Remember Steve Ransom (Ransomovitch)? Several years ago, Ransom — an Evangelical Christian — stopped by to let me know that he was quite sure that he could successfully win me back to Jesus. Here’s what he had to say:
Hello Bruce,
I have read through your entire blog. You write honestly and you choose to do so publicly. Therefore, you should also publicly be prepared to defend your theological/philosophical position in certain areas. But the Bruce Gerencser ‘rules of play’ on your site have all but ruled this out. The many, many dos and donts aimed at the ‘evangelicals’ certainly provide an effective earthly shield for you. The thing is Bruce, do you dare enter a very public debate ‘one on one’ with somebody who does not need to resort to any of the cheap shots you quite rightly cite as unacceptable on your site?
And by cheap shots I mean such things as lobbing that favourite scriptural/philosophical hand-grenade (you know, the one we Christians like to lob as a last ditch defence of our position – Ha! That’ll sort ‘im!-type grenade) resorting to such defences as calling on guilt or hell or ‘the evolution v creation debate’ or resorting to looking somehow to ‘save Pastor Bruce’ in order to try and resolve my own inner demons or soul baggage – all these cheap shots plus a load more have undoubtedly already been aimed at you and your loving family – a family that very evidently been strung out and wrung out to dry so many times already and who’ve heard all these cheap shots so many times before.
The thing is Bruce, having read through your entire blog, I am confident that none of those arguments are necessary in order for you and your family (and dare I say many of your readers) to be set on your feet and enjoying God’s favour. But do you dare take that step? And I certainly don’t use the word ‘dare’ lightly or as some kind of you don’t dare means I win position. No, by dare, I mean, look at the blog and the subsequent new life you have since created – the huge emotions involved in your journey so far – the investment can hardly bear thinking about. What if was taken from you? Could you face all of that spiritual upheaval all over again? Do you even want to?
So, here’s my take on this Bruce. I certainly don’t want to be a waste of your time and you’ll certainly read my post to you and you’ll take a position on all of this.
And here is my challenge to you: I challenge you to reproduce this post word for word on your site, ask what your readers think, and let’s take it from there. Have I broken any Gerencser site rules as yet? And be assured, none of you guys out there on the glorious www will be wasting any of my time, that’s for sure.
Thanks for reading.
Steve from the UK.
Ransom, much like a 14-year-old boy who brags of his sexual prowess, only to leave his girlfriend dry and unsatisfied, promised far more than he could deliver. One hundred and six comments later, Ransom was banished to what he calls “Gerencser Hell.” You can read the original post and comments here.
At the start of each new year, I clear all the email addresses and IP addresses that require moderation or are banned. Ransom’s email address and IP address were given new life, and just like that he returned to this site to share his wisdom with me and the people who frequent this blog.
First, Ransom sent me an email. Here’s what he had to say (all typing while drunk in the original):
regarding the italian homosexuality testimony, youre a sick man bruce, may God break throught to your stubborn heart and mind, what happen d to you that you look Him in the face every day and pretend He is not there.
Then Ransom left a comment on the post titled, Why I Hate Jesus:
bruce says: I don’t hate the flesh and blood Jesus who walked the dusty roads of Palestine, nor do I hate the Jesus found in the pages of the Bible.
do you actually believe your own hype? you’re actually a cult leader whose followers love your every utterance. you are completely deluded and you’ve fallen in love with your own blind alley logic. i am so glad you have not caught me up in your web of self-serving nonsense. ooooohhhhh say bruce’s adoring fans, how bitter and twisted is this man, how very shrill, how very clearly does he prove our point. no bruce, youve been left too long to ruminate on your own wisdom and youve fooled youreslf into believing youve got something insightful to say. you havent , youre just another bitter boring athesit
And…just like that, Ransom is banished to “Gerencser Hell” for another year. Praise be to Bruce Almighty.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
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You’re a sick man for giving a rational analysis of Italiano’s situation? A cult leader for calling out Fundagelical Christianity on its problems? Really?
