Young Disciple Magazine breakdown

A loooooong post in which I make observations on one of the most influential Adventist things of my tweens--Young Disciple Magazine.

Young Disciple Ministries Incorporated is a registered 501(c/)3 nonprofit in Inchellium, Washington, USA. In 2021, per their IRS 990 filing, their revenue was $504,854. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541925043

Young Disciple has a weekly published magazine aimed for middle schoolers. They also have summer camps and European tours to show where Waldensians were murdered. Kids are taught they'll be hunted down and murdered like Waldenses were.

Source: I grew up reading their magazines, associating on their website, attended several of their summer camps.

My church opted for Young Disciple Magazine instead of the dastardly mainstream Adventist Sabbath School magazine for tween-aged kids, Guide. Why? Guide had one story in it that did not say its good ending was a miracle. My mom hit the roof, declared Guide too secular, and got Young Disciple Magazine for us kids instead.

Whenever we visited another Adventist church, I'd look for their free literature spot. If they had any old Guides available, I'd take them all to read at my pleasure. Guide’s stories were better than Young Disciple's.

Now is the time to explain “Adventist” versus “Adventist-affiliated”. “Adventist” things are official church things, media, books, websites, schools, hospitals. All the things. Then there's Adventist-affiliated “ministries”, organizations that preach Adventism but ain't official Adventist organization.

The Adventist church welcomes, often recommends these grifts. More converts equals more money. Adventists are told to give 10% of their income to the church plus extras for offerings; most do.

(As an aside, the Adventist church doesn't need those tithes. In 1998, per Wikipedia, Adventist church proper had $15.6 billion, making it the seventh wealthiest religion in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_religious_organizations)

When the ministry-grift Adventist-affiliated thang gets weird enough to hit the news (ex: private boarding academy covering up child sexual assault by staff member, health ministry shitty “cure” kills someone, Waco, whatever), the Adventist church proper just hand-waves it away. “It's only Adventist-affiliated, it's not ACTSHUALLY Adventist,” some spokesperson will say. Thus the church disavows any responsibility and the often underlying Adventist teaching that the ministry is doing (Read: weird thing that Ellen White wrote) is never addressed.

Here is a sample Young Disciple Magazine available free on their website. Young Disciple Magazine is Adventist-affiliated, marketed to very conservative Adventists. Any Adventist child who believes what this magazine says, voluntarily does the Bible studies, follows this magazine’s rules, is going to be a devout, meek, biddable, self-doubting, obedient kid.

Here are the damaging teachings in this one magazine. https://imgur.com/a/mLzPIBa

First article is about a Victorian Era Scottish missionary to cannibal “savages” in Aniwa, an island. This story comes with a racist illustration of a proud white Victorian dude leaning against a tree, while half-nude stooping native people look in terror down a hole in the ground. Two are running away, crouched.

This allegedly actually happened. A missionary hired natives to dig a well. The natives had never encountered a well. The missionary told them God sent the water in the well, and this “miracle” converted the “savages” to Christianity.

So lying to people about science and technology to convert them is ok. Got it.

Next article is “Why are you praying?” complete with a photo of a conventionally attractive white girl. Her eyes are closed. Her hands are folded. She's smiling. Her glasses were fashionable circa late 1990s.

It's selfish, the article says, to pray for a non-Christian dad to convert. That's selfish, wishing for dad to go to church, so one can be happy. And a son wishing his mom not going to hell is selfish. So is wanting to be happier. So is wanting to be admired. And that's why God doesn't answer your prayers. Because the only right motivation one can have to pray is “to glorify God”. Get the right motivation, and prayers will be answered—the article implies.

Ok, so peer-reviewed scientific studies show that prayer doesn't work. Instead of acknowledging this prayer thing is a system that doesn't work, the devout believing child who's praying is told “You are the problem. Do the same thing again, harder, ad infinitum.”.

This is a handy way to keep the human desperate and to keep the system of church attendance, prayers, and more prayers, tithing, etc., ongoing. Questioning the system isn't allowed. The person is always the problem.

