As Adventists, Project 2025 (sponsored by Heritage Foundation) represents a real and present danger to religious liberty. It identifies the default Sabbath as Sunday and requires employers to pay time and a half for hours worked on the default Sabbath.
“Sabbath Rest. God ordained the Sabbath as a day of rest, and until very recently the Judeo-Christian tradition sought to honor that mandate by moral and legal regulation of work on that day. Moreover, a shared day off makes it possible for families and communities to enjoy time off together, rather than as atomized individuals, and provides a healthier cadence of life for everyone. Unfortunately, that communal day of rest has eroded under the pressures of consumerism and secularism, especially for low-income workers.
“Congress should encourage communal rest by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) require that workers be paid time and a half for hours worked on the Sabbath. That day would default to Sunday, except for employers with a sincere religious observance of a Sabbath at a different time (e.g., Friday sundown to Saturday sundown); the obligation would transfer to that period instead,” Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, p. 589.
From a biblical perspective, the Bible identifies the Seventh day as the Sabbath (Gen. 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11, Lev. 23:3, Deut. 5:12-14 Heb. 4:4). The Bible also speaks to free will in choosing to serve God without coercion (Gen. 2:17, Josh. 24:15, Prov. 1:29, John 3:16, and II Cor. 9:7). By assigning the Sabbath to Sunday and forcing employers to comply by paying their workers more to work on the default Sabbath, Project 2025 sounds the alarm as a threat to religious liberty.
Unlike the COVID-19 vaccination, Project 2025 violates our litmus test as Adventists. Our litmus test is not our stance on abortion, capital punishment, critical race theory, DEI, police misconduct, or even LGBTQ. In Fundamentals of Christian Education (p.475), Last Day Events (p.127), and Gospel Workers (p. 391) Ellen G. White states, “We are not to vote for men or women who use their influence to repress religious liberty. If we do, we are partakers with them of the sins which they commit while in office.”
As Adventists, Ellen G. White is clear in her writings beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are not to vote for any candidate, regardless of party affiliation, who suppresses religious liberty.
In the book "Taking Back America for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States," Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry define Christian Nationalism as a “cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life.” Christian Nationalism speaks to incorporating Christian ideology into American culture. It relates more to promoting Christian ideals from self-interpretation than accurate biblical interpretation.
To “cry loud and spare not” regarding the bona fide threats to religious liberty from Project 2025 and Christian Nationalism, the Conscience & Justice initiated a series entitled, “Christian Nationalism and Privilege.” In July, the Conscience & Justice Council did two shows, Christian Nationalism and Privilege: Are We Safe in Our Own Church? and Christian Nationalism and Privilege: Who do You Worship? These shows addressed whether we are safe in our church from Christian Nationalism and Project 2025, and the impact of Christian Nationalism and Project 2025 as it relates to the Three Angels Messages.
On August 23, the Council will address Christian Nationalism and Privilege: Is Religious Liberty for Everyone or Just Us? At the annual Conscience & Justice Council Convention in St. Louis on Sept. 20, the Council will address Christian Nationalism and Privilege: The Impact on Democracy. On Oct. 18, the Council will ponder Christian Nationalism and Privilege: What’s Love Got to do with It? And finally on Nov. 2, the Council will tackle Christian Nationalism and Privilege: Take Your Souls to the Polls.
To view the Christian Nationalism and Privilege series and other public affairs and religious liberty broadcasts, please subscribe or watch the Conscience & Justice Council YouTube channel at (21) Conscience and Justice Council - YouTube. For more information about the Conscience & Justice Council, please visit www.cjcouncil.org.
Edward Woods III serves as the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Lake Region Conference and the Conscience & Justice Council chairperson.
