Seventh-day Adventism in popular culture


Seventh-day Adventist Church in popular culture refers to the coverage of Adventists and Adventism in film, television, literature, postage stamps and have been discussed in the media for their longevity. Adventists have impacted world eating habits in the breakfast and health food areas.
One author wrote, "popular culture hasn’t often been very kind to Adventists."

Representation in cinema

The movie Evil Angels portrays the events surrounding the death of Azaria Chamberlain, the daughter of Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor Michael Chamberlain and his wife Lindy. Lindy is falsely accused and convicted of killing the nine-week-old baby, and the public's unfamiliarity with of the practices of the religion are shown as one of the causes of public opinion turning against the Chamberlains.
Another Australian film, The Nostradamus Kid, depicts a coming-of-age story in which a Seventh-day Adventist young man grows up in the 1950s.
2016 Hollywood film Hacksaw Ridge depicts the story of Desmond Doss, a Seventh-Day Adventist medic who exhibited extraordinary bravery in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, including single-handedly saving the lives of at least 75 wounded American soldiers in one night under heavy enemy fire on Maeda Escarpment Okinawa, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Doss saw himself as a conscientious cooperator and voluntary enlisted in the US Army to be a medic during the war. He suffered significant abuse and was court martialed for his personal beliefs.
The 2004 film Hotel Rwanda focuses on the actions of Paul Rusesabagina who was internationally honored for saving 1,268 civilians during the Rwandan genocide. Rusesabagina was educated in Adventist elementary and secondary schools and describes himself as a "lapsed Adventist" in his autobiography.

Representations in television

In the American series Gilmore Girls, one of the recurring characters, Mrs. Kim, is a strict, caricatured Seventh-day Adventist.
In the House episode "Here Kitty", Dr. Gregory House refers to the events surrounding William Miller and the "Great Disappointment" of 1844. He remarks about Miller, "every time he was irrefutably proved wrong, it redoubled everyone's belief." Towards the end of the episode the patient rebuts House by saying "his followers never faded out, they became the Seventh-day Adventists – a major religion".
The 1970s situational comedy, All in the Family alludes briefly to Adventists. In the sixth season episode "The Little Atheist", main character Archie Bunker says, speaking of his unborn grandson, "Raise him a if you want, raise him a Norman with seven wives, a holy roller, a Seventh-day Adventurer".
The Family Guy tenth season episode "Livin' on a Prayer" makes light of some people's skepticism towards Adventists. Lois Griffin, the mother from the main family in the series, states, "I don't know who's crazier, Christian Scientists or those Seventh-day Adventists." The scene cuts to a scene where one Methodist man explains his faith as a Methodist and another man explains his faith as a Seventh-day Adventist. The second man says the same thing as the first man, except that they go to church on Saturdays instead of Sundays, causing the first man to react in shock.
Girls Season 4 episode "Tad & Loreen & Avi & Shanaz" complains about the bothersome persistence of door-to-door evangelist Adventists, confusing Jehovah's Witnesses with Seventh-day Adventists. The fictional character Avi Mensusen, states, "Shanaz, do we get Watch Tower? It's those annoying Seventh-day Adventists, again."
The Leftovers first episode of Season 3 there are some strong references to the event of the Great Disappointment. The intro is set back in the 19th century of America, showing a small family giving away their possessions, a group of people waiting for something on top of roofs and a congregation where someone is preaching about an event that will occur later in 1844. The event is strongly suggested to be the second coming of Jesus.
On Brazilian television, the Adventist Church has been represented a few times in a pejorative manner in the humorous program Zorra Total, from Rede Globo, the largest broadcaster in the country. In one episode a construction company accused of corruption and money laundering disguises itself as an Adventist church to avoid being arrested by the federal police in a satire Operation Car Wash. In another episode a pastor founds the "Seventh Digit Admilssista Church", in which a false pastor named Admilson and auxiliaries exorcise the faithful, speak in strange languages, and ask for exorbitant amounts of tithes and offerings, referencing bank accounts of more than one million reais. Several pastors of the denomination such as Gilberto Theiss and Michelson Borges released letters of repudiation against the Program Zorra Total and Rede Globo, arguing the disrespect to the Adventist faith and considered the act as blasphemy.
The thirteenth season of reality show RuPaul's Drag Race features a contestant named Ethan Mundt who uses the stage name Utica Queen revealed he is a Seventh-Day Adventist.

