On the show "Baggage", one young man said that he was from a "good Christian home" by his parents and has " strong moral values", yet he finds the woman on this episode attractive and is looking for that "fairytale ending" type of marriage. Well, just because a person was brought up in a Christian home by their parents, that doesn't mean that they have strong moral values. You can be born in a Jewish or atheistic home and have good moral values and sometimes people who group in such households don't have strong moral values. I don't believe in "fairytale ending" marriages. No marriage is truly perfect. Spouses don't always agree. There are some unmarried couples who are more faithful to their partners, more open and honest than many married couples. Married and unmarried couples should be honest with each other. Being religious isn't a guarantee that you are a good person, any more than being non-religious makes you a bad person.
You know, Christians and Muslims that complain of "persecution" because they cannot enforce their theological views on an entire country or planet on people who don't share their views, that's not persecution. A person who is shunned by their community for not sharing the mostly commonly-held beliefs in the area, that is persecution. Not allowing people to run for political office in a certain province because they don't believe in the existence of any deity, that is persecution. Not allowing someone to practice their beliefs held by a splinter group that has connections to an established denomination that they belong to, that is discrimination. Fundamentalist Mormons ( The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) face persecution in the workplace or even social alienation in Utah from Orthodox Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) because they still continue to actively practice polygamous marital relationships. The JW's in their publications often make sweeping, generalizing statements about all ex-JW's and non-JW's of being "immoral people who are not capable in any kind of way of being good, well-behaved persons, not matter how hard they try". Seventh-day Adventists have a persecution complex and seem to think that all Roman Catholics want to destroy them. A lot of Roman Catholics don't even know what Adventists believe.
Ellen G. White wasn't the most mentally sound person, but I do think that she made an advancement in religion by founding a denomination that wasn't started by a male for once. It's just too bad that women cannot serve as pastors within the SDA Church. Refusing to convert into a religion, because you cannot agree with some beliefs, that is not "persecution", that is merely exercising religious freedom and the freedom of your conscience. Think about it.
Sincerely,
Brandi Amari Williams
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