Monthly Archives: July 2012

Noted Independent Baptist Pastor, Jack Schaap Fired Today

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This entry is part 3 of 17 in the seriesJack Hyles and Jack Schaap

Another, hellfire and brimstone, devil hating, sin denouncing Independent Fundamentalist Baptist pastor has “fallen into sin.”

Carole Carlson, of the Chicago Sun Times reports:

The pastor of a fundamentalist mega church in Northwest Indiana has been dismissed because of a “sin” that’s being investigated by Lake County (Ind.) sheriff’s police.

Jack Schaap, 54, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond since 2001, was fired by a deacon board, said Eddie Wilson, director of public relations for the church.

Wilson said Tuesday church officials didn’t believe anything criminal occurred, but information was turned over to the sheriff’s department “for the sake of transparency and honesty.”

Wilson said members of the board will address the congregation Wednesday night.

“The church will move on in the process of calling a new pastor,” he said.

Wilson said Schaap was in seclusion with his wife, Cindy, daughter of Jack Hyles, the pastor who built the First Baptist Church and co-founded Hyles-Anderson College in Schererville.

“They’re trying to reconcile their marriage,” Wilson said. “The church will move on and begin the process of calling a new pastor.”

While declining to offer details on the dismissal, Wilson said church bylaws state adultery is grounds for dismissal.

Sheriff John Buncich confirmed the church contacted him and Schaap’s actions were under investigation by detectives.

“I can’t confirm the name of the individual who’s subject of the investigation,” said Buncich, adding more information would be forthcoming Wednesday.

A press release from the church stated: “Our church grieves over the need to take this action and the impact it will have on our people. We ask that everyone pray for the families involved and pray that the situation will be handled in a Christ-honoring manner.”

One of the early mega churches, First Baptist Church, 507 State St., has more than 15,000 members, Wilson said.

It’s famous for its church outreach that in the 1970s used more than 200 buses to round up parishioners and bring them to church from across the region.

According to the church website, Schaap graduated from Hyles-Anderson bible college in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in pastoral theology.

He and Cindy Hyles married in 1979 and Schaap began teaching at Hyles-Anderson. The couple have two children. He became vice president of the college in 1996 and became pastor at First Baptist after Jack Hyles’ death in 2001.

The church continued to grow under Schaap, and in 2005 it moved into a new 7,500-seat auditorium.

While the specific sin is not mentioned, Eddie Wilson gives it away when he says “They’re trying to reconcile their marriage.” It is extremely likely that Schaap’s sin, like that of his deceased father-in-law Jack Hyles, is sexual in nature.

My feelings are always mixed when these kind of stories are made public. I grieve for those who are hurt but I rejoice that the sanctimonious curtain Independent Fundamentalist Baptist pastors hide behind is ripped open so all can see that, for all their holier-than-thou preaching and attitudes, they are just like they rest of us.

There is one inaccuracy in the story. The writer says that the Church continued to grow under Schaap. Actually, Church attendance is less under Schaap than it was during the heyday of Jack Hyles.

Stay tuned.

A Happy Life, With and Without Jesus

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The other day I was looking through old photos. As many of you know, I am a serious amateur photographer and over the years I have taken quite a few pictures.  Through the pictures I have taken I can trace my life and the life of my wife and children through thirty-six years.

Most of my pictures were taken after I bought a SLR (later DSLR) camera. For every picture I kept I threw away a bunch more. I remember shooting five rolls of film only to end up with fifty good pictures out of the hundred eighty pictures that were printed. I was glad when I bought my first Digital SLR. I have saved thousands of dollars over the past eight years by no longer having to print first and then decide if was a good picture.

Enough of my personal camera history. As I looked through the old photos, I was struck with how happy we all looked.  Yes, we were strict, fundamentalist Baptists. Yes, we lived by a narrow, strict moral code. We were everything that I now make fun of and ridicule. We were everything I now consider oppressive and controlling.

And we were happy.

As I perused the pictures of our six children, I couldn’t help but see that they were happy kids. I could see that their upbringing was one of joy. In spite of the narrowness of our beliefs, in spite of the strict discipline, in spite of having a Baptist pastor for a father, they were happy.

Why was this?

If there was one thing we got right raising our children is that we taught them that family mattered. Yes, our closeness as a family was driven by our desire to keep ourselves unspotted by the world, to keep ourselves from the sin and debauchery that we thought was everywhere, but we genuinely were close and that closeness remains to this day.

Here I sit today, a pastor turned atheist. My wife is no longer a practicing Christian. We are one-hundred-eighty degrees from what we were when our children were growing up.  Yet, we are all still very close.

From the youngest boy aged nineteen to the oldest boy aged thirty-three, and four children and three daughter-in-laws in between, we remain close. We see most of our children and grandchildren every week or two. Rarely does a weekend go by where some of them have not stopped in so Mom can cook for them. Last weekend, all of our grandchildren, save one, were here overnight. Man were we glad when that was over.