Representations in literature

In Black Boy by Richard Wright, "Granny" is said to be a Seventh-day Adventist.
In Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, one character says to another that Adventists such as him do not drink or trade in whisky.
In The Stand by Stephen King, the character Stan Nogotny described the city of Boulder, Colorado "as if the Catholics, Baptist, and Seventh-day Adventists had gotten together with the Democrats and the Moonies to create a religious-political Disneyland."
The Brothers K by David James Duncan includes Adventist characters.
The Road to Wellville is a heavily fictionalized story of John Harvey Kellogg, the Adventist doctor who invented corn flakes. The Road to Wellville 1994 film is based on the book.
In Towing Jehovah by James Morrow, a character named Neil described his caution around religious people, citing an instance of a Seventh-day Adventist suggesting he accept Jesus to avoid Armageddon.
In The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer, a character explains the values of being immortal, including studying various faiths including Seventh-day Adventism.
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson features Kathy Jones, a Seventh-day Adventist aid worker

Representations on postage stamps

are used by countries to celebrate their culture and important people, places and events. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the sixth-largest highly international religious body and operates in over 200 countries and territories so a number of commemorative postage stamp issues by various countries have portrayed the Seventh-day Adventist Church and other Adventist subjects. This list is organized by the first date a postal authority issued a Seventh-day Adventist themed stamp.

Madagascar

In 1967, the first depiction specifically of an Adventist subject on a postage stamp occurred in the Malagasy Republic when Paositra Malagasy issued a stamp showing the Adventist mission headquarters and church building in Tamatave. The "Temple Adventist", a mosque and a Catholic Cathedral were each shown on a stamp in the three stamp set.

Norfolk Island

In 1967–1968, Norfolk Island Postal Service issued a series of definitive stamps depicting historic ships, including a 1968 20c depicting the Seventh-day Adventist owned mission schooner the Pitcairn. In 1856 Pitcairn Island was completely evacuated to than deserted Norfolk Island, so the Pitcairners become the first non-convict residents of Norfolk. The Pitcairn ship brought the first Adventist missionaries and three Pitcairn islander converts to Norfolk in 1891. They shared the Adventist message with their relatives, quickly establishing an Adventist Church in part of the old prison. The Pitcairn would visit several more times over the years. The same ship was later depicted on several Pitcairn Island stamps discussed below.
In 1981 Norfolk Island issued a 24c Christmas stamp depicting the island's Seventh-day Adventist Church with its sign and the printed words SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH in all caps.

Samoa

has made three Seventh-day Adventist related issues to date.
The first stamp issued in 1970 shows the Seventh-Adventist Sanatorium building in Apia which served from 1896 to 1906.
The 1979 Christmas miniature sheet includes four stamps showing different churches and an additional five churches surrounding the actual stamps. A Seventh-day Adventist Church is shown in the lower left of the sheet.
A 2007 stamp featured the Fusi Saoluafata church, on Upolu Island with the heading "SDA Church". It came in a pane of 12 stamps showing various church buildings on the islands.

Pitcairn Island

The small isolated UK colony Pitcairn Island has issued the most stamps with a Seventh-day Adventist connection of any postal authority due to the strong connection to the island. Pitcairn started printing stamps in 1940 and although there is little demand for postage from the less than 50 people in the local population, postal releases by Pitcairn are highly collected around the world and represent a significant part of the isolated island's revenue.
Seventh-day Adventist connected issues include:
  • 1958:The church school and teachers house stamps
  • 1975: The Pitcairn owned by the Adventist church.
  • 1977: The island church, which is the Seventh-day Adventist church on the island.
  • 1986: A series of four stamps to celebrate 100 years of Adventism on the island. The stamps show the four successive Adventist Churches built on the top of each stamp with the lower portions showing John Tay, the Pitcairn mission schooner, a baptism, and members singing hymns to a departing ship.
  • 1997: A series of four healthcare stamps depicted the Adventist-operated Island Health Center
  • 1997: A second island church stamp
  • 2012: Roy Clark shown with his wife May. Clark served as the island postmaster, schoolmaster, Adventist church elder and historian.
  • At least three more Adventist individuals have been featured