Menu Close

Derek Lambert Leaves the “Online Atheist Cult,” Bitching and Whining as He Walks Out the Door

2 Comments
derek lambert

Derek Lambert operates the Mythvision YouTube channel. A former Evangelical Christian, Lambert makes informative videos about Biblical and historical subjects. Excellent videos, for the most part, though I find the clickbait titles annoying.

Two or so years ago, Lambert embroiled himself in a conflict over having mythicist Dr. Robert M. Price on his channel. The conflict, however, was not over mythicism. The issue was Price’s racism and his support of right-wing, MAGA beliefs. Why was Lambert platforming a man such as Price? supporters, friends, and acquaintances wanted to know. There’s a lot to the Price Saga, but the bottom line is this: with much weeping and gnashing of teeth, Lambert condemned Price and deplatformed him.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. Lambert reversed course, kissed and made up with Price, and with weeping and gnashing of teeth, attacked the “online atheist community.” He called the “online atheist community” a cult. He has retreated from the cult claim by editing the video title to hyperbolically say “Toxic People are Trying to Destroy Careers.” Contrary to what Lambert thinks, no one is trying to ruin him or destroy his career. If he has evidence that suggests otherwise, he needs to cough it up. I seriously doubt any hairball is forthcoming. Lambert can be hysterical at times, and I suspect the title issue is more about his hysteria than anything else.

Video Link

What was a skirmish with a handful of largely unknown online atheists, Lambert turned it into an attack on the “online atheist community” in general.

Lambert and Price are now best buds. The bad people in this story, according to Lambert, are woke, pro-trans, online atheists who dare to call Price what he is — a bigot and a racist.

It’s evident, at least to me, that Lambert’s politics have moved to the right, more in line with Price’s politics. It would not shock me to hear in a few years that Lambert has (again) seen the light and is returning to Christianity.

Some atheists think Lambert is a grifter; he thinks he can make more money by platforming people such as Robert Price. Maybe. I do know that Lambert’s “I’m Done” video ends with an infomercial advertising his wife’s channel that sells online educational programs. So, there’s that. The ad is out of place, so much so that you are left to wonder if all the junior high whining about the “online atheist community” is a pretext; that the real goal is to sell shit.

I tried to engage Lambert several times over the years — without success. Evidently, I wasn’t high enough up the “online atheist” food chain for him to bother with me. Granted, I’m somewhat of a loner, hanging out on the fringes of the so-called “online atheist community.” This allows me to say my piece and not care what online atheists think. This means, of course, I won’t be invited to be on this or that channel, and that’s okay. I have much to offer, as many fellow creators have learned, but, for some atheist creators, I’m too liberal, too woke, or too religion-friendly, I’m told. Fair enough, but I am who I am, and I believe what I believe. Derek Lambert needs to figure out who he is, what he believes, and act accordingly. You can’t be all things to all people.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Are Undocumented Immigrants Lawbreakers?

21 Comments
farm workers

Are undocumented immigrants lawbreakers? Sure, in the strictest sense of the word. When I drive our car 65 mph in a 55 mph zone, I am breaking the law. Back in my Limewire days, I downloaded thousands of songs. Doing so was illegal. I have broken the law numerous times over the years, actions which could have landed me in the county jail or with a fine. I suspect most Americans could say the same. When convenient, we play loose with the law. If we get caught, we pay the price.

I view most undocumented workers the same way. Being here illegally is a “crime” in the same way speeding is. Should they have their lives uprooted and lose their jobs and homes, all because they came to the United States years ago? No, and we need to find a way to legalize the immigrants who are here illegally. This is especially true for immigrants who have lived in the U.S. their entire lives. My God, we are deporting children. Sorry, but this sickens me.

Undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes should be arrested, prosecuted in a court of law, and, if warranted, deported. However, immigrants who haven’t committed a crime or who have minor dings on their records should be given an opportunity to be here legally. We NEED them, and we are about to find out what happens if the Toddler King gets his way and deports millions of immigrants.

Think about your own life. Have you ever broken the law? Imagine being removed from your home and sent to a prison in a foreign country. Imagine no due process. Imagine being separated from your spouse, children, grandchildren, and extended family. You are at the mercy of a man who hates your guts; a racist who only wants “good” immigrants; you know — white people.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

How Many Times Will It Take Before We Learn that Soldiers Are Not Peacekeepers?

