Emergent Event in Austin

There was an Emergent event in Austin this weekend. Here’s a recap.

On Marriage and Family

Some Seventh-day Adventist statements on marriage and family:

From the Fundamental Beliefs:

Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship. For the Christian a marriage commitment is to God as well as to the spouse, and should be entered into only between partners who share a common faith. Mutual love, honor, respect, and responsibility are the fabric of this relationship, which is to reflect the love, sanctity, closeness, and permanence of the relationship between Christ and His church. Regarding divorce, Jesus taught that the person who divorces a spouse, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery. Although some family relationships may fall short of the ideal, marriage partners who fully commit themselves to each other in Christ may achieve loving unity through the guidance of the Spirit and the nurture of the church. God blesses the family and intends that its members shall assist each other toward complete maturity. Parents are to bring up their children to love and obey the Lord. By their example and their words they are to teach them that Christ is a loving disciplinarian, ever tender and caring, who wants them to become members of His body, the family of God. Increasing family closeness is one of the earmarks of the final gospel message. (Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 19:3-9; John 2:1-11; 2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 5:21-33; Matt. 5:31, 32; Mark 10:11, 12; Luke 16:18; 1 Cor. 7:10, 11; Ex. 20:12; Eph. 6:1-4; Deut. 6:5-9; Prov. 22:6; Mal. 4:5, 6.)

An Affirmation of Marriage

Issues related to marriage can be seen in their true light only as they are viewed against the background of the divine ideal for marriage. Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus Christ to be both monogamous and heterosexual, a lifelong union of loving companionship between a man and a woman. In the culmination of His creative activity, God fashioned humankind as male and female in His own image; and He instituted marriage, a covenant-based union of the two genders physically, emotionally, and spiritually, spoken of in Scripture as “one flesh.”

Arising from the diversity of the two human genders, the oneness of marriage images in a singular way the unity within diversity of the Godhead. Throughout Scripture, the heterosexual union in marriage is elevated as a symbol of the bond between Deity and humanity. It is a human witness to God’s self-giving love and covenant with His people. The harmonious affiliation of a man and a woman in marriage provides a microcosm of social unity that is time-honored as a core ingredient of stable societies. Further, the Creator intended married sexuality not only to serve a unitive purpose, but to provide for the propagation and perpetuation of the human family. In the divine purpose, procreation springs from and is entwined with the same process whereby husband and wife may find joy, pleasure and physical completeness. It is to a husband and wife whose love has enabled them to know each other in a deep sexual bond that a child may be entrusted. Their child is a living embodiment of their oneness. The growing child thrives in the atmosphere of married love and unity in which he or she was conceived and has the benefit of a relationship with each of the natural parents.

The monogamous union in marriage of a man and a woman is affirmed as the divinely ordained foundation of the family and social life and the only morally appropriate locus of genital or related intimate sexual expression. However, the estate of marriage is not God’s only plan for the meeting of human relational needs or for knowing the experience of family. Singleness and the friendship of singles are within the divine design as well. The companionship and support of friends looms in importance in both biblical testaments. The fellowship of the Church, the household of God, is available to all regardless of their married state. Scripture, however, places a solid demarcation socially and sexually between such friendship relations and marriage.

To this biblical view of marriage the Seventh-day Adventist Church adheres without reservation, believing that any lowering of this high view is to that extent a lowering of the heavenly ideal. Because marriage has been corrupted by sin, the purity and beauty of marriage as it was designed by God needs to be restored. Through an appreciation of the redemptive work of Christ and the work of His Spirit in human hearts, the original purpose of marriage may be recovered and the delightful and wholesome experience of marriage realized by a man and a woman who join their lives in the marriage covenant.

Related statements:

• An  Affirmation of Family
• On Sexual Behavior
• On Homosexuality
• On Same-Sex Unions

“Do You Like Pina Coladas and Getting Caught in the Rain …?”

As in the song, on-line chatters meet–and get a surprise. “Sweetie” and “Prince of Joy” found each other in a chat room, and each was amazed to find someone who was very sympathetic to their marital problems. They arranged a meeting–and were shocked to discover that they had been chatting with their own spouses. Sana and Adnan Klaric are now suing for divorce, accusing each other of being unfaithful.

Man Cited for Flag Burning in San Antonio

David Bohmfalk was cited for burning a flag–a Mexican flag–in front of the Alamo.

Authorities say his actions left some of the Mexican nationals in the Alamo crowd feeling burned. However, Bohmfalk’s attorney, Jason Jakob, says, freedom of speech is Bohmfalk’s constitutional right.

“My client felt so strongly, and exercised protest, by burning that flag,” Jakob said.

Bohmfalk says while he was detained by police, he was harassed, his life was threatened, and he was even assaulted by some tourists who spit on him. Ironically, all these offenses are punishable by law. Jakob says flag burning is not.

“In America, every day we see people burning the American flag and it’s become desensitized,” Jakob said. “If we can allow that, we can certainly say that the Mexican flag can be burned.”

As a former Texas police chief and military veteran, Bohmfalk says he knows his rights, and is fighting for them.

“Why should a foreign flag get any better protection than the American flag?” he said.

Hat tip: Kesher Talk.

Update: Prosecutors have dropped the charges. Not good enough, says his lawyer.

“Catholic Fascism: 1930s Austria”

Gerald Augustinus writes about the “clerical fascism” of Austria (which he compares to Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Croatia). He speaks of his family’s own experience, and concludes:

While the Church has benefited from the American model of separation of church and state, it had to be dragged there kicking and screaming. …

So next time someone knocks America’s “Calvinist” or “Enlightenment” ideas, institutions and so forth….think of how America kept the domestic Catholic Church “honest”, so to speak.

In previous posts, he commented on Fr. Charles Coughlin (antisemitic priest who was silenced by FDR because of his pro-Nazi radio broadcasts) and on a Richard John Neuhaus article on strange bedfellows.

Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Schools

Sexual Misconduct Plagues US Schools; AP Finds 2,500 Teachers Punished in 5 Years.

Young people were the victims in at least 1,801 of the cases, and more than 80 percent of those were students. At least half the educators who were punished by their states also were convicted of crimes related to their misconduct.

The findings draw obvious comparisons to sex abuse scandals in other institutions, among them the Roman Catholic Church. A review by America’s Catholic bishops found that about 4,400 of 110,000 priests were accused of molesting minors from 1950 through 2002.

Clergy abuse is part of the national consciousness after a string of highly publicized cases. But until now, there’s been little sense of the extent of educator abuse.

Beyond the horror of individual crimes, the larger shame is that the institutions that govern education have only sporadically addressed a problem that’s been apparent for years.

I don’t recall having seen that 4,400 figure for priests. That’s 4%–a staggering figure.