There is a Facebook Page titled “I support The Ordination Of Women in Adventism”. The page was started by Landon Schnabel in 2009.
Just before Covid hit, in 2020, this page became a battleground due to woke grievance Adventists attacking it for being too white and not racially sensitive enough. The entire page was muted for a period of time in January 2020, due to the aforementioned conflict. Here is a statement by Schnabel, explaining the decision to temporarily shut it down,
Observations
As observed recently on the Australian Adventists Facebook page, groups on the intersectional totem pole often attack each other in their quest for greater victimhood.
So desirable is victimhood status, that leftists often cannibalize each other in order to claim “My victimhood is greater than yours!”
Examples:
Black justice Adventists attacking pro-ordinationists for being too white.
Pro-ordination Femventists attacking male leadership in Australia for being men.
Transgender (male) swimmers dominating a national swimming competition for women.
Why is victimhood so attractive to these people? Why would a black woman who is worth nearly a billion dollars (Oprah Winfrey) want to be thought of as a victim? Why would a prince of Wales and his woke wife want to be thought of as victims? Why would a professional football player who makes 30 million dollars in a multi-year contract want to be a victim—of all things?
Because victimhood has been incentivized in our culture. Just the opposite of the way America was founded (hard work, gratitude, and personal responsibility) victimhood offers a person pseudo moral authority and protection from guilt, blame and criticism. These are things that money cannot buy, in the eyes of a perpetual grievance class in our sick culture. Lacking the gratitude and joy of the Gospel, people turn to false gospels to save or feel good about themselves. It is a strange left-wing version of salvation by works. It is legalism on the other side of the coin. It is SDA pop-leftism.
I realize that we are trying to define victimhood in rational terms, but at heart it is not a rational impulse. It is a blend of pagan religion and emotional instability; it is Cain complaining that God was unfair in judging him for his sibling-cide; it is the Gibeonites deceiving Israel by claiming to be victims of poverty; it is Adonijah clinging to the horns of the altar for safety, but secretly plotting to take the kingdom from Solomon.
What do you get more of in a society? You get more of what you incentivize. Even among Seventh-day Adventism.
Disregarding God all our lives, and quickly clinging to religious rites or symbols when troubles come will not be of any help. It is only when we trust God with our heart to rescue and save us, that we are safe.
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“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