15 Comments
national guard

President Donald Trump has sent up to 4,000 National Guardsmen and 800 Marines to Los Angeles to combat and contain what he says is widespread, wanton violence. Remember, this is the man who asked if soldiers could shoot protesters in the leg. Trump is a petty little tyrant who loves to foment violence as he sits behind the safety of his desk in the Oval Office. I am of the opinion that the Toddler King is deliberately trying to stir things up so he can declare martial law. This will allow him to rescind many of the Constitutional protections we have. If this happens, there will be bloodshed in the streets of not only Lost Angeles, but other major cities.

The LA police department is more than capable of handling what have largely been peaceful protests. We must not forget that Trump is opposed to protests. Just today, he warned people that if they protested his big, beautiful birthday parade on June 14, that their opposition would be met with violence.

We must never forget that soldiers are trained to use lethal force to eliminate their enemies. Simply put, they are trained to kill. Soldiers are not peacekeepers. War has never begotten peace. At best, it brings, for a time, a cessation of hostilities. Only peace begets peace.

What troubles me — well, hell, lots of things deeply trouble me these days — is that millions of Americans think it is okay for Trump to illegally use the military to advance his political and personal agenda. Years ago, Polly and I took her parents to Mexico. We took a drive around Juarez, the murder capital of Mexico. As we were driving down the street, three soldiers, armed with assault rifles, came around the corner, scaring the shit out of my mother-in-law. She immediately demanded to be returned to the United States, which I gladly did. Seeing soldiers with assault rifles on Mexican streets is not uncommon. In the United States, however, we don’t often see such things. We live in relative freedom and safety. Trump doesn’t want us to feel free and safe. He wants us to fear whatever “enemy” he has conjured up. Most of all, he wants us to fear him. What concerns me is Trump’s base; you know, the millions of Americans who seemingly are blind or indifferent towards his lawlessness. January 6 showed us what can happen if you stir up a crowd of zealots. Imagine what happens if he does this on a national level? Civil war is possible, even likely, if we do not neuter the MAGA movement and elect leaders who take seriously their pledge to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

An Open Letter to Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin

11 Comments
david hogg 2

Ken Martin is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The Party is facing conflict over David Hogg, an officer in the DNC, saying that he intends to raise and spend 20 million on primary challenges of some Democratic congresspeople. This, of course, outrage establishment, centrist Democrats.

In a May 15, 2025 Zoom meeting, Martin said:

I’ll be very honest with you, for the first time in my 100 days on this job … the other night I said to myself for the first time, I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore.

Addressing Hogg, Martin stated:

No one knows who the hell I am, right? I’m trying to get my sea legs underneath of me and actually develop any amount of credibility so I can go out there and raise the money and do the job I need to to put ourselves in a position to win. And again, I don’t think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So it’s really frustrating.

Mr. Martin,

I am a registered Democratic voter. For the past three presidential elections, I held my nose as I voted for Hilary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. None of these candidates were my first, second, or third choices in the primaries, but come the general election, I played the part of the dutiful son, voting for candidates that largely did not represent my values. All three candidates were centrist, corporate Democrats, much like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton before them.

In the 2016 presidential election, the DNC deliberately scuttled Bernie Sanders’ attempt to be the Democratic candidate for the highest office in the land. I almost left the party over this, but decided not to, hoping that change and reform would make the DNC more aware of the poor and working-class people they have largely abandoned for 30 pieces of silver from corporate donors.

It’s 2025, and now you and your fellow board members are trying to remove David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta from their respective DNC offices. You tried to suggest that board members should be neutral, but it’s hard for me not to laugh considering what the DNC did to Bernie Sanders in 2016. Here’s what I do know, if you vote Hogg and Kenyatta out of office, I’m done with the Democratic Party. And I know that I am not alone when I say this. You are misreading the lay of the land if you think that removing them from office will be inconsequential.

Hogg is right when he says the Democratic Party needs a spring housecleaning. This was clear to me when Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attempted to become the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. Ocasio-Cortez’s attempt was turned away, and the seat went to a 75-year-old man with cancer, Gerry Connolly. Months later, Conolly died. Why was Connolly given the seat? Seniority. He was next in line, the thinking went.

Enough of the seniority nonsense and waiting your turn. We need young, fresh candidates to successfully run for office. We need these same young people to shake up the good old boys network that currently controls the Democratic Party. Until we stop being the “nursing home party,” we can expect to continue to lose elections and, worse, lose congressional seats. If Democrats want to retake the White House and Congress, they must stop trotting out the same ancient politicians, thinking that the American people won’t notice who ISN’T running for office. Well, count me as someone who IS paying attention, and unless there is a big turnaround, I have no intention of spending more of my time and money supporting a clueless political party that has lost its way.

