It would now appear it is time to re-open and investigate the
entire issue:
Having watched the process from November on, I have no
alternative but to take exception to some of the representations
of Counselor Standish:
1) The premise that the story has “morphed” does not follow
the facts as I knew it in November and in fact a funeral kept
a number of notables away, not to mention that some have
never supported Sunday Law Legislation;
2) The meeting seemed to be about some evangelical pastors
meeting to lay the foundations for building momentum to try
and promote “Lord’s Day” support;
3) The source of the story that I am aware of is a retired and
ministerialy credentialed SDA pastor who was invited to
participate as a result of a relationship with an Evangelical;
4) It is clear that this individual was a part of a meeting;
5) The release we were privy to clearly identified the purpose
of the meetings and that did not include Sunday “Blue Law”
Legislation within any four month period, but did make it clear
they adopted the premise as a direction they would like to go;
6) In fact there is not one word in the purported release from
The meeting calling for a National Sunday Law.
Does anyone doubt that it is the purpose of the Papal See to pursue
such legislation? Then read Deis Domini, a recent papal bull on the
Papal See site for some time.
And does anyone question that Protestant America does not eventually
reach its hands across the gulf and grasp the hands of the Papal See?
This is the limited release we made based upon the evidence we knew:
In mid November of 2007 a group of Evangelical Leaders
purportedly of the Christian Coalition of America met in
a secret conclave in Washington D.C. to discuss an
important agenda...seeking the cooperation with the
Catholic Coalition to address concerns regarding the
abuses of "THE LORD'S DAY".
They are reported to have worked out an agreement to
meet with the Holy See during his spring visit to the
United States in April, 2008. It is declared that their
purpose is to preserve the United States from the wrath
of God for ignoring proper observance of "THE LORD'S DAY".
I have finally received a copy of a communique to delegates
that is purported to have resulted from this meeting and
copy it here:
November 27, 2007
OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION RELEASE
In this release NO persons name is to be included in any
part while corresponding to another person. This is a summary
as of 11/16/07.
LIGHTENING STRIKES TWICE
"The Lord will destroy those who destroy the earth" quote from
Revelation 11:18 along with the immoral slime of America. I call
upon the CCA to join the CCOA to help in our spiritual fight to
help save America, the second Israel. We must band together to
stave off the crisis of gross neglect of Bible Truths and help
America and the nations of the world to a realization for what is
happening and continues to worsen. These crises' will increase
on America, the Second Israel of Bible Prophecy. The Lord will
allow more terrorist attacks and these will increase as it was in
O.T. times of the first Israel. The Lord will allow the enemies of
the second Israel to awaken the people in an effective but
unexpected way. Now global warming-melting icebergs and
icecaps- water shortages- poor people starving and dying by the
millions. The desecration of the Lord's Day by megamalls and
shopping centers - various sporting events - all unneccasary
frolicking on the Lord's Day. Our government leaders and church
leaders who really care must protest all these immoral goings on.
If we don't it will be too late very soon. The Lord's Day must be
protected and supported by responsible persons. If we do not care
and understand, the crisis of great magnitude no doubt will soon
come. We must work and pray and support efforts to protect the
"Lord's Day". We need more than ever to work together to help
stave off God's anger. We must show our Lord that we will work
together to protect his day of worship. Unless we work together
to avert the crisis, it will surely come.”
Respectfully Submitted;
Gailon Arthur Joy
AUReporter
________________________________________
From: Michelle Hunte [mailto:myhunte@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:09 AM
To: Mary Abastillas; Jen McIntyre-Danticat; Ann-Marie Melville; April Roach; D'Anya Brown; NADIA A. KENNEDY; solangel alonzo; Ali Jones; Annette Danville; Belinda Joseph-Johnson; BVassell; jeffrey jones; Mark Nicoleau; Simone Spencer; Brenda Wright; Claudia Veronica Bonilla; Ben Ogunjobi; Bernadette Henry; Curtis Richardson; Candice Vanhorne; Chambers; Cleveland Garnett; cmloss@juno.com; Colleen Mitchell; Conrad Roach; Hugh & Cece Williams; Ivan & Luanna Campos; Miriam Cassell; Myrna Claxton; David Hunte; Kelly Danticat; Elaine Kennedy; DeAnna Ekeh; esther deranamie; Honor Warren-Fadlin; Glenn Philips; Julia Golding; Kevin Golding; lawreen garnett; girrgang@sla-browning.org; gailon@gabbjoy4.com; Judy Hodder; Michael Henry; Aurelio Silva; Jason Johnson; Jessica Jantuah; Jessica Kennedy; Juliet Kukome; jdaum@sla-browning.org; Leighton Kennedy; Robert K. III; Karen Zeno; Krystal Vanhorne; Lawrence; Mark Morana; Maleek Mitchell; Naomi Carnegie; Natalie Owens; MARLINE R. OGUNJOBI; Patrice Richardson; Patti Vandenbroek; Philisia Clermeus; Tyrell Pyatt; paula.ramos@auc.edu; pollinabu@yahoo.com; pam.cromwell@gmail.com; SUSAN WILLIAMS; thinckley@sla-browning.org; Sister Dorothy Vassell; Milton Wright; Cynthia Wilson; Rodlyn Moore; Yey; Yahnique Robb; Yolanda Davis; mikebisson@comcast.net; kb-r@comcast.net; Lisa Paden; Chenoa Jimenez; Kim Claxton; Athea Brown; Linda Tooley
Subject: Sunday Laws Investigation
Just passing on a forwarded message I received from my mom, in case any of you are interested or haven't received this email before.
