Although I don’t disagree with the “general” sentiment represented here, I am concerned with the blatant fallacy quoted at the beginning by Paul Woodruff. This is exactly the type of butchery to our words that leads to such polarization generally. The fallacy involves limiting the meaning of a word to only a subset of what it applies to. Thus, Hitler, Stalin, Kahn, Amin, and possibly Custer etc. would no longer be considered leaders. A leader isn’t a leader only if he/she fails to perform the actions required to lead. This failure does not include bad choices or actions, but rather abdication or an overthrow of some kind.
This same tactic is unfortunately used for Doctors, Businessmen, Lawyers, etc. Its most verile form is for humanity itself; the idea that if a person doesn’t support ‘X’ they aren’t human.
I disagree vehemently with church leadership on this issue and process, but they are still leaders; just not the kind we need.
This may seem somewhat off topic, but the subject is relevant to much of the arguing going on all over today.
NOTE:The fallacy is not a propositional fallacy and so stopped being taught during the scholastic period of philosophical history, and consequently will not be found with a
Google search. Aristotle touches on it in his ‘Topics’ concerning definitions with regard to being careful on the use of predicates. The one predicate fallacy we still know about well is that of equivocation (but this occurs propositionally as well). This fallacy could be properly called the fallacy of the limited predicate. Ayn Rand did re-identify it later, though she calls it the frozen abstraction (freezing a concept to a subset population).
Why are we so apt to condemn our own? I love this call to really seeing our world and reaching out to them.
Authoritarianism has always been irrelevant in Adventism. This generation will not tolerate it. Dressing up and going to Battle Creek seems quaint to those focused on the future. Creating legislation to punish our own dedicated Godly workers is unthinkable.
Agreed Harrpa, I too believe the present circumstance, culminating over the last couple of weeks, is not a surprise when the story of the post-Ellen White 20th century is considered. During those important decades, we substantially substituted the authority of Scripture for Adventist creed; we substantially abandoned as our primary occupation the identity of Jesus in favor of a focus on ourselves.
Two simple questions that I think can put to the test for the beginning the process of changing our level of thinking:
Does the Holy Spirit call who He deems fit for service to God?
Y__ or N__
Does the SDA church have the authority to create a policy that over rules the Holy Spirit choice of spiritual gift distribution to believers?
Y__ or N__