Seventh Day Adventist blog or information

[homeschoolmomma1]

Seventh Day Adventist interest me. I don't know why. I have so many questions, but I don't want to seek them out because I hear they are like huge converters.

 

Are any Fundie Seventh Day Adventists that have blogs?

 

Does anyone know a great place to find information, not looking to convert just learn more. I heard they are a growing religion.

 

Do people think they are a cult?

 

Are there any FJers that were once or are now Seventh Day Adventist?

 

To me they seem like wanna be Jews, but also Christians...

[Trynn]

I grew up SDA. I'm willing to talk, when I'm on a real computer. I will answer any questions. And can direct you to blogs, but I hate typing on my phone.

SDAs are not a cult. I mean, you have your pockets of extremists, but most are pretty mainstream.

Also, they are not wanna be Jews. Seventh day Adventists are soooooo far away from the majority of Jewish traditions... Here are like, 1 or 2 things the 2 religions have in common, but seventh day Adventists reject a LOT of things about Judaism.

Adventists understand, but they actually really dislike being compared to Jews, unless hey are trying to witness to a jew.

It's late, so I'm going to bed. Feel free to ask me anything you want... I think dr pipim has a blog but PLEASE break he urls if you post them here cuz he knows me.

Also, campus has a blog. I think. Google center for Adventist ministry to public university students. Break links, these people know me and quite well.

Yeah, when m on a real computer and it's not almost midnight I'll see what else I can dig up from the fundie sphere. Campus is more fundie light, really, as is dr pipim.

Yes, I know no one believe that now; I'll get into specifics later.

[homeschoolmomma1]

I grew up SDA. I'm willing to talk, when I'm on a real computer. I will answer any questions. And can direct you to blogs, but I hate typing on my phone.

SDAs are not a cult. I mean, you have your pockets of extremists, but most are pretty mainstream.

Also, they are not wanna be Jews. Seventh day Adventists are soooooo far away from the majority of Jewish traditions... Here are like, 1 or 2 things the 2 religions have in common, but seventh day Adventists reject a LOT of things about Judaism.

Adventists understand, but they actually really dislike being compared to Jews, unless hey are trying to witness to a jew.

It's late, so I'm going to bed. Feel free to ask me anything you want... I think dr pipim has a blog but PLEASE break he urls if you post them here cuz he knows me.

Also, campus has a blog. I think. Google center for Adventist ministry to public university students. Break links, these people know me and quite well.

Yeah, when m on a real computer and it's not almost midnight I'll see what else I can dig up from the fundie sphere. Campus is more fundie light, really, as is dr pipim.

Yes, I know no one believe that now; I'll get into specifics later.

Awesome thanks. Are you still SDA?

[Trynn]

Awesome thanks. Are you still SDA?

No. Not since I was 15. But I did stick wih them for a long time because I still believed in a lot of what they do. There were just 2 main things I disagreed wih. I'll get into them when I'm more awake and on a regular computer.

Almost all my family is still SDA.

[bionicmlle]

There are a few of us here who grew up SDA or are still. Just put in the search function and you'll find some info here. There are a LOT of SDA websites with interesting info but for the most part, SDAs are mainstream-ish people. The difference is the subculture in which we grow up is "set apart" in many ways -- check out the parochial school system. I have never been educated outside of the Adventist system. Not that it's a bad thing, necessarily, but I have had to seek out non-religious educational experiences to learn about evolution, etc.

I'm happy to answer some questions related to Adventism, in general. It isn't a cult, per se, but for many of my friends who grew up in very strict SDA homes, there was definitely a cult-y experience. It can be hard - emotionally and socially - to remove yourself from this subculture.

[AnnaLovesTheWordFun]

I grew up SDA as well. I'm in my early 30s now and I did drift off for awhile (in my 20s). I'm happy to answer any questions as well.

[Geechee Girl]

I was baptized into a very conservative SDA church as an adult. After a few years, we left for a more mainstream SDA church with an active children & young adult program. Even though my experience is limited to less than 10yrs, I'd be happy to contribute.

[ButterscotchEquinox]

So is conversion one of the primary goals of SDA?

Honestly, my one and only exposure to SDA has been the character of Lane Kim on Gilmore Girls. And I may have worked with some sisters who followed SDA (they were definitely some kind of fundie) but they never talked to me about their religion.

