Sect-State Relations: Accounting for the Differing Trajectories of Seventh-Day

Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses

Author(s): Ronald Lawson
Source: Sociology of Religion , Winter, 1995, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter, 1995), pp. 351-377
Published by: Oxford University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3712195

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 Sociology of Religion 1995, 56:4 351 377

Sect-State Relations: Accounting for the

Differing Trajectories of Seventh-day
Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses

Ronald Lawsont
Quans College, CUNY

Seventh-day Adventists and]ehovah's witnesses share cornmon roots; both began as aplyptic
sects with prenullernial expectations; both rejected politixl participation as contaminating and dis
tracting from their God-given purposes; both expected to bie the object of pessecution from the state;
and both held theological positions that put them out of step with demands of the state, such as a re-
fasal to bear anns in wartime. However, over time they foUzued vezy different tragectries in ffie
rnatter of relEans with govemments. While the Witnesses increased their intrarusigence and endured
considerable persecution, Adventists increasingCy oomtronused their original positians, pnzinggwern-
merwal approval.
If, following Stark and Bainbridge, the degree af on unth state and soaety is inuoked as ffie
measure of a religious group's position on the church-sect amtinuum, Wimesses are fomd to be an
"estab1ished sect" while Adventists have traveled a oonsiderable distance from sect towards denruS
tion.
This paper sets out to account for these diffenng traJecties. In dAng so, it focuses on the e
lin af the rel&onships of these sects unth govemrnat, paying partkular attention to ffiese tela-
ins in times of war and heightened rudonaXsm. The data lead to an intetetain dtat finds several
related, interacang factors. These incluzle the degree of organizaXal openness, ideokPl Tigilit,
apocalyptic urgevy, ffie intensity unth which they irinate converts, and ffie ex to whkh they
have fxed persecution. These faaors together shape the groap's relations with the state and societ,
and cansequerwly also its position on the church-sect contimlum.

SeventhSday Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses share common roots.

Adventists grew directly out of the Millerite movement: They were one of sevS
eral fragments which survived the "great disappointment" of October 2i, 1844,
the date which Baptist lay preacher and biblical chronologist William Miller had
set for the Second Coming of Christ (Judd 1987:33). Charles Taze Russell, dle
founder of the Intemational Bible Students, later renamed Jehovah's Witnesses,
was heavily influenced by members of other Millerite fragments, especially
Advent Christians. He began his religious joumey in 1869 as a result of dle
preaching of Advent Christian James Wadell. He adopted the doctrine of condi-

t D*ectall aveswr oo RonaJd Lawson, 8 Gkrdale Road, Osstrung, NY 10562 l608.

351

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352 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

tionalism or annihilationism1 from George Storrs, a former Miller

Nelson H. Barbour, another former Millerite, he drew his biblica
his rules for interpreting prophetic time periods,2 and a historicis
of the book of Revelation (Penton 1985: 14-20; Beckford 1975:3). T
of these to the positions held by Adventists reflected their comm
Their similar chronologies, both of which shared several highl
(for example, 1798 and 1843-44), led both Adventists and Witness
millenarianism: Both believed that they were living at the denou
world's history. This belief made both movements intensely evan
them to mount international missionary endeavors: They saw it a
given task to warn the world of the imminent events and to call
their group, which each identified as God's special people.
The millenarianism of both groups created tensions with socie
this was especially the case with other churches, whom they portr
false, corrupt, and "the whore of Babylon." Both were notably an
the Roman Catholic Church, which they identified with some of
some prophetic symbols. Their beliefs also contained the seeds of
with the state: Their prophetic interpretations led both groups t
cution from the state, which would thus act as the instrument of
returning to judge and overthrow "the nations," and since this w
soon, government and politics were otherwise not worthy of attention. The
specter of severe conflict with the state was raised when each group was faced for
the first time with wartime conscription, for "the relationship of religious groups
to the society in which they are found is sharply revealed against the background
of war" (Yinger 1946: 176).
J. Milton Yinger, setting out in 1946 to elaborate on Troeltsch's (1931)
"church-sect" classification, noted that a "church" (or to use more recent par-
lance, "denomination")3 unlike a "sect," "accepts the main elements in the ex-
isting balance of power" and "the legitimacy of the prevailing societal structure,"
and supports the "existing powers . . . in peace and war" (1946: 18-19, 21, 19).
He observed that while sects sharply attack the powers of society, churches
(denominations) become "incapable of making a basic challenge to the existing
society, with its injustices" ( 1946: 27,34). In 1963, Benton Johnson focused on
such insights when he suggested replacing the long and van,ring list of correlates
used by sociologists invoking the church-sect typology to define "church" and
"sect' with a single attribute.

I This view rejects the innate immortality of the soul, asserting instead that faith brings conditional
immortality, that following death the soul sleeps until the Resurrection, and that the souls of the wicked are
ultimately annihilated rather than suffering eternal torment.

2 The "year-day" principle, the 360 day bprophetic year," the 30 day Uprophetic month," a gtime" equals
a prophetic year andZtimes" two years, etc.

3 Yinger distinguished a "churchX from a "universal church," and thus used church as the equivalent of
what others would identify as a bdenomination."

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 SECIs STATE RELATIONS 353

A church is a religious group that accepts the social environment in whic

a religious group that rejects the social environment in which it exists (1963:542).

Stark and Bainbridge clarified and reactivated this insight: "Johnson postulated a
continuum representing the degree to which a religious group is in a state of -
sion with its surrounding sociocultural environment" ( 1985:23). For them, three
elements marked "subcultural deviance or tension: difference, antagonism, and
separation" which together described "a single concept" ( 1985: 49-50).
By this measure, both SeventhSday Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses were
initially strongly sectarian. However, over time they have followed very different
trajectories. While Adventists, craving official approval, increasingly compro-
mised their original positions and thus became an excellent example of the
typical shift from sect towards denomination-Witnesses actually increased
their intransigence and endured harsh conflict with many states, especially in
time of war. They thus became, and have remained, what Yinger deSned as an
"established sect."4
This paper sets out to account for these differing trajectories in sect-state re-
lations. It thus focuses on a question raised by Bryan Wilson: "We need to know
just what factors in the organization and circumstances of sects promote or re
tard" their development into churches or denominations (1967:22). The ques-
tion is especially interesting in this instance because not only were the two
groups initially very similar, but on other measures also, such as international
spread, growth rates, and total membership, they have remained remarkably
alake.5
In tracing the diverging trajectories of the two groups, this paper focuses on
the evolution of their relationships with governments, with particular attention
to times of war and heightened nationalism.

4 Yinger distinguished between new sects and those which seem to have settled permanently into
sectarian status. He suggested that althoughestablished sects" may make some modifications in the direction
of a church (denomination), they remain basically sectarian and continue to be regarded as separate (a key
variable for Stark and Bainbridge) (1946:22-23).

5 In 1992, Adventists reported a presence in 204 countries out of 233 recognized by the United Nations;
Wimesses reported activiq in 229 "countries and territories," a list which separated out Alaska, Hawaii, and
Pacific and Caribbean islands which the U.N. list would have linlQed with other entities. That is, the
international representation of the two religious groups is very similar. Worldwide Adventist membership stood
at 7.5 million, while Witnesses, who do not list total membership, reported almost 4.5 million active publishers
(persons engaged in regular witnessing) and 11.4 million attendees at their annual memorial (communion)
service (a number which would include many people with whom they are studying and relatives and friends of
members specially invited to this particular service, as well as more peripheral (non-publisher) members (see
BeclQford 1975:88)). Adventists reported a 5.6% increase in membership, and Witnesses a 5.3% increase in
publishers; Adventists reported 601,000 baptisms and other additions tO church membership, and Witnesses
301,000 (neither baptizes infants). Adventism, however, is now much less concentrated in North America
( 10.6% of members compared with 22.7% of Wimess publishers), and it has become much more concentrated
in developing countries (84.2% of members compared with 48.096 of Witness publishers) (General Conference
1993; Wat:h Tower 1993).