I, for one, am offended at being called a cult follower by a person who is about as rational as your average cat is compliant with human requests. Some things–most things–that you write make good sense to me. A few things (like your dismissal of the Jesus-as-myth position) I disagree with. Whatever. You write interesting things. I suspect that Ransom would find writing interesting things a challenge; they’d be Jesus-infused and devoid of any substance.
Cult leader? I’m in a cult?
Shit.
I thought I was in a harem.
Yup, extremely proud to be in your athisit’ cult Mr Gerencser, would wear the teeshirt with pride. I’d draw the line at ranting on street corners, giving out your athisit tracts or buttonholing complete strangers on public transport like my former enslaving cult (aka fundy-ism) did. And wouldn’t Mrs G have something to say about the harem?
What’s an ‘athesit?’ *snicker*
Learn to spell it before you lose your mind over it, eh, Ransom?
You can tell how bitter someone is by the frequency with which they use the word. Ransom is clearly bitter about, well, something or the other.
“You can tell how bitter someone is by the frequency with which they use the word.”
I love that as a rule of thumb. It sounds pretty convincing to me: projection and all that.
Definition of cult
“a group that’s too small to be a minority”
I’ve always liked that.
“Praise be to Bruce Almighty.”
I’m pretty sure he takes this literally. He probably believes we chant your praises every day 😉
There has to be a God for them, hasn’t there? So if we no longer believe in God – which is entirely impossible, of course, from their perspective – we must believe in you as our surrogate god. We have to believe in something!
This might also explain why you fell away: why serve the one and only God as a preacher when you can be a god yourself? It is Lucifer’s sin of pride: wanting to be like God and Eve’s sin of knowledge – also wanting to be like God – all wrapped into one.
I’ve found lately that I rather like Eve and Lucifer defying God, seeing it as quite admirable to be honest. I also enjoy the idea of Lilith, Adam’s supposed first wife – or a demon: take your pick – she wanted to be equal to him and that was not to God’s and Adam’s liking. Hence Eve’s fall and her subsequent submission.
I wonder if Steve from the UK is this one:
Evolution appears to have left me incapable of the impressive facial foliage that Bruce displays. Does that make me ineligible for this cult thing? I feel I’m missing out.
His IP data says he is from the Uckfield and Camberwell area. This data point information might not be precise.
My IP address information shows Defiance, Ohio (ten miles away) or Columbus, Ohio (150 miles away). I think it depends on how Time Warner does the routing.
So is THIS Steve Ransom one and the same? I don’t know. Maybe a Brit could give them a call and see. ??
look at you bruce, getting all worried now, worried enough to look me up, youre a pathetic stalker bruce and also and serpent-like, ‘maybe somebody from my flock could give them a call, and see, smile smile. ive seen enough goodbye, before i vomit again at your slithery ways
I think Steve’s been ruminating too long himself on “boring” atheist blogs and it’s getting to him.
Sorry but from a quick read of his post I can’t understand what he is getting at and I haven’t got the energy to re read it.
I thought he was the same nut job who blogged about the atonement of jesus and aliens but I think I am mixing up my sad, bruce bothering, religious nuts.
Wait, this guy had the skill to actually win you back to Jesus & you BANNED him? What a dick you are!!!
?????????
This UK Steve I do believe is jealous of Bruce. He spent a lot of time consuming and documenting Bruce’s blog posts and comments over a long period of time and then tries to psychoanalyse Bruce to fill his own specific agenda for Bruce’s decisions.
There appears to be an underlying motivation because this is more than just dedication to re-converting Bruce back into the fold and spreading God’s word. He did this I believe, because he is less than comfortable with his own faith. This, I see as a frantic attempt that was emotionally revealed due to his own declining faith and wellbeing as a Christian. This was a desperate effort to find another issue for Bruce and all the others to leave the church that would then not only satisfy and replenish his own faith but he could avoid being confronted with the credibility issues of the Christian religion’s doctrine as the real reason to leave the priesthood.
This plan obviously did not work and as we can see he is bitter about this outcome and in typical retreating theist fashion while his faith wanes even more he will prove to us all he learnt nothing about atheism using the old cult and accusation of playing the god trick while he calls you deluded??? Say no more.