[Micah]

I spent my early childhood in a Separationist Seventh Day Adventist compound (yes cult). I don't remember a huge amount though, my parents woke up and left while I was fairly young. The founder later took every body's money and ran off to Germany.

[Coco]

We used to live in a big Adventist town, the town was built around one of their universities. :) Everything shut down on Saturday, but other than that it was a really nice place to be. Most of our friends there were Adventist. The stricter ones were vegetarians, but other than that and worshiping on Saturdays, there didn't seem to be any difference between Adventist and non-Adventist people.

[skrmom]

I used to work with a man who was SDA. I found a few things interesting about his lifestyle. He was very careful about what he ate. Ultra healthy. He always brought his lunch even though we had a cafeteria with very good food. He was a strict vegan and could not eat any food that might have a hint of meat, eggs or dairy used as an ingredient. He usually brought some sort of juice, vegetables and some sort of bread.

What was really interesting was how he and his wife raised their children. No TV, movies or games that involved fictional characters like Big Bird, Snow White etc. NO fantasy stories or fairy tales. He believed it was wrong for children to have "make believe" stories.

[BrownieMomma]

I worked with an SDA woman. She was .. hmm.. how do you say this... she had actually stopped attending church for some years but she still followed the rules.

First of all, she was working full-time in a real-world type of workplace. She dresses uniformly, always black pants, low heeled shoes, a shirt and usually some kind of blazer, jacket or layered tops. No jewelry but lots of pretty scarves.

She wore makeup and colored her hair. She's 60ish and like Michelle Duggar, came to this stricter way of thinking after marriage and a baby. She and her husband actually met while out dancing.

No pork. They only had one child, a daughter, whom they sent to the public school and then to the local state university where the girl obtained a bachelor's degree in nursing. The daughter got a job in a local hospital and has been working as a travel nurse for the last year or so. I don't know the daughter at all but pretty sure she's not very religious. The telling of it will be when she marries and has a kid. That usually seems to be the impetus to head to church.

Oh yeah, she never worked on Saturday but would come in on Sundays. Part of the job required working on Saturday during certain busy seasons but she claimed religious and got that workaround.

She was not evangelical, she never tried to convert anyone to her church or beliefs.

[floridiot]

One of my good friends is a SDA. They are definitely not a cult and barring some pockets of extremists that could be out there that I haven't met or heard about from him, they are not at all "fundie". He attended public school, had a social life. He smoked and drank beer and cavorted with the opposite sex. The only thing that has ever set him apart from any of our other friends is he is a vegetarian and has been from birth bc they don't believe in eating meat (I believe it's the scripture verse to the effect of "I give you these plants..." interpreted literally to mean God was intending for us to only eat plants). Otherwise he is completely like anyone else. He married a meat-eating non SDA after they had their first child and she did not convert but they married in the church he grew up in so clearly the SDA doesnt have an issue with loaning out their church to people who don't plan to convert (looking at you, Catholics lol). Their kids attend a preschool at an SDA church but per their mother's habits eat meat at home.

[Trynn]

Alright, now that I'm on a proper computer.... here's part 1. I have to dash off to work in 5 minutes so there is more coming.

No, the vegetarianism is because EGW (we'll get to who that is in a minute) taught that it is wrong to eat meat. I'd get into why but I don't have time. In any case, SDAs don't eat meat because they believe meat is unhealthy for you in general, and there is a verse in the bible which says "treat your body as a temple of the lord" or something like that. SDAs interpret that verse to mean no meat, tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs.

My family was fairly liberal on the meat issue. We ate meat, but SDAS who eat meat will only eat clean meat, like Jews. For more info, read Leviticus 11.

I'm vegetarian now, but for other reasons. In the SDA community, which does get pretty insulated at times, so I call it Planet Adventist. Because Adventists at times really do live on their own planet.

I went to public school or kindergarten and 7th grade, but went to a secular university. This was partly because of money and partly because I put my foot down and said no.

I left the church at age 15, but they still came the closest to what I believe as far as theology goes, so I still stayed in touch with Planet Adventist for a long time. I bounced back and forth as to whether or not I was a Christian. If you want to hear my sad little deconversion story, let me know and I'll get to it at 6 or 7 tonight.