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354 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

RESEARCH METHODS

I have been engaged in a massive study of international Seventh-day

Adventism for the past ten years. During this time I have traveled in 54 coun-
tries in all eleven of the church's world divisions, completing over 3,000 long,
inSdepth interviews with church administrators, pastors, teachers, hospital per-
sonnel, college students, and leading laypersons; I have also assembled question-
naires completed by interviewees and samples of college students and laity, gath
ered field notes from observation at church services and key meetings, and culle
data systematically from Adventist periodicals, statistical reports, and secondary
sources. The convention adopted in this study is to refrain from citing the nam
of the interviewees quoted, except when they are major figures in the church.
In 1991, while preparing papers on Adventism and church-state relations as
well as on Adventism and military service (Lawson 1991, 1992), I became famil-
iar with Christine King's work comparing the experience of five sectarian group
under the Third Reich (1982a, 1982b).6 I was fascinated at the contrast between
the Adventist and Witness responses, and desired to compare their relations
with governments more generally and to account for their differences. This led
me to review the secondary literature on Witnesses. I have supplemented this
with statistics from the Witness Yearbook, data from recent issues of Watchtower
and Awake!, and phone interviews with two authors who were previously
prominent Witnesses.

DATA: DIVERGING TRAJECTORlES

The Govemment Relations of Sevent}a-day Adveniists.

The Millerite forebears of Seventh-day Adventism rejected the Am

Dream, for their premillennial expectation of imminent cataclysm led
view society pessimistically. William Miller's preaching focused closely on the
apocalyptic visions of the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation, where he saw
governments portrayed as wild beasts which hurt God's people. His message had
the effect of encouraging apolitical withdrawal: Many followers withdrew from
reform associations, and became totally absorbed in preparing for, and warning
others of, the impending "Day of the Lord" (Butler 1974: 173-77).
Following the "Great Disappointment," the nucleus of those who were to
become Seventh-day Adventists took the Millerite rejection of the American
Dream a step further when, beginning in 1851, they denounced the Republic,
identifying it with the second beast of Revelation 13, which "had two horns like
a lamb?' and "spoke like a dragon." Adventists cherished the foundation of
America, with its Constitution and Bill of Rights, which they saw as symbolized
by the beast's lamb-like appearance, with the two horns representing the two
principles of political and religious freedom. But, pointing to slavery and to the
religious intolerance shown by the churchesS expulsion of the Millerites and the

6 I have since become aware that King drew much of her material on Adventists from Erwin Sicher
(1977), without citing hr source.

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 SECIb STATE RELATIONS 355

states' jailing of (Saturday) Sabbath keepers who had violated blue l

held that America was betraying both principles. It was already, an
creasingly become, a dragon in lamb's clothing. That is, Adventist
enshrined tension with the state, reflecting the problems members
ing to the tenets of their faith in a hostile society.
The American Civil War forced Adventists to grapple with the is
tary service just as they were creating their centralized form of g
Their political pessimism, concern for keeping all of the Ten Comm
including both the 4th (Sabbath) and 6th ("Thou shalt not kill"), an
ority they gave to the spreading of their message, made them reluc
ipate (Brock 1974:23; Graybill 1978: 4-8). The Adventist prophet, E
as was her wont, clinched the decision: "I was shown that God's pe
not engage in the perplexing war, for it is opposed to every princ
faith" (1885:361). While this decision earned them scorn, Adventist
to avoid legal punishments once conscription was instituted throug
loopholes created for Quakers. They gained recognition as noncom
state and federal authorities and, having adopted a position, then
disfellowshipping members who heeded the call to arms (Graybill
1974:26). The 1865 general church session, held shortly after the w
firmed the new position: It declared that while Adventists "recogn
ernment as ordained by God," they were "compelled to decline all
in acts of war and bloodshed" because this was inconsistent with th
Jesus, the "Prince of Peace" (Wilcox 1936:234).
In the years between 1810 and 1901, Adventism's evangelism be
national, its membership increased steeply, and it built 16 colleges
schools, a medical school, 75 "sanitariums" or hospitals, 13 publishi
and 31 miscellaneous institutions. Adventism was putting down a s
societies where it operated (General Conference 1901; 1901-1902:596, 597).
These changes were accompanied by a reshaping of Adventist eschatology.
While America continued to be identified with the two-horned beast, it was no
longer portrayed as already in the dragon phase, but as still lamb-like, and its
demise was thus seen as less imminent. That is, the time believed to be remain-
ing before the second coming of Christ was lengthening. However, the interpre-
tation remained fundamentally pessimistic, for Adventists themselves had re-
placed slaves as the minority whose abuse would undo the Republic. Ellen White
now counseled rapprochement with civil authorities in order to facilitate mis-
sionary work; indeed, she urged Adventists to help prolong the future of
America "so the Adventist message could go forth and flourish" (Butler
1974 193-94). That is, Adventists found themselves in the anomalous situation
of wishing to delay the end in order to have greater opportunity to preach that it
was at hand.
Although Adventists continued to see politics as unsavory and as a distrac-
tion from their primary purpose, they now became involved in some issues which
they regarded as vital. Prime among these was the campaign by the National
Reform Association to extend the Sunday sacredness "blue laws" already in ef-
fect in some states to the national level. By 1892 about 50 Adventists had been
convicted under the state laws, and 30 of these sent to prison. Despite the fact

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356 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

that their rehoned eschatology saw the passage of a national Sund

culmination of the prophecy concerning the two-horned beast, an
signal that the Second Coming of Christ was at hand, they felt o
White's counsel to "extend the time" to respond boldly to this th
tablished a magazine devoted to religious liberty, founded the Na
Liberty Association, lobbied before congressional committees,
briefs in court, and helped defeat Senator H.W. Blair's Sunday-Re
1974:196-98). Adventists continued this array of activities into
century, when they became widely known as defenders of the Fir
which they saw as the basic guarantee of religious liberty in
1973; Morgan 1992).
The issue of military service, which had faded from view after
Civil War, reappeared in the new century as international tens
This became the focal point in the evolution of Adventist relation
ernments during the next several decades. Although the structur
tional Adventism was centralized, practice on this point diverged
with two distinct positions emerging. The first of these was devel
in the U.S. Since this was the location of church headquarters, it
repeatedly to be the official position. However, it was confin
English-speaking democracies.
When the U.S. entered World War 1, the Adventist church ther
its earlier noncombatant position, and filed this with the Wa
(Wilcox 1936:113; Syme 1973:70-71). However, it transformed
tion of "noncombatancy" from nonparticipation in war to unaxllle
vice. Adventists could now express their patriotism: Its memb
armed soldiers doing good while refraining from killing. In 1916
draft, the church established Red Cross training schools at its sch
tals, where potential draftees undertook training that helped mak
tive to noncombatant medical units within the armed forces. Such
considered particularly desirable because helping people medically
suitable activity for the Sabbath. They thus provided Adventist d
combatant role within the military and at the same time remove
problem of service on the Sabbath. However, many still faced pu
cause of problems with Sabbath observance during basic train
Adventist leaders were eventually able to arrange for their mem
cused from all unnecessary military activities on that day, at the
there were still 35 in prison, with sentences ranging from 5 to 20
obeying officers on this account. They were then released by
(Wilcox 1936:151). Adventists were also successful in gaining
status in other English-speaking countries during World War I.
The new Adventist policy of noncombatant participation in
quently became a vehicle for creating close ties with the U.S.
1939, as war broke out in Europe, church leaders in the U.S. again
medical training program for potential draftees. This time, howev
more sophisticated, for they had secured the cooperation of the
Called the Medical Cadet Training Program, it was directed an
regular army officers (Dick 1974:20). The official church pap