Sometimes people think that I was an unhappy person when I was a pastor and that my family lived as if they were slaves who mined coal twelve hours a day by hand. Surely my unhappiness was one of the reasons I turned to atheism.

Sorry, but we were happy as Christians and Polly and I enjoyed and loved being in the ministry. Yes, we became disaffected over time and yes, we were even burnt-out, but we were never unhappy.

Our turn to atheism and agnosticism came as a result of no longer believing that the Bible was truth. Certainly, emotions played a part in our leaving the ministry and Christianity, but, at the end of the day, we are not Christians because we no longer believe. We no longer have the requisite faith necessary to call ourselves followers of Jesus.

So, we were happy then…and we are happier now.

What are the differences between our Christian life and our present godless life?

We no longer have to filter our lives through the Bible and our beliefs. A Christian friend of ours was telling us recently about how much she enjoyed watching Sigourney Weaver’s newest TV show, Political Animals. However, some of the language and sexuality bothered her.

I told her we watched the show too, but we no longer worried about language or sexuality. I told her we were free to watch whatever we wanted to watch and all that mattered was whether or not the show was good.  This pretty well explains how we now live our lives.

We are free to experience life without the Christian Bible filter. We are free to do what we want, watch what we want, and go where we want without worrying that God is going to judge us or chastise us.

As a Christian, I believed Jesus set me free but really what Jesus did was put me in bondage. It was atheism that set me free, atheism that gave me the freedom to live my life freely and openly.

We are now free to love and laugh without restraint. We no longer have to love what God loves and hate what God hates. We are now free to love what we want to love and hate what we want to hate.

Instead of our emotions being shackled by constant demands to deny-self, we are free to reconnect with our emotional self, free to be authentic. It is no longer Jesus first. Now we recognize a healthy love of self comes first and only then can we love others.

No more loathing our sinful, wicked lives. No more beating ourselves up over a look, a work, an act, or a deed that a book says is a sin. We determine for ourselves what moral and ethical standard we will hold ourselves to. No longer are we concerned with the pious and their judgment of our lives.

Christians tell us we can’t be happy without Jesus. No matter how much we protest, they insist happiness begins with Jesus. In their world, a life without Jesus is not worth living.  Without a hope of eternal life and a home in heaven what is there to be happy about? What reason is there for living?

Plenty.

Family. A beautiful, loving wife. Six wonderful children. Three super daughter-in-laws. Eight, full of life, rambunctious, Grandpa and Nana loving grandkids. Loving in-laws.  One dog and three cats. A world filled with beauty and wonder. A star-filled night. Music. Good friends.  Baseball. The NFL. Ohio State. A good book. Great food.

Life is indeed worth living and I am happy that I no longer have to condition my happiness on whether or not God approves.

The little ditty we used to teach our kids is true:

If You’re Happy and You Know it Say  Amen

If You’re Happy and You Know it Say Amen

If You’re Happy and You Know it Then Your Life will Surely Show it

If You’re Happy and You Know it Say Amen

My life, in spite of all of the pain and debility, is a life filled with happiness. Not because of what I believe but because of who I love. It has always been this way.

Sadly, as a Christian, God got in the way. Everything in life had to be viewed through the lens of Christianity and the Christian Bible. Now, there is no more middle-man to make things more complicated.

My life before and after Jesus was filled with happiness. I have indeed been one lucky man.

How about you? How do you view your life before and after Jesus? Were you unhappy as a Christian? If you are an atheist now, are you happier? Why are you happier?

Bruce, You Are A Pig, Little Boy, and A Fat Fellow Traveller

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It is Sunday, Church is out, and evidently another soldier for Jesus has been stirred up to go wage battle with the enemy

Someone, using a fake name and email address, came to The Way Forward via a Google Search for Hephzibah House. This blog is ranked tenth or second depending on how you search.

This person found the following posts about Hephzibah House:

Promoter of Child Abuse Speaks at Calvary Bible Church, Lima Ohio

Pants Wearing Women a Big Problem in the Church

Beat Your Children Into Submission, in the Name of Jesus

These three posts elicited the following contact form emails from this Jesus lover:

You are Pig!!!!!!!!!!!!! You don’t make any sense at all.

and

Didn’t go your way,huh?

Little boy wants to get even with God because he wanted his own way.Little boy will have ALL of eternity BURNING ON FIRE to think about his stubborn idiocy!

Better repent my fat fellow traveller.You don’t like being preached at? Then why drag others into your little kiddie pouting match? Take it to God.He is still there and listening!

Luke15

Now I regularly get “preach at me” emails from Christians but I don’t get as many of the above as I did when I first started blogging.

These kind of Christians are the worst kinds. Nasty, vindictive, filled with arrogance, they, behind the veil of secrecy the internet provides, attack other people. They are cowards because they refuse to own their words.

