Eyes Of Reason

From April 9th to the 19th, the United States have witnessed stabbings at colleges, explosions at factories and bombings at marathons. People have been terrorized, debates have been started and lives have been lost. From car-jackings, robberies to the murder of toddlers, 2013 has seen much violence in just four months. One could get the impression that the string of events can be related to the moral degradation of society or to the Holy Spirit slowing releasing His protective hand as America decides to go secular and shed God.

But something else has happened today that has tremendous repercussions for those who want to follow God and who care about liberty. One of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody without being read his Miranda Rights. 

You may ask “how does that affect me?” well, it affects you a lot if you plan on working for the soon return of Christ.

Think about it “You have the right to remain silent” is a very powerful right. Think about what would happen if you did not have that right and your accusers could ask you anything they wanted and you would be required to answer them. Human nature kicks in and we have abuses of that power to the levels where the authorities are sure to overstep their bounds. The right to an attorney to be present if you do not have one or even if you cannot afford it; the right to know that anything you say will be used against you and the right not to be so intimidated by the police. These are to ensure that we as a people are protected and do not make false statements just so that we can escape the immediate wrath of our accusers.gimp

Seventh-day Adventists believe that a time is coming where the religious authorities of America will combine with the state and persecute Christians much in the same way that happened during the Dark Ages and much like what happened with Jesus Christ. After the Roman Empire, Papal authorities used the State to enforce its decrees. The Book of Revelation describes the relationship like this:

“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” -Revelation 17:1-3

A quick eschotological study will show that a women represents a Church, a whore must be a corrupt Church. Daniel teaches us that beasts are symbolic of nations, the text makes it more explicit by using the word ‘king’. The Kings, or the political powers, are fornicating with the woman or the religious powers. This wine is dangerous and often produces death. Jesus Christ wasn’t crucified by the Jews…it was the Romans–coerced by the religious authorities. Joan Clerk, Wylliam Tyndale, John Wycliffe, Ulrich Zwingli,  and others died for their faith by the hands of religious people with political power. Abel was murdered by a religious person…his brother.

Jesus tells us that:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.– Matthew 7:14

Its reasonable to assume that most people in the world will not be saved. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Christians will suffer at the hands of their own brothers much like Abel, the prophets, the reformers and Jesus Christ did. Ellen G. White states:

The teachings of religious leaders have opened the door to infidelity, to spiritualism, and to contempt for God’s holy law; and upon these leaders rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists in the Christian world. Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called “Christian sabbath,” and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly improve the morals of society. This claim is especially urged in America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely preached. — The Great Controvery p. 587

Its the pastors who bring in spiritualism and other questionable acts. This results in a decline of morality in America, which results in the country becoming a terrible place to live. The solution to it comes from the very same corrupt pastors who decide that it is in the best interest of the state to follow the Law of God, which inevitably results in persecution.

There is an exception to the Miranda Rights. This is the Public Safety Exception in which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was placed under following his capture by the Boston authorities. The exception was first put in place under the idea that you do not have time to say the 103 words involved in the warning when you are in a situation where you need to ask the suspect questions that are relating to the immediate safety of the public at large (like “where is the bomb!?” or “is there anyone else working with you?” etc). What the FBI did was put a person in custody without reading him his rights even though He was not an immediate threat (this was signalled by the fact that they let people out of the houses when they captured him). What is important is that your rights can be suspended if you are labelled a terrorist. 

What is scary is that the definition of terrorism can change depending on who defines it. Seventh-day Adventists, and anyone who possesses beliefs that may cause them to take action that is not aligned with the interest of the state, need to be concerned about the erosion of rights because you may one day wonder where were you when the government gained all of this new power over you.