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 SECI^oSTATE RELATIONS 357

"Refusing to be called conscientious objectors, Seventh-day Adven

be known as conscientious cooperators" (Rernew and Herald 1941)
tion was inevitably viewed much more favorably by the military
those of the Jehovah's Witnesses or the traditional peace church
American Adventists served during World War 11 as noncombata
branches of the services. Church leaders were especially proud of
heroes such as Desmond Doss, whose bravery eamed him a Congr
of Honor (Sibley and Jacob 1952:86; Schwarz 1979:443; Goldstein 1985:2).
The major innovation during the Korean War was the appointment of
Adventist military chaplains} who were paid by the armed forces and had mili-
tary careers. The General Conference7 switched its earlier stand, now endorsing
Adventist clergy for such posts and providing financial aid to help with the
ministerial training of some would be chaplains (Dick 1976:42-45).
Americans taught South Korean Adventists the official church position on
military service during the Korean War. Consequently, the Adventist college
there gave basic medical training to those expecting to be drafted, who then
asked the authorities to assign them to medical units or other noncombatant
positions. Because not all were successful in getting such appointments, two
Adventists were executed at the front line during the war when they refused to
bear arms, and about 100 others were sent to prison for as long as 7 years during
the 1950s and 1960s (interviews).
In the U.S., the Adventists' noncombatant position no longer separated
them, but in fact fostered close relationships with the government and military
leaders. Signs of cooperation multiplied during this time. In 1954 the U.S. Army
established a special camp at Fort Sam Houston in Texas where all noncombat-
ants received their basic training. This removed them from regular units where
their refusal to bear arms had been a source of confusion. Over half the men who
received their basic training there were Adventists (Davis 1970:222). The fol-
lowing year the U.S. Army Surgeon General created "Project Whitecoat," a pro-
gram especially for drafted Adventist noncombatant servicemen. Under this the
latter were given the option of spending their periods of military service as
guinea pigs in biological warfare research for the U.S. Army. Thanks to the en-
thusiastic encouragement of church leaders, 2,200 Adventists participated in the
program between 1955 and 1973 (Thompson 1991; interviews).
Many Adventists became militant patriots. The director of the General
Conference National Service Organization, the church department created
during World War I to respond to the needs of Adventist noncombatant con-
scripts, was quoted in Time.

We despise the term 'conscientious objector' and we despise the philosophy back of it . . . We
are not paciSsts, and we believe in force for justice's sake, but a Seventh-day Adventist cannot
take a human life (Time 1950:68).

An alternative Adventist respo

local church leaders where the medical role was deemed not available. Under

7 The central Church administration.

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358 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

this alternative, Adventists served in the normal fashion, with arm

completely revetsed the position established during the American C
but it kept tension with governments relatively low. Germany was c
development of this policy. When war broke out suddenly in 1914,
leaders there, moved by both patriotasm and a realization that Impe
would not countenance a noncombatant option, agreed that their members
would bear weapons in the service of the Fatherland; moreover, they stated ex-
plicitly that "under these circumstances we will also bear arms on Saturday" (Sas
n.d.:14; Sicher 1977:12). This decision resulted in a bitter schism, which con-
cluded with the members making up the pacifist opposition-the "two percent"
being disfellowshipped and forming the Seventh Day Adventist Reform
Movement. The position of the official church in Germany became typical of
non-EnglishSspeaking countries where conscription was imposed.
Although the General Conference reaffirmed after the war that noncombat-
ancy was the official Adventist positions, the response to the Stalinist crackdown
on religious freedom in the Soviet Union confirmed that the two practices con-
tinued. Church leaders there conformed to the demands of the state, proclaiming
that military service was a Christian duty and that anyone teaching otherwise
was a heretic and should be disfellowshipped. By accepting this and other laws
proscribing proselytizing activity and charitable work by religious groups, the
Adventist Church was able to function openly but in a very compromised situa-
tion. This stance resulted in another schism, with the formation of the True and
Free Adventists (Sapiets 1990: 52-57; Alexeyeva 1988: 25).
In Nazi Germany, Adventists expressed enthusiastic praise for Hitler and the
National Socialists, and most conscripts bore arms willingly even though they
had been accorded the right to Opt for orderly or medical duties. Through such
actions the Adventist Church there successfully reduced tension with the
regime, so that it survived untouched in spite of the similarity of several of its
beliefs and practices to Judaism.8 ltheir experience was in marked contrast tO
that of the Reformed Adventists, who suffered greatly because of their unswervS
ing commitment to their pacifist position (Sicher 1977:14-22; King 1982b:97-
98, 110-119).
In many other countries without provision for alternatives to military ser-
vice, ranging from Franco's Spain tO Communist Eastern Europe and from Latin
America to Taiwan and Thailand, Adventists also trained with arms. The na-
tional church leaders in those countries concluded that the General Conference
did not understand their situation, so that its statements reflected an American
situation which could not be applied to them. In this way they avoided the ten-
sion with the state over military service which the Korean Adventists experi-
enced. While many of them did try to arrange for conscripts to be able to ob-
serve the Sabbath, they frequently compromised when this issue became a source
of tension in civilian as well as military life (interviews).9

8 In 1989 the Adventist Church in Germany issued a public apology for itS toadying to the Nazis
(intelviews).

9 For example, Adventist children typically attended school on Saturday in Co

fonner French colonies in Africa.

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 SECT-STATE RELATIONS 359

Armed service thus became the norm among Adventists in

indeed, it was much more widespread than noncombatant se
The extent of the shift in Adventist practice concerning mil
finally recognized in 1972, when the General Conference adopt
The prime reason behind this switch was conflict within the A
during the Vietnam War between militant patriots, some of whom favored
armed involvement, and youthful conscientious objectors, who needed church
support in order to be so classified; international issues - the incongruity of the
two practices and awareness of the problems caused in South Korea by the non-
combatant position were secondary. By declaring that military service was a
matter of individual conscience, the new position encompassed both the patriots
and the pacifists. Henceforth noncombatant participation, armed participation,
and refusal for conscience sake to participate in war were all officially accepted
among Adventists.
The new flexibility was tested and confirmed the next year in South Korea.
When the military situation in South Vietnam deteriorated in 1973, the Park
government panicked and insisted that all conscripts train with arms (which
thus removed the noncombatant alternatives previously available to some
Adventists) and that such training be included within college curricula. The lat-
ter demand placed the Adventist college in a dilemma: Should it conform to the
new policy or reject it and face closure? When Korean leaders sought the advice
of the General Conference, the latter reversed the position it had held in the
1960s, arguing that it was not worth risking serious trouble with the government:
Training with arms should be a matter of individual conscience. The college
consequently conformed to the government's demand that it train students with
weapons (interviews).
Since this time Adventism in America has backed away from the serious
teaching of noncombatancy to its youth. When the U.S. switched to a volunteer
army in 1973, and recruiters began emphasizing educational and vocational
benefits that appealed to lower-SES racial minorities, Adventists began to vol-
unteer for military service in unprecedented numbers. This represented a signih-
cant shift, for volunteers, unlike draftees, do not have a noncombatant option
available to them, and are therefore agreeing to kill America's enemies if ordered
to do so. The church responded by directing its main effort into Chaplaincy: Its
prime concern was now to serve the spiritual needs of the Adventist volunteer
soldiers.
Within the U.S. in the l990s, "military recruiters come to Adventist school
campuses, and school and university bulletin boards display posters advertising
the benefits of service in the armed forces" (Thomas 1991:2). It is not surprising,
then, that "most young Adventist adults are unaware of the strong pacifist thread
in the fabric of Adventist history" (Zork 1991:2). In 1991, the office of
Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries estimated the total number of military person-
nel listing Seventh-day Adventist as their "religious preference"-that is, of
Adventist background as 6-8,000, and that 2,000 of these participated in the
GuUWar (interviews). Adventist attitudes became much more openly jingoistic
during the Gulf War: "Not only have lthe Adventist volunteer servicemen] been
to the Persian Gulf and back; they have come home to welcoming applause in

