Against the Wall: Take a Stand Against White Nationalist Terrorism

In the context of the recent shootings in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH, Against the Wall has launched an online campaign calling Adventists to clearly stand against white nationalism. The ATW blog post describing the campaign is lengthy, and we encourage APF supporters to take the time to read it (along with their other posts, naturally).

Here is an excerpt from the campaign blog post:

While we appreciate the swift responses of the Texico & Ohio Conferences of Seventh-day Adventists, in which they expressed sympathy and denounced the hate and violence, we think it is imperative that we speak in direct terms about the hateful ideology that was informing the shooting in El Paso (the motive of the Dayton shooting remains under investigation).

We stand in agreement with the Official Statement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church drafted in 1990 that called for the ban on sales of assault weapons to civilians. Weapons of war have no place on our streets and eliminating and/or limiting their sale is a common sense regulation that will make these kinds of senseless tragedies much more difficult to carry out. During the ten years that the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban was in effect, studies clearly showed a significant decline in mass shootings. After Congress did not re-institute the ban in 2004, the number of shootings began to increase again.

The post goes on to propose concrete actions that could and should be taken to help reduce gun violence.

To conclude, here is a second excerpt:

We call on the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to release an official statement denouncing white nationalism. We also believe that it is way past time for the church to write a theological statement on the topic of racism and take an honest, transparent look at the legacy of systemic racism that has plagued our global movement for decades. We plan to send a petition to the leaders of the General Conference, the North American Division, and the Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. Our church can no longer remain silent in the face of the rise and horrible impact of white nationalism and the racist belief in white supremacy that fuels it. Racism's effects go beyond the interpersonal level and are deeply rooted into the fabric of America and will not be eradicated until the institutions in this country address those roots wherever they can be found. Please join us by signing this petition as we insist, in the name of Christ, that the leadership of our church remain silent no longer on this vital gospel issue.

You can read the complete statement here and sign the petition here.

To learn more about ATW, you can listen to Michael Nixon and Ty Gibson describing the organization in episode 13 of the Adventist Peace Radio podcast.