St. Louis, USA - The Seventh-day Adventist Church says two forces could infringe on religious freedom: anti-religious secularism and religious fundamentalism.
The church on Tuesday released three statements during its worldwide conference in St. Louis, setting forth its stance on the danger of religious extremism, affirming Christian values and highlighting the need to respect all people.
The church said an anti-religious kind of secularism is looking "to squeeze religion out of public and social life," even while a growth in religious fundamentalism is on the rise in many world religions.
"We call on everyone, both inside and outside of our faith community, to work wisely and effectively to reduce religious intolerance and extremism."
The church regularly releases statements meant to provide congregations with a clear sense of the church's position during its worldwide conferences, which are held every five years. The statements - which in some cases merely reiterate the Protestant denomination's values, such as affirming the dignity and worth of each human being - are shared with church leadership and members.
"They do become a way of crystalizing for leadership in the church the church's official position," explained Karen Flowers, the family ministries associate director for the general conference of the Seventh-day Adventists.
She said the statements are often consulted when a decision needs to be made based on the church's positions.
Jonathan Gallagher, who serves as the church's liaison director to the United Nations, said the church was not trying to single out any one religion or part of the world in its efforts to speak out against religious extremism.
He said instead the church felt it was important to take a stance against those engaged in extremism. The church said that in its worst forms, extremism leads to violence aimed at restricting religious liberty and to eliminate those having different beliefs.
The Adventists said they recognize everyone has freedom of conscience and the right to religious expression, subject to the equal rights of others. Even while affirming its own beliefs, the church wanted to stress the importance of religious liberty, including for those of other faiths.
"We're not endorsing the beliefs. We're endorsing their rights to believe," Gallagher said.
About 70,000 Seventh-day Adventist members are at the 10-day conference.
The church has about 14 million baptized members. Adventists, many of whom are vegetarians, do not drink alcohol or use tobacco, and caffeine is discouraged.
The church also said it runs the largest Protestant parochial school system in the world, educating over 1 million children.