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360 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

Sabbath worship services and patriotic accolades in the church's publ

(Scriven 1991:10).
It has been shown that the creation of their noncombatant Military Cadet
Corps during World War 11 enabled American Adventists to build a close ex-
change relationship with U.S. political and military authorities. This was firmly
established by the l950s, as the establishment of Fort Sam Houston and the
launching of "Operation Whitecoat" demonstrated. This relationship was then
extended to other areas. For example, from the 1950s to the 1970s the General
Conference made incremental decisions to permit the acceptance of govemment
financial aid for Adventist hospitals and educational institutions something
which heretofore would have been regarded as dangerous and wrong (Morgan
1992: chapter 5; Syme 1973:120-143). The same process was repeated in
Australia and the British colonies of Africa.
A new opportunity for cooperation emerged in the early 1980s, when church
leaders discovered that vast sums in government aid, mostly from USAID, were
available for them to distribute, and realized the potential of this becoming an
"entering wedge" in regions where there was little Adventist presence a role
their hospitals had played in earlier years. Consequently, they transformed their
disaster relief agency into the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, which
happily became what was tantamount to an arm of American foreign policy. For
example, ADRA distributed a great deal of aid in Honduras during the Contra
War but nothing in Nicaragua (interviews).
This pattern of seeking close relationships with political and military au-
thorities has recently spread throughout the international church. During the
last two decades Adventist leaders in many countries, who were by this time
typically citizens of those countries, increasingly sought to facilitate their en-
deavors by building exchange relationships with their governments. They were
especially successful in developing such relationships with authoritarian gov-
ernments of the Left and Right in Eastern Europe and the Developing World.
Adventists sought liberties (freedom to evangelize, freedom to observe the
Sabbath, protection of their institutions) and favors (for example, accreditation
of schools, facilitation of projects through duty-free import of equipment) and,
in return, were willing to help legitimate or otherwise assist regimes. Such rela-
tionships were especially numerous among the military regimes of Latin
America. For example, in Pinochet's Chile Adventists were known as friends of
the president, providing him with legitimation from a religious source when he
was under attack from the Catholic Cardinal for torture and disappearances. In
return they received accreditation for their college. In South Korea, rather than
protesting against the military regimes of Presidents Park and Chun, Adventists
were cooperative and loyal, appreciating the stability and social control imposed
by the regimes, and their campus remained extraordinarily quiet. This was ap-
preciated by the presidents, who accredited the college, which then expanded
dramatically (interviews).
Adventists were also successful in establishing exchange relationships with
several Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. For example, Polish Adventists
leaders accorded first priority tO achieving and using popularity with the gov-
ernment. They were useful tO the regime because they were willing to attack itS

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 SECT-STATE RELATIONS 361

prime enemy, the Catholic Church. For example, they published

of their magazine to coincide with Pope John Paul lI's first visit h
for their assistance, although their membership stood at only 4,70
total population of 38 million, they were allowed to publish so fre
the last seven years of the Communist regime the amount of Ell
terial published was exceeded only by the Bible and the works of
were also allowed the privileges of selling their material freely on
in government book kiosks, and of securing public halls for evan
views).
Adventists also established an exchange relationship with the a
the USSR. In 1979, Neal C. Wilson, then President of the Gene
helped to cement this relationship when, at a time when Sovi
anxious to silence the antigovernment propaganda of the schisma
Free Adventists, he intervened with an open letter to Soviet Adve

The General Conference can recognize only one SeventhSday Adventist or

country. This would normally be the one recognized by the authorities. ..
who consider themselves to be Seventh-day Adventists to identify with the r
believers (Wilson and Lohne 1979: 46).11

During a subsequent visit to the Soviet Union, Wilson establish

tionship with Konstantin Kharchev, chair of the USSR Counc
Affairs, who visited church headquarters and major education
publishing institutions during two subsequent visits to the U.S. T
sulted in approval from the Council of Religious Affairs for the
Adventist seminary outside Moscow. Adventists returned the fav
pating in and reporting favorably on Gorbachev's Internation
Non-nuclear World and the Survival of Humanity in 1987, by
President Reagan's characterization of the Soviet Union as an "evi
offering co-operation in areas of science, education, and medicin
Soviet religious liberty in their respected Liberty magazine, and
Kharchev, at their Third World Congress on Religious Libert
citation honoring him as "Spokesman for Human Rights, Promot
Freedom'?-at a time when Gorbachev was seeking eagerly to
Soviet image (Spectrum 1988:44; Hegstad 1987:2-6; Wilson 1987:8; Nixon
1989:7). Subsequently, they also received permission to establish a publishing
house, a medical clinic, and church headquarters.
Wilson, who was President ofthe General Conference from 1979 until 1990
increasingly fancied himself as a diplomat, and reveled in "photo opportunities"
with political leaders. When he was asked about his dream for the Church, he

10 This included large quantities of The Great Controversy between Chnst and Saun, which is strongly
anti-Catholic in tone.

11 Wilson took a similar position during the 1980s concerning a schism in Hungary triggered by ties
between the Church and the Communist regime, when he declared again that the General Conference would
recognize only groups that themselves had government recognition (Small Committee" Correspondence;
Reiner, nd.; interviews).

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362 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

replied that it should "grow numerically and financially, and in term

acceptance and influence" (Coffin 1986:9).
The relationship between SeventhSday Adventists and secular gov
has been transformed to a great extent, and with increasing speed,
passed: Both tension and separation have been greatly reduced. The p
such a result has increasingly become the conscious policy of chu
since World War II. Using the Stark and Bainbridge dimension, then,
Adventists have moved a considerable distance towards the denomination pole
of the sect-denomination continuum.

The Govemment Relaiions of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Since Pastor Russell, founder of the Bible Students (later the Witnesses),
was a premillennialist preoccupied with the imminence of God's kingdom and
believed that secular governments would be destroyed by Christ at the Battle of
Armageddon, he, like the founders of Adventism, taught that his followers
should regard themselves as strangers and pilgrims, keeping themselves "separate
from the world" (Penton 1985:138). This meant practicing "absolute political
neutrality," which was defined as avoiding "involvement in any political aspects
of the world" (Bergman l990b). They would therefore avoid voting, holding
public office, or enlisting for military service. But since Russell interpreted the
"higher powers" of Romans 13:1 to mean secular governments and held that
God had granted the nations a temporary right to rule pending the setting up of
His kingdom, he advocated that civil authorities should be obeyed except as
their expectations contravened duty to God (Penton 1985:138).
These views were initially put forward during a period of peace, and there-
fore precipitated little conflict. However, following what Russell believed to be
the close of the "gentile times" in 1914 and the beginning of the unseen mil-
lennial reagn of Christ, his apolitical apocalypticism increased sharply an im-
pulse that was strengthened by the outbreak of World War I (Bergman l990a).
Russell saw the nations involved in the war as demonically controlled, and at-
tacked other churches bitterly for acting as recruiting agents for the military. His
followers, when conscripted, refused to serve. Bible Student attacks on the
churches, together with their high profile preaching and their opposition to the
war, resulted in waves of hate literature from the churches accusing them of
sedition. Penton saw these as important in stirring up political problems for
Bible Student conscientious objectors (1985:134,141). Consequently, they faced
imprisonment in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, and Austro-Hungary, and
some of them were executed by the Axis powers. The Canadian government
banned their publications, and once the U.S. entered the war Witnesses were
"arrested, mobbed, tarred and feathered, and harassed throughout the country"
(Penton 1985:55). Eight Watch Tower directors, including J.F. ("Judge")
Rutherford, the new president, were arrested on charges of sedition in 1918 and
sentenced to terms of 10 and 20 years.

