I No Longer Have a Right to Remain Silent (4)
My Story
I have lived in isolation from the Christadelphian community forever. My mother was Catholic before she converted. My father’s side was also Catholic (apparently forced to become Catholics in order to flee Europe), and my grandfather married a Christadelphian (my grandmother on my father’s side). Bible study was simply with close family members, mainly my mother, grandmother, and aunt. Therefore, I have always more or less blazed my on path when it came to studying the bible. I rarely read Christadelphian literature. In fact, I can probably count on one hand how many books by Christadelphians I’ve actually read. Yet my beliefs are generally identical to Amended Statement of Faith. I’m also ethnically Jewish, and I even attended some yeshiva (Hebrew school) to learn Torah and studied a lot of Rambam’s works. I have been and remain influenced by Hasidic Judaism, specifically Chabad.
I went to college and received a BBA in Accounting and a Master’s in Accounting. Then I went to law school. I became a lawyer and certified public accountant. I also attended classes with the Mises Institute to become an economist. I have an investment company and recently passed the exam to become an Authorized IBC practitioner to help advise clients on capital growth. Soon I will take my life insurance exam to begin selling insurance. Later I plan to add banker and stock broker to my resume. I love all the things that I do, but my true passion is bible study.
However, despite my love for the bible and the Christadelphian community in general, I’ve ran into some surprising encounters with “brothers” and “sisters.” The first encounter with Christadelphian shunning was due to the Amended and Unamended split. My family, being new converts were unaware such a split even existed, until what we thought were close friends decided to disfellowship our family, because some relatives were Unamended. Still to this day, they refuse to fellowship us. When pointed out that we accept the Amended Statement of Faith, these amended brethren stated it doesn’t matter what we believe, it matters what we are called! Imagine that! If that is the case, I’m taking a page out of the Corinth church: I’m of Jesus, that is what I’m called! Truth is we refuse to be labeled either Amended or Unamended due to the harmful affects of the split. This behavior has had a major and lasting impact on my family, but has taught me the true meaning of fellowship and brotherhood: patience and love. However, this isn’t the only time Christadelphians have acted in surprising ways.
One time, while at a bible study weekend, one brother asked what I did for a living, and I told him I was an attorney; he looked at me with great disappoint and immediately walked away. He didn’t speak to me the rest of the weekend. Another person asked about adoptions. They were horrified that one needed to file a “suit” for the adoption, since according to their interpretation, Christians aren’t allowed to file suits. I found their reaction horrifying. According to them, no one can be adopted into a loving and caring family. To them, it is better that they aren’t adopted and loved, otherwise one would be breaking a law found in the bible.
Many Christadelphians have reached out to me about how they or their children wish to become attorneys. I think being an attorney is a great career, if someone truly wants to pursue that profession. Unfortunately, a stigma of shame is attached to the profession. However, when observed objectively, other professions have the same moral dilemmas, which we will discuss in a later post. I’m optimistic that Christadelphians in general are aware that being a lawyer is a great profession. Brothers and sisters should not look upon other attorneys as if they won’t be in the Kingdom of God.
I do not mean to cast Christadelphians in a category of condemnation. This is by no means the norm of Christadelphia. Usually, in fact almost always, Christadelphians are kind, loving, and open. Encounters to the contrary are the exception that proves the rule in my experience. However, these few incidents I’ve mentioned do point out a problem that Christadelphia has with the fellowship split, and the belief that one cannot be an attorney and serve God. These are two issues that is universally recognized in the Christadelphian community. But I’ve noticed in many discussions, that isn’t necessarily the beliefs of the individual. In fact, nearly everyone I speak to believes the fellowship split is unChristlike and harmful, and are happy to hear that I’m an attorney. These two things give me a lot of optimism for our community. However, the ones that promote the idea that you cannot be an attorney tend to be the loudest, very active on social media, and some are very influential. Their voices need to be countered by what I hope are constructive points in these blogs.