True words. People like him are desperate to explain away ex christians reasonable doubts as a cover for a desire to sin.
I told someone I no longer believed the bible was inerrant as Matthew and Acts contradict each other on Judas’ death.
They replied by asking me if I had a porn addiction!!
As if that was influencing how I read acts / matthew. I didnt btw.
I think it’s because they use salvation/forgiveness as a get-out-of-jail=free card; i.e., “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”. a popular bumper sticker in my area. Guilt for actual wrong/harm done is a heavy burden and an atheist has no easy way of setting it aside, other than trying to atone as best they can. The fundamentalist Christian just says a little prayer and poof! All gone! How dare those they harmed hold them accountable when God Himself has forgiven them. Talk about avoiding personal responsibility…
I have come to realize that I don’t see Jesus that way. It is not about counting on Him to get me into Heaven, but about trying to bring a taste of Heaven, where want and pain are not known, into this world. He is a worthy example, not The Answer to every problem. And if I hurt another, I’d better be doing my best to make it right, or my claim to a better way of living is nothing but a sham and a cover-up for my own faults instead of call to work on those faults to minimize the harm they can cause myself and others. Perhaps I’ve been kicked out of the Christian camp altogether by now. No big loss; I’d rather not be associated with what that’s come to mean in the USA.
I have to laugh at these fools who think they can “convert” Bruce back to Christianity. I still believe and greatly enjoy the discussions and comment found here, but my participation in them isn’t done with the intent of converting anyone. Frankly, I do it for my own completely selfish reason; I enjoy it and it helps me understand what I really do believe. Not only that, but I believe it is my duty to challenge my own understanding of the spiritual aspects of my life because I was taught that a faith that cannot withstand the scrutiny of reason is not one worth having, though not to the extent that reason is only standard. (Emotion is a valid part of the human experience.) Plus, y’all are just good, smart and decent people that make my days brighter. Thanks for that.
Oh, my. And he started out sounding so reasonable, too.
Is it just me, or does it seem like Steve is using “cult leader” to mean “someone who has a bigger audience than I have”?
…I just went back and skimmed that original post. I’d… I’d forgotten that conversation.
Bruce Almighty! Again I bow to your superior fundy-baiting skillz. You get the nutjobs I dream of at NLQ for my Jerks4Jesus.com blog..Jellus haterz
no, no,no peeps you’ve got me wrong. but that’s ok, i think i can stand in the face of all your witherings and ‘ferocious’ attacks. tbh, i had forgotten about bruce’s site until last week when i saw a youtube link to ‘why i hate jesus’ and hey presto! i was swept right back! this time around though, and reading the ‘why i hate Jesus’ post again, i realised there is only so much that people who love God and their fellow man can do or say before the blindingly obvious has to be admitted. your bruce, dear gerencserites, your host, your wise benefactor, your leader (i mean, there are only so many fawning, sycophantic posts one can read before the term ‘cult leader’ naturally comes to mind) your leader has disappeared up his own backside. However, he will stand before God on That Day, and he will most certainly rue this futile dotnet project. don’t get me wrong, I have a great deal of time for people but just as Jesus said to the Jesus-haters of His day, then likewise all you gerencserites, get thee behind me. your not interested in dialogue, any of you. this is your special club. youve all found each other and rejoice in all your cleverness – each post reinforcing the other’s delusions. i may be too coarse sometimes and i’m sure you pharisees of prose and punctuation can’t wait to pick me up on my typos but I am Heaven-bound! an eternity of peace and joy awaits me. His name is written on all of our hearts and the sad thing is, you all know it. bruce though, his conscience has been seared. having said all that, i suppose i should take it as a compliment i have been made the subject of another post
I enjoy reading and commenting on various blogs. That does not mean their hosts are my “leaders.” And why do you tell us to “get thee behind me,” when you are the one seeking us out? You only need to stop reading this blog to avoid us and everything you dislike about us. I would think your God might prefer you find better ways to spend your time.
“His name is written on all of our hearts and the sad thing is, you all know it.”
