Hey Erik,

I'm so happy to find this web site. Let me give you my personal deep, sincere answer:
I am in the road of re-discovering my real true LIFE. Some times I think I am christian and sometimes I think I am not. This is very normal I understand. I was born a SDA and even though I knwe something was different in me. I pursue it until resently, I stared to question a lot of things. Like my true liberty to be who I am in this planet. So my answer is, now I only see Jesus as a great spiritual leader (myth or real) he sounded like a out of the box thinker.

Hey Erik,
(and hi to the new members. Sorry I've been totally absent for a little while)
This is actually a really interesting question. I've been totally flabergasted to find that people left Adventism and turned to another religion as a result. My experience of self discovery has been so enlightening and empowering that I found it hard to believe that other people would ditch one bad dogma for another. I really want to be respectful of other people's beliefs but personally I think religion in general is a cop out for people who can't deal with not knowing the answers. That's my opinion and as a thoroughly liberal agnostic I certainly can't deny that one of the many world religions could be right. It seems much more likely and logical, however, that none are right in whole and I choose to believe that none are right at all. I'm a control freak and total rebel though. I like being my own god and since I've got no evidence to convince me that any religion is even in part correct, I choose to disbelieve anyone who tells me they have a corner on truth. It sounds like a bill of goods to me.
Thanks,
Clay

No, I am not still a Christian. I am an atheist. Looking back, I can't think of any time when I realized I was an atheist, or realized that I wasn't an Christian or an Adventist. It just happened over time, sort of by default.

When I was very young, I remember looking forward to Jesus coming. I would day dream about it, specifically about how wonderful it would be to always have daddy home from work. I guess the fact that for me heaven meant a very long weekend just shows that I had a pretty happy Adventist childhood.

Over time I grew a profound distaste for the rules. When I would go to my friends' houses, including the more liberal Adventists, it was like I was on parole from some kind of prison. Peanut butter sandwiches on white bread. TV. Not *only* TV, but TV and video games on SABBETH. By the time I was in 5th grade I had grown to hate the rules. I went to an Adventist School in Boulder, Colorado and I hated it.

Eventually, my parents stopped forcing my brother and me go attend church. I went to a secular public high school.

When was I an atheist? The first time I identified myself as such as when a Jehovah's Witness or Mormons or someone (I don't remember) came to the door. They was very polite, and the woman asked me if I was a Christian. I said I was an atheist without even thinking about it, and she looked confused. She asked, hesitantly, "does that mean you don't believe in God?" I told her it did, thinking to myself that perhaps she should research various beliefs a little more before going door to door.

I could have told her I was raised an Adventist. I left that detail out, and I almost always do. I hate saying I'm a former Adventist, or that I was raised one. When I was a kid, I hated having to explain what it was. I was embarrassed about the religion of my upbringing, and I still am. I guess I was always embarrassed about my weird family as a child, but the lasting source of embarrassment has been religion, even though my parents are no longer practicing.

That's why when I saw this forum, I felt compelled to answer the question and share my story with at least someone. I never have before.