Adventism and social justice

I was reading an article in the Review today about 4 Adventist friends (two African Americans, one Caucasian, one Latino) in the 1960s who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. They marched to make a stand against the racism in their country.

The official church stance on racism at the time was, "don't get involved". These four men where discouraged from marching, they were discouraged from socialising together, they were discouraged from being friends. But they were and they did.

Over the years, many of these men have distanced themselves (to varying degrees) from the denomination due to the churches reactions to their stand on racism.

Today, the church (as a denomination) has a "no comment" stand on social justice. Many of the members (aka The Church) have made pro-active comments about the need to support social justice in the world. Their efforts are noticed and appreciated by those of us who often feel distanced from their denomination.

But without an official stance from the denomination, we are seen as renegades of our religion by those outside our faith.

Our faith will continue to challenge us to act. That won't change. But a little support might be nice....