The last time we conversed – back when you were trying to convince us that two lines of Revelation correlated absolutely and unmistakably to events that might be about to happen in the near future, and thus proved the divine origins of the Bible – I said that I didn’t think you were stupid or uneducated.
I stand by that.
However, that line I just quoted from your post? The one where you claim that we all secretly know that you’re right? That’s one of the stupidest things you can say to former believers and/or unbelievers. It’s one of those things that, given even a casual glance at the world around us, simply cannot be true.
And this: “your not interested in dialogue, any of you.” Dude. Pots and kettles. Glass houses and stones. Motes and beams.
On the contrary, the first time you came along we had a dialogue. We looked at your evidence. We found it wanting, but that wasn’t for lack of dialogue, or for lack of thoughtful evaluation.
But at this point, you’re not just failing to convert anybody here (which, I admit, was probably a foregone conclusion). You’re starting to making Christians, or at least Christian evangelists, look like jerks. So, y’know, this would probably be an excellent time to shake the dust from your feet and move on to the next town.
Hi Steve,
You say you are a Christian, but Jesus told his disciples to love (show compassion, mercy and loving-kindness) their “enemies”. Do you really love those whom you consider enemies of your version of the faith?
Your mocking of Bruce and the so-called Gerenscerites is appalling for a so-called Spirit filled Christian. You calling Bruce a cult leader is ridiculous. Please go and have a hard look at yourself. May God, if he exists, have mercy on your “soul”.
Shalom,
John Arthur
john this whole site is designed to mock. the pseudo-grace and pseudo-bonhomie that binds this group is almost vomit-inducing. all here have the brains to see that your very existence is miraculous in itself and requires a sustaining God. but like sulking children who believe youre all so wise and right, you stomp around shaking your fists at the God you all know exists. and so, as michael mock advises, i will move on to the next town, He does exist, He has had mercy on my soul, I AM Heaven-bound. where will you go when you die?
Actually, many of my readers are Christians– not your brand of Jesus, but they do embrace the basic Christian, especially the God is love part. They do, however loathe your brand of Christianity, knowing the damage it causes to those marred by its beliefs and practices. If you ever get off your arrogant, self-righteous horse, you might find you have a lot in common with them.
I will leave it my readers to decide the value of my writing. I know I daily hear from people who have been helped by my writing, so I’m betting that I am doing more good than harm. Your problem is that you can’t or won’t understand people such as myself, so you think the problem is the atheists, not Steve Ransom.
Imagine how different things might of been Steve if you had humbly engaged me (and others) in thoughtful discussion. We, for the most part, are loving, kind, decent people. Too bad you didn’t take the time to do this. ‘Tis too late now. You’ve shit in the pool, fouling the water. No one wants to swim in the pool now.
oh bruce, somebody with a brain who can see through all of yopur psycho-twaddle had the audacity to ‘do a likkle turd in your sparkling atheist waters?’ and now boohoo, no-no-nobody wa-wa-wants t-t-to sw-sw-swim in it anym-m-more? arr diddums, did you want me to be all loving and kind and sheepish, and humbly engage you (pass me the bucket) so you could come out with a different argument? no bruce, you live in a cesspool of your own making and you wll be held to account
I have gotten quite a few laughs from the comments on this post today. Steve I hate to say it but you are doing absolutely nothing good for your cause, and in some ways, harming it. Now please stop throwing pascal’s wager at us like it is going to change our minds. If you asked that question of a muslim for example they would probably say that they are going to heaven and you should pack some sunscreen and burn ointment. Just remember everyone dies and their bodies turn back into dust.
Steve I wish you well but some last bit of advice, stop telling us what we believe and take us at our own words. Listening to some fundie/evangelical talking point and taking that as the whole truth without actually listening or engaging the other group not only is rude but also sets up an us/them mentality that reinforces tribalism and all the other ills that go along with it. If you want to engage us, stop trying to convert us and just listen. We arent targets, just human beings trying to get through life same as you.
Back when I was an evangelical christian zealot, I did talk to my non christian friends about my beliefs. I also listened to them in turn. While neither side convinced the other, these conversations were honest, open, and friendly. Most of these people are still some of my best friends today. If you want to get anywhere with people outside your bubble, it is better to listen and not think of everyone as a convert.