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 SECToSTATE RELATIONS 363

With itS leaders imprisoned, the Watch Tower Society12 tried

public image through compromising its political neutrality. It called on Bible
Students to participate in a national day of prayer for victory, and permitted
them to buy war bonds. However, this switch of position had no positive impact
on their situation, and when the Watch Tower directors were released from
prison following the end of the war, having served nine months, they repudiated
the compromising statements (Penton 1985:147).
This experience with the American system of justice strengthened Ruther-
ford's insistence on maintaining political neutrality. He bitterly attacked the
powers of politics, commerce, and religion, "the three chief instruments of the
Devil" (Penton 1985:70), and finally, in 1929, announced a new interpretation
of Romans 13 which broadened the gulf between Bible Students and civil
authorities. Under this interpretation the "higher powers" were no longer identi-
fied as secular rulers, but as Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. Consequently, gov-
ernments were seen as having no basis in divine authority, but were demonic.
Members were no longer obliged to obey human laws unless they were in har-
mony with God's (Penton 1985:139). That is, underRutherford's leadership ten-
sion between the Watch Tower and the state was heightened. Persecution of
members increased in many countries.
Nevertheless, as the political situations in Europe and America changed
against the background of depression, a resurgence in anti-Semitism, and the rise
of the Nazis, the leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses (as they were now called)
compromised anew with the hope of blunting opposition. Because of their belief
that biblical prophecy predicted that the Jews would return to the Holy Land
before the end of the world, Russell and Rutherford had earned reputations as
sympathetic with Jews and strong supporters of Zionist causes. Rutherford pub-
lished three pro-]ewish books between 1925 and 1930. Then, in 1932 he sud-
denly proclaimed that "fleshly Israel" had no role to play in salvation history, for
Witnesses were the "true Israel of God" (Penton 1990:34-35). This shift became
the linchpin in an attempt to curry favor with the new Nazi regime the following
year.
Witnesses had been the objects of hostility and abuse, and had been accused
of being linked to Zionists and subversives in Germany since World War 1, and
were already banned in some German states when the Nazis assumed power. The
Nazi regime moved quickly to take over Witness headquarters, but then pulled
back following diplomatic representation from the American government. Thus
warned, Rutherford and his deputy hastened to Germany and prepared the text
of a "declaration of facts" for presentation to an emergency congress of Witnesses
in Berlin. Delegates arriving at the congress were amazed to find it bedecked
with swastika flags, and that the program included the singing of a hymn, not
sung by them in Germany in years, set to the music of "Deutschland, Deutsch-
land uber alles" ("Konrad Franke's Testimony" 1990:50). The "declaration" and
an accompanying letter to Hitler, "were nothing short of self-serving statements
which attempted to ingratiate Jehovah's Witnesses with the Nazis "by criticizing
Jews, Great Britain, the U.S., and the League of Nations, declaring that Wit-

12 The corporate name of the Bible Students.

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364 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

nesses and Nazis shared goals and ideology, and falsely asserting that Watch
Tower leaders had been imprisoned in the U.S. in 1918 because their president
had refused to use their magazines for war propaganda against Germany
('Declaration" 1990; Hitler Letter 1990; Penton 1990:37-38). Although many
members were unhappy with the declaration, they distributed 2.1 million copies
of it, with special coverage of high government officials (Penton 1985:147).
Witness leaders had shown that they were willing to compromise their neu-
trality in order to continue their work of publishing and preaching. But the Nazis
were not impressed, for they were already convinced that the Witnesses were en-
emies, and two days after the congress they stepped up persecution. At this point
Rutherford reverted to an intransigent stand, being determined to continue with
literature distribution, and thus threw his followers into the most bitter persecu-
tion they had encountered. Witnesses faced losing their children and their jobs
and, after they collectively refused to do military service upon the introduction
of conscription in 1935, a law was promulgated making such refusal or incite-
ment of others to such a position punishable by death. By the later years of
World War 11 more than half of the Witnesses were in concentration camps. But
still the daring distribution of literature, smuggled in from Switzerland, contin-
ued literature which increasingly took on a tone critical of the regime. One in
four German Witnesses lost their lives during the Nazi period (King 1982b:154-
167; Penton 1985:142).
A decision in Germany to refuse to give the Nazi salute, "Heil Hitler," or to
salute the Swastika because this was interpreted as idolatry had important reper-
cussions in the U.S. and elsewhere. In an effort to be both truly international
and consistent the more important because the Witness structure had become
very centralized and authoritarian under Rutherford's leadership it was de-
cided that Witnesses everywhere should henceforth refuse tO salute flags or
stand for national anthems. When applied in the U.S., this decision resulted in
harassment of the children of Witnesses within their schools, a Supreme Court
decision in 1940 that they must salute the flag when required or face expulsion
from public schools} and, subsequently, a sharp increase in mob violence against
Witnesses until the Supreme Court reversed its ruling in 1943 (Bergman
1990a, 1990b; Penton 1985:143; Beckford 1975:35).
When conscription was reintroduced in the U.S. in 1940, Witnesses again
refused to serve, insisting on exemption on the ground that they were ministers.
Local boards usually denied them this classification, even when they could prove
that they were "pioneers" who spent at least 150 hours per month on ministerial
responsibilities. Such rulings flew in the face of a ruling by General Hershey that
persons with 80 hours of such service per month were eligible for ministerial ex-
emptions: Within the system for processing conscientious objectors, "It was in
the classification of Jehovah's Witnesses that local prejudice was probably most
pronounced" (Sibley and Jacob 1952:71). When offered assignment to alternaS
tive service in the Civilian Public Service, Witnesses were instructed to refuse
this option on the ground that this was still conscription. Acceptance of such an
assignment was regarded as compromising one's integrity with God, resulting in
automatic dissociation from the religious community (Franz 1983:101-102).
Three quarters of the draftees claiming conscientious objection who were sent to

