Spectrum

The Journal of the Association of Adventist Forums

Volume 25, No. 4 (June 1996)

Editorial: NEVER AGAIN

by Roy Branson, Editor-in-Chief


Adventism on the verge of the next millennium-that is the focus of this issue of Spectrum, and of considerable thinking by denominational leaders. But first there is this matter of Adventists killing Adventists. The evidence may not yet be conclusive, but it is already convincing: Some of the 10,000 to 40,000 Adventists killed in the Rwandan genocide died at the hand of fellow Sabbathkeepers.

The president of the General Conference has deplored the killing in Rwanda. He has visited the refugee camps in neighboring Zaire dominated by members of the former government that encouraged the Rwandan massacres. That is where many of the 100,000 Hutu Adventist refugees, including scores of Adventist pastors, have congregated. No Adventist is known to have confessed to any killings. The immediate past and present presidents of the Africa-Indian Ocean Division of the General Conference believe that it is best to forget the past (see "Sabbath Slaughter").

To forget is to overlook a horror unprecedented in the history of this denomination-Adventists cooperating in the mass murder of other Adventists. To forget these crimes is tantamount to condoning them. The tribunals following World War II, and the international tribunals established to report to the World Court in the Hague on war crimes in Bosnia and Rwanda, have been attempts to remember and establish some responsibility in a court of law, as an alternative to continued violent acts of revenge in the streets, in homes, in churches. How can we remember and help stop the cycle of criminal violence against humanity and the body of Christ? We could:

  • Cooperate fully with international tribunals attempting to establish the guilt or innocence of Rwandans -including Adventists-in the slaughter of innocents.
  • Simultaneously establish a commission chosen by the world church that reports to the denomination concerning the nature of Adventist involvement in the slaughter in Rwanda, as well as acts of heroic rescue.
  • Institute intensive, required sessions among Adventists in the refugee camps, and within Rwanda, regarding the embracing, by biblical Christianity and Adventism, of all ethnic groups.
  • Compile a list of Adventist victims of Adventist murder, and read out their names in ceremonies of repentance conducted in Adventist church services within the refugee camps, inside Rwanda, and throughout the world church.

Adventists hope that the international tribunal at the Hague never announces indictments of Seventh-day Adventists. Instinctively, the world church wants to quietly walk away from what happened in Rwanda. But if the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is truly committed to the importance of unity, it will act vigorously to make certain that Adventists do not forget, but remember Rwanda.

For us to try to forget Rwanda as we move into the next millennium would be to remain frozen in horror at what they did. We must remember in order to honor our slain fellow Adventists, and to realize our identity with our fellow believers who murdered them. We must remember Rwanda because only then can we truly repent. We must remember because only by remembering can we remind ourselves and our children that each man, woman, and child is precious in the sight of God. We must remember in order to remind ourselves, and the relatives of the victims, and the murderers still worshipping from Sabbath to Sabbath within the Adventist Church, that God most assuredly remembers.

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