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Anonymous Group Claims Responsibility for Hacking White Estate, Challenges Trustees to Release Unpublished Manuscripts in Digital Form
Submitted: Sep 3, 2012
By AT News Team
In a news release sent to Adventist Today, a group calling itself “SDAanonymous” has claimed responsibility for hacking a secret web site maintained by the Ellen G. White Estate as alleged in a lawsuit filed in August by the Estate. The group claims that a decision was made by the Estate at some point between 1995 and 2001 to publish all of the previously unpublished letters and manuscripts by White in a CD-ROM and that this set of digital files was ready for publication in 2002. It quotes from a book published with the authorization of the Estate in 1998.
The news release states that negotiations have already been exchanged by the White Estate lawyers and representatives of the group. Earlier in August, the White Estate attempted to initiate legal action in Australia. A counter offer was made to the White Estate offering to settle the litigation if the CD-ROM of the unpublished materials was released “by the end of 2012.”
The statement argues that under United States copyright law all of White’s unpublished material came into “public domain” outside of copyright protection on January 1, 2003. It says that Brendan Knudson, the only individual identified in the lawsuit, has not been served and lives outside of the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. The group expects the court to dismiss the lawsuit due to this lack of jurisdiction.
The group claims that an employee of the White Estate first revealed to them the online location of the full collection of unpublished letters and manuscripts and that it accessed these through a backdoor, not through breaking into the server. It also charges that a mistaken attempt by a private detective working for a White Estate lawyer to serve papers on Brendan Knudson caused “considerable distress” to “Brendan’s autistic brother.”
The document accuses the White Estate of seeking to control the interpretation of White’s writings instead of serving as trustees of the materials as specified in her will. It also charges the Estate with “disobedience to the writings they claim to uphold” because of the litigation it has filed. Statements by Ellen White warning against lawsuits among church members are quoted from pages 302 and 303 of Selected Messages, Volume 3.
According to the news release SDAanonymous is “a group of several dozen Seventh-day Adventists from all over the world [including] 13 nationalities and can be found on all the major continents.” It says that some are employees of Adventist institutions, while others are students. Knudson is specifically identified as the only person in the group who is not a member of the denomination. It says that he volunteered to be the person to which the online activity could be traced in order to protect the others from church discipline.
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If the White Estate was not fulfilling their obligations to the writings of EGW that is their problem for which they will need to answer to God. I just wonder how the conversation will go in the judgment day when they are confronted with stealing these writings.
We all know what would happen to someone who stole from the estate of a well-known person and then claimed as their reason that the trustee of the estate was not doing what he/she should be doing in the opinion of the thieves. Exactly who appointed this group?
The fact that there are people in 13 regions of the world who are accessories to the crime does not make it legit any more than if the pope stole them.
If they believe they have a beef with the EGW Estate let them do what Jesus said in Matt. 18 and go speak to the estate directly.
How self righteous to call the EGW Estate to task for launching a suit alleging they were doing counter to what EGW had written. Well maybe so. On the other had what is the point of such accusations when by their own admission they stole materials that do not belong to them? Which is the greater sin to break the commandment of God as He spoke it and wrote it on the tables of stone or be accused of disregarding the teaching of EGW?
We shouldn't forget that often prophetic revelation and sacred writings are not necessarily the same thing. Usually there has to be a step added in, where the oral recording of prophetic writings are translated into written form, and then collated, redacted and copied. The redactor scholars are just as much the 'authors' as the prophet who receives and then states the vision.
Ellen White is interesting because we see this process happening in real-time and under a kind of scrutiny that never existed in the mostly illerate ancient societies. Assuming just for one moment (even if you don't personally believe) Adventists are right in that there will be more prophets in the future (Joel 2), I wonder how they will be able to operate in a modern information age?
I somehow expect that a modern prophet would have to be careful in writing those thousands of letters Ellen White did, or even as Paul did. A modern prophet might have to almost keep completely silent, less one mistakingly confuses their personal opinion for the prophetic message.
It sure will be interesting and I suspect if there are modern prophets in the future, we will have to come to grips with just how human prophets are...
I doubt if anyone can verify what Ellen wrote and what her editors, like Marion Davis rewrote for her under Ellen's name. She was never given credit and treated Marion very badly even after all the editing she had done for her in making her writing readable and coherent. Few have seen the originals and there is a world of difference after Ellen's editors "cleaned and polished" them.
It's as much laughable as the secret Mormon tablets. Makes religion more interesting and less dull.
So Ellen White (and her redactors) are probably in good biblical company.
That said, it is one thing to cut, paste and edit a prophetic saying uttered in a dream or vision in ASC, as they did with the Bible writers and with Ellen White. It is quite another to claim to have a collection of completed gold tablets, which no one has ever seen!
What a misconceptiont:
"every word of God (is) meant for reproof and correction...."
If we read the NT we find that Jesus offered more compassion, in comparison to the Saducees and Pharisees whose business as they perceived it was to "reproof and correct." Sadly, that is the view of some parents I have known: constant reproof and correction will create a loving and kind adult. FALSE. A child who is constantly reproved will grow to be an adult who is always finding imperfections and faults in others and, unasked, offers his suggestions for "improvement."
Such a body of church members is repulsive and demonstrates a very condemning attitude.
I have often thought of those little armbands youth wear WWJD - What Would Jesus Do.
They don't say, 'What Did Jesus Do' or 'What Did Jesus Say'. Importantly, we must focus on what Jesus would do or say, not merely on what Jesus did or do say.
Ellen White counselled against buying bicycles. If we merely focus on what she said, then her statement is truly crazy. However, if we look at the underlying principle, that she was worried about people wasting money on luxery items, who counsel is not crazy at all. Thus, looking at what she would do or say, we can apply that principle to today, recognising she might for example have a word against people buy luxery SUVs that they can't afford, waste gas and ruin the environment.
The same goes with applying any counsel found from the Bible. Did we apply, 'Slaves obey your masters' literally? Do we apply, 'I command women to be silent in Church' literally? Do we apply Moses' command to go out and exterminate the Canaanites, man, women and children literally?
That is an appalling statement and supportive of lawlessness. You should be ashamed to make such a statement condoning an illegal activity.
thank you tania beaman for your comments they encouraged me. The human frailty of God's servants do not lessen the messages he gives to them for the unction of the Holy Spirit is in the message. Let us not look for reasons to doubt what God has wrought because of what finite man may or may not be able to do or understand. May God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
The Bible is the most comprehensive and the most instructive history which men possess. It came fresh from the fountain of eternal truth, and a divine hand has preserved its purity through all the ages. Its bright rays shine into the far distant past,where human research seeks vainly to penetrate. In God's word alone we find an authentic account of creation. Here we behold the power that laid the foundation of the earth, and that stretched out the heavens. Here, only, can we find a history of our race, unsullied by human prejudice or human pride. {CE 37.4}
But I saw that God had a special care for His Word. He protected it. At different periods there were but a very few copies of the Bible in existence, yet He would not suffer His Word to be lost, for in the last days copies of it were to be so multiplied that every family could possess it....{EW 214.2}
Isa 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?