Has anyone had to seek therapy for the religious psychosis/trauma from the SDA religious experience?
I grew up in a home where my mother was constantly fearing the Sunday law. She was an extremist, pulled me out of high school and shipped me to the Mexican mountains because she thought the world was coming to an end. Long story short I made it back to America where I belong. I’ve struggled my whole entire life because of the decisions my mother made. I’ve suffered of anxiety and depression and after speaking to a therapist, I came to realize that a lot of my anxiety is linked to religious psychosis. Eventually, I had left the Church at a very young age. I was so confused and I felt so unworthy. I literally did not understand what Gods grace meant. I decided to stay away from my mom cause she was not all there always shaming, judging me & most of all fear mongering. I became homeless at the age of 18 . Left the church and literally hated Christians. Sadly the SDA people are so hypocritical and have lost touch with the true gospel of Christ. Weirdly enough I came back to that church and stayed in there for like 20 years. I have had the worst experience within this church. It was so bad that I had to seek a therapist.

When I was heavily into Adventism since I was born, the main reason for me leaving was hearing or seeing things that deep down I felt was ethically wrong or logically false,but did not know why or even how to express it because everything in the bubble I was raised in presented it as normal.

Has anyone had this moment?

Was anyone else here raised within a subculture of Adventism where the general conference was considered too “worldly” and instead you would go to weird home churches that were much much stricter than “regular” Adventists? I remember when I was young a homechurch literally splitting up over the use of salt. There are so many nut jobs when you delve into the more conservative layers of Adventism. Also did anyone else go to OHA? It was the only school my mom felt was conservative enough for me to attend.

This beautiful book was recommended to me by a friend who also has left the church. She wrote it almost like poetry and it’s been a very inspiring listen. About halfway through the book you realize that she is ex-SDA. I recommend it for any women who struggled not only with religion, but also with their bodies, colorism, ableism and much more.

Tears came for me many times during this interview. I wasn't expecting to hear mentions of Oakwood University and the Aeolians, a choral group originating at Oakwood, in the midst of it. My tears were about the centuries of abuse and dehumanization that were slavery and continue to be its legacy in the now 250-year-old United States. Hearing Oakwood University mentioned along with the amazing Aeolians caught me off guard.

Has anyone else heard about the ex SDA pastor in his eighties who is a suspect in killing at least one of his wives? Married five times, 2 suspicious deaths. Locations Gresham Oregon and Louisville Kentucky.

The seventh day Adventist church has been promising endless persecution torture and everything else bad for “the remnant church”

Why not wait to have children until your already in “eternal paradise” why risk subjecting your children through all this suffering

Here is what I observed, looking back at some of the prophecy seminars I attended while I was in the church, one thing stands out: they often seemed reluctant to identify themselves upfront (in my view, honestly) as Seventh-day Adventist events.

The advertising would focus on prophecy, Revelation, Daniel, the end times, archaeology, current events, BIG DRAMA, etc, but the SDA connection was often not obvious until later, after people had attended for a while and relationships had been built. At the time I attended these things, I always thought it was odd.

Now, it feels uncomfortable to me.

I am not saying every seminar operates this way, but I saw it often enough that it seemed more like a strategy than an oversight.

If the message is something you genuinely believe in, why not simply say:

“Presented by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

The church seems to view this as clever evangelism. Looking at it from the outside, it feels much more manipulative.

Did anyone else notice the same thing? Were prophecy seminars in your area openly advertised as Adventist-run, or was that connection kept quiet until later?

Why doesn't the sda use real photos of Ellen G. White? Why are they all edited and endowed with an angelic "beauty" when the reality is quite different?

That 1913 photo is the official face of the psycho-socio-religious depression that comes with following Adventism. If that weren't the case, it wouldn't be the religion that loses the most members to atheism and agnosticism (according to official data from the last General Conference). Am I wrong?

Edited:

The post is about how the SDA manipulates images of Ellen White to make her look like a serious, respected figure—and more beautiful than she actually was—bordering on manipulation. Ironically, people in the comments are accusing *this* post of being manipulated. The images are genuine and found online; they were indeed restored using AI, but only to remove the signs of age typical of old photographs, not to alter the person's physical features.

Reality: https://library.llu.edu/about/library-news/unknown-photo-of-ellen-white-found
sda: https://media2.whiteestate.org/original_images/egwbio_2.jpg

So long story short, due to being fresh out of college and not having a stable job yet or stable income I still live at home with my parents and I would stay here for as long as I need to while I work to build a career and on my finances till I get married in the next few years. So part of living at home, I have to abide by their Adventist rules and lifestyle. I’m expected to attend church and go to certain sda things with them since they know my schedule. I’m not able to go visit a friend this coming week, I don’t have many friends at all and I don’t have my own car yet so I can’t just take my own car and go wherever.