This particular Christian might want to know that the veil of secrecy is not complete. He left an IP address behind AND the government office he was emailing from.

 

Now, if I was just like him, I might pick up the phone on Monday and call the Hennepin County Government Center and let them know what this person is up to. But, I am not.  I have on several occasion done so, but it was only after numerous emails and refusing to stop that I took further action.

This person’s emails are just another reminder of one of the reasons I left Christianity. This person has no respect for others. On the contact form I have:

Please do not send me emails trying to convert me or preach at me. I am not interested in your religious views nor do I have any interest in your God, Jesus, or religion. If you disregard my request, please understand that I may make your email public. You have been warned. There are millions of people who may be interested in what you are selling. I am not one of them. You are not going to tell me anything I have not heard countless times or preached myself. I know, I am, according to you,  under the judgment of your God, headed for hell, etc. Your words will have no effect and will likely reinforce my belief that Evangelical zealots are only interested in hearing themselves talk or are trying to convince themselves, by attacking an atheist, that they are right.

Promises

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Where have the days gone when I had the strength to do what I wanted? When I committed to something, I did it. When I made a promise, I kept it.

These days, age and the cruel twist of physical debility have turned me into a feeble, frail man, who is long on desire and short on ability. I make many promises and keep so few.

My list of half-done projects continues to grow and thoughts of new projects only frustrate and depress me.

It is tempting to just give in but I know giving in means giving up and giving up is the short route to the grave.

So I try to make myself get up and do every day. Some days, getting up isn’t hard to do because I never went to sleep.

Every inch of my body hurts. Sometimes I wonder if people really understand how this is for me. No matter how many narcotics, NSAIDS, muscle relaxers or anti-spasmodics I take, the pain is still ever present. The only thing worse? The pain without these drugs.

The pain, fatigue, and weakness zap my mental strength. I continue to cancel magazine subscriptions, yet my pile of unread magazines continues to grow. Gone is the ability to read a number of books every week. As it stands now, it would take me two years to read the books I have bought this year. I delude myself into thinking… I WILL read these books, but I know…

The weeds have taken over the garden and I haven’t been in the garage/workshop/shed in a month. Who knows what disastrous mess my family of clutterers have turned my space into. Oh well…

I can’t expect my wife and children to continue to do the things I used to do. They don’t want to and they lack the same passion I had for these things. Their desires and loves are different from mine. This is not a criticism of them as much as it is a realization that we each have different things that matter to us. It is just how it is.

The dog loves me but she always wants something in return. She wants me to stroke her head or call her up to my lag but on many days it is just too painful to do these things. The cats? They don’t care about me at all. Pain or not they jump on my lap demanding attention. I try…but most often I wish they would just leave me alone.

It is impossible to plan ahead. I do it but I often have to cancel or change my plans. I never know what may come on any given day. I want my kids and grandkids to come over. I want to go to eat with my friends. I want to go out on a date with my wife. I want to go here, do this, attend that. Most days, my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak.

I am embarrassed when I promise but don’t keep. I am embarrassed when I have to cancel the day of. It is either this or not make any promises or plans at all. Maybe that is where I am in life…living in the moment. I am not that kind of person. I am a planner…I have all the bills entered in Quicken two months in advance. Spur of the moment does not come easy for me.

I owe people letters. I owe people guest blog posts. I owe, I owe, I owe. They tell me they understand but I wonder if they do. The work-a-holic still lurks deep within me but my physical body refuses to cooperate. Mind over matter? Not a chance.

I am at the place in life where people will just have to take me as I am. If I let them down, disappointed them, didn’t do what they wanted…I am sorry…but what would they have me do differently?  When I go to the ballgame, the races, the restaurant, the party that it takes all my strength to do these things. Maybe they do understand and they are at a loss…they don’t like what they see…they know that life is slowly slipping away from me. They love me, I know it, and I love them.

Life has become an endurance test, getting through today so I can do it all over again tomorrow. It is hard to find meaning and purpose in this but I do. That is, until I don’t.

Why Should Any Church be Tax Exempt?

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David Frum, at the Daily Beast wrote a short article about why he considers the IRS’s determination that the Church of Scientology is a church and is tax exempt  is a wacky decision. His main objection? That the Church of Scientology is a money-making business that exists for the purpose of making profits.

Frum quotes extensively from a July 2012 Tablet article by James Kirchick. Kirchick wrote:

In 1967, the IRS revoked the Church’s tax-exempt status, a decision reasserted by each and every American court to which the Church brought challenges over a subsequent 25-year-period. A 1984 U.S. Tax Court ruling, for instance, found that the Church “made a business out of selling religion” and that Hubbard and his family had diverted millions of dollars to their personal accounts. The Los Angeles Superior Court, meanwhile, deemed Hubbard “a pathological liar” driven by “egotism, greed, avarice, lust for power and vindictiveness and aggressiveness against persons perceived by him to be disloyal or hostile.”