I have bitten my tongue numerous times over the years, as Democrats promoted policies and agendas I disagree with. I have screamed and cussed as Democrats supported the military-industrial complex and gave tacit approval of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people. Time after time, I wondered why I support a party that has largely abandoned liberal, progressive values. And what do some Democrats want the party to do? Move to the center or even right-center. Are you fucking kidding me? We need to own these values, letting the American people know that Democrats are on the side of poor and working-class people. Of course, this is hard to do when most Democrats are sucking on the teat of corporate and big-money donors.

Let me be clear, Mr. Martin, if Hogg and Kenyatta go, so do I. No, I won’t become a Republican. Republicans are wholly given over to fascism and lawbreaking, supporting the toddler king, Donald Trump. That said, it is evident that our two-party system is broken beyond repair. MSNBC can keep telling me that Republicans are the problem — and they are — but the Democratic Party has more than enough blame and culpability to go around.

Sincerely,

Bruce Gerencser

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Another Lie-Filled Press Conference by Forest Management Expert Donald Trump

4 Comments
forest fire prevention

Donald Trump, the orange-haired toddler king, gave another lie-filled press conference today. In a matter of minutes. Trump told numerous lies, uttered threats, and reminded the American people that he is the stupidest man ever to sit in the Oval Office.

The toddler king mentioned his big military parade scheduled for Saturday, warning protesters that they would be met with state-sanctioned violence if they dared to protest his big, beautiful parade. Of course, Americans have a constitutional right to protest peacefully. Evidently, Trump has never read the U.S. Constitution. Either that, or he doesn’t think the Constitution applies to him; that, as president, he can do whatever he wants to do and no one can stop him.

Trump also took several swipes at California Governor Gavin Newsom. In particular, Trump, posing as a forestry management expert, decided to opine on the fires that plague California:

I’ve been meeting with heads of other countries, and they are forest countries. They call themselves Forest Austria and others, and they say we’re a forest nation. We live in a forest, and they don’t have forest fires, and in one case, he said, you know our trees are much more flammable than California, but we don’t have forest fires because we clean the floor. We sweep the floor of leaves of dead debris of trees that fall because after 18 months the tree is like real, it’s like tinderwood, and it goes up, it virtually exposed, Well, we don’t take the trees out. California is a disaster. What they’ve done in California, they don’t do anything, and if you did, you wouldn’t, you almost would not have forest fires, and you could say, you, in theory, you shouldn’t have any forest fires. And we spend billions and billions of dollars a year because uh, people don’t clean the forests, and we’re going to clean the forest, we’re going to start cleaning them.

Trump has been talking about this nonsense for years. Here’s a man who has never mowed or raked a lawn and has no understanding of biology or forestry, yet he thinks he is in a position to give “expert” advice on how to end forest fires.

donald trump forest fire

Let me conclude this post with a personal story, one that would educate the toddler king IF he knew how to read. Yes, I know he can read, but he doesn’t do much of it, and it is clear, at least to me, that Trump lacks basic comprehension skills. Either that, or he has dementia.

Years ago, I pastored an Evangelical church in southeast Ohio. The church had a tuition-free school for church children. Back then, before I had much environmental awareness, we had a burn barrel we used for burning trash. One day, several of the boys were burning trash. The barrel was full, but they decided to pile some trash on top, light it, and then walk away. Well, some of the burning trash fell out of the barrel, setting the neighbor’s field on fire. Frantically, the boys came running, telling me the field was on fire. By the time I got out there, the neighbor was standing near the burning fire. When I suggested calling the fire department, she replied, “Let it burn.” And so we let it burn. Hours later, the fire petered out, leaving what appeared to be scorched land. However, the next spring, the field was filled with new trees, bushes, grasses, and flowers. The fire cleared away all the undergrowth, allowing for new plants to sprout and grow. Thirty years later, the field is filled with large trees and bushes, all because some foolish schoolboys set it on fire.

Fallen tree leaves and needles are an important part of our ecosystem. They provide nutrients, along with food and shelter for all sorts of animals. Occasionally, due to lightning strikes or human error, these leaves and needles catch on fire. These fires are actually good for forests, as anyone with a fifth-grade science education knows. It’s evident, that President Trump is NOT a good candidate for the game show, “So, You Think You Are Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.”

