Hi all,
Daryl suggested that a new topic could be started to prove/disprove whether or not famous people are or are not members of the Adventist church. Now, I am not sure if it should be in this forum or not. So, Daryl, if you want it someplace else, go ahead and move it.

Anyway, this is the quote from the thread it was originally posted in.

quote:
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Originally posted by Redfog:
I agree it sure sounds like one of those SDA urban myths that you hear from time to time. Like that Paul Harveys wife is an SDA, or the rock group Black Sabbath started at Andrews U. However I can see how that book could be considered hate material to some, and no doubt it will be banned at some point.

Redfog
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Hey Richard,
I decided to do a search on that myself. Now, I found some ifo regarding Paul Harvey. I had not heard that it was his wife, but his sister who is/was Adventist. Well, there is a site that lists "famous adherants".....not run by Adventists,but lists various faiths. One such person listed was Paul Harvey, who, according to this site, was baptized into the Adventist church a few years ago. It also listed other people as having been members or ARE current members. Some, I knew about from my own previous searching...at NON-SDA sites. Others, I am surprised to see. I am still searching to find out if the people listed are/were truly Adventist, but, some that I found there include Little Richard, who I KNOW was an ordained pastor, Clifton Davis (pastor AND actor, which I knew when I watched a show he was on, and then saw him preach on 3ABN, I think), as well as Brian McKnight (fell away), Take 6 (McKnight's brother is a member of the group)...etc. But it also lists Jaci Velasquez, which I never knew, so I am searching that info myself.....if anyone wants to help me search for truth about some people, email me and I will give the site. I would SOOOO love the help.

But, I DO remember hearing something about Paul Harvey having become an Adventist.....I'm gonna have to look more into THAT info! LOL


Now, the website I have for the info is Famous Adventists
Ok, let's start searching! And remember, let's not get carried away, ok? I mean, if we know someone is NOT a member of the Church, say it, but don't get belligerant, ok? Have fun!

I know that for years the rumor had it that Angel Harvey (his wife) was an SDA. But then I heard it was his housekeeper. I wonder where that web site gets it's info from? It list Dick Rutan as the governor of Hawaii. Which might be a surprise to him!

Here is what one story on the Adventist News Network (official news from the GC) says:

United States -- Two people with connections to the Seventh-day Adventist Church -- Paul Rusesabagena, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda, and American radio broadcaster Paul Harvey.... Harvey attends the Camelback Seventh-day Adventist Church in Arizona, United States, during his winters there....

Notice it does not say he is a member, just connected to, and attends the church.

Redfog

Did just a small search on Rutan and so far all I can find is him as a pilot. The only page that has him as a governor is on that Famous Adventists page. I wonder where they got their info from?

How famour do these Adventists need to be? Dr Ben Carson is famous in medical circles, and is the Head of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

But, higher up than that is His Excellency Sir James Carlisle, the Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda. The Canadians here should understand that post instinctively, but for the Americans and others, who may not know what it is, Sir James is the Queen's representative as Head of State in his country, recommended by the Prime Minister, and appointed by the Queen, and knighted in the process.

The Review did a special article on him this
summer, during the GC session, at this link http://tinyurl.com/8zw5u

The famous SDA's weblist looks fairly thorough, though it's obviously not exhaustive.

While America has several Adventist judges and politicians, the UK had until last month one Adventist judge - he's just passed away of ill-health. His Honour Judge Dr. Peter Jackson.

Ok, I Sent an email to someone at adherents.com asking where they got the information on Rutan. Also, I asked if they would object to my asking questions about others they listed on the site as being Adventists. I'll let you all know if/when I get a response from them.

Now, one person I read about a few years ago was not on their list. Jonathan Jackson. I asked if they could look into the information as well. Hey, I figure the more people we have looking into the info, the more likely we are to get to the truth.....well I HOPE we will!

OK, I got an email back from adherents.com. Here is what the webmaster wrote to me:


Thank you very much for taking the time to write.

You are quite correct there has never been a governor of Hawaii named Dick Rutan.

The Dick Rutan we meant to refer to is indeed the pilot you saw information about, but in our transfer of information to our site we mistakenly combined his information with other information to produce this erroneous listing. We have now corrected the error on our page online. Note that Dick Rutan's listing was in the "Under review" queue on the page, listed under the heading "Other names that have been submitted by readers of this website, but which we have not finished doing additional research and verification for:"

I completely agree with your position that multiple sources should be used for information, and that is our policy as well. The people listed in the main section of this page are there after having been checked out by multiple sources. For many of these individuals, we have already created our own religious biography pages on which we have begun listing various sources and excerpts from sources with relevant information. For some, we have created only "stub pages" on which information and bibliographic information will be placed as soon as time allows.

You're welcome to ask about any of our listings, and we can provide our source information if it is not already on the page. Soure info for Jaci Velasquez, for example, I don't have with me at this location, but is stored offline and I can look it up later today.

Thanks for the tip about Jonathan Jackson... We'll certainly look into what else we can find out about him and update our page accordingly.

As a general note, I would point out that the Adherents.com website has over 60 "famous adherent" webpages for listing people of all possible religious affiliations. We have no interest in putting anybody on the wrong page, and we are always happy to receive additional suggestions about books, biographies, news articles, etc., wherein we can obtain further details about the people listed on the site. But, clearly, our site is a "jumping off" point for finding out information about any one individual, and our site should be used in conjunction with other resources and further research. What makes the Adherents.com site useful is its accumulation of these names into one place.

- webmaster, adherents.com

It is my understanding (possibly flawed ) that the Rutan brothers, Burt and Dick both went to San Bernardino Academy when they were teens but that they were never SDA's. Maybe that is where the confusion came from. Burt BTW is the one who designed Voyager, the aircraft that his brother Dick, along with Jeana Yeager flew non-stop around the world without refueling in 1986. He also designed Space Ship One, the first private aircraft to reach space.

Awhile back I wrote to the Paul Harvey web site asking them about his association with the SDA church but never got a reply back. I would like to know where adherents got their info from. Makes one wonder if there is just not some "common knowledge" floating around out there about him.

Redfog