Basically, even though I haven't been SDA in 10 years, I only just now, a year ago, actually, left Planet Adventist for good. The only SDAs I talk to on a regular basis are:

1. PArents

2. grandmother(s)

3. My friend Callie

4. My friend Marenda

Aaaaand 5 minutes is up, so I have to go to work. I'll write more later, if people want. I've actually thought I should write a book about growing up SDA, except I hate SDAism so much I don't know if I could not come across as incredibly bitter.

Do try not to judge that though. After all, were you in my shoes, you might wind up bitter too.

[Jana814]

Thanks for the information on SDA's. I've heard of them but never knew much about them.

[homeschoolmomma1]

This is interesting. On a Catholic forum I went to they made it seem like SDA were the a cult etc. But it is because SDA don't like Catholics from my understanding

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Finding this thread very interesting. Thanks for answering all the questions.

What do SDA believe re family planning and birth control?

[Geechee Girl]

I lived in a town with an Adventist hospital. The no meat and no caffeine tenet extended to their cafeteria for guests and patients. My conservative church had strict Sabbath-keeping rules. The day was only for church, enjoying nature, and fellowship. No recorded music, no tv, no spending money, no cooking, no cleaning, etc. Any birthdays, celebrations, or frivolities were put off to Sunday.

My liberal church was a lot more lax. The members frequently dined out after church if there wasn't a potluck of some kind. They also drank alcohol, and some ate clean meat.

[anniebgood]

My great aunt and uncle were SDA and raised their kids as well. One of my moms cousins went to Loma Linda and was a dentist. She never drank coffee, they always had Postum at their house. They raised beef and milk cattle and did eat some meat.

She was a public school teacher in a one room school house down the road from my grandma's, the brothers bought adjoining tracts of farmland when they moved to WI.

My Uncle Forrest would drink coffee at my grandmas and was known to tipple a bit when the weather was cold and he was out in the fields.

They were normal. I don't remember if there was an SDA church in the area (the little town they were in had a EUB, Lutheran and a Catholic church).

[Talitha Cumi]

Finding this thread very interesting. Thanks for answering all the questions.

What do SDA believe re family planning and birth control?

Another SDA from birth here! I haven't officially left the church, but I basically left in my early 30s when I realized I didn't believe in God. I think I'm still technically a member somewhere? IDK, but I go with my family occasionally to the church I grew up in.

Family planning and birth control are seen as good things. A friend of mine from high school now has 5 kids, but that's pretty unusual. Adventists are very focused on health care, which is why there are so many Adventist hospitals, doctors, and nurses. (My dad, my mom, my aunt, my sister, all medical professionals. :) ) The church takes no official position on BC or abortion, although apparently spokespeople said the church was "encouraged" by the Hobby Lobby decision. I think that's less about BC than it is about "let us do what we want," because Adventists have this weird persecution belief in regard to the End Times. (Short version: we aren't persecuted now, but it's coming down the pike, and that's when we know the Second Coming is at hand.)

[Talitha Cumi]

This is interesting. On a Catholic forum I went to they made it seem like SDA were the a cult etc. But it is because SDA don't like Catholics from my understanding

AHAHAHAHHAHAHA no. :) Church teaching is that the Catholic Church is the Beast of Revelation. We were well schooled in this during high school. I think it comes from Ellen G. White's writings, who Trynn referenced above.

Funny story: my junior year Bible teacher showed us how, when you take the letters in VICARIOUS FILI DEI that are Roman numerals and add them up, it comes out to 666. PROOF! But my younger sister, 4 years later, showed him that you can do the same with the numerals from Ellen Gould White. I don't know if he ever used that illustration again. :lol:

[Firiel]

AHAHAHAHHAHAHA no. :) Church teaching is that the Catholic Church is the Beast of Revelation. We were well schooled in this during high school. I think it comes from Ellen G. White's writings, who Trynn referenced above.

Funny story: my junior year Bible teacher showed us how, when you take the letters in VICARIOUS FILI DEI that are Roman numerals and add them up, it comes out to 666. PROOF! But my younger sister, 4 years later, showed him that you can do the same with the numerals from Ellen Gould White. I don't know if he ever used that illustration again. :lol:

Good for her! :lol:

[AnnaLovesTheWordFun]

My mom was born and raised SDA and my dad Catholic. They married and mom attended church on her own until we came along and she'd take us. Dad eventually converted.

I think SDA practices largely depend on the congregation. Like anything else there are pockets of extremists, no doubt! I've also noticed a difference between the English SDA and the Spanish SDA churches.

