Adventist Food
For the past few days I’ve been reading some of the comments in The Survey (take the ex-Adventist survey). Particularly those under Question 32: Are there any Seventh-day Adventist cultural practices that you continue, even though you no longer believe? (Check all that apply.) You can see the spread after 227 responses to the question: 51%, or over half of respondents to this question said they continued the food tradition of Adventism in some way (almost 15% higher than the next most commonly selected option: “I don’t continue any practices” at 35.2%). This rings true for me on several levels. Some of my earliest food memories are of specifically Adventist things like Nuteena and Tuno. Beyond the actual food itself, memories of my formative years growing up Adventist involve settings where food would have been consumed with other Adventists: potlucks, social events at or related to the church, the cafeteria…
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FollowComing to terms with Anger
There is anger and resentment Question 28 reads, “To what extent do you hold anger or resentment toward the Seventh-day Adventist Church?” The response options are “Very,” “Moderately,” “Somewhat,” Not at all,” and “I just don’t think about this.” One of the reasons for including this question in the survey was to test what I recall (and still do perceive) as a general sentiment among still-Adventists that ex-Adventists are angry. Angry at God, angry at The Church, angry in general. And, well, the data so far indicate that the still-Adventists might be right. The two highest rates of response are for “Somewhat angry and resentful” (33.9%), and “Moderately angry and resentful” (21.76%). If we include the 15.17% of respondents who selected “Very angry…”, 70% of respondents to the survey so far say they harbored some anger or resentment toward the SDA structure at the time they took the survey. Females…
Read MoreOutside the Fold
It’s been nearly 20 years since I began the slow, slide away from Adventism. My departure was a quiet, gradual disentangling. I can no longer remember exactly when I stopped going to church, stopped paying tithe, stopped pretending to care about the dramas and intrigues of the Adventist community. But at some point in the early aughts I could simply no longer take the cognitive dissonance, and set myself free from any Seventh-day Adventist-specific diet or lifestyle injunctions. Since then I have gone on to live what seems to me a “normal life.” A life of school plays, going to work, grilling in the backyard on nice days, and being part of a suburban community. Despite being taught in Adventist schools that true happiness comes only from Jesus and that I’d be lonely and miserable outside the fold, I have found meaning and contentment and fulfilling relationships. My journey away…
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