The effect of this teaching on me: I spent hours upon hours agonizing over my motives for prayer when I was a teen. I truly believed that I was the problem, that my lack of faith or motivation or something was why my prayers weren't answered. The feeling that “I'm not good enough” is hard-core baked into me. It's kept me from trying for leadership roles that I was perfectly capable of in my career, terrified of making a mistake, literally causing me to earn less in my lifetime. It's made me appear anxious and awkward, second guessing myself when I was actually correct. It's helped me be a perfect target for bullies.

Next in magazine is a Bible study. There's something for every day of the week. They try to make it fun. Puzzles, fill in the blanks, crosswords.

I marked my Bible like they tell you to in the little text box on “Topical Study”. Every damn page, nearly, was highlighted and underlined and referenced. No, my Bible never became my “most prized possession” like it says.

Notice their Bible verse to memorize this week is James 4:3 in the King James Version: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts”.

That's right, every devout young teen reading this magazine is “selfish” if they want their parents to be Christian, their loved ones to go to heaven. That's “asking amiss” to “consume it upon lusts”, whatever that means.

The wider historical culture and context of whom the book of James was written to—not mentioned.

Spoiler alert: They describe topical Bible study (looking up all the times a word appears in the Bible to see what Bible says about that word) but use proof-texting (choosing particular verses in a certain order out of context to “prove” a thing). Sneaky of them.

Sunday study remarkable quote: “In other words, when we "ask amiss," there is something that prevents God from answering our prayers.”

So much for an all-powerful God.

To sum up the entire week’s study, the reason God don't answer devout Adventist teens prayers who read Young Disciple Magazine in particular, is cuz wrong motives, desiring enjoyment, cherished soon, idols—liking any thing more than God, not forgiving a person, not doing charity work.

I just am here to point out that the “ugly idols” on page 12 are vaguely Aztec. Or Maya. And kinda cool. Not ugly.

Next article is a story that totally definitely happened, a mom prayed specifically that hey naughtiest little boy would be converted and he grew up to be a fine Christian man. You can totally convert your neighbors and friends with specific intercession prayer.

Next is a list of 13 reasons “why is prayer an absolute necessity?”

First point “There is a devil” is probably not true. 2-6 points are unprovable doctrinal claims. Number 7, “prayer brings fullness of joy” isn't true. Number 8, “prayer brings peace” doesn't happen to everyone. Number 9, “prayer keeps our hearts from being overwhelmed” can work for a little while if one uses prayer obsessively as a thought stopping technique. 10-13 are unprovable doctrinal claims.

Shitty list is shitty.

Next up is a continued story about seventeenth century Quaker missionary to Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She was badass. This story emphasizes how she was very anxious and self-doubtful. I too tired to look that up, but I seriously doubt it given her intrepid international accomplishments.

Next up is a continued story about a mission to cannibals. In this episode, the missionary doesn't believe that the natives are capable of doing the thing they say they can do. And the natives do do the thing, so no thanks to them, praise Jesus instead.

Next is a short article tenuously linking two toddlers thinking their hidden because their eyes are closed to “We sometimes seem to think that if we close our own eyes to our faults, God won't see them, either.”.

Nice use of the royal we. And no, I never thought that. Neither did any of my friends growing up. We all knew God’s keeping a book of all our sins that everyone will be able to watch after Jesus comes—true Adventist doctrine.

Finally, a page of soothing blue seashore. With a little blurb on it, warning against “do not try in your own might to force yourself into the right attitude” because “You have nothing-He has everything.”.

So not only do these kids have to question if they enjoy anything more than God and Bible study, they also have to determine if they are “trying in their own might”. Whatever that means.

Pretty sure most things are more entertaining than reading the King James Version of the Bible and memorizing accusatory verses. That's not a sin, that's not an idol, that's normal.

This entire magazine makes any true believing child into an almost OCD panic because their prayers don't work. And that's their fault. For very very vague reasons.

Then at the end, there's a dire warning about the dangers of “trying in your own might” to have the right attitude. And no information on how to know the difference.

It's crazy making.