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 SECI"-STATE RELATIONS 365

prison were Witnesses. Here discrimination continued, for the Boa

refused to grant parole to Witnesses unless they were willing to p
engage in preaching activities a promise which most refused to m
and Jacob 1952:354-55, 385-86). Consequently, they served full sentences, an
average of 30.6 months (Beckford 1975:35).
Witnesses continued to go to prison for refusing military or alternative ser-
vice during the draft that extended from the Korean through the Vietnam wars
in the U.S. They have faced the same situation in many other countries over the
years. The policy against alternative service continued even though a worldwide
survey in 1977-78 showed that substantial numbers of Witnesses had difficulty
finding a scriptural basis for the stand taken, and despite majority votes of the
Governing Body in favor of changing this stand votes which failed to obtain
the required two-thirds majority of all members of the Body whether present or
not (Franz 1983: 102).
One measure of the extent of the problems Witnesses had with the state was
the number of them who were arrested. During the period 1933-1951, 18,866
were arrested in the U.S. alone. They also had much to fear from street justice,
for in this same period there were about 1,500 cases of mob violence against
them in the U.S.: "Because they were regarded as unpatriotic slackers who would
neither salute the flag nor fight for their countrr, [witnessesl were subjected to
mob violence unexperienced by any religion in America since the Nineteenth
Century persecution of the Mormons" (Penton 1985:77).
Confronted with such negative experiences, Witnesses decided to take the
issues relating to their religious freedom into the court system. Between 1938
and 1953 they fought 45 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and won 36 of
these. The last of these, which exempted full-time publishers from the draft,
"heralded a gradual improvement in their relationship with the American gov-
ernment" (Beckford 1975:56). These successes encouraged them to follow the
same route in Canada and Australia, again with success. These positive experi-
ences led them to re-examine their thinking concerning secular authority and
their relationship to it. Consequently, in 1962 The Watchtower published a series
of articles which abandoned Rutherford's exegesis of Romans 13, with its ex-
treme hostility to the state, and in essence returned to Russell's view that they
should obey all secular laws not directly in conflict with God's (Penton 1985:88,
142). However, their beliefs continue to separate them from any political activ-
ity or military service.
Severe tensions and problems persisted-and often continue to persist
in many countries. Witnesses have frequently been seen as subversive to the
faith in those countries where there are established religions, be they Roman
Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, or Islam. They were regarded as a particularly
dangerous "opiate" in Marxist countries. In Malawi, Africa, they endured great
privations because of their refusal to purchase the membership card of the ruling
political party (Franz 1983:113-117). When international tensions and the
specter of war increase nationalism, their internationalism and refusal to partici-
pate in military training often results in their being damned as enemies of the
state.

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366 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

Thus, the separation and tensions between Jehovah's Witnesse

governments and societies continue. Rather than decreasing over
did among Seventh-day Adventists, they actually increased sharp
leadership of Rutherford, in spite of two attempts to compromise
der his leadership. Many Witnesses endured considerable persecution and
showed great tenacity to their faith as a result. While successful court actions in
several democratic countries have led to a degree of relaxation of tension there,
it has merely returned to about its level under Russell's leadership. Tension re-
mains high in many other countries where Witnesses are without judicial pro-
tections, and they are still banned by several governments. They are also es-
tranged from most other religious groups because of their eagerness to attack
them as corrupt and their doctrinal claim to be tQ "discreet slave" God's one
true church. Using the Stark and Baihbridge dimension, then, Witnesses remain
in a strongly sectarian position. This tends to be especially evident in time of
war.

IN'l'MRPRETATlON: ACCOTING
FOR THE D1P'f'MRENT TRAJECTORIES

What factors shaped such dramatically different trajectories in sect

lations? Since I earlier accepted the Stark and Bainbridge definition of
church as measured by their degree of tension with society, this questi
to that raised by Bryan Wilson, which was quoted above: What factors
or retard the movement of a religious group from sect to denominati
22)? That is, what factors caused one religious group to remain separate
hostile to society and thus to become an established sect - while another
initially very similar group accommodated tO society, and svas thus transformed,
moving towards the "denomination" pole of the sect-denomination continuum?
I begin by considering some answers suggested by others.
Wilson, in seeking to answer his question, divided sects into four categories
-conversionist, adventist, introversionist, and gnostic and found that con-
versionist sects tend to denominationalize much more rapidly that the other
types (1967:44-45). However, this finding is not helpful in solving the present
puzzle because both Adventists and Witnesses initially fell within the same cate-
gory adventist in Wilson's classification.
When Yinger raised this question, he noted that if a sect, such as the
Quakers, is opposed and persecuted more vigorously, it will become more isoS
lated and its group moral increase. Witnesses have been the object of oppression
much more than Adventists: At its peak, during Rutherford's presidency (1917-
1942), "the Witnesses were severely persecuted in virtually every country in the
world and banned in many" (Bergman l990a:1).13 Yinger then rightly asks why
one group is persecuted more than another. However, his answer, that groups
which emphasize the evils of society are more likely to be persecuted, and groups
that focus on decreasing individual anxiety (guilt, confusion) less likely
( 1957:150-52) is not helpful here because both Witnesses and Adventists fell

13 The different experience of Witne and Adventists in this revct is elaborated upon below.

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 SECr<STATE RELATIONS 367

initially into the first category, and thus were very similar to o
.

c .lmenslon.
An anonymous reviewer asked whether the "substantial African-American
membership" of the Witnesses could help explain the street violence directed
against them in the tJ.S. during the 1930s and 1940s. This seems highly unlikely
since much of the violence occurred in small towns in northern states (inter-
view). Moreover, the racial variable does not distinguish Witnesses from Adven-
tists. Although both were slow to try to evangelize African Americans, they
began to do so before the end of the nineteenth centuty and since then have far
surpassed most mainline denominations. Data comparing Witnesses and Adven-
tists directly in this respect proved difficult to obtain. Penton cites an old
estimate of 18 percent of American Witnesses being black (1985:358n); Roof
and McKinney (1987:141-42) named Adventists and American Baptists as the
"two denominations [reporting] large numbers of black members," for Adventists
27.0 percent; they omitted Witnesses from their study. By 1992 the Adventist
figure had climbed tO over 29 percent (Beaven 1994:23). Kosmin and Lachman
found that the Witnesses were the only religious family in the U.S. with a
"minority majority," with only 48 percent "non-Hispanic whites" in 1990 ( 1993:
118). The comparable figure for Adventists stood at "jUSt under 60 percent" in
1992, and was predicted to fall to less than 50 percent by the year 1998 (Beaven
1994:23; Branson 1994:2).
McGuire suggests that a key variable is the extent to which a sect organizes
its internal and external social arrangements towards the perpetuation of its dis-
tinctiveness that is, the extent to which it is able to create physical, symbolic,
or ideological boundaries between its members and the threatening world
(1992:155-59). In the case of Witnesses and Adventists, this variable has worked
contrary to what McGuire would expect. Adventist ideology created separating
behavioral standards such as Sabbath observance, dietary and entertainment re-
strictions, and heavy demands on the time of members, while its educational and
medical institutions, which were founded in what were initially rural areas, drew
many members to live, work, and go to school in shared isolation in what be-
came known as "Adventist Ghettos" or "New Jerusalems" a pattem which
still persists. In contrast, the few peculiar norms of Witnesses their nonobser-
vance of birthdays and holidays such as Christmas and their refusal of blood
transfusiorls-were much less isolating; nor did they create their own institu-
tions or otherwise encourage members to live separately (Penton 1985:280).
While their expectation that members 'spublish," or witness on the streets or
door-to-door, and attend multiple weekly meetings also placed a great burden on
their time, it does not seem that this should have created as strong social
boundaries as those faced by Adventists. The ideological boundaries between
Witnesses and the world-their radical eschatology and sense of being Godts
special people were initially similar to those held by Adventists. However,
they have sustained them over time much more that have Adventists, a diver-
gence which needs to be accounted for.
Again, numerical growth and geographic spread, which are likely to result in
diversity, bureaucratization, and reliance on staff, can be expected tO bring

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 TAB

Factors Shaping Se

Group Proportionof Relatio

Religion Soaal Organizational Ideological Apocalyptic Hereditary Indoctrin
Group Mobility Openness Rigidity Urgency Mernbers of Converts Pers