Okay I’m done now. Pass the popcorn please?
Hi Steve,
I am not worried about where I will be when I die. I wish to focus my life on compassion, healing mercy and loving-kindness than on what happens when I exit. I often fail, but I make love my aim. Neither you not I know what happens to us when we die.
Neither you nor I know whether God exists or not. You might point to a creator but, even If this were to be admitted, we do not know what this creator is like. You believe that it is God revealed in Jesus. It may or may not be. You may say that you know by experiencing God or because the bible tells you so but these are statements of faith. They are not statements based on evidence.
Why not demonstrate by your life and lifestyle, deeds and words that you are a person on compassion and kindness and , as a Christian, let your light so shine before human beings that they may see your good works? Do your words add flavour to the conversation? Are they ” seasoned with salt”?
You have no idea whether there is a heaven or hell or, if there are such places or states of being, where you will be. Your certainty is either based on subjective experience or on the bible, but is not based on empirical evidence or on reason.
Shalom,
John Arthur
John,
You said:
“I am not worried about where I will be when I die. I wish to focus my life on compassion, healing mercy and loving-kindness than on what happens when I exit. I often fail, but I make love my aim.”
Bruce, the Atheist says, Amen.
Steven Ransom, I genuinely want to know the answer to these questions, do you really think that writing in the tone you do, actually ‘glorifies’ your Jesus? Do you actually think that many of us who appreciate this blog will rush back to your benighted faith because you have flung a couple of random bible quotes at us? Like Mr Gerencser, many of us were christians for most of our life and would never have believed we could walk away from it..till we started having genuine doubts and applied our brains to many things we had taken ‘on faith’. And saw the lack of love in our formerly-beloved churches. I suggest the unpleasant tone of your comments reinforces the hypocrisy we see in so many believers. Where does it say in the bible ‘Be nasty and rude for Jesus?’ If you are from Uckfield, your church website is one big lie…Love? Compassion? Humility? Care? Bah humbug!!!
And what Steve fails to understand, that as Christians we NEVER would have treated people as he does the readers of this blog.
Yes, I had at one time many of the beliefs he now holds, but I treated people — sinners and saints — with kindness, decency, and respect. You know, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The only reason that I publicize his comments/emails is to show that there is an ugly underbelly to Evangelical Christianity. For whatever reason, because I am an Evangelical preacher turned atheist, some zealots think they can say whatever they want about me, and by extension to my readers. And they can, but I wonder if they dare to consider how their venom and boorish behavior affects how people view Christianity. Who would want to be in the same church pew with people who think and act like this? Not me.
matilda, you’re stalking me now are you? wrong town im afraid. haha. anyway, there’s a social justice warrior on every atheist site somewhere, and well done, you claim the crown. to the people who know me, they know that i am not vile or unkind or whatever other ‘nasty and rude, lack of love bla bla bla’ label you want to give me. again i say, you atheists can give it but you can’t take it. grow a pair matilda. as soon as a bit of home truth is sent your way (and you think Jesus was cuddly and embracing and accepting of all the plastic claptrap he saw and heard?) you get all huffy and expect christians to curl up and flake away and say, oh yes dear atheist, walk all over me. like the post from bill who’s out there on the front, he delivered bruce some home truths on his character,weaknesses and treatment of his wife and family, he was vilified for ‘not being sweet and docile’. this site glorifies in its own vile ungodly transactions but is so quick to point fingers an quiver indignantly at anybody who isnt on their side. i know that nothing i have said in any of my posts on this site is nasty. when Jesus said get thee behind me satan to the scribes and pharisees, was that nasty and unloving matilda? bruce gerencser, as all of us, WILL stand before God on That Day and WILL be called to account, you inmcluded matilda. but maybe instead, you want me to engage in a six month honouring debate that will end up with you scoffing at me anyway. this site actually is the only site where yes, i do get angry as i think about the hypocrisy and false humility and boastful intellectualism that lives here.
“…i do get angry as i think about the hypocrisy and false humility and boastful intellectualism that lives here.”