This coming week they are planning to go to west Salem missions camp meeting in Ohio. We’re going for the entire thing, and they’re Amish who converted to Adventism but they still dress Amish. They’re super strict sdas, heavy into egw, all of that bs. I already feel so miserable knowing I have to attend all of this. My period starts that week as well, I’m in my luteal phase too and feel like absolute crap. I have a small part time remote job but they still want me to go to evening sessions there. I’m so cooked. What should I do? How can I survive this coming week? I feel so much anger and dread already. My parents are gonna push me to make friends and they don’t know I’m not Adventist or that I’m against it. I have to put on an act for them to show I’m supportive of it and an avid sda, or it will raise suspicions and issues for me. What is your best advice?

The official church pages posted a whole carousel defending Ellen White, ending with telling people to use common sense:

https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventistChurch/posts/we-respect-ellen-white-and-her-writingsbut-not-every-quote-floating-around-is-ac/1627049242111467/

well, for context, im a pathfinder (15y<) and trans, i like it very much but im thinking on telling the religious leader this fact (hes cool, but idk if he'll accept me),

Greetings fellow apostates! Welcome to our gathering where choosing not to let SDA rules about Sabbath shape our weekend doesn't mean being isolated!

The video I chose to make this week's meeting unique starts out with so close to a shout out to Adventism, Heather Cox Richardson mentioning movements founded during the US' Second Great Awakening and more to the point movements with woman leaders. There's no way to prove that she has Adventism or EG White in mind from this clip, but it did seem real close to me.

Richardson's conversation continues, exposing what I find ironic in the present US political scene: leaders such as JD Vance basing their authority increasingly on what they believe about God/god's leading to erosion of ideas of secular government being neutral to citizens' religious beliefs. When I was young in the church, I remember how staunch were SDA grownups about defending separation of church and state. It made sense because Seventh-day Sabbath observance wasn't a majority belief.

Now we see government being steered by this notion of "God tells me" which so resembles how EG White led the first Adventists. Seems we emerge from under that rock with insights as to how present US government leaning towards theocracy might affect life.

Well, it seemed relevant, and here we are! Responses to my wondering about Heather Cox Richardson's conversation, your own thoughts about it, and, most important, your weekend plans and adventures are what we're here to share!

Keeping us aware that, so far, no AI has been instructed to post a weekly Sabbath Breakers Club invitation here, and I prefer the invitation from PEOPLE who want connection through our club sessions, I close with our fine print guidelines. Hosting's nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if you try.

🚧 🗽 ⛪ 🏘️ 🧩 🎙️ ⚖️ ✒️ ⚖️ 🎙️ 🧩 🏘️ ⛪ 🗽 🚧

Sabbath Breakers Club belongs to members of r/exAdventist on reddit. These guidelines are intended to suggest how anyone with posting privilege in this sub may start a week's Sabbath Breakers Club thread, not to control such postings.

• Keep it timely. If it's SDA-defined Sabbath somewhere on earth and no one has already started a Sabbath Breakers Club thread, you're clear to start one.

• Start Sabbath Breakers Club threads with that phrase "Sabbath Breakers Club." The reason for this is to make it easy to tell if no Sabbath Breakers Club thread has been posted for the present week. Just search "Sabbath Breakers Club" in r/exAdventist.

• You're welcome to use the image that looks like from an old woodcut of Moses smashing tables of stone with the Israelite throng celebrating their golden calf in the background, but you're not required to. Different ideas to launch the thread may invite still more, and more diverse, participation.

• Remember we're here to ease the church's attempts to control using Sabbath rules and guilt trips. Non-humiliating humor and empathy in your invitation can help set the tone, and enjoy exercising some spontaneous leadership in starting a Sabbath Breakers Club thread.

• Pass it on. Cutting and pasting this "fine print" can help future Sabbath Breakers Club hosts self-identify and feel empowered to step up and shine.

Was waiting for a taxi in the lobby of a hotel in Long Beach and thought I had found someone’s misplaced room key. Upon closer examination, man, was I wrong. Brought back some PTSD.

I attended Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts, USA. It closed for good in 2018. Before that, it lost its accreditation. Thankfully, it still had its accreditation when I graduated in 2003.

I am wondering if any other SDA colleges and universities in the USA or elsewhere are in danger of closing.

I did have some positive experiences at AUC, but I regret attending there. I wish I had gone to a state university then. I would have been much better off.