Seventh-day Considerable Leadership Growing Reconciled Retain Reduced

Adventists upward concemed with tolerence of to delay; more intensi
mobility public image, doctrinal avoid dateS hereditary
pursue status diversity setting members av

Jehovah's Little Leadership No Remain Very high High Wides

Witnesses upward isolated, tolerance of urgently tumover; intensity p
mobility value separation doctrinal apocalyptic; fewer heredS fro
from world diversity set dates itary members a

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 SECI STATE REIATIONS 369

changes. These could provide the needed explanation if it were

the similarities here between Witnesses and Adventists14 (Wils
An analysis of the Adventist and Witness data leads to an
that finds several related, interacting factors. These are summar

Pattems of social mobility e3querienced by group mernbers

The first real clue is provided by Yinger: "When the membe

wealth, the sects tum from radical challenge to acceptance of t
ture" ( 1946:22 1 ). Adventists opted for a professional ministry,
work of institutions hospitals, schools and colleges, publash
healthfood factories - first in the U.S. and then internation
couraged their members to attend their schools in order to pr
staff they needed. This emphasis on education resulted in cons
creasing upward mobility among members who had been raised
especially in the U.S. A recent survey of Adventists in Americ
out of three men hold professional, managerial, and white-coll
the proportion who have completed some level of higher ed
double that of the general population (Sahlin 1991:17-18).16
cluded, from his study of their ideology and social status, tha
embraced social and economic upward mobility with religio
210).
In contrast, Witnesses have neither educational institutio
sional clergy, and they actively discourage their members from
education. The survey by Kosmin and Lachman found that the
proportion of college graduates (4.7 percent) of all 30 "religiou
258). Moreover, while they work in the world and often ga
diligent, honest workers, their careers take second place to
(Penton 1985:255-57). Witnesses have consequently experienc
ward mobility than Adventists: Kosmin and Lachman rank the
position on their "aggregate social-status ranking on 'Protestan
( 1993:262).

14 See note 5, p. 353 above.

15 In 1993 they operated 148 ho
colleges, 953 secondary schools, 56
15 nursing homes and retirement
houses are in North America (Ge

16 When all church members a

national survey conducted by Kosm
both median income and the perc
this is that Adventist membersh
especially older women, are segm
income; Adventism is losing larg
1993:216,213-214). A second reaso
educated converts, in the U.S. as
factors that draws these people t
hope, as a result of converting, to
ready to put down roots in society

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370 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

Organizanonal Openness

As Adventists achieved increasingly higher levels of education, indep

dence of thought and intellectual diversity were promoted. Although th
climbed to leadership positions within the highly centralized, pyramida
tist stmcture were not those with the highest education, in recent deca
have been typically hereditaly members with college degrees. These lead
identified increasingly with corporate executives and professionals. For e
they moved the headquarters of the Church to a corporate park in Silver
Maryland, during the 1980s, and at the 1994 Annual Council of the General
Conference they proposed that the General Conference President be known as
the "chief executive officer" of the church (Medley 1994:6). The Adventist
leadership has exhibited a strong and growing desire for broad acceptance and
recognition by the powerful in society, and considerable concern for the public
image of their church. The data suggest that these concerns have made them
willing to accommodate with society in ways which have changed Adventism
dramatically.
In contrast, the president and members of the Governing Body of the
Witnesses, which is also a highly centralized structure, have tended to be less ed-
ucated and much more isolated, intellectually, psychologically, as well as phys-
ically (since these elderly men have typically lived together at Witness head-
quarters for decades). They continue to value "separation from the world," and
give no indication of any yearning for acceptance and recognition. They have
maintained a rigid, controlling structure which has allowed no room for trans-
forming changes (Penton 1985:216-223, 154-156, 89).

Ideological Rigidity

The education of many Adventists has helped to reduce their sense of isola-
tion from the world, especially (and unexpectedly) when they live together in
aghetto" communities surrounding Adventist institutions because of the concen-
tration of professionals there (Lawson and Carden 1983). These communities,
which wield considerable political influence within North American Advent-
ism, often contrast sharply with the most conservative Adventist congregations,
which are often more isolated geographically (Lawson 1995). Although the
range of doctrinal and behavioral diversity makes Adventist leaders somewhat
uncomfortable, they are learning to cope with it, just as they are accommodating
to the cultural diversity that is the natural result of being active in almost every
country and of becoming a predominantly Third World church. As Adventists
have become increasingly accustomed to their own diversity, congregations have
softened discipline, and there has been a marked decline in disciplinary
proceedings.

17 One of the most celebrated cases is that of a theologian who was defrocked and fired in 1
he repudiated a ley Adventist doctrine, and who has remained prominent, with his own ministry
1V programs and meetings. Although church leaders would dearly love to be able tO declare that
Adventist, the congregation at the college where he formerly taught refuses to disfellowship him
of breached behavioral norms, divorce and remarriage without discipline is now common, so long

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 SECToSTATE RELATIONS 3 7 1

Since few Witnesses have received higher education, and therefore been
exposed to challenging concepts and information, the Watchtower has been
able to maintain strong discipline, which it has reinforced by demanding that
members attend many meetings,18 meet targets for time spent witnessing,19 and
read a heavy load of their own literature.20 There is little room for independence
of thought and no toleration of doctrinal diversity: Those seen as deviating are
readily expelled, and all members, including relatives, are then expected to shun
them (Penton 1985:125 ).

Apocalypiic Urgency

Although Adventists continue to teach that the return of Christ will occur
"soon," there is much less urgency now than even fifty years ago, when some
mainstream Adventists chose not to have children because of the warning at-
tributed to Jesus: "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing
infants in those days!" (Matt.24:19 NRSV) (interviews). Indeed, the leadership
of the Church, together with most members, now seems reconciled to the
delayed eschaton. For example, the 150th anniversary of the "Great Disappoint-
ment," the failure of Christ to return when predicted by William Miller, was
celebrated rather than grieved on October 2Z, 1994. They have also embarked
on an ambitious, and necessarily lengthy, program designed to plant at least one
Adventist congregation in each of 2,285 "population segments" which had a
population of about one million persons in 1989 but no established Adventist
presence (General Conference 1994:39-43).21 Moreover, the Adventist Church
continues to work diligently, through its Public Affairs and Religious Liberty
Department, to postpone events that its prophet predicted would occur before
Christ's return the end of the separation of church and state in the U.S. and
the passage of a "Sunday law."
However, there are strains within Adventism because some conservative
members, who are often deeply immersed in the writings of Ellen White, remain
urgently apocalyptic. Some of these are drawn to dissident groups, both within
and without the official church, which focus eagerly on fulfilling "signs" of
Christ's Coming and sometimes set dates for the event.22 Church leaders, who

know how to do it inoffensively, and no members of SDA Kinship, the organization of gay and lesbian
Adventist, has been disfellowshipped since the late 1970s ( interviews).

18 Five per week in Britain in the 1970s (Beckford 1975:70).

19 They are required "to submit a weekly analysis of the hours s

making back-calls, and conducting Bible studies with newly interested

20 Witnesses were expected to read 3,178 pages of Watch Tower

231).

21 Out of a world total of 5,257 such segments in 1989, Adventists were established in 2,972. .

22 Some are now preaching that it will occur in the year 2000, because this purportedly marks 6,000 years
since Creation (e.g., Reid 1994). Earlier, others had focused on 1964, 120 years after the Great

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3 72 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

have steadfastly refused to set a date since Miller's fiasco, have increasin
at pains to distance their church from "fanatics" whose radical apocaly
make it seem cult-like. A striking example of this was the hiring of a pu
tions firm during the standoff outside Waco, Texas, in order to divert
from identifying the Adventist Church with David Koresh's Branch
Seventh-day Adventists (Lawson 1995).
In contrast, the urgency of the Witness's apocalyptic has changed ve
over time. The intellectual isolation of the Witness leaders has allowed
retain their traditional position, and it is they who continue to be the c
veyors of the radical eschatology. This has included the official embra
several dates over the years, followed by the pain of disappointmen
1985:99-101, 197-210; Franz 1983:198-210).