For more on Trump’s press conference, please watch the following video:

Video Link

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Caller Asks Former Preacher About His Hermeneutical Principles

0 Comments
laughing

Caller: What principles do you use for hermeneutics?

Justin: My hermeneutical principle is that the stuff you don’t like is not metaphor just because you don’t like what it [Bible] says.

On a long, painful, depressing day, Justin’s comment brought me laughter, knowing that what he said would go right over the caller’s head.

If you are not familiar with Justin, he operates the Deconstruction Zone YouTube channel. A college-trained ex-preacher, Justin is an awesome debater, especially when it comes to the Old Testament. Pop some popcorn and give Justin a listen.

Video Link

How Evangelicals Respond When Confronted with Errors in the Bible

2 Comments
bible head vice

Most Evangelicals believe the following about the Bible:

  • The Bible is inspired (breathed out) by God
  • The Bible is inerrant (without error)
  • The Bible is infallible (true in all it says, free of mistakes)

Two words describe how most Evangelicals read the Bible, that is, if they read the Bible at all. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that many Evangelicals rarely, if ever, read the Bible. And if Evangelicals do read the Bible, they do so selectively, often reading only the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.

  • Univocality (Univocality refers to the state of having only one meaning or voice, being unambiguous and straightforward. It contrasts with ambiguity or equivocality, where a word or statement can be interpreted in multiple ways. In essence, univocality implies a clear and single meaning. Google AI definition)
  • Literally (Reading the Bible “literally” means understanding its words in their most straightforward, ordinary sense, as they would be understood in everyday language, while also acknowledging the use of figurative language like similes, metaphors, and other literary devices. It’s about discerning the intended meaning of the text without imposing personal interpretations or allegorical readings that are not supported by the text. Google AI definition)

These words give definition to evangelical cliches such as: “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me.”

The problem, of course, is that the Bible is NOT inerrant and infallible. Whether Evangelicals appeal to inerrant translations or manuscripts, it matters not; neither claim is true and can be easily rebutted. All one has to do is show one error, mistake, or contradiction for inerrancy to come falling down. The same goes for infallibility.

Bible inerrancy and infallibility are irrational claims that can be easily dispensed with by giving the Scriptures an honest reading. The errors, contradictions, and mistakes are easy to see IF you are not committed to inerrancy, infallibility, and univocality. Scores of sites on the Internet, including this one, list numerous mistakes, errors, and contradictions. Granted, Evangelicals have all sorts of novel, fancy, and, at times, irrational explanations for these problem texts. Their presuppositions demand they find some way to defend inerrancy, so Evangelicals go to extraordinary lengths to protect the Bible’s honor. Most often, all they do is either make fools out of themselves or show that they really do not understand the Biblical text. And this is to be expected. Many Evangelicals have a borrowed theology — that of their pastor. He’s the man of God, and they trust that he will tell them the truth. Unfortunately, many Evangelical preachers don’t tell the truth, either out of ignorance, or fear that if they tell their congregants the truth, the pews and offering plates will be empty and they will have to get a job at Home Depot.

When Evangelicals are confronted with errors, contradictions, and mistakes that they can’t explain away, what do they do? Admit defeat? Admit the Bible is not inerrant? Not a chance. Often, Evangelicals will make appeals to the Greek and Hebrew languages underlying various Bible translations. Oh, they can’t read Greek or Hebrew, but they own a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and an 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, and, in their minds, they have all they need to defend the inerrancy of the Bible and defeat “liberal” scholars who have spent their lives studying the Biblical text. I have watched countless atheist talk shows featuring Evangelical callers who think they know more about the Bible than the leading scholars of the day. When these defenders of the Bible meet their demise in the arena of debate, what do they do? Admit they were wrong? Not a chance. When backed into the proverbial corner, Evangelicals will always appeal to faith. Once they do this, no further discussion is possible. Faith is what people appeal to when they have no evidence for their claims.

Unless an Evangelical admits the obvious — the Bible is not inerrant, infallible, or univocal — it is unlikely that they can be convinced of the irrationality of their claims. Those of us who are former Evangelicals know that it wasn’t until the Bible lost its magical hold on us that we were able to see the text as it is: an ancient text written by fallible, frail men. God did not write one word of the Bible. From the table of contents to the index, the Bible is a manmade text, and Evangelicals cannot provide compelling evidence to the contrary.