Desperate for legitimacy, in 1973 Scientology launched Operation Snow White—a covert operation aimed at infiltrating governments. Scientology agents broke into IRS headquarters, bugged its offices, and dispatched private investigators to spy on individual agents—all in hopes of blackmailing officials. All this was permitted under Scientology’s “Fair Game”doctrine, which, according to Hubbard, demands that Church critics “be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.” The plot was uncovered in 1977, and Hubbard’s wife and 10 other Church officials were sentenced to jail. Hubbard was named an unindicted co-conspirator.

But in 1993, Scientology finally did achieve tax-exempt status from the IRS—a massive victory in the Church’s quest for mainstream acceptance. It did so, according to the New York Times, only “after an extraordinary campaign orchestrated by Scientology against the agency and people who work there” that included the hiring of “private investigators to dig into the private lives of I.R.S. officials and to conduct surveillance operations to uncover potential vulnerabilities.” Scientology even set up a front group, the National Coalition of IRS Whistle-blowers, to battle the agency. As if to emphasize the capriciousness of the IRS’s decision, just a year before the agency’s reversal, a decision by the U.S. Claims Court rejected Scientology’s case for tax-exemption, citing “the commercial character of much of Scientology,” its virtually incomprehensible financial procedures” and its “scripturally based hostility to taxation.”

What is the gist of Frum’s and Kirchick’s argument against the Church of Scientology’s tax exemption?

  • The Church made a business out of selling religion
  • The Hubbard family became fabulously wealthy from the Church
  • Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, was a pathological liar, driven by egotism, greed, avarice, lust for power and vindictiveness and aggressiveness against persons perceived by him to be disloyal or hostile.
  • The Church used aggressive, violent and often illegal means to advance their tax exempt case with the U.S. government and to silence those who opposed them,

What Frum and Kirchick have described in their diatribe against the Church of Scientology could be said of most every religion, especially the Evangelical, Catholic and Mormon church in America. Why single out the Church of Scientology for doing in public what Joel Osteen, the Southern Baptists, Independent Fundamentalist Baptists,  Rick Warren, Paul Crouch, and the Roman Catholic Church do in private?

Religion is big business. It is a business that serves its executives (pastors, elders, bishops, the Pope) and its customers (the membership) and allows all of them to financially profit from it. (from income and/or favorite tax treatment)

We have to look very hard to “find” the good that religion does in our society and when we subtract the hidden costs like religiously driven war and political ideology, it is fair to ask if the benefit of tax exemption for churches outweighs the cost.

The vast majority of church tax-free income goes to support its leaders and the members. The amount of money spent on serving the public good is quite minuscule. (even in Liberal and Progressive churches)

Religion is one of the most self-serving institutions ever devised by man. They escape scrutiny by passing themselves off as an institution that benefits the public. The truth is that if most churches closed their doors at 5 P.M. today it would have, outside of the church membership, little or no effect on the communities they are  a part of.

This is why I think ALL religious institutions, and self-serving non-profits, should be stripped of their tax exemption. Let churches be treated as businesses. Require them to file a 941 every quarter and file every other form businesses are required to file. If they are incorporated, require them to play by the same rules that non-religious corporations play by.

If churches were treated this way it would end the constant battle over political speech. Churches would be free to endorse candidates and ballot issues. Churches would have the same rights, privileges, and obligations as every other business. They would become taxpayers instead of sponging off the American public.

Harsh words? Yes, and I mean every word. It is time to stop the sanctioning and supporting religion through the U.S. tax code. If we are unwilling to make any changes then people like Frum and Kirchick have no reason to object if the Church of Scientology is granted tax exempt status. One person’s cult is another person’s sincerely held-belief.

Government has no business deciding what is and isn’t a church. Unless we get the IRS out of the church business altogether, we must live with the fact that, for tax purposes, a church is a church because it says it is.

What does the Church of Scientology say about itself:

Scientology holds in common many of the beliefs of other religions and philosophies. It considers Man to be a spiritual being with more to him than flesh and blood. This, of course, is a very different view to that espoused by prevailing scientific thought which views Man as only a material object, a complex combination of chemical compounds and stimulus-response mechanisms.

Scientology believes Man to be basically good, not evil. It is Man’s experiences that have led him to commit evil deeds, not his nature. Often, he mistakenly seeks to solve his problems by considering only his own interests, which then causes trouble for both himself and others.

Scientology believes that Man advances to the degree that he preserves his spiritual integrity and values and remains honest and decent. Indeed, he deteriorates to the degree that he abandons these qualities.

But because Man is basically good, he is capable of spiritual betterment. And it is the goal of Scientology to bring him to a point where he is capable of sorting out the factors in his own life and solving his own problems.

Other efforts to help Man have tried to solve his problems for him and, in this respect, Scientology is different. Scientology believes that an individual placed in a position where he can increase his abilities, where he can confront life better, where he can identify the factors in his life more easily, is also in a position to solve his own problems and so, better his own life.

