Haystacks & Hell

Haystacks & Hell

Stories about growing up Seventh-day Adventist, leaving faith behind, and building new, fulfilling lives.

Episodes

January 4, 2023 1 min

Were you ever part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or exposed to fundamentalist Christianity in general? If so, have we got a show for you (queue the Veggie Tales theme song)!

Haystacks & Hell is an ex-Adventist podcast where we tell stories about growing up Seventh-day Adventist, leaving faith behind, and building new, fulfilling lives.

We'll also unpack topics like:

  • The end of the world
  • Sex, dating, and purity culture
  • Wild quo...
Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Santiago introduces himself and the podcast. Abby and Ami discuss their plans for the podcast, their backgrounds, why they left the church, and ask their friends the question: When did you know that god wasn't real?

Links & stats mentioned in this episode:

Mark as Played
January 14, 2023 71 mins

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Santiago, Ami, and Abby talk about death, heaven, hell, and Adventist eschatology. Abby and Ami ask their friends the vital question: Were you taught that animals go to heaven?

Links mentioned in this episode:

Have a story to share? Write to...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

We discuss Adventist culture, diet, and the Sabbath, looking at the good and bad aspects of these things. Abby and Ami are joined by Alex, and they ask their friends "What's your favorite veggie meat?"

Have a story to share? Write to us, send a DM or voice message on Instagram, or leave a voicemail at (301) 750-8648‬. We take your privacy seriously: Privacy Policy

Buy us a coffee...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Santiago reads stories shared by listeners of the podcast: A woman who left the conservative fringes of Adventism, a trans woman from Puerto Rico, and someone who was raised in the SDA Reform Church.

You can read these stories and more at hell.bio/stories.

Have a story to share? Write to us, send a DM or voice message on Instagram, or leave a voicemail at (301) 750-8648‬. We take ...

Mark as Played
January 29, 2023 68 mins

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

We discuss John Harvey Kellogg, early Seventh-day Adventist attitudes towards sex, more modern attitudes, and our own experiences with sex education growing up in the church. Ami asks her friends: When did you learn what sex was?

Links mentioned in this episode:

Mark as Played
February 5, 2023 79 mins

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Oh look, another sex episode! Santiago shares his experiences and some resources. Ami, Abby, and Alex discuss sex ed in the Adventist church and touch on dorm life, contraceptives, and the experience of growing up during the AIDS crisis. They ask their friends: What, if any, sex ed did you receive?

Links mentioned in this episode:

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Santiago interviews his Gen Z brother Miguel about growing up Gen Z and Seventh-day Adventist. We laugh about sex ed, bananas, and fleeing their home in the middle of the night.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Ray Comfort on the banana

Have a story to share? Write to us, send a DM or voice message on Instagram, or leave a voicemail at (301) 750-8648‬. We take your privacy seriousl...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Santiago reads the letter he wrote to his parents about leaving the church and faith behind. Ami, Abby, and Alex talk about dealing with family who are still in the church. They talk about issues with the previous generation, as well as issues with raising kids and the next generation.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, an...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Santiago shares a bit more about his experiences after leaving the church and shares a template of the letter he wrote to his parents. Abby, Ami, and Alex talk more about issues with raising your own children when your family wants to proselytize them. They talk about issues with aging parents, and whether people are happier with or without religion, regardless of whether it’s tr...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Santiago interviews the research team behind the ex-Adventist survey and research project called Eighth-day Freedom: Dr. Tom Arcaro, Dr. Duane McClearn, and Jeff, an ex-Adventist originally from Michigan.

Buy Santiago a coffeeSupport on Patreon

Ex-Adventist Survey Links:

Links to other ...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes 

Santiago interviews Melissa Duge Spiers, AKA Deconstruction Auntie. Melissa is an award-winning memoirist, screenwriter, and essayist based in Silicon Valley, California. She grew up as a 4th generation Adventist, got baptized at 12, and left the church after high school. This is Part 1 of a 2 part conversation.

Buy Santiago a coffeeSupport on Patreon

Melissa's Links:

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes 

Part 2 of Santiago's conversation with Melissa Duge Spiers, an award-winning memoirist, screenwriter, and essayist based in Silicon Valley, California. They cover Melissa's journey with therapy after leaving the church, her current projects, and more.

Buy Santiago a coffeeSupport on Patreon

Melissa's Links:

...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes 

Ami, Abby, and Misty talk about worldly literature, fiction, and the church. They discuss their experiences with forbidden books and the Adventist attitude towards fiction in general, and ask their friends if they read any forbidden books.
Buy Santiago a coffeeSupport on Patreon 

Have a story to share? Write to us, send a DM or voice message on Instagram, or leave a voicemail ...

Mark as Played

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes 

Santiago interviews Jeff, an ex-Adventist who used to work for ADRA and still does humanitarian work today. They discuss a bit of everything about growing up Adventist, including Jeff's experiences at an SDA boarding school and what it's been like to leave Adventism over the last 20 years.

Buy Santiago a coffeeSupport on Patreon 

Links to topics mentioned:

Mark as Played
April 13, 2023 18 mins

Bonus episode discussing an upcoming "Human Sexuality Taskforce" announced by Ted Wilson, President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Why talk about this? Because I care about the current and former Adventists who will be affected by this. Apparently the GC's homophobia is not clear enough, so they will be producing media to double down on this.

Related Social Posts (please share if you can):

Tweet thread

Instagram ...

Mark as Played

Support the ShowSupport on Patreon

Santiago interviews Adam Kyle Jones, an ex-Adventist who studied to become a Seventh-day Adventist pastor at the SDA school Oakwood University. Kyle went from being a lifelong fundamentalist, conservative Adventist to an agnostic atheist. We cover his upbringing, deconversion, depression, and how he came out stronger on the other side.

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Topics / ...

Mark as Played

Support the Dunk Family: hell.bio/dunkfamily
Check out the new Resources Page

Santiago announces updates to the resources linked on the Haystacks & Hell website, a new mutual aid project, and a call-to-action to help fellow listeners of the podcast.

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes 

Have a story to share? Write to us, send a DM or voice message on Instagram, or leave a voicemail at (301) 750-8648‬. We take your pr...

Mark as Played

Support the ShowSupport on Patreon 

Santiago interviews Matthew Vollmer, an ex-Adventist writer and English professor at Virginia Tech who just so happens to be the nephew of Ted Wilson, the current President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Matthew's Links:

Book - All of Us Together in the End

Essay - This I Believed

Website / Bio

 

Books Mentioned:

The Doctor and...

Mark as Played

Support the ShowSupport on Patreon

Part 2 of Santiago's interview with Matthew Vollmer, an ex-Adventist writer and English professor at Virginia Tech who just so happens to be the nephew of Ted Wilson, the current President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Full Transcripts, resources and more: hell.bio/notes

Matthew's Links:

Book - All of Us Together in the End

Essay - This I Believed

Essay - The Man With Two Head...

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

    2. Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

    Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

    3. The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

    4. Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.

    5. Crime Junkie

    If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2024 iHeartMedia, Inc.