Once again: pots and kettles, glass houses and throwing stones, motes and beams.
Steve, what happened to you? When Bruce posted this, I went back read through the interactions from your last visit here… and you’re almost a different person from who you were back then. (Maybe a year and a half ago?) Not only is your tone completely different, but your writing style has slipped – your older posts are clean, easy to read, properly capitalized, with minimal error in spelling and grammar. Your current posts are a mess.
In all honesty, I’m a bit worried about you. Has something happened to you? Are you all right? Do you need help?
thanks michael, i did say i would not post again, ive said all i need to say but i will send this to you. i am fine thank you, the point is last year, i truly took care to not criticize or call bruce out on his obvious intellectual inconsistencies and double standards, and took care to remind him of the God who is there for all of us (you obviously won’t agree on that point and that’s fine). looking back now though, i think i was trying in my own strength to do this, including presentation and punctuation etc etc because as has recently been proved on this site, atheists are boocoo pharisaic when it comes to that sort of thing and you’re not the first to point out my spell checking etc etc, your (collective) attention to detail in this regard reveals the heart of so many here, attending to the law and believing their spotless essays and presentations somehow elevate them – intellectualism – the unspoken prerequisite for bruce’s hallowed club. you’ll protest this observation of course but it’s here in spades.
anyway, back to the main point, as far as bruce gerencser is concerned, Jesus says there are sons of perdition and those who are set in their own ways leading to their own destruction. i now see that bruce gerencser 100% falls into that category. he has that particular ‘heart set’ and would betray with a kiss. and so, now that i have satisfied myself on that score, i just do not care to mind my ps and qs around him or anybody on this site, as i said, this site is a grand reinforcement club and anybody who is christian and does not act all gooey and loving-kindness when confronted by you guys is ‘gasp, shock, horror’ seen as a cruel, loveless zealot – thus reinforcing your collective atheistic presuppositions and making you even more right in your own eyes. review my posts, anybody, and tell me i have said anything nasty or cruel. all ive done is express my views candidly, and yes michael i am very sorry i cited you as the person who told somebody to F off, that wasnt you and i hope you accept my apology. so now, just as bruce says he is liberated, i too now feel liberated to say it just as i see it and i just don’t care if the likes of john tell me to look back and see how i have set back the cause or that matilda is affronted by y ‘unpleasant hypocrisy’. grow a pair matilda. and likewise, i’ll deliver my thoughts to bruce straight, mis-spellings and all (my untidiness in this regard has nowt to do with ailing mental health etc etc, i do have other things to do other than proof-read and re-proof-read). bruce is set on his satanic path, he thinks i am set on my deluded path. i am not bitter and twisted. he can do as he wishes. it’s all a matter of choice – our lives and choices are not pre-determined (and i’ll wait for the intellectual onslaught on that one). ive read through posts here from atheists where the vileness and sarcasm and obvious withering superiority comes shining through. yes there are faults on both sides – we’re all only human. the difference as i see it is that i have surrendered my life to Christ warts and all, and confession of my sins daily to the Jesus Who died so Heroically for us all renders me clean and forgiven in His sight, despite what the atheistic cat-calling may say otherwise. thanks michael. bye
As far as your spelling and punctuation is concerned….
These conventions of discourse make it possible for us to understand each other. Your refusal to take the time to correct your writing reflects that you really don’t care if people understand what you are saying. If what you say matters, then why not try to write in way that will give your words the broadest hearing. Above all, it is a matter of respect for others.
I sincerely wish you well, Steve. Take a deep breath and enjoy life. It is the only one you will ever have.
Bruce
Okay. If it’s a deliberate choice, well… fair enough. It makes you a bit harder to read, but I imagine you know that already.
I really did find it worrisome, though, so I’m glad it’s not significant of health-related issues (mental, emotional, or physical).
I think you’re wise to shake the dust off and move on from here, so I’m going to stop here. Be well.