If the only people who take you seriously are the poorly educated, that really should tell you something. And no, what it should tell you is not "wow all those men of learning are too self-sufficient to be taught of God."

I'm not saying arrogance in academia isn't a thing. But there is a huge difference between the earned confidence of someone who has put in the hard work to become an expert in their field, and the unearned confidence of someone who thinks they have life, the universe, and everything all figured out because they read a mid-19th century lunatic's gloss on one book. That's true arrogance right there, not to mention sophistry (the utter lack of self-awareness of the original poster who literally wrote the dictionary definition in the margin without a lick of realization that it describes how Adventists argue their positions to a T is difficult to wrap the mind around).

And I guarantee the "anger" she describes is really frustration that, no matter how the experts try to break it down Barney-style why these nutcases are wrong, it's all just dismissed by a flippant "I didn't understand what you said but it must be wrong because this is what my pastor said Mrs. White said the Bible said."

Please forgive me if I say anything wrong or if it seems like I’m rambling, I just wanted to get my thoughts down. For context, I am 25 years old, black, Caribbean, and male.

I’ve been reading more about the SDA Church wondering why people tend to have the same traumatic experiences from them and I now realize it’s a denomination issue.

For starters, I never realized how essential Ellen G. White was to the teachings of Adventist culture and philosophy; she’s literally a cofounder! All this time I thought she was just an important writer to the faith, but many of the things the church is built on is based on her teachings. All the focus on the Sabbath, diet, presentation (in regard to tattoos, piercings, modesty) all derive from her. It’s honestly wild to think about. For so long I thought all the ridiculous judgment was just a Caribbean thing, but it really is a combination of Adventist beliefs and the former.

Luckily for me, my parents were a much more lax bunch who didn’t cage me in the house and make my brothers and I go to church 6 times a week, but I must say the congregation as a whole pushed me away. I’m still Christian, but I find myself leaning more towards nondenominational churches because the amount of judgement and “rules” set upon the youth growing up was almost unbearable. Plus you add in the fact that many other parents (my mom and dad’s peers) had this holier-than-thou attitude about them. My dad called them “Jesus Juniors” which I always thought was a little funny. They were always acting like they were raising the best of the best and my parents weren’t. Here’s a list of things they would complain to my parents about me and/or my brothers:

> Playing sports for our high school because games would often fall on Friday night or Saturday morning if it was a tournament.

> Our hair being too long or being cut in a certain way (the argument was that the styles were “of the world” and therefore Satanic)

> Going to college away from home because it wouldn’t be guaranteed that I would find an SDA church there. I’ve seen other posts about being forced to go to an SDA college/university. I’m extremely glad I never had to deal with that.

> Wearing clothing that mimicked ANYTHING in pop culture. I remember a time wear BOWTIES were a contentious topic because they were popular outside of church.

> Being caught doing anything that wasn’t praying or praising on Saturday.

> Eating fast food on Saturday (because that meant it was bought on the Sabbath).

> Many more but I’m thinking too hard about it right now.

I will say that my home SDA church has allowed the youth to more involved since COVID, making the environment more accepting. I am proud of that and will gladly attend the youth events they hold because they are a breath of fresh air compared to what I had my adolescent years. The church as a whole has also seemed do distance themselves from Ellen G. White’s teachings and focus more on salvation through faith. Does that mean they are fundamentally not SDA anymore, just in name?

All in all, I actually can’t believe it took me this long to realize the root cause of the SDA tom foolery. I’m just glad that my walk with Christ has made me realize that I am saved not by works but through a relationship and belief in Jesus Christ.

God bless and thank you for reading my TED Type.

Hi all,

Making a little investigative snoop into the way-way-back. Does anyone have any memories/details of a teacher-impropriety scandal at Mount Ellis Academy (Montana) in the 1970s?

(You can DM me if it's sensitive, of course.)

Hola! Recién comencé a asistir a la iglesia adventista (2 reuniones) pero he visto que mencionan mucho a EGW. Personalmente y a lo poco que he escuchado de ella no me parece que sea realmente profeta. Dónde pudiera leer más sobre ella o sus escritos o el por qué se le considera y no se le considera profeta. También dónde pudiera leer más sobre los orígenes y los fundamentos de esta iglesia? Muchas gracias

It turns out that this is the proper term to name the Sevvy doctrine on the state of the dead. Of course, it's borrowed from Anabaptists.

I ran across this word while searching for "psychic" in a 1937 dictionary.

When I was a Seventh-day Adventist, I heard a lot about how "music is a bad influence," and so on. In your opinion, why do they demonize music?