Sounds like a church to me.

At the very least churches should be required to file a 990 every year. They should be required to justify their continued tax exempt status. Let’s make them open their books so everyone can see what goes on in secret. After all, we the taxpayers are subsidizing most every denomination, church and pastor in America. (income tax exemption, housing allowance, Social Security tax exemption, sales tax exemption, real estate tax exemption, business tax exemption, providing fire, police, and emergency services, services church do not pay for)

Another Person Goes to Heaven and Comes Back

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Stephanie Becker, at the NBC Today Books site, writes:

Do you believe in heaven? Mary Neal says she knows there is one: She’s been there. And back.

Her experience made her the reluctant author of the New York Times best-seller To Heaven and Back. It recounts her life, her death and her life-changing trip to heaven, and tells why she was sent back: So she told us on the TODAY show this morning. Since getting assigned her story, I’ve been bombarded by friends asking me: Do you believe her?

Here’s the quick recap: Dr. Mary Neal, a spinal surgeon from Jackson Hole, Wyo., was kayaking in Chile when, although very experienced, she got trapped underwater. Through a series of what I would call incredible circumstances, she was revived and returned home.

No one with her doubts she drowned; she hadn’t had a breath of air for at least 15 minutes. Mary says that’s when she went to heaven — and didn’t want to come back.

As she told NBC correspondent Kristen Dahlgren: “I could feel my spirit peeling away from my body, sort of like peeling apart two pieces of tape. And then, when I felt my body released from the boat, I could feel my spirit released from my body.”

Mary says she was greeted by angels — beings she felt she knew. Mary (she’s so friendly you are compelled to call her by her first name) talked about a brilliance that enveloped her. Eventually, she was told by these angels she had to go back to her body.

Do I believe her?…

…But Mary’s so matter-of-fact about what happened; there’s no drama to her story, no breathless recantation of her miraculous return to her body. She sounds like she’s recalling a really fun vacation… and then she left her body and met with the locals and visited the cool amusement park. Except in her retelling, the natives are angels and the best ride is to heaven.

Do I believe Mary? This is clearly no delusional woman ranting about the afterlife. Mary’s calm and methodical and precise recollections, plus her background as a surgeon, convey the gravitas to make me take her at face value. So, if a supreme being has chosen Mary to make me into a believer, there couldn’t be a better choice…

It seems, every year or so, a person has a “I died and went to heaven and came back” experience and writes a book about it. (Heaven is for Real and The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven)  The American public thirsts after these kinds of stories and quickly turns the books into New York Times Bestsellers.

Like all who have gone before her, Mary Neal claims her story is a t-r-u-e story. As we will see in a moment, Neal has a funny idea of true and has no proof but her own mental “visions” to prove that her story is true.

Wanting a story to be true does not make it so. I understand the draw of stories like this. Humans die. The one common bond we all have with one another is that we die. We desperately want to think life continues after death. We want to know that there is more to life than just our brief flash-in-the-pan seventy or so years of existence. We grasp for the slimmest of hope that we are eternal beings. The Mary Neal’s of life, along with countless heaven preaching pastors, give us the promise of life beyond the grave.

Before I continue my post on this subject, I should point out that Stephanie Becker does a real disservice to her readers by NOT writing anything about Mary Neal’s religious background. In stories like this, a person’s religious beliefs are very important to our understanding the context of the story.

I found this on the Amazon.com page for To Heaven and Back: A Doctor’s Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again: A True Story:

What do you want people to know about heaven?

God’s unconditional love for each of us is intense, complete, and is reflected in all of Heaven. Before we return to Heaven, our real home, we have an incredible opportunity on Earth to face challenges that will help us learn, grow and to become more Christ-like in the fruits of our spirit. Our time is so short that we need to be about God’s business every day.

Neal, in a June 2012 Huffington Post article, had this to say about about her religious background:

Like 92 percent of Americans at that time, I believed in God. I attended Sunday school as a child and accepted Christ as my savior as a teenager. My moderate faith in religious truths easily faded into the background of my busy life when I left for college, but I called to God on the river, asking only that His will be done.

(After the accident) I lost my faith; it was transformed into a complete trust in the promises of God. This changed me as a person and as a doctor. Trusting that God loves us unconditionally, that spiritual life is eternal and that He as a beautiful plan for each of us, allowed me to face struggles with gratitude and joy. Each event, neither good nor bad, is like a small thread woven together with others to create a glorious tapestry of God’s design. I do not fear death. I am more tolerant of other people’s actions. I observe the world with an open heart.

I have not discarded the truth of scientific discovery nor discount its value to society, but the boundaries between God and medicine have been forever shattered. I pray for my patients. I help them perceive a beautiful opportunity for growth in an otherwise dire situation.

Spiritual curiosity while experiencing the presence of God in one’s life transforms faith into the trust that provides confidence to face life’s most difficult challenges with gratitude and joy.