~Michelle
Greetings,
You've undoubtedly been hearing the rumors about a secret Sunday law meeting in November and the "real" purpose of the Pope's upcoming visit to the U.S. Our office has been flooded with calls and emails about these stories from all over the country—and even from around the world. Unfortunately, the individual who started these rumors has spun enough details to create a sense of credibility and has, thereby, won the trust of several well-meaning individuals and ministries who have, subsequently, spread the rumors more extensively. Several pastors are now even preaching this in their pulpits as fact. Many of you are probably getting inquiries, as well.
Our office has released the attached statement. Please feel free to pass it along to others.
Deborah Knott
Public Affairs & Religious Liberty Specialist
Dear Colleagues:
Whenever we receive information relating to Sunday laws, we examine the information diligently and extensively. In addition to reacting to information sent to us, we proactively monitor legislative developments on Capitol Hill and attend many meetings with a wide variety of entities at which prospective legislation is discussed. Further, we undertake extensive research. For example, our team performed an extensive review of Sunday laws in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia, culminating in a 421-page report detailing every existing state Sunday law.
When we receive information about Sunday laws from individual sources, our team of dedicated Seventh-day Adventist professionals follow four steps to evaluate it:
1. If the information contains claims that can be independently verified, we perform the detailed research necessary to determine whether the claims are factual.
2. We contact the source of the information directly to invite him or her to speak and/or meet with us in order to gain perspective on the information.
3. If the source will not speak and/or meet with us, we contact people who are in contact with the source—for example, his or her church pastor—to ascertain why the individual refuses to communicate directly with our Church's religious liberty team and whether there are any indications as to the credibility of the source.
4. We review our first-hand observation of the process on Capitol Hill, we speak with personal contacts, and we access a variety of printed sources to ascertain whether there are associated movements.
In short, we take information on Sunday laws very seriously and we follow a rigorous path to evaluate it.
Currently, there are two Sunday law rumors circulating in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We have run both of these through our four-step process and, after this serious review, find both to be unreliable at this point.
The first rumor claims that there was a secret meeting in Washington, DC last November to plan for the passage of a Sunday law. We checked every specific claim that accompanied this rumor and every one of them proved false. The meeting did not occur at the site claimed, and the high-profile individuals who allegedly attended the meeting are documented to be in other locations at the time. After we made our investigation public, the rumor morphed. The new rumor contained no claims that could be independently verified. Our invitation to the source of the rumor to meet with us has not been accepted. There has been no Sunday law bill introduced in the subsequent four months and our research has turned up no evidence that would tend to corroborate the rumor. Rather, the closer we have looked at the situation surrounding the rumor, the more it appears to be false.
The person who is the source of the current claim also circulated another Sunday law claim approximately seven years ago. Once again, we vigorously researched the elements that could be verified and found each one to be inaccurate. In the seven years since that claim, no Sunday law has been introduced in Congress.
The second rumor currently circulating is that the Pope will urge the passage of a Sunday law when he is in Washington, DC in the near future. The source of this rumor is the same as above. We have once again followed our four-step process and to date have found nothing to corroborate the claim.
The Seventh-day Adventist religious liberty team is dedicated to advancing the cause of religious liberty and the gospel, including the Three Angels Messages. We take Sunday laws very seriously, diligently research any information we receive, and proactively search for information on Sunday laws. When we receive credible information on religious liberty matters, whether it is on Sunday laws or other religious liberty matters, we use every avenue available to us to share it promptly with our church family as a whole.
Yours in Christ,
James Standish
Public Affairs & Religious Liberty
General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church