Loren Seibold & Jonathan Butler, “Can Adventists Talk About Politics?”

6 July 2024 |
There is a cardinal rule for Adventist pastors: never mention politics. Ever.
This presents a difficulty: political matters and religion heavily overlap. It was true in New Testament times, and it is still true today.
The Bible is our source for Christian ethics. To woo voters, some matters of Christian ethics have been taken up by politicians. Each time a subject gets coopted by politicians, it gets pushed out of the pulpit.
Jesus struggled with the relationship between God and the world we live in. Many thinkers since have, too-notably, Richard Niebuhr in his pivotal book Christ and Culture.
While Adventist pastors can’t mention politics, in the evangelical world, the situation is very different. There, religion has been swallowed by politics (or vice versa) such that there is little space between them. This has been explored at length by evangelicals such as Tim Alberta and Christianity Today editor Russell Moore. Moore goes so far as to say that evangelicalism is no longer evangelical: it has lost its ability to give the good news for everyone.
Can we Adventists talk about politics? Should we? If so, how?
Some Adventists write off the whole enterprise. One church leader says we shouldn’t judge any political leader; God is in charge of history, so we can leave it up to God. If so, how can we vote intelligently? Or should we vote at all? Other Adventists say that the only legitimate political interest we can have is in Sunday Laws. Is that the only place where we can be thoughtful citizens?
In this Adventist Today Sabbath Seminar, Loren Seibold and Jonathan Butler will discuss the problem of politics for Christians. Is there a constructive way for churched people to approach this divisive topic?
Teacher:
Loren Seibold is a retired pastor and Executive Editor of Adventist Today.
Jonathan Butler lives in Riverside, California, where he has taught religion and history at the high school and college level. He has also published two books and many articles on Adventist history. He and his wife, Marianne, have two daughters, four grandchildren, and a chihuahua.

[@MarlonThorne1]

Hi Loren I listened to the replay “ Can Adventist talk about politics?” it was very interesting, especially the gentleman at the end who spoke about living in a socialist environment in Europe.. I think a big gap in the conversation was that none of the views represented the black American Adventist perspective on politics. It was often mentioned that there is a movement to the right within the Adventist Church. This is primarily in the white Adventist churches , politics for the average black American and black Adventist is more about racial inequality, civil rights, police brutality, issues regarding poverty, and healthcare. These are the issues that the majority of black American Adventist are concerned about, so when we vote, we vote for parties that address these issues and the issues of the historically disenfranchised. Black Americans see the right leaning party in the United States as opposing those things that help to improve the quality of life that we have in Black America. They often see LBGTQ advocates equating their struggles to the civil rights struggles of Black Americans, as an insult considering what African Americans have been through. So Right leaning politics is by and large a White Adventist phenomenon. Black Adventist though conservative by nature and not not historically pro LBGTQ, will however vote for the Liberal Party that show concern for their concerns.