Dear Michael Worker, or whomever it may concern;
My name is Pushka, current registered member of 3am SDA Church and currently studying Information Technology at MQU.
I would like my name to be taken off the Seventh-day Adventist Church register, and this is why:
Having never really doubted or questioned the existence of God, or the truthfulness of the Bible, since being indoctrinated into Christianity as a child, I was having a series of conversations with a friend of mine at uni about religion, and he was asking for any evidence that God exists, that Jesus is the son of God, and that the Bible is 100% true. I was starting on some topics such as prophecy and archaeology, but he wasn’t satisfied, saying it didn’t really prove anything.
I was asked how I could have a philosophy which demanded my death (since I’m a homosexual man) and though I found many things wrong with the question, I simply responded with: “I don’t want to choose a philosophy that brings me the most pleasure, I want to follow the truth.”
At a later date, after again demanding evidence, he said: “if you want to follow the truth, then why are you a Christian based on faith alone and not evidence?” And he was right. All religions assert that they have much evidence rendering them valid, but actually have none at all.
One virtue I learned from the Seventh-day Adventist church was that of truth and honesty, and if I’m honest, I’ll say that I don’t know many things; weather God exists, what happens after you die, and so forth. I am going to live in the real world, and having studied elementary planetary autonomy and human evolution, I am appalled by the propagation of ignorance promoted by the church, such as the recent creation seminars by Walter Veith in Hornsby RSL, which were filled with lies, misrepresentation, and fallacies.
Please send me confirmation when I have been removed from the register.
~ Pushka
The Response
7 SEVENTH’DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH (GREATER SYDNEY CONFERENCE) LIMITED
Mr Pushka Gib’en
Dear Pushka
l was saddened to receive your letter requesting that your name be removed from the membership of the 3AM SDA Church.
You are correct in that it is impossible to absolutely prove that God does exist but I believe there are very strong evidences for the fact that He does exist. I have a particular interest in the area of origins and have done a significant amount of reading and discovered that there are many brilliant scientists both Christian and non-Christian who have weighed up the evidence both for and against God and for and against evolution and have come to the conclusion that evolution cannot and does not adequately explain the origin of life.
You mentioned that topics such as prophecy and archaeology do not prove the existence of God and again i would agree with you. However, what human being can accurately predict an event that is going to take place 500 years or more in advance. The Bible does that on many occasions and those predictions have come true. Would that not indicate there is something operating outside the sphere of human influence?
I look at things like evidence from design, how life began, why is it that the universe is so finely tuned and the earth is incredibly minutely tuned for life? Why is it that Christianity has so impacted our world in areas such as art, architecture, sculpture, music, even the holidays we celebrate such as Christmas and Easter? If God doesn’t exist and if Christianity is just a myth why is it that these things have had such a global impact?
You mentioned about the issue of homosexuality. It is true that the Bible records God’s strong disapproval of homosexual activity. However, it does not condemn a person with homosexual orientation. Every human being on the planet struggles with issues of sin and temptation. It is only by God’s grace and the victory of Jesus that we overcome.
We have no choice but to act on your request and remove your name from the membership of the 3AM Seventh-day Adventist Church. As mentioned l am sorry that you have come to this conclusion and would just hope that God would put in your path people who can help to provide answers to the questions that have been raised.
I would like to wish you all the very best for your future and for your university studies at Macquarie.
Yours sincerely,
Adrian J Raethel General Secretary
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