It's Sabbath.* Let's get Adventisty.

Well, it's good to see that some former contributors are currently contributing to the internets, though sharing their wisdom elsewhere. Or maybe just engaging in shameless self-promotion.

Anyway, I was reading this article over at Spectrum's site and I thought I'd throw out a discussion topic for our reader (yes, singular). James Coffin cited a pretty fascinating interview with Des Ford's son Luke that I had actually already read. The part he globbed onto was Ford's comment about the necessity of believing your religion/denomination is "chosen" or "special" if it is to continue on. Coffin took this and wrote about some possibly meaningful distinctions between "liberals" and "conservatives" in the Adventist church and the implications for our kids' futures. Or something.

I've spent seconds--maybe full minutes--thinking over this a bit myself, though from a slightly different perspective. There are a lot of things from my strong Adventist upbringing that I appreciate and honor and am thankful I experienced (camp meetings, vespers, Sabbath school, potlucks...). There are quite a few other things that I really don't plan on exposing my kids to (scary stories about the time of trouble, anti-Catholic bigotry, inbred schooling...). But I don't know that how easy it is to pass on the good parts of Adventist (or Christian) culture and avoid the unwanted others. I mean, if my kids don't go to Adventist schools (and I doubt they will), how culturally Adventist could they get? I feel like there is a certain amount of certainty/fundamentalism/whatever needed to inculcate the values/culture that I want and I don't know that my freewheeling liberal attitudes provide a context where an appropriate appreciation for Christianity--especially of the cultural/collective sort--can prosper. Not that this is super pressing since I'm not dealing with parental concerns yet and don't plan to be anytime soon (ahem, Wheat Thin). Anyway, this is my first real post back in the saddle, so it doesn't have to have a point, just an invitation for other(s?) to comment.

*It was Sabbath when I started this post. So there. Not to say that it took me this long to come up with a few blathering sentences, but I get distracted easily....

Packed my bag last night, preflight...

Phew, that was close.

N-Dawgg remains without internet due to the massive failure of his hypercoil super accelerator. In the meantime, I would like to keep all of our readers content with some words from the Immortal William Shatner: