and used them against Howell and his followers. The brief media circus in 1987 probably did even more damage in making the Branch Davidians a militant group. Religious fanatics tend to have little sense of humor and cannot stand being laughed at. Between November 1987, and February 1993, Howell/Koresh made sure that the Branch Davidians would not be people to laugh at.

By the way, George Roden was pushing for legalized bigamy long before Howell ever tried it… Whatever George came up with, Vernon would top it.

James Miller
Madison, WI

Abortion Issue

Ginger Hanks-Harwood would have been a service to the readers if she would have spent her mental energies on writing a new succinct “Abortion Guidelines” rather than taking negative pot-shots.

J. Fred Hughes
Richardson, TX

Editorials

I doubt very much that the article by Kit Watts will be a credit to your publication or to the church. The so-called Adventist gays and lesbians will be happy to read her article especially when it comes from a Review editor.

H.D. Schmidt
Pleasant Hill, CA

Mission Statement

It is to be hoped that the mission statement and policy declared in your first issue can be faithfully followed, and that finally our people may have access to an unbiased source of facts and suggested solutions.

There must be a solution that permits both sides to be heard, and opens the door to free discussion and final decision by the Adventist church at large. What you propose seems to offer just such a remedy, but only if you don’t become a “dissident” also by presenting an unbiased point of view.

Earl Meyer
Oakhurst, CA

I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said, “When truth is published freely and every man can read, liberty will have nothing to fear.” In that same spirit of liberal optimism, I am glad to welcome Adventist Today into our Adventist subculture, and into my own home.

I think it is very healthy for all sides of an issue to be heard. You will undoubtedly hear from some who would argue that our unity is threatened by frank discussion of our differences, but I would argue just the opposite—that real unity can only be achieved by surfacing our differences, dialoguing about them, and working the issues through. I hope Adventist Today will successfully avoid both the Scylla of liberal-political-correctness and the Charybdis of conservative-organizational-conformity, to give us a truly thoughtful, comprehensive and fair reporting of the Adventist news and views. My prayers are with you.

David VanDenburgh
Loma Linda, CA 

A publication that aspires to honest, straightforward Adventist journalism—at last. May Adventist Today thrive until the Lord returns… Your coverage of the tragedy in Waco provides a superb example. Thank you for avoiding the self-justifying, “he had nothing to do with Adventism” tone of so much denominational PR… Darrell Holtz
Overland, KS