On her FAQ page, Neal writes:

Before my near-death experience, I was a Christian and believed that the Bible was the absolute and historically accurate word of God. I was not, however, what anyone would call deeply spiritual or deeply religious and had no preconceived notions about life after death. My NDE changed me profoundly in both spiritual and religious ways. I now know the promises of God to be true, that there is a life after death, and that our spiritual life is eternal. While recognizing the limitations of organized religion, I fully participate in and support it.

When asked if she attends Church, Neal answers:

I regularly attend church services and have served on the board of elders, but I believe that loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength is of the greatest importance. I live in a beautiful and mountainous area, and many people claim the mountains as their church and believe they can worship God there instead of within a church. That can certainly be true, but the question – as is often posed by my pastor – is not can a person worship God while in the mountains, but will that person worship God while in the mountains.

Regardless of the harm that some individuals have done throughout the years in the name of God or while hiding behind the doors of the church, I believe the institution is greater than the individuals within it. Churches provide a place of gathering for people who share common beliefs, supporting and encouraging each other in faith, offer place to find insight into and teaching about God’s Word, and provide a time and place where people can leave the world behind and focus only on their spiritual life. Just as God can meet us wherever we are, the variety of denominations allows for accommodation of people in all stages of spiritual growth.

It is clear from the above evidence that Mary Neal is a Christian and, based on the language she uses, most likely an Evangelical Christian.

Neal believes the Bible is “the absolute and historically accurate word of God.” This one simple fact is key to understanding her story. (and all other stories like this) Her story affirms her belief about the Bible. Recognizing how this might be viewed as problematic she astoundingly says in her FAQ:

(I) had no preconceived notions about life after death…

There is no chance that this statement is true. Give me one example of a person who believes the Bible is “the absolute and historically accurate word of God”, who “attended Sunday school as a child and accepted Christ as my savior as a teenager” and regularly attends an Evangelical Church who “had no preconceived notions about life after death.”

Such a person does not exist.

I have not read Neal’s book. I have requested it from the local public library and when it comes in I will read it and do a full review. There are 85 people ahead of me so it will be a few months until the book comes in. For now, let’s take a look at Becker’s article about Neal and the book and see what conclusions we can come to.

Neal speaks of a heaven and angels. What empirical proof do we have for either of these? Neal, like most of us, is a presuppositionalist. She came into her death experience believing in God, angels, the afterlife, and heaven. Her experience conforms with her presuppositions. Nothing shocking here except that Mary Neal is Dr. Mary Neal, a university trained, orthopedic surgeon with a specialty in spinal surgery. She should know how to use the scientific method and she should have a basic understanding of the physical and medical reasons for explaining her death, going to heaven and coming back, experience.

Instead, she forsakes her training and embraces a un-provable metaphysical explanation, an explanation that made her a lot of money from book sales and speaking gigs.

NBC reporter Becker asks herself the question, “do you believe her?”  It is evident Becker, an agnostic Jew, wants to believe her.(again she sees the need to tell us her religious beliefs but not Neal’s) She is seemingly swayed by Neal’s educational and professional acumen and her demeanor. Simply put, how could a educated, calm woman like Neal NOT be telling the truth?

I hope that Becker thinks a bit deeper on other issues in her life. Trusting educated, calm people without a sound, rational reason to do so is, well, it is irrational. I have a vision of Becker getting into Ted Bundy’s tan VW. But, he was such a nice guy…

Neal is not telling the truth because there is no evidence to prove her claims. I have no doubt she had the “vision” she recounts in the book. I also know there are rational, medical explanations for people having such a “vision.” Becker was without oxygen for a long period of time. It is common knowledge that loss of oxygen to the brain can result in bizarre “visions.” There is no need to look for a metaphysical explanation when a scientific explanation is readily available.

When the book from the local library arrives, I will have much more to say on this subject. Stay tuned.

A Twitter Discussion with a Calvinist

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I had a Twitter discussion over the past few days with a Calvinistic Christian named Michael Morth. He has a blog titled Biblical Orthodoxy. Michael responded to Former Christian Atheist’s guest post My Life. The Vyckie in the discussion is my friend Vyckie Garrison (she has a large Twitter following)  who tweets all of my posts. Vyckie blogs at No Longer Qivering.

Michael: 1. There are no former Christians Jn 6:37-40, 1 Jn 2:19 2. Christianity is not assent, but repentance and faith!

Bruce: Nice try Michael. Keep telling yourself this as the number of former Christians who repented and had faith grows.

Bruce: Do you really think Vyckie or I spent our whole adults lives “assenting” and not faithfully living?

Michael: Well, I don’t know either of you, but I do believe God’s word. I think some people are false converts and fall away because they didn’t trust wholeheartedly. Trust and faith requires abiding and staying; many threats.

Bruce: So you believe what a book says rather than what you can see and what a person knows about themselves?