BC and family planning are good. I've taken birth control for my period as a teen and my mom had no issue. I take birth control for family planning now and again, there is no issue (that I'm aware of).

[Trynn]

Man, so many people I don't even know if I NEED to tell my story.

I agree with the poster above who said family planning is seen as a good thing. In Fact, the Adventist prophet, Ellen G White (long sea, 1915ish, I think) said it was a sin to bring children into this world that you can't afford.

that having been said.... I told part of my story at my blog www.thecity4quare.wordpress.com. I can't remember exactly where the post is, but it is it there, I promise.

Basically, the reason I left SDAism, is because of

1. belief in the divine inspiration of Ellen g white and

2. belief that sunday worship is the mark of the beast

in SDAs defense, a lot of religions used to preach that catholics were the beast. However, SDAs took it a step farther, and say that sunday worship will be the mark of the beast (though EGW said it wasn't yet the mark of the beast)

Excuse me. In order to tell this story, I have had to drink much alcohol.

I do not like to tell my story, but have decided I will, and I honestly wish someone would sticky it so I never have to tell it again. Please?

I was born into a seventh day adventist family. at the time, we lived in a town called berrien springs, mi. It is a town surrounded by Andrews University, an extremely SDA institution. My parents had me while one of them --though I can't remember which-- was still in College. My parents, like most SDAs I know, took turns putting each other through school.

Back then, at Andrews, if you wanted to get to know a person of the opposite sex, you asked to go on a walk with them. My father really liked this one girl who's name I don't know, so he asked to go on a walk with her. This girl didn't want to go on a walk with my father, so she convinced her room mate, my mother, D, to go on a walk with this guy, J1, instead. So, D and J1 (almost all my family has J names, except my mom. But we predate the Duggars, so don't even ask) got to know each other. Eventually my mom started buying wedding magazines and leaving them around for J1 to notice. J1 eventually proposed (no, I don't know how) and they got married.... about 3-5 years before I was born, give or take. I can't remember exactly how long they waited to have me, but I know they did it on purpose, because my mom (or dad? I can't remember now which parent told me this. Couldv'e been either or) told me that, when they wanted to have a child, they stopped using birth control.

Until this year, I think, mom still had the pee stick. I looked at that pee stick as an 18 year old and thought, that's me. That's.... that's me.

D gave birth to me on December 29, 1988. That is my birthday. I was born in Berrien General hospital. I've gone back since and seen the place I was born, though it is no longer the birth center. For the first year of my life we lived in a trailer park. I have no memory of this, of course, so I'm skipping ahead.

We moved around a lot as a child, but some of my earliest memories are of me going to church with my cousins Kristi and Jeff H. Moving away from them, at the age of 6, was the hardest move ever. At around this time, my dad, J1's brother, committed suicide. When my parents explained it to me, I decided this would be a great idea, and decided to hang myself with a jump rope. Obviously it didn't work, as I'm still here, 20 years later (I'm 25 today.) However, I am a tad uncomfortable with the idea of telling 5 year olds about suicide. Because that's how old I was when uncle R committed suicide, and I decided it would be a good idea.... I know now that not all children react this way, but I did. So when parents tell me that the kid will never ever consider suicide when a relative does it, I tell parents.... fuck that noise. because kids are different and you need to keep an eye on your child.

We moved around during my childhood. The period of ages 1-6 were the longest I've ever stayed in one place, and that was a record. For privacy's sake I won't make a list.

I was in 5th grade when I finally got the courage to ask a pastor to baptize me, even though I'd wanted to be baptized for some time. I can't remember now the name of the pastor, but we used to tease him and call him Pastor Maccaroni, so it was something close to that. Actually, I never did get the courage to ask. You see, there was this friend of mine, Teena, who was getting baptized. I told her I wanted to be too, and she went with me to approach pastor Maccaroni about it. I remember exactly what the lighting was; florescent light in the library, a warm sunny day. I was wearing my purple rug rats overalls, even though they were banned by the schools dress code. I also was wearing a white turtle neck shirt. At this time I was at the SDA school in Lansing, MI. The pastor, Pastor Maccaroni (because I can't for the life of me remember his real name) agreed to include me in the baptismal studies.