Heredita7y Members as a Proporiion of the Total

Since Adventists and Witnesses are both highly evangelistic, artd are experiS
encing considerable global success in their quest to "win souls," both groups have
many members who are converts. The Witnesses, because of their greater
turnover in membership-a phenomenon which has made Watch Tower offiS
cials increasingly anxious and which was especially high following each of their
several false dates for the Second Coming of Christ (Beckford 1975:88; Penton
1985:254 257) have a smaller proportion of hereditary members, especially in
the Developed World. This, together with their much more limited upward mo-
bility, has helped keep them more sectarian. On the other hand, while Adven-
tism also experiences high member tumover, it has retained a larger proportion
of the members born into the faith, who have been the main beneficiaries of its
educational institutions. The influence of the latter in the Developed World,
and especially in the U.S., has helped make Adventism more open to change.

Indocerinanon of Converts

When H. Richard Niebuhr developed Troeltsch's sect-church dichotomy

and applied it to religious groups in America, he argued that sects tend to be-
come churches, or denominations, rapidly usually within the space of one
generation (1929:19). Bryan Wilson has argued that Niebuhr focused on what
he defines as "conversionist sects," which he shows, as noted above, tend to be
transformed most quickly. Other categories of sects, including those he dubbed
"adventist," under which both early Adventists and Witnesses would fall, typi-
cally change much more slowly, with some persisting as sects for several genera-
tions (Wilson 1967:22).
While both Witnesses and Adventists have experienced fast growth,
Adventist leaders succeeded in effecting a major increase in the growth rate in

Disappointment, because Noah preached for 120 years and Jesus is quoted as saying that "for as the days of
Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:37 NRSV). Others have eagerly pinpointed
several dates since then (interviews).

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 SECI STATE RELATlONS 373

the early 1980s, when they made growth their first priority.23
world membership of the Adventist church increased by 1 17.1 p
million to 7.9 million, in the 12 years 1981-1993 (General Co
1993). This was achieved through setting high goals for new con
ing competition between the regional "divisions" of the world ch
timately placed great pressure on evangelists and pastors. These
baptizing converts much more quickly than earlier (for exam
weeks of evangelistic meetings rather than tWO years of classes
neglecting post-baptismal nurture, with the result that new con
typically socialized much more poorly than in former decades (i
change has had the effect of moving Adventism from Wilso
"adventist sect" to "conversionist sect," the category which trans
to denomination most rapidly (Wilson 1967:22). This change h
speed of the metamorphosis of Adventism during the past two d
Witnesses, however, continue to practice high intensity socia
studies of their beliefs presented by publishers in the home, atte
ings, and a reading regimen. That is, the Witnesses remain an "
which means, according to Wilson, that change from sect towar
is likely to be slow.

Persecuiion

It was noted above that Yinger hypothesized that groups that s

opposition and persecution would maintain a sectarian spirit
all Christian groups during this century in the U.S., Witnesses
greatest persecution: They have been the victims of both intole
ernment bodies towards their beliefs and of mob violence, both
often whipped up by other religious groups. They also rank as o
persecuted groups worldwide. There have been many instances w
have chosen to die rather than compromise, for reasons ranging
engage in military service to rejection of blood transfusions. Adv
met with oppression and can list martyrs: Members (mostly farm
and Canada during the nineteenth century were occasionally arr
broke laws forbidding work on Sunday, and some evangelists had
Cut; several pastors, booksellers, and their converts in the Phili
ous parts of Latin America met with mob violence or were arre
the instigation of the Catholic Church; some members in Tsa
sentenced to exile or prison, and peasant members faced severe
the Soviet collectivization of the farms when they were excluded
work on Saturdays (Adessa 1970). However, unlike the Witne
have rarely faced sustained oppression.
What explanation can be adduced for the disparity in the per
geted at the two groups? While differences in the level of repress

23 One of the motivations behind this shift seems to have been an attempt to demonstrate, in spite of
growing laxity and disunity among members, that God was still leading and blessing His bRemnant Churchw
(interviews).

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374 SOCIOLOGYOFRELIGION

could be an important factor, this is not relevant here because A

also active in the countries where the Witnesses were oppressed.
tion, therefore, must be sought in the differences between the two
The Witness response to their urgent eschatology persistent w
ing publications which pugnaciously attacked other churches,
patriotic symbols-created images among neighbors, churches,
ments which were so negative that they attracted opposition, esp
war heightened nationalism. Their negative image was so strong t
disbelieved when on tWO occasions they attempted tO compro
state. Adventists, on the other hand, in spite of causing ruMed fe
sult of blunt evangelistic sermons in earlier decades, proved eage
flict from their earliest days, when the editor of the Review and H
during the Civil War that it would be better ultimately to accomm
ing arms than face a firing squad if those were the options (W
They have often acquiesced to government demands concerning m
or school attendance on Saturdays; in some countries they hold sp
services on Saturday afternoons for members obliged to work in
(interviews). They also learned to be politically astute As a res
coalitions with other diverse groups around their conflictive i
promising freely whenever they smelled danger, they rarely att
negative attention that Witnesses endured. Indeed, most of th
this were intransigent schismatic groups or individual members whose
"fanaticism" led them to act more boldly than church leaders would have recS
ommended.
Eus, ie Witnesses' attitude toward society has remained so negative that
when their expectations of persecution were confirmed, this encouraged them to
stand firm in their convictions. In contrast, Adventist expectations of persecuS
tion were rarely realized, so that the utility, and comfort, of their policy of ready
comprom1se was recogn1zec .

Group Relaiions with Sute and Sociery

The data presented earlier suggest that Adventists developed political and
public relations skills over time, and that conflict avoidance became the central
theme of their external relations. Their success in this is demonstrated by the
marked relaxation of tension with govemments, other churches, and societies in
general. In contrast} Witnesses have been politically clumsy,24 pugnacious, es-
peclally to other churches, and generally alienated from most of society. Tension
between them and governments, churches, and society has often been high, es-
pecially when nationalism has been heightened, as in time of war. Although
court decisions in some democracies have reduced tensions there, they continue
to be high in many countries.

24 This was illustrated by the two ungainly attempts at compromise with states when under great pressure
(Penton 1985:216-17).

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 SECT STATE RELATIONS 375

Posiiion on the Church-Sect Coniirluum

In terms of the measure put forward by Stark and Bainbridge, w

religious group according to "the degree to which lit] is in a state o
its surrounding sociocultural environment," using "difference, an
separation" as indicators ( 1985:23, 49-50), Adventists are best cha
"denominationalizing sect." On the other hand, the Witnesses remain an
"established sect."
Jehovah's Witnesses have demonstrated a remarkable commitment to prin-
ciple and to their radical apocalyptic throughout their history. This commitment
was bolstered by their organizational isolation, intense indoctrination of con-
verts, rigid internal discipline, and considerable persecution. Seventh-day
Adventists, on the other hand, have shown considerable willingness to com-
promise their positions whenever external threats or opportunities to gain accep-
tance have made this auspicious. Their expediency is correlated with their
greater ideological diversity and organizational openness and their diminishing
concern for indoctrinating converts. These flowed from their experience of up-
ward mobility, which led them to relax the urgency of their apocalyptic and to
. . .

c atm an

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