Michael: Faith is a gift of God and a drawing to Christ. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29)

Michael: I don’t believe that the elect, after being born-again from above , will be able to turn away; God preserves.

Bruce: I don’t care what you believe. How we lived our lives tell the story. If we weren’t Christians no one is.

Bruce: Besides, millions of Arminian Christians disagree with your Calvinism. How do you know you are right?

Michael: I’ve been on both sides of the fence, but ultimately was convinced by the overwhelming testimony of Scripture.

Bruce: This is what they all say. Arminianism, Calvinism. Amyraldianism. All taught in the Bible. All with overwhelming evidence.

Michael: The Word of God is a better judge of humanity than our own finite understanding and experiences. We change often

Michael: then, what made you stop trusting? I’m a believer because God caused me to be born-again; didn’t start with me.

Bruce: who knows better what happened in my life? You or the person who lived it? I know I was a Christian and now I am not.

Bruce: Again, you can’t know for sure. Unless you persevere to the end you weren’t saved. You might yet fall away.

Bruce: and if you fall away how do you think you would respond to people who said you were never really saved?

Michael: The scriptures say that God “gave” people to Christ and Christ won’t/cant lose any. Also see Romans 8:28-30

Bruce: I am well aware of what you think the Bible says. Been there done that. I know Calvinism inside and out.

Michael: Again, I must ask what caused you to disbelieve? Cleverly crafted arguments? Scientific theory? Sinful desire?

Bruce: if Calvinism is correct, it was God who was the agent of my unbelief. God is in control of everything, yes?

Bruce: I stopped believing because I came to see that the Bible wasn’t truth, it wasn’t inerrant, inspired,infallible.

Michael: What led to those conclusions? Cleverly devised arguments?

Bruce: You really want to frame my answer according to your own conclusions with your use of the word clever.

Bruce: Facts and evidence born out of Intellectual pursuit led to my conclusions about the bible and its central message and teachings

Michael: What fact and evidence?

Bruce: Read Bart Ehrman. His books succinctly address the text issues and many Internal contradictions. Inerrancy can not be sustained

Michael: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit… of the world, and not according to Christ. Col 2:8

Bruce: Whatever

Michael: Did you read anything by biblical scholars that hold to inerrancy/infallibility?

Bruce: You might what to check out who you are talking with? I pastored Evangelical churches for 25 years. So yes, I have read the books.

Michael: Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.

Bruce: No offense. However, quoting Bible verses that I already know and used to expositionally preach from has no effect.

Michael: So, no belief in God at all? Did you check out any other religious traditions?

Bruce: I am an atheist, so no God at all. Yes, I have checked out all the “other” gods and none of them ring true.

Michael: Do you think that you were living in a protracted delusion all those years? How long since you left?

Bruce: No, I was a Christian, plain and is simple. 8 years since I pastored, 4 years since attending church.

Either God Did it or He Didn’t

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George Zimmerman on killing Travon Martin: I feel it was all God’s plan

Travon Martin’s Mom on Zimmerman killing Travon: I don’t believe it’s God’s plan for him to kill an innocent teen-ager

I wish Christians would make up their mind. Either God was behind George Zimmerman killing Travon Martin or he wasn’t. Which is it?

The Calvinist says Yes, of course God was behind the killing. God is behind everything. He is the first cause. He is the Sovereign of all and nothing happens apart from his decretive will. So, Bruce says, God killed Travon? Oh NO!, Zimmerman did. Bruce sighs and says says, sure makes sense to me.

The Arminian says No, god was not behind the killing. Humans have freewill. God is not responsible for what man does. But, Bruce says, Zimmerman and Martin were both Christians. Surely, God was “with them” in their moment of killing and dying?

Bruce, the atheist says, Travon Martin’s death is lamentable but  I wonder, given the circumstances, if it was a tragedy waiting to happen? Do we KNOW all the facts? People quickly jumped on the Travon Martin train. Does he have any culpability in his own death? How about the racial tension that is quite evident in this story? Is the State of Florida culpable since their Stand Your Ground law gave George Zimmerman the legal cover to defend himself with lethal force? Is the NRA and the Gun Lobby culpable? Would less guns make the city streets in Florida safer?

I have lots of questions and I am convinced there is more to this story than what we have been told.

Who is This Our God? A Letter to the Editor

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This entry is part 9 of 22 in the seriesLetters to the Editor

What follows is a Letter to the Editor of the Defiance Crescent-News. It should be published in a week or two.

Dear Editor,

Who is this “our God” I keep reading about in the Letters to the Editor section of the Crescent-News? If the letter writers spoke of our flag, our country, our military, or our government, I would readily understand what they mean. As a citizen of the United States, I have a common connection with all other U.S. citizens. Our country belongs to all of us, contrary to what right-wingers think when then speak of taking back “their” country.

When the Star Spangled Banner is played, I remove my hat and turn my face towards the flag of my native land. However, when the national anthem of the “our God“ crowd, God bless America, is played, I refuse to bow in obeisance to the “our God.”