AT the time, I was sincere in my desire to be baptized. However, I can't say I didn't enjoy the fact that these classes got me out of gym class.... I HATED PE. I just.... didn't see a point in the "stupid" games like kickball, hockey, etc. eventually I came to have skill at some of these games, but they were never fun. I never saw the point. To me, they were not fun. Anyway.....

So, I started baptismal classes. I remember the pastor's wife coming in and teaching a couple of classes to Teena and I. These classes were held once a week, I think, or twice. No more than that. Anyway, the pastor's wife came in and taught us how to sit in a skirt, and she said it was better to have a long skirt than a short skirt because.... and then she demonstrated (Teena and I were the only ones in the class, so this was not inappropriate) how to sit modestly in skirts of varying lengths. she said it was better to have a long skirt, because it was more easy to be modest. Afterward Teena said to me she thought short skirts were more comfortable, because you could do more things in them... you weren't so constrained. At the time I thought she was wrong. Now I just realize she was different.

Also, the pastor's wife talked to us about how she had had beautiful combs for her hair. And she loved these.... these... combs? Or clips? I don't remember, I was only 11. And because she loved those clips or combs or whatever so much she threw them in the trash, because she said they were excessive adornment.

I was always more pius than Teena. TOO Pius, in fact. i would describe myself as a self righteous prick... but I'll get to that later.

For some strange reason, Teena and I were to be baptized separately. I do not remember her baptism date, but I remember mine: June 3, 2000. I was 11 years old. I wrote in my dairy that day:

Today, I am doing something for God. I am scared.... but... I am going....to be.... BAPTIZED!!!!!

And I was. I still have the bible, the NIV, which was given me that day. Before that day, however, and I'm sorry this is out of order but booze was necessary.... I couldn't find a bible I could read. Obvisouly the KJV was out, but I was so... I don't want to use the wordl dumb, but, I could understand other adult literature except the bible. I could not understand the NIV, the NKIV (New Kids' International Version) or any other kids bible. And then, I was given in school a children's bible, I don't remember the name of it now, it's at my parents house but I can't get to it, a bible I could understand. I read it with gusto. Suddenly, I could understand the bible! And I wept and cried over it, because.... I knew I was bad and I knew I wanted Jesus to save me. And that's a part of the reason I got baptized.

I still have that NIV bible. It's at my parents' house, I have no access to it now, but I know they'd send it down to me if I wanted to.

However, I feel it's important to note: my baptismal vows were 27. There are 28 now. Iv'e asked multiple people, and never got a straight answer on the 28th belief. So, I am old enough to have only taken 27 vows, not 28.

The day I got baptized, they forgot to turn on the hot water, and they forgot to turn off the hose/faucet. I was baptized at... oh what is it called! East Lansing University Church.... or something like that. It's in Michigan but not connected to the school in Lansing. Not connected to GLAS (Greater Lansing Adventist School) at all.

I can still remember the moment the pastor brought me under the water. we had practiced ahead of time, so I knew when to take a breath. And, even though it was literally frigid, I remember.... happiness. I remember taking a deep breath as I was under, just as I was instructed... only, instead of feeling cold like the water, I felt.... warm. Happy. I smiled. I was brought up. Adults are told to actually put their weight on one foot so the pastor doesn't have to lift up a lot of weight. However, I was 11, and the pastor, Roy Castlebono (spelling error, also not the one to go through baptismal classes with me) had no trouble lifting me up whatsoever. I smiled as I went under, and as he brought me up, and as the congregation said amen, I burst into happy tears.

Later that afternoon, I behaved abominably toward my cousins, M and J. They had told me the devil would try to get me after baptism, and I felt terrible afterwards, because he had. I had been mean to M. I had told her her nail polish, which she said she only wore for special occasions, was morally wrong. Actually, I didn't behave badly toward J, he was too little. but I was horrible toward M. And I'm sorry. She wore nail polish for my baptism, a special occasion, and I told her it was wrong.... how could I have been so mean?

The stuff between me and M is too great to get into here, and not really relevant to the overall story. Suffice it to say that all through childhood I was bad toward M, and.... I'm sorry. I wish I could do more than that, but that is all I can say. She has her revenge ,however; she is a successful adult, where I am not. And good for her, Ik'm glad.

Back to the story, I.... all through the year 2000, and a bit into the year 2001, I was a self righteous prick. I know Teena C, now Teena S, is not likely to read this, but if she is, I just want to say I am sorry. I am sorry for the way I acted. You weren't 100% right, but neither was I, and... actually, I was more wrong than she was, at least, in the religion department.

