Through the Eyes of a Woman

The organization of Protestant women in Italy, Federazione donne evangeliche in Italia (Fdei) is made up of women from a wide variety of churches, and I am proud that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is also a major contributor to this organization. We have so much that unites us as Christians, and so it is good that we raise our voices together to be better heard. Fdei has been publishing a brochure for the 16 Days Against Violence Against Women for several years, advocating for the right of women to be protected from violence of any kind. Published together, this cry for justice can be heard louder than if each small church in Italy launched its separate actions. In September, as the women of Fdei began to prepare the 2022 issue, news reached them of the gruesome murder of young 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran. She was killed because a strand of her hair had come loose from her hijab. "The outrage that this crime and the subsequent bloody repressions that still continue as

Adventist Today by Hannele Ottschofski  |  17 November 2022  | I am slowly waking up to the realization that the church that I belong to, and where I have grown up, with which I have identified myself for my whole life, has changed. It is no longer the church I joined when I was baptized 60 years ago. I used to consider change a positive thing, connected with progress. But the change that I have seen in my church for the last several years is far from progressive.  When I was young, in my part of the world Adventists were considered a sect. A lot of effort was made to earn respect as one of the many Christian Protestant denominations. So we became a church.  But it seems to me that Adventists are turning back the clock and becoming sectarian again.  One definition of a sect highlights exclusiveness as a typical characteristic. The members consider themselves chosen and called out from the rest of the world. They often proclaim a special, narrow way to salvation, and absolut

Today is November 9, 2022, a day that evokes many emotions and memories in Germany. A day that we cannot forget and should not forget. And yet, for many of us, November 9, 1848, is a long-forgotten history lesson. On that day, Robert Blum, one of the leaders of the 1848 Revolution was executed. On November 9, 1918, Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the first German Republic, and the monarchy was abolished. Germany became a parliamentary democratic republic. This also meant the end of the First World War. On November 9, 1923, Hitler failed with his coup in Munich. Unfortunately, he still managed to seize power ten years later. November 9, 1938, is known as the Reichspogromnacht, when Jewish stores and synagogues were set on fire and Jews were murdered, which heralded the persecution and murder of European Jews. November 9, 1989, then finally is a day of joy, when the Berlin Wall fell, leading to the reunification of Germany one year later. Since in our dates, we are used to writing the day