Month: May 2016

“A statement quoted Tayeb as telling Francis: “We need to take a joint stance, hand in hand, to bring happiness to humanity. Divine religions were revealed to make people happy, not to cause them hardship.””

So now religion is to make people happy? Jesus’ religion caused him and his followers to suffer, be persecuted, and die (but gain eternal life).

The most blatant example of this hypocrisy was shown recently by ESPN sports in announcing their firing of Curt Schilling. Here is their entire post:

ESPN Statement on Curt Schilling
By admin
Posted on April 20, 2016

ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2016/04/espn-statement-on-curt-schilling-5/

If it was an isolated case, you might just be able to smile at the two-facedness of ESPN officials, but this type of thing did not start with them. It is a problem in society that is getting worse and worse.

Dr. Eric Walsh, the Public Health Director for Pasadena, CA, was put on paid leave, and then eventually resigned over things he said in sermons given at a church. The City of Pasadena, in their press release regarding this, says this hypocritical statement: “The City organization is made up of many different people from all backgrounds, races, faiths, family makeup, gender orientation and political beliefs. The City holds diversity and inclusiveness as important values in the workplace and in our community.” http://www.cityofpasadena.net/EkContent.aspx?theme=Navy&id=8589937957&bid=2970&style=news Of course that “inclusiveness” doesn’t apply to Bible-believing Christians (or anyone who doesn’t hold to the doctrine of “inclusiveness”).

Almost immediately, Dr. Walsh received an offer from the state of Georgia to be a District Health Director. Everything was going well until the final background check, when some officials watched his sermons on youtube. The offer was withdrawn.

“First Liberty”, an organization that does legal work for people suffering religious discrimination, took on his case. This is what they say:

“Dr. Eric Walsh
State of Georgia fires public health official over sermons

Dr. Eric Walsh is an expert in public health with multiple advanced degrees. He has served as the director of the City of Pasadena’s Public Health Department, was appointed to President Obama’s Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDs and also served as an associate pastor for his church. In May 2014, the State of Georgia’s Department of Public Health hired Dr. Walsh as a District Health Director. But soon after Dr. Walsh accepted the offer, state officials asked him to submit recordings of his sermons for their review. After inspecting his sermons, they fired him. First Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against the State of Georgia on behalf of Dr. Walsh because no one should be fired from his job for something he said in a sermon.”

It is sad to note that our (and his) own Seventh-day Adventist denomination did not choose to help him. Maybe they spent all their funds on helping that Muslim woman to wear a hijab at her job interview last year (http://www.adventistreview.org/church-news/%E2%80%8Badventist-church-sides-with-muslim-in-religious-freedom-case).

Now I’ve always been a big fan of sunshine. My mother had TB (and I tested positive once) when I was around 7 years old, and I remember her laying out in the hot sun in the summer and under a sunlamp in winter for one whole year or so. The doctors told her she had 6 months to to live, but she beat it. She attributed it mostly to sunshine, charcoal, olive oil, and of course prayer.

When teaching in Bangkok at a SDA school around 8 years ago, the teachers would take turns overseeing the kids after lunch. When it was my time, I always made the kids go outside for at least 10 minutes (5 on very hot days). Some of the kids didn’t like it, and one teacher who had some kids in the school got upset, but I was out there with them, playing with them, and most of them had a great time. Most of the other teachers just let them stay in an air-conditioned play room, which of course was easier for the kids and the teacher too, but “easy” is often detrimental to health.

“A major clue about sunshine’s benefits has emerged from a study of nearly 30,000 Swedish women whose sunbathing habits have been followed for 20 years…..when our skin is exposed to the sun a compound — called nitric oxide — is released in our blood vessels which in turn lowers blood pressure by causing blood vessels to widen.

Dr Weller told Good Health: ‘It also appears that sunlight alters the way that our genes behave. Last year, Cambridge University scientists showed that the expression of 28 per cent of our entire genetic make-up varies from season to season.’

…In fact, the epidemiology suggests that overall, people who have more sunlight tend to live longer, even though their population gets more skin cancer.’

Of course Ellen White has written such things as:

“There are but few who realize that, in order to enjoy health and cheerfulness, they must have an abundance of sunlight, pure air, and physical exercise. We pity little children who are kept confined in-doors when the sun is shining gloriously without.” Health Reformer 1871-4-1, and “Mothers, encourage the children to go out into the air and sunshine. What if they do tan, and exchange the pale, sallow complexion for the healthful brown? Let them have health and happiness, which are the only foundation of real beauty.” Health Reformer 1871-5-1.