We have no “our God” in the United States. We may be one people, under one flag, willingly governed by those we elect to office, but we do not have a common God, a deity that every citizen must worship and obey.

Where in the U.S. Constitution is this “our God” mentioned? At best, the U.S. Constitution mentions a generic God, a deist form of a Creator God. Even then, the Founders of this Country, understanding the danger of having state-sanctioned religion, made sure that there was a separation of Church and State and no religious requirement for holding office. They made sure there was not only freedom of religion but freedom from religion. Christian, Atheist, and Muslim alike are equal in the eyes of the State.

So, I ask again, who is this “our God?”  Of course every letter writer would say “our God” is the Christian God. Again, I would ask, which Christian God? The Trinitarian God of the Lutheran or the non-Trinitarian God of the Oneness Pentecostal? The Calvinist God or the Arminian God? Which of the thousands of Christians sects have the “our God?”

Christians bitterly disagree and separate from one another over matters like salvation, baptism, and communion. If Christians can not agree on these basic teachings how can there be a “our God?”  The division and internecine warfare among Christians reveals the bankruptcy of the notion that there is a “our God.”

All that letter writers have is a personal God, a God they believe exists. I have no problem with them having a God or believing whatever they want to believe about that God. However, when they suggest that their personal God must be the God of all then I take issue with such a claim. As a citizen of a secular state that codified the freedom of and from religion in its founding documents, I object to any suggestion that there is a “our God” I must worship and obey.

Going down the “our God” road leads to violence, bloodshed, and a loss of freedom. Such a notion must be resisted at every turn lest we wake up one morning and find a Christian theocracy ruling the United States.

Bruce Gerencser
Ney, Ohio

Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

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The Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Muslim and Mormon, along with many “spiritual” people, believe EVERYTHING happens for a reason. They all believe that God or the Universe or some sort of divine energy/consciousness orchestrates our lives and that nothing happens by chance or accident.

According to people who think like this, everything that happens in our lives is part of a bigger purpose or plan. No matter what happens to us, it happened because it was meant to happen.

According to this way of thinking…the irresponsible, dumb-ass, youthful driver who pulled out to pass a slow-moving truck on a double yellow line and missed hitting Polly and I head on by a few feet was acting according to some greater purpose or plan. If he had hit us, our death would have happened for a reason.

As I think back through my life, my Mom’s suicide at age 54, my Dad’s death from surgery complications at age 49, my sister-in-law’s death from a motorcycle accident, my wife’s favorite uncle’s death at age 51 from a rare heart virus, my wife’s younger cousin’s recent death from myasthenia gravis…all of these all-to-soon tragic deaths had no positive effect on those left behind and their deaths certainly, outside of releasing several of them from pain, had no positive effect for them.

As I look at the world I see pain and suffering. I see hunger and thirst. I see violence and deprivation. I see poverty, animal abuse, and environmental degradation. Yet, I am told these things happen for a reason. Pray tell, what is the bigger purpose or plan for these things? What reason could there be for children starving, women being raped, and families having no means of support?

A week or so ago a horrific, violent storm ripped though NW Ohio. People and animals were killed, buildings and trees were destroyed, and millions of people were left without electricity for days, all during a time when temperatures were setting new historic highs. Again, what is the bigger purpose or plan for these things?

As Polly and I drove home from SE Indiana we saw widespread devastation from what some describe as the worst drought in decades. We saw fields where farmers had already cut down their corn to use as silage. Again, what is the bigger purpose or plan for these things?

All across the world war rages on. My own country has troops stationed all over the world and is currently waging war in Afghanistan. U.S troops, bombs, and bullets are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths of innocent civilian men, women, and children. Again, what is the bigger purpose or plan for these things?

It is not enough to say that God has a perfect plan and we must not question him. I not only question this God, I charge him with gross negligence and malfeasance. Any human acting as this God does would be considered a manic, cruel, serial-abuser of his fellow human beings. Such a God we would or should not want as family or a friend, yet billions claim this God as their friends, confidant, family member and lover.

I prefer the agnostic, atheist, deist way of looking at life. Shit happens. Good and bad happens to one and all, and often what comes our way has no purpose or reason. It just h-a-p-p-e-n-s.

This does not mean that I can not learn from the bad things that happen in my life. My own physical debility and life of pain has been quite instructive. My past experiences have indeed helped to make me into the man I am today. (good and bad) But to suggest that God or the universe or some divine energy/consciousness is behind how my life has turned out?  I reject any such notion…I gladly embrace what my life is and all that helped to make it what it is, but I have no place in my life for some sort of divine puppeteer pulling the strings of my life. Four years ago, I reached up and cut the puppeteer’s strings and from that day forward my life has been my own.  My life is an admixture of my own choices, the choices of others, genetics, and random events and circumstances.  I need no other explanation, I need no God to make my life more palatable. It is what it is until it isn’t.