Yes, I said it, because that is exactly what the evidence seems to say. At a time in America when the President of the United States has boldly and openly waged an all out attack against any and every person of color, with no visible or verbal resistance or denunciation from the White Adventist Church; some of the most visible and prominent personalities of White Adventism have openly shown their support and affirmation of Charlie Kirk.
Let me first clear the air. No one agrees with or supports Charlie Kirk’s vicious public assassination. It was awful and tragic and is another example of the centuries of senseless, violent, indiscriminate slaughter, of innocent, defenseless humans that America continues to suffer from and seems to have no will or serious desire to address or cure.
Having said that, Charlie Kirk the person, was a racist provocateur that used divisive and incendiary language in his public speeches and debates to denounce and belittle African Americans, women, people of color, civil rights and important historical figures in the African American community that were deliberate and offensive. He was a lightning rod for controversy and knew exactly what he was doing when he did it. I will not spend time dragging up the plethora of his speeches and quotes to support my statements, google his name with the word racists and offensive comments and they will appear for you to read.
What is interesting is how White Adventists, that have for the most part remained “apolitical” at best, and “silent” at worse, whenever innocent unarmed Blacks have been murdered or have been victims of heinous public violence such as, Travon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Botham Jean, George Floyd, Freddie Gray, to name a few…have remained totally and completely silent. No sad messages, no lament, no sorrow, and no sermons about why they lost their lives, especially with the history of indiscriminate violence that African Americans have suffered for the past 500+ years in America. Couple that with the prophetic position the Adventist Church took during the Civil Rights era, when Black churches were bombed, and when the scenes of blacks being attacked and slaughtered were shown on the nightly news; our non-response was, “We have a ‘higher’ calling.”
But now when Charlie Kirk, a highly controversial social and racial critic is killed, and then makes a public confession about his faith journey regarding the 7th Day Sabbath and writes a book about it, suddenly his work is promoted and affirmed by prominent white personalities of the Adventists church, really. So, if Louis Farrakhan wrote a book on vegetarianism, would he receive the same affirmation and promotion to buy his book from these promoters of Charlie Kirk. And if one promotes Charlie Kirk’s book, then what does that say to our members and Christians in general about Charlie Kirk’s beliefs, philosophies, his stance on African Americans, women, racial equality, civil rights, immigration and a host of other issues that he has made. What are they to conclude about them, and the Adventist church, which they represent and their support of the issues, that Charlie Kirk has voiced and promoted.
Some years ago, when PELC(The Pastoral Evangelism, Leadership Conference) announced it was inviting T.D. Jakes to come to their Ministerial Conference as a guest presenter, there was an immediate backlash from the leadership of the Adventist administration denouncing Adventists organizations allowing non—adventist to present or address large adventist gatherings. The suggestion was, what can we learn from someone from another denomination or religious persuasion that will benefit us. I was not privy to all of the issues surrounding the decision-making process, but in the end, the invitation was withdrawn.
It is curious to me that no such remonstrance or objections have come from the administration of the adventist denomination with regard to this love affair with Charlie Kirk toward those officials that seem intent upon promoting him and his work posthumously.
I have not personally read his book and frankly, have no interest in reading it. But I did see his YouTube interview where he shared his views on the Sabbath and was unimpressed. During the dialogue, he misinterpreted and misrepresented the meaning and understanding of the Deuteronomy 5 reiteration of the fourth commandment found in Deuteronomy 5:12—15, in the presence of a prominent Adventist personality who was sitting beside him. And when he shared his erroneous interpretation, the adventist sitting beside him said nothing to correct him. I only raise this because his revelations regarding the Sabbath are not groundbreaking and certainly are not theologically or inspirationally innovative or earth shattering.
I am still clueless about this love affair that some of the most prominent White Adventist have with Charlie Kirk. Is it some kind of misguided star—struck celebrity crush that blinds some of us and numbs our sense of reason. I cannot say. However, what I do know is that the Seventh-day Adventist church has a very long and awful history with race and racism specifically toward African Americans and this love affair with Kirk only exacerbates it. It reflects a deliberate insensitivity for an opened wound within the Adventist church that has never been adequately addressed nor treated.
In 1999 the North American Division (NAD) held its first Race Relations Summit. I attended the summit as a representative of Andrews University. At the end of the summit, in one of the last general sessions, Elder AC McClure, then-NAD President, apologized to the African American members for the church’s past mistreatment and historical racism. As I recall, his exact words were, “We’re Sorry.” His apology was met with thunderous applause and hugs among some of the attendees in the auditorium across racial lines. However, when asked how the apology was viewed among the leadership, the word was that many of the administrators were unhappy with McClure’s public apology. Some chastised him for speaking on their behalf and said he had no right to apologize for them. Was that true? The next summit took almost 20 years to be held in 2019, a generation later and today in 2025 we must wonder if much has changed among our brethren.
Has the church changed demographically, of course it has. Today’s Seventh-day Adventist church is over 90% non-white, non-North American. In North America, there is no racial or ethnic majority represented in the membership, we are truly racially diverse. At the last General Conference the President was elected from a nation below the equator. However, has there been a change in heart where our faith is genuinely revealed? What does the evidence say. As the saying goes, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” With the actions expressed by some and with the opened public embrace of Charlie Kirk, one must begin to wonder…
timothypnixon 