You see, I wanted to be a prophet just like Ellen G White. And let's just say I had some... er, "prophecies" about Teena, that weren't....good.And then I didn't understand why she was less than enthusiastic about my "visions." The worst part is, I was parshly right..... in adulthood, she did later do some of the things I predicted, but not all and I know now that it was not.... I wasn't predicting them. That's been the hardest thing for me, actually. That I was right, but for all the wrong reasons. I wish I could find her now, and tell her how sorry I am for the way I acted in middle school.

But there you go. That's what happens when Ellen G White is held up as a role model.

You see, Elllen G white was just an ordinary 3rd grader in 18.... she was born in.... 1827. So she was a 3rd grader sometime in the early 1830s when a classmate was taunting her on her way home from school. Ellen Harmon was struck on the head with a rock. She almost died. Yet she lived. Seventh Day Adventists consider the fact that she lived, and wrote hundreds of books, to be a sign that EGW (she later married James White, hence changing her name from Harmon to white) was possessed by the Holy Spirit.

I never questioned this idea until about 5th grade. At that time, my mom gave me some materials pointing to the biblical tests for a prophet and EGW's experiences in vision. They seemed to match up, so I decided that EGW was my role model and I wanted to be a prophet, just like her.

I'm sure Teena isn't the only person I need to apologize too, but as a once close friend, she is the one I remember most. And that is my story with her (part of it.) All I can say is: I'm sorry.

Anyway, so, I wanted to be like EGW. Anyway, my dad got a job, and he could move anywhere in the US he wanted. and he picked.... Munising, MI. At the time, I was just glad to be moving out of Lansing. I didn't consider the hellhole I was moving to.See, Munising is a great place to visit,but you DON'T wanna live there. My father didn't understand this. So to Munising, MI, we moved, leaving Teena behind.

At church in Munising, I had 2 choices: collegiate class, or Kindergarten. At the time, Kindergarten and cradle roll were combined in that church, and were ages 1-6.

I was 12 when we moved.

Too young for collegiates, too old for little kids. It took a long time but eventually we found a person willing to teach a class for people my age. I was the only pupil. So, right off the bat, there were no friends and was no sabbath school class at Munising SDA for a person my age.

It is like that to this day. My brother, who is 7 years younger than me, and his friends, are the youngest people in that church. There's a huge gap between people my parents' age, or mostly way older, like, my grandparents' age, and my little brother's age. There's no real in between folks. So, there was never a place for me in that church.

I was in 6th grade now, and started BEGGING t go o to public school. I can't remember whether or not this was after The Icnident.

The teachers were Mr. And MRs. W. Mr. W taughtt grades 6-10 (I was in grade 6) and Mrs. W, his wife, taught grades 1-5.

They had a son, David T worth. I almost don't want to talk about hin..... but I feel I must.

Mrs. W taught science and Bible for all grades, so often we would go to her room for these classes. One day David came back from a class taught by Mrs. W, I don't remember which one it was, and announced that Kenny, a classmate, had gotten an absolute 0 on a test. When David came back to our room and announced it, Kenny was pissed, slammed his books on his desk, and stormed out of the room.

I no longer think this was an overreaction on Kenny's part. I'd have been pissed too. But I still think there was overreaction Mr. And MRs. W's part. Must I tell it? yes. Because this is to showcase how Adventist schools can be harmful, particularly one or two room schools. Excuse me while I get more alcohol.

back, with more booze, and some broccoli, the ultimate comfort food.

I don't remember what the rest of us students were doing. But I remember Mr. W ripping up David's test in front of our class, saying that David now got a 0 on his test. And then I remember him and MRs. W, in MRs. W's classroom, screaming at David, just SCREAMING. David was in the corner, literally in TEARS. at the time, IT bought of david as my friend, and I was watching ghim, wanting to comfort him, but scared of mr. and mrs. w.

I tell you this now not to excuse David from what he did, but to maybe try and understand..... *takes even deeper breath* a year later, a month before I was to start 7th grade in Mr. And MRs. W's Adventist school, their son David got caught molesting a child, E. Said child couldn't have been more than 6, but I don't remember his actual age.

I had spent a lot of time alone with David, yet my parents never asked if he did anything to me.

For the record, David never hurt me. But I am very hurt that my parents never thought to check.

