Adventists Under Fire for Sabbath as Religious Freedom Shrinks Worldwide

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Seventh-day Adventists face challenges observing the Sabbath in nearly every corner of the Earth as religious freedoms grow increasingly restrictive and less stable worldwide, according to a new Adventist Church study.

The 2015 Religious Freedom World Report uses the church’s vantage point as a religious minority in many countries to assess how far and effectively governments are protecting religious freedom around the globe, the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s public affairs and religious liberty department said Monday as it released the country-by-country report of 223 countries. The Religious Freedom World Report is also available as a PDF (see the link at the end of the article).

The report documents Sabbath-keeping difficulties experienced by Adventist students or employees in most world regions and in countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Belarus, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Romania, Russia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Adventists and other people of faith live under particularly onerous conditions in many Central Asian countries and in places with the presence of strong religious fundamentalism, whether Hindu, Buddhist, or Islamic, the report says.

“Today, millions of people are suffering in many parts of the world,” Ganoune Diop, director of the church’s public affairs and religious liberty department, said in an introduction to the report. “These are men and women who deliberately choose to remain loyal to their beliefs rather than compromise their conscience.”

Diop said the report, the ninth produced by the church since 1999, reveals international trends that are far from encouraging.

“In spite of an unprecedented global mobilization to promote religious freedom, the state of religious freedom in the world remains bleak,” he said.

Recent data collected by the Adventist Church — as well as by other watchdog agencies — point to a global religious freedom landscape with more restrictions and less stability. Even more sobering, Diop said, is a rapidly growing threat by so-called non-state actors such as terror organizations and militia groups in many regions.

The World Report is unique in that it brings a distinctly Adventist perspective to reporting on religious freedom issues. Each country’s entry includes a political and social overview, a survey of relevant law, an analysis of religious freedom protection in practice, and a summary of the Adventist Church’s recent experience within that jurisdiction.

Diop said the World Report aims to document and highlight ongoing challenges and to affirm the Adventist Church’s long-standing recognition of religious freedom as a foundational human right that undergirds all other freedoms.

In past years, the World Report has been cited in a number of international reports, including those produced by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and the U.S. State Department. This year’s World Report is available online as a PDF at irla.org/world-report-2015.pdf.

 

MEMBERS PARTICIPATED IN THE FIRST OF ITS KIND EVENT IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL.

November 16, 2015 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | IAD Staff |

Seventh-day Adventists in Puerto Rico took the message of the 7th-day Sabbath through the streets of its capital city of San Juan, during a special march to emphasize the Bible’s fourth commandment. More than 650 marchers carried banners and signs, sang songs and distributed literature during the Sabbath afternoon hours of Oct. 31, from Capitol’s La Plaza de la Democracia through the Plaza de Armas by the Mayoral building.

International Salvation Army calls for Climate Justice by KEEPING SUNDAY! (October 2015)
“The call to climate justice is deeply rooted in biblically based Christian convictions. The scriptures provide a wealth of reasons why Christ followers simply cannot ignore this crisis. The following points are drawn from the Evangelical Climate Initiative, a group of senior evangelical leaders in the United States who are convinced it is time to seriously address the problem of global warming … It could be the most radical thing a church can do for environmental stewardship-to commit to keeping the Sabbath.”
Yes, they say to keep the ‘Sabbath’, but their sabbath is Sunday. And who also is pushing the link between combating ‘climate change’ and Sunday rest? The pope! It’s coming friends. Now is the time to BE READY in Jesus Christ.
Article: Link

Bill put forward again to Propose making Sunday a day of rest in Israel (September 2015)
“Jewish Home party MK Yinon Magal has tabled a bill that would make Sunday an official day off in Israel, in a move that is likely to reignite debate over the somewhat controversial topic.”
We can see how far reaching the Papacy’s plans are with regards to the Sunday law, now that lawmakers in Israel are even trying to push for Sunday rest. There might be some opposition to it now. But Satan will find a way to quiet that opposition. The Sunday law is coming friends!
News Article: Link

Italian Bishop urges CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to shut down on Sundays (August 2015)
“An Italian bishop has written an open letter to the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles calling for the closing of its plant in Melfi from 10:00 PM on Saturdays to 10:00 PM on Sundays.”
News Article: Link

Churches, Trade Unions and Retailers unite to OPPOSE extending Sunday trading laws (August 2015)
“Overhauling Sunday trading laws will damage the ‘fabric of our society’ and threaten family life for no economic gain, churches, trade unions and retailers insist today. The Church of England has joined forces with Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) and small businesses in a combined attack on ministers’ plans to overhaul Sunday trading laws.”
Notice how the trade unions unite with the churches concerning the issue of Sunday rest. Remember Ellen White spoke of how the ‘labor unions’ would be used in bringing about the time of trouble (Sunday law)? It’s coming friends.
News Article: Link

Trade Union seeking to end work on Sunday in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (July 2015)
“The new board of the Federation of Workers in Commerce and Mato Grosso do Sul Services – Fetracom / MS, which represents more than 100,000 workers in the state, sworn in on Friday, is proposing to end the work in the trade Sundays in MS.”
News Article: Link

A Secular Sabbath rest now being Pushed! (May 2015)
“You need & deserve a secular sabbath – Perhaps it’s no surprise that more and more people, whatever their religion, or lack of religion – are turning to the ancient idea of the Sabbath. Even God, after all, rested on the seventh day … In Silicon Valley, more and more techies observe what they call an ‘Internet Sabbath,” going completely off-line every week from Friday evening to Monday morning.”
Do you see how widespread this is becoming friend? Do you think it will be a problem to convince unbelievers to take a day off once a week (Sunday)? I don’t think it will, as more and more people are embracing ‘some kind’ of sabbath rest.
Article: Link