Alva James-Johnson: Stumped, Mr. Trump? Just ask a Seventh-day Adventist

Ignorance is bliss, the saying goes, but presidential candidate Donald Trump took it to another level with his recent rant about his rival Ben Carson's religion.

"I'm Presbyterian," Trump said at a rally in Florida last Saturday, the day of the week considered "the Sabbath" in Adventist circles. "Boy, that's down the middle of the road folks, in all fairness. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don't know about. I just don't know about."

While bragging about what he doesn't know, it was clear that Trump's only objective was to fan the flames of religious intolerance among some of his evangelical supporters. But it did raise questions about a religion with deep roots in U.S. history.

I happen to be a fourth-generation Seventh-day Adventist. My great-grandparents were converted by U.S. missionaries who spread the seeds of Adventism throughout the Caribbean and other parts of the globe. And for those curious about a faith that now has 18 million adherents worldwide, I'm happy to shed some light.

First of all, it's a Christian denomination with a strong Protestant tradition. The organization was founded in the mid-19th century in the wake of the Second Great Religious Awakening, when many Americans were expecting the second coming of Christ.

When Christ didn't return on a day expected by those involved in the Advent Movement, some of the believers regrouped and formed a new denomination. They based it on the beliefs that Christ's return was still imminent and that the seventh day of the week was the "true Sabbath" as established at creation and outlined in the Ten Commandments. Thus, the name "Seventh-day Adventist."

Today, the denomination has nearly 80,000 churches, 173 hospitals and sanitariums and an elaborate educational system with more than 7,500 schools, ranging from the primary to university levels.

Trump may try to paint Adventists as some strange sect that Americans should shun, but the denomination is known throughout the world for its holistic health principles, humanitarian work, advocacy for religious liberty and diverse membership.

In July, the Pew Research Center found the Seventh-day Adventist Church to be the most racially diverse religious group in the United States, with 37 percent of its adult members identifying themselves as white, 32 percent as black, 15 percent as Hispanic, 8 percent as Asian and 8 percent as another race or mixed race.

Adventists also are not a monolithic group politically. They run the whole gamut -- from the very liberal to the ultra conservative. In May, the North American Division issued a statement saying it would stick to the denomination's "long-standing position of not supporting or opposing any candidate for elected office."

Here in Columbus, it's Adventists who started Country Life Natural Food Store and Vegetarian Restaurant, a vegan establishment that has existed in the community for more than 40 years. They also founded the Uchee Pines Lifestyle Center in Seale, Ala.

In fact, most Americans know more about Adventists than they realize, a point brilliantly demonstrated in a recent opinion piece published in USA Today.

The column, titled "Ben Carson's faith -- and mine -- has already touched your life," was written by Mark Kellner, a journalist based in Salt Lake City who worked at the denomination's world headquarters from 2003 to 2014.

Anyone who has eaten a bowl of cold cereal has been touched by Adventism, Kellner wrote, because it was a former Adventist physician, John Harvey Kellogg, who -- along with brother W.K. Kellogg -- invented cornflakes based on the church's health principles.

Kellner also mentioned the 1984 Baby Fae baboon heart transplant that was done at Loma Linda University Medical Center, an Adventist institution, leading to better procedures in the medical field; and the famous "Blue Zone" project, which revealed that Adventists who follow the lifestyle promoted by the church live seven to 10 years longer than the general population. That lifestyle includes abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and meat.

In 2014, the Smithsonian named Ellen G. White, the denomination's most prominent co-founder, one of the "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time" because of her accomplishments in the religious arena.

Trump may not know much about Seventh-day Adventists, but there's much we all can learn from things with which we're unfamiliar. If you really want to know, just ask.

Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Alva James-Johnson: Stumped, Mr. Trump? Just ask a Seventh-day Adventist ."