Leaving the church
Leaving the church
by Duane McClearn
I have spent considerable time over the past many years pondering religious believers and religiosity, atheists and atheism, and, of particular relevance here, former believers, their reasons for leaving their faiths, and the consequences of doing so. My knowledge comes primarily from extensive reading and conducting surveys on these subjects.
I came away with many messages from a survey that I conducted several years ago with Tom Arcaro (colleague on the current ex-Seventh-day Adventist project). Thousands of atheists wrote of their experiences, many of whom were recent converts away from Christianity of one denomination or another. A large number spoke of the emotional conflict they had within themselves trying to come to terms with the fact that they felt they were losing belief in their religion—many thought of themselves, at least in the beginning of the process, as traitors to the cause, to their parents, their extended families, their communities. Their whole identities were at risk. When they started the process of breaking free, often there was great resistance from the church leaders and members, their families and friends, their spouses. Their stories were often quite poignant. But for many, the going was not as tough—they slid into non-church-going, atheist status rather painlessly, maybe by stages, perhaps with support, or at least not resistance, from family members.
Once they made the transition from in the religion to out, these self-declared atheists described themselves overwhelmingly with words like “free,” and “liberated,” and “non-oppressed,” and “independent.” Were there downsides of leaving the church? For many, none at all. For some, there were. These were mostly lost friendships (people who were still religious who broke off the relationship with the person who left), pleasurable social functions (church picnics and such), and certain rituals. But for the most part, and I mean by far the most part, those who left were glad that they did, some indicating that they only wished that they had done so much earlier.
Of course, the issue of leaving the church is of major importance to church leaders across the US. Christian denominations are hemorrhaging members as I write. (And here I confine myself to writing about Christianity, and not other religions.) A recent Pew Poll (2021) on religion found that the percentage of Americans identifying themselves as Christians had dropped to 64, while the percentage classified as “none” (a catch-all category including atheists, agnostics, and “nothing in particular”) rose to 30, its highest level in years. Current Pew projections estimate that the “nones” will be as much as 52% of the population by 2070. It is no wonder that church officials are worried and trying to stanch the flow. In any case, for the people who are leaving the church, any church, you have a lot of company.
This blog is devoted to giving ex-Seventh-day Adventists a place to speak out and be informed. My colleagues and I imagine that members of the SDA church experienced an environment that was different, perhaps more “extreme,” than the typical Christian church in America. Does the typical Adventist, in fact experience a more “intense” Christian experience? Do the members who leave SDA suffer more anxiety, guilt, shame, or conflicted emotions than other Christians who quit their denominations? Do ex-SDA feel a greater sense of freedom upon breaking loose from their church? As far as I (and my colleagues in this project) are aware, nobody has given a voice specifically to ex-Seventh Day Adventists. It was our desire to allow them a forum to speak about their SDA experiences and hear from other ex-members. It is our hope that the comments will mirror those ex-Christians discussed above, in terms of expressing feelings of freedom, independence, and other good emotions.
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[…] I have noted in an earlier post, more and more Americans over the past decades have been turning away from religion or not being […]