MagazinePodcastVideosCampaign Resources From their earliest years Seventh-day Adventists, today a worldwide movement with more than 21 million members, have been interested in religious liberty issues. This interest stems from the importance of the topic in general, and from two other reasons in particular. First, as their name suggests, they keep the seventh-day Sabbath, Saturday, a practice that at times has caused members legal trouble, such as when strict Sunday law legislation led to fines, or even jail time. Second, the Seventh-day Adventist understanding of last-day events anticipates a time of global religious persecution, with the United States as, unfortunately, the main engine of that persecution.