Evangelicals are free to believe what they want about the Bible, but if they want to convince the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world that the Bible is the very words of God, evidence — not Bibe prooftexts — is required.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Quote of the Day: In Hitler-like Fashion, Donald Trump is Looking for His Reichstag Fire

12 Comments
trump as hitler

If you are unfamiliar with the Reichstag Fire:

The Reichstag Fire was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch council communist, was the culprit; the Nazis attributed the fire to a group of Communist agitators, used it as a pretext to claim that Communists were plotting against the German government, and induced President Paul von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree suspending civil liberties, and pursue a “ruthless confrontation” with the Communists. This made the fire pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany.

By John Pavlovitz, as posted by Jill Dennison

In the wake of the unthinkable images and footage coming out of California over the weekend, it’s easy to feel insulated from the chaos if we happen to reside somewhere else in the country, as if our geography protects us.

Watching heavily-armed troops spraying civilians with rubber bullets and bombing them with tear gas for rightly protesting I.C.E.’s indiscriminate round-up of people working in local businesses, sitting in traffic, and showing up for their legal immigration appointments, it’s critical that we remember something.

This isn’t about Los Angeles.

It’s not about the bluest of the blue states receiving the wrath of a vindictive president.

It’s not about an outspoken Democrat Governor being intentionally targeted.

This is about the future of our Republic.

Los Angeles is a test by this corrupt Administration of how much illegality the American people will tolerate, how willing we will be to abide authoritarianism, how easily ordinary people will allow an arm of the government to be weaponized against us. It is a barometer of the intestinal fortitude of our citizenry.

Trump is always looking for his Reichstag Fire; his reason to bring the hammer of the Military down upon the nation. Declaring Martial Law has always been his endgame and his strategy as transparent: create an emergency where one did not exist and propose to bring Law and Order to a lawlessness and disorder of which he is the sole author. As California Governor Gavin Newsom correctly declared on his X account: 1) Local law enforcement didn’t need help. 2) Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded. 4) Now things are destabilized, and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump’s mess.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Songs of Sacrilege: God is a Weapon by Falling in Reverse

0 Comments
falling in reverse

This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series, which I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent toward religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is God Is a Weapon by Falling in Reverse.

Video Link

Lyrics

I can’t stop from spinning
Down the rabbit hole
The deeper that you push
The deeper I will go
They said that God’s a woman
I’ll worship you the same
Cause all I do is think about
Saying your name in vain
You might as well marry me

My sinful confession
You’re my obsession (yeah)
If God is a woman
Then God is a weapon (yeah)

I can’t stop from sinning
My halo’s just a hole
The deeper that I get inside you
The deeper you will fall
They say that God’s a weapon
Well, I’m a hand grenade
Try to take this ring from me
Watch me detonate
You might as well bury me

My sinful confession
You’re my obsession (yeah)
If God is a woman
Then God is a weapon (yeah)

My sinful confession
You’re my obsession
If God is a woman
Then God is a weapon
God is a weapon
Yeah

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Baptist Pastor Douglas Jones Accused of Criminal Sexual Conduct

0 Comments
pastor douglas jones

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Douglas Jones, the pastor of Welcome Missionary Baptist Church in Pontiac, Michigan, stands accused of one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The Royal Oak Tribune reports:

A prominent 82-year-old pastor of a Pontiac church accused of a sex crime in Rochester Hills will face an Oakland County Circuit Judge next week.

The case against Reverend Douglas Jones of West Bloomfield was advanced following a preliminary exam in 52-3 District Court.

Jones, senior pastor of Welcome Missionary Baptist Church in Pontiac since 1989, is charged with one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct — a high court misdemeanor — that allegedly occurred Aug. 26, 2024.

At the conclusion of the preliminary exam on May 20, Judge Laura Polizzi determined there was enough evidence to bind the case over to the higher court for possible trial.

Jones is well-known for his ministries and other community involvement throughout Pontiac — including board member of the Oakland County Health Network, founder of the Greater Pontiac Community Coalition, and more. In February, the Detroit Red Wings recognized him as a “Black History Month Game Changers honoree.”

Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involves unwanted sexual contact but does not include penetration. High court misdemeanor penalties are typically more severe than misdemeanor penalties; fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct is punishable by up to two years imprisonment and/or a fine of $500.

Jones is out of custody on a $10,000 personal bond, which requires no cash or surety to be posted.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.