So, Mr. and Mrs. W stepped down, both as elders of the church (in Mr. W's case) and Mrs. W, they stepped down as teachers.

Mr. W, before, had made fun of me for my tourrettes syndrome, saying I just blamed what I did on the TS instead of actually having ar dal disease, despite the videos my parents had all the teachers and students watch. It hurt so bad, and my parents never believed me until David was caught. Even now, I'm actually not sure they believe me on that one, but it happened. IW as made fun of for my disability by an SDA teacher. And you know what? FUCK HIM.

ahem. In any case, after that, Mr. H took over the SDA school, which now could only go up to grade 8 instead of 10. I had been begging for quite some time now to go to public school. I'd gone to public school in Kindergarten and it had been great. In fact, things had gone downhill since I started SDA school and IW as begging for another chance at public. Finally, my parents gave it to me.

Except by then It was too late. I'd already been too sheltered to know what the heck was going on half the time. Kids would make fun of me, and I was so naive and sheltered I didn't know I was being made fun of. I was not attracted to guys, and so they made fun of me for being gay (for the record I am asexual, but we will get to that.) Finally when they asked, to get them off my back, I pointed to a guy that I said I was in love with. Well, that guy was the boyfriend of the most popular girl in school. That ended whatever middles school social life I might have had real fast.

Actually, I feel like I have to say this: the teachers in my public school in munising were really nice. reallynice, and offered me a lot of the help I needed. I ws too ashamed and despressed to take it, and I wish they had picked up on the fact i needed a therapist, but, this was the early 00s, when not all of that when understood. with one exception whom I won't mention, these teachers did their absolute best to help me, and for that, I am grateful. Well, I am now, I wasn't then. In any case....

So for 8th grade, I decided to go back to SDA school. They had a new teacher there, at the one room SDA school. Her name was MRs. D. My brother was in 1st grade that year. He too had gone public school for Kindergarten. That was the year September 11 happened. J2, which is what I will call my little brother on here, says he now has no memory of the event. But I do.

In any case, the SDA school didn't have a kindergarten, so, first grade was his first chance to be in it. He remained in this one room SDA school until he entered high school, which was quite a shocking transition, but one, after a while, that he was just fine with.

I, on the other hand, not so much. I had tried to kill myself multiple times the year I was in public school (7th grade) and was scared I would do so again. I refused to go back. this left me with 2 choices: baptist school in Munising, or boarding school at Great Lakes Adventist Academy, in Cedar Lake, MI. Dad told me that he had once considered sending me to boarding school out of state, but september 11 crashed the economy and cahgned all that. So, those were my choices.

I visited both schools, baptist school first. I still have my notes from when I visited. I put them somewhere in my parents' house, and they are still there.

I eventually decided on SDA boarding school. This was mostly so I could get an SDA education, because I somehow realized I was confused about SDA doctrine. At the age of 14, my father was appalled to find that I didn't know whether or not Heaven or Hell were eternal, and I did not know whether you went there right away or waited till the second coming.

For the record, SDAs do not believe that hell lasts forever, nor do we believe you go there right way. This helped me remain in religion longer. Most people who I know of left religion because of the belief in an eternal hellfire that you went to as soon as you died.

SDAs believe that, when you die, your body and soul go into a kind of sleep... and that this sleep/death lasts until the second coming. So we don't believe you go to hell right away. We believe Hitler, for example, is still in this "sleep." WE also believe that HItler will burn for as long as he deserves, then die forever. Whereas little Johnny, who's only crime was habitual theft, will burn for a shorter duration than hitler, and won't suffer as much. So I never had the hang up that a lot of teenagers who left Christianity did. It served to keep me in the church longer, bt apparently, not long enough..

SeventhDay Adventists believe tha the doctrine of eternal hellfire is one of SAtan's greatest lies. After all, a god who sent people to hell for an eternity would be a wicked and cruel God undeserving of our worship.

Seventh Day Adventists agree. God would NEVER subject anyone, even hitler, to eternal torture. Rather, he punishes those according to what they deserve.

Anyway, back to me. My first year of Academy (which is what SDAs callt he high school years, particularly if you are at a boarding school) was in 2003-2004. That fall, pastor Cory Jackson preached a series of sermons called a "week of prayer." Apparently this meant that, one week every fall and spring, morning classes would be shortened by 5-10 minutes in order to make room for a sermon in the morning. In the evening, in place of dorm worship, we would have an evening work of prayer service.

