The investigative story titled The Holy Betrayal by NTV's Brian Obuya has elicited reactions from members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church across the country and the diaspora.
While the reporter's motive may have been good going by the recent reports of religious extremism, his findings present us with an opportunity to critique his work.
For beginners, the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) was officially organised into a mainstream church in 1860 in Maryland, USA, where it is headquartered. It believes in the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, which has existed since the creation week.
The church has 28 fundamental beliefs that one must voluntarily acknowledge before being granted membership. It has a representative system of leadership, and members are free to join and leave if dissatisfied.
The Holy Betrayal documentary may have either been hurriedly done or failed to capture critical elements of the subject because of the following gaps: on the teacher who absconded duties, the reporter failed to interview the school head teacher or TSC to ascertain the claim.
He also failed to highlight the church's 28 fundamental beliefs, which are available on the website. He quoted Baraton's Chaplain but failed to acknowledge the Church's exemplary educational and health institutions.
He failed to acknowledge prominent Kenyans who are Adventists and have positively contributed to society.
He failed to acknowledge the Church's teachings on family values and thus failed to separate family conflict and the Church's role.
On the positive part of the story, there indeed exists offshoots extremists/fanatics) in the SDA Church, just like it does in any other religious organisation. Offshoots existed even during the time of Moses and Jesus (the Pharisees and Sadducees/zealots) because the devil thrives while there is division.
But the SDA Church doesn't condone extremism. In fact, its manual/constitution has a laid down procedure on how to deal with extremists through censure or probation/thorough vetting, rebuking, and removal from the church register.
The reporter should be commended for putting the disclaimer at the start of the story. His story also gives the Church an opportunity to reflect on its mission and cleanse itself from anything that may defile it.
Finally, to the reporter and those who would want to know more about the Adventists, their Sabbath services are always live-streamed on all social media platforms and in some mainstream TV stations. By this, we can separate the chaff from the wheat.