AdventHope, on the campus of Loma Linda University, regularly hosts presentations by one of their former Directors, Jonathan Zirkle, JD. Brother Zirkle is a trial attorney and the Vice President for Religious Liberty for the Liberty and Health Alliance. On Sabbath March 26, 2022, Brother Zirkle delivered a particularly important presentation titled “The New Censorship.”
“The New Censorship” examines the attempts by the world to trample upon the conscience of the individuals, using censorship to displace the Holy Spirit speaking to the conscience. In the accordance with Conrad Vine’s “An Appeal to the Adventist Nobility” , Brother Zirkle raises the question of whether pragmatic concerns over money are leading the Church to be an unwitting tool of the world, and to stray from her divinely appointed mission.
Listen to the Sermon here:
The following is a brief summary of the presentation, which we would encourage everyone to listen to for themselves. Brother Zirkle will be expanding upon this presentation for global audience in a zoom presentation hosted by Steps to Life, Australia, Sabbath, June 5 (Friday Night June 4 in North America).
The New Censorship
Opening Scripture:
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved (John 3:19-20).
In 2 Timothy 4:1-4, Paul warns Timothy that a time will come when people will follow after their own lusts, and that their itching ears will turn themselves from the truth. Paul should know, he was standing there when the mob stopped their ears and stoned Stephen.
Censorship is a natural and favored tool of the Devil, as he hates truth, and truth has a way of cutting to the heart. In contrast, God favors open discourse, where nothing is hidden, and the truth is preached from the housetop (Matthew 10:26-28). This is naturally so, as faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:8-14).
The place where God speaks to the person is in the conscience. It is where we reason with God (Isa 1:18-20). For this reason, the conscience is hallowed ground. Protection of the conscience is the essence of religious liberty.
We can see how God speaks to the conscience in the words that God spoke to Cain. Cain, however, rejected God’s words, seared his conscience, and killed Abel. Here, the nexus between conscience (or rather a seared conscience) and action is illustrated.
In the United States, freedom of speech, which is the power to witness and inform the conscience, is protected. This freedom is rooted in religious liberty. In fact, Thomas Jefferson stated that the First Amendment is based upon the life and work of Roger Williams, a 17th Century Puritan pastor, and the founder of Rhode Island, perhaps the first government since the birth of Christ to protect freedom of religion.
Today, that freedom of speech is being encroached upon by corporations. Corporations have existed long before there was ever any sort of corporate law. In fact, the oldest corporation may actually be the Catholic Church.
It is through the use of corporations (like Facebook etc.), instead of the United States government, that speech, and thus thought, is being censored. The same is true in other countries, though since nearly every other country in the world lacks the same protections as the first amendment.
It is interesting to note that the Pope, the leader of one of the worlds largest corporation has stated
“But listen, the gospel is never, ever advanced through proselytism. If someone says he is a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, he is not a disciple of Jesus. Proselytism is not the way; the Church does not grow by proselytism” ~ Pope Francis, December 2019.
The Remnant Church today is faced with the issue how to use censorship. One the one hand, the Church always has the duty to protect the pulpit from heresy (Titus 1:10-11). If a preacher speaks contrary to the law and to the testimony, there is no light in him (Isa. 8:20).
Be that as it may, the Church has no right to attempt to control discourse outside of the pulpit, nor should she censor honest discourse which is discussing the unsettled issues of the day. The cure for bad speech is more speech.
Unjustified censorship exists where there is no settled church doctrines that are implicated. It can be detected by the attempts to keep secrets, emotional manipulation, attacks against the person or character of the one speaking rather than against the thing being said, and the general use of deception.
The True Church must be able to openly discuss family issues. Everyone should be allowed to speak that wants to speak in the appropriate forum, and everyone should be allowed to be heard. When the Church deviates from open discourse, the Church is tending towards the use of force. It behooves the Church to remember the maxim: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”
Today, many Adventist institutions are attempting to silence opposition to “official” Church policies. In doing this, they are usurping the role of a person’s conscience and thus the Holy Spirit. In its place, they are erecting an image of the Roman Catholic Magisterium, which is the Roman Church’s authority to interpret doctrine. The Roman Catholic position states everyone should have religious liberty to do that which is right (as defined by the Magisterium), but no one should have unbridled religious freedom, which in their teaching is anarchy or licentiousness.
Conrad Vine’s recent experience is an example of the Church’s censorship, and everyone who hasn’t, should listen to his presentation “An Appeal to the Adventist Nobility,” which questioned, among other things, whether the Church’s position on vaccines may have been taken due to the financial concerns of the Adventist healthcare institutions. When the Church suppresses discourse, it is not surprising that its motives will be questioned.
We should not underestimate the importance of the Adventist Church’s position on vaccines to the broader world. Governments and the Courts look to the Church determine what is in the realm of religion and what is in the realm of the secular. When the Church abandon’s health to the realm of the secular, the government has a freehand to persecute on the basis of health. Adventists of all churches, which have both a health message and global network of health institutions should recognize that health is in the realm of religion. If we were to speak up on this issue, because of our worldwide presence, we would most certainly be heard. There are millions if not billions that distrust the current global healthcare regime headed by the UN and Western governments that would be very open to our message if we were to advocate for their God-given freedoms.
The problem of worldly financial concerns is bigger than Vine’s presentation would have the listener to believe. The problem also extends to other major Adventist institutions, including the likes of Adventist Education and ADRA. Adventist Education has been manipulated by accreditation, grants, student loans, etc., to teach the doctrines of the world. ADRA receives millions of USAID money every year, which is money from the U.S. government that is spent to further the goals of the U.S. State Department and the CIA. By receiving these funds, ADRA is making the Church feel like it is doing foreign missionary work, when it fact, it is restricted from proselytizing. It is no wonder that traditional foreign missions has withered. But all is not bad news. Adventist World Radio is going to the much of the world, and it is spreading the gospel according to the call of Scripture to “preach the word.”
Ellen White said that all ministers should have a trade. This would allow for financial freedom for both the minister and the Church. We have strayed far from this counsel.
Today we live in a world of specialists. No one can know everything about anything. But we do not live in a time when we can trust everyone about everything either. We cannot afford to blindly trust our teachers, our coworkers, our pastors or our friends. We must be wise to question that which is questionable in order to learn the truth. The biggest clue today about what must be questioned is that which is censored and that which has much misinformation swirling around it. The best antidote is to always have a firm foundation in Scripture.
In the past, our printing houses produced many many books recounting personal histories from the mission field. A subgenre was of the persecuted Christian. The theme of the persecuted Christian was suppression of worship and trampling of the conscience. Today, we have produced great healthcare and educational institutions, but we don’t produce many personal histories. It is not clear whether it is because the stories aren’t happening anymore, or if they just aren’t being written down. It very may well be that these experiences are not happening any more. Have we been sidetracked by the ways of the world? Are we chasing after riches and the applause of men?
4 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 2 Cor 4:1-2
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. John 15:20
Summary
The time has come for the Church to return to the pure gospel. A return to that gospel will require backbone and will cause persecution. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you. Luke 6:26. We have work to do. Let’s do it. What we do not do now during times of relative ease, we will have to do during times of great difficulty.
Brother Zirkle also wishes us to remind our readers to sign the petitions hosted by the Liberty and Health Alliance and by Clergy for Conscience.
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Jonathan Zirkle is a trial attorney and the Vice President for Religious Liberty for the Liberty and Health Alliance.