I don't remember exactly al of what Cory Jackson preached. Here are the highlights:

1. I remember him preaching the Lord's prayer, and looking it up in my NIV bible that I'd gotten when baptized. I could not find all the verses there, and I went, huh? I am in the right passage right? I was then introduced to the differences between the NIV and KJV. I became KJV only.

2. I decided that my father was right about EGW, that fiction stories were bad, and true life stories were the only good books to read. Ig to rid of my Harry Potter novels,s something IR egret to this day. Maybe someday I'll buy new ones....

3. Cory Jackson told us that his kids weren't allowed to read anything but the bible and EGW

4. PAstor Cory JAckson was the first person to tell me that SDAs believed that the mark of the bast in revelation 13:18 was going to church on sunday

5. Id on't want to talk about some of the other stuff

6. Basically Cory Jackson challenged us to live for God an only for God.

I rose to that challenge. I started reading my bible and EGW on a daily basis. Well, I already read my bible on a daily bassi, but not as in depth as Cory Jackson said we should, and certainly not EGW. I began to read her in erntest.

My freshman year was the happiest year of my life that I can recall. All my friends were spiritual, and so was i. I would tell people later that you could feel the presence of angels on the campus.

And then, the summer after my freshman year, it all fell apart. I'm not going to get into all the details (I know, you're dying to know what happened, but its one of my best kept secrets.) but... I left God. However, I was going to camp meeting.

I'm too zonked to explain all of what campmeetin is. Basically it's where SDAs all go camping, and there's sermons where literally thousands of people attend.

I knew at camp meeting I would come back to Jessu, but that it would probably be an emotional thing. Id isn't want it to be an emotional hing, so I came back before camp meeting. Nevertheless, damage done, satan's won. I would never be the happy spiritual Jesus loving naive person I once was.

And that, my friends, is a good thing. Because that person ws a PRICK. I like to think I'm better now.

Anyway, 2nd year of high school, sophomore year. I suddenly realized that EGW could have been inspired by satan rather than God. i hunted for evidcen, and yet, ever website I looked at, after I looked at it, it would get blocked and I wouldn't be able to access it. I thought, wow, if even the liberal SDA who is in charge of the school's filter is this afraid of me looking at anti-AG sites, just because I'm searching for truth.... SDAs must have something to hide.

So I took to something he couldn't erase, the library. There I found that EGW had made a prediction that certain people in the room she was in at the time would not die before the 2nd coming of Jesus. I don't now remember what year this prediction was made in, but seeing as how she died in 1915ish, and it's now approaching 2015, I'll let you guess.

Everyhthing crumbled. SDAs are taught that one failed prophecy is all it takes, and I had found one. I started going towards the, uh, dark side, I guess you call it. Once I found out that EGW wasn't inspired by god, I went a little crazy. For my own sake I won't say what I did, but, it wasn't good.

Also, Pastor Cory JAckson, during the week of prayer, had told me that Sunday worship was the mark of the beast. I could not find biblical support for that anywhere, and I DID try. People say I didn't try hard enough, but they don't know the books I read, how much of the bible I studied, how I prayed and begged god to make me understand....

I came to the conclusion, at first, that I was stupid. tops tupid to see what was in the bible. Then anger. I'd begged God, why didn't he show me?

And so,a t the age of 15, my sophomore year, I stopped believing that Seventh Day sventists were the one true religion. and most SDAs DO believe that their religion is the only true branch of christianity, that they are the remnant church described in the book of revelation.

But even though I was no longer SDA, I had a long way to go till I could get to where Ic ould leave Planet Adventist.

And that I can't talk about tonight. Tomorrow, maybe, or the day after that.

But this has been healing, so, thank you for all of you who were willing to list.

I'm only sorry I write so much/

[Geechee Girl]

This is interesting. On a Catholic forum I went to they made it seem like SDA were the a cult etc. But it is because SDA don't like Catholics from my understanding

My legalistic church taught antichrist = pope because Daniel 7. That chapter lays out multiple 'reasons' it leads back to the Roman Catholic church. I remember there were Amazing Fact study guides handed out during a revival by a traveling preacher. My other church never touched on Catholicism or any other religions at all.

amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4992/t/who-is-the-antichrist.aspx

Mods, it's my first try at breaking a link. Please help if I screwed it up.