Hi Steve,
You do know that the Pharisees were religious people, not atheists. Where did Jesus deliver harsh words to atheists? Jesus was more concerned about letting your light shine, than spewing harsh words at atheists. You seem to delight in what you do, I had a professor of NT who has published a few works such as “Jesus and the Law” (Eerdmans), and I remember him saying in one of his lectures that the Pharisees are much like the modern Fundamentalists. If this is true, then I suggest you save your harsh words for spiteful Fundamentalists and not for atheists.
Shalom,
John Arthur
Thank you for those kind christ-filled words. No answer to my genuine questions, just lots of personal crude insults in the name of Jesus. Is your preaching in Sussex as loving as your comments above?
This all started because you aproached Bruce! Remember that.
And although we may affirm some of what Bruce writes in his posts in the comment section it doesn’t mean we are sycophantic it just means what he says resonates with our own experience. I have disagreed many times with what Bruce has said. By the way your attitude and remarks back up many things bruce has written about how blind and illogical some fundamentalists are.
What you just wrote could be read right back to you. New frontiers is your club and you fawn over Terry Virgo. When you meet you reinforce each others delusions…..
Steve, you said
“this site actually is the only site where yes, i do get angry as i think about the hypocrisy and false humility and boastful intellectualism that lives here.”
You need to get out more. Like most here, I daresay, I visit other atheist blogs also. All of them suffer the odd visit from the likes of yourself, someone clear in his own mind as to what he believes, but actually unable to convey it as either rational or coherent in discussions. The types of point (I can’t describe them as arguments) you make, relentlessly, are made by these visitors elsewhere, and demolished as quickly. You might think you are bringing something new to the party but, believe me, there is nothing you can tell us that hasn’t been said before.
That said, both here and elsewhere, there are believers who have the skills, patience, and ability to understand good arguments, and can engage with others, including atheists. They are welcomed as a necessary shot in the arm when one gets complacent about one’s own position and, although I invariably disagree with them, I never resort to insults. Arguments are made, there will be a series of exchanges, perhaps heated at times, both sides often learning something, though as I say never insulting, and eventually we stop. The issue can never be won or lost in these forums. They aren’t debates with a show of hands at the end, but they are a documented set of comments that others will read, and hopefully learn from. If you would just take some deep breaths, really think about what you believe, and why, then you may be able to take a proper part in these discussions. As it is, I’m sorry to have to say, you are a bit of a laughing stock here.
Steve, I repost the above comments on purpose from this thread:
oh bruce, somebody with a brain who can see through all of yopur psycho-twaddle had the audacity to ‘do a likkle turd in your sparkling atheist waters?’ and now boohoo, no-no-nobody wa-wa-wants t-t-to sw-sw-swim in it anym-m-more? arr diddums, did you want me to be all loving and kind and sheepish, and humbly engage you (pass me the bucket) so you could come out with a different argument? no bruce, you live in a cesspool of your own making and you wll be held to account.
So when you die and are ‘held to account’ as you believe will happen, will you stand confidently at the judgement seat proud of your ugly tone? Do you preach like that? I repeat, rudeness and nasty insults are not a good advert for your integrity as a person or for the integrity of the faith that many of us here were as entrenched in as you are. Then we began to question, it was god who gave everyone a brain you say and we chose to engage ours.
Well said Matilda!
Thank you. Having been a leader of much church work – like many of us here – I have this vision of Mr Ransom leading a kids’ club, a mission, a bible study or whatever and talking face-to-face to an ‘enquirer’ in the rude, crude manner in which he writes here. Would he say to a parent collecting her child from a church club, ‘grow a pair’ and expect the child to come back ever again? And think it was a great advert for his ‘Lord and Saviour?’ (My back’s broad enough to take his personal insults, I’ve had much better ones from the disadvantaged kids I worked with, and better written notes too!)
” youre just another bitter boring athesit” Really?? Well, quit spending time here already. You are just another bitter boring fundie. I’m happy to read what my fellow “cult-worshippers” say about you, but your own comments frequently don’t make sense to me, and often not to my fellows.
Does Ransom actually have a question to ask?!? I’m still waiting. If he were to take you on in a debate …. it would be like walking straight into a brick wall. He’s right about one thing. Atheists are boring. Most of the exciting child molesters, sociopathic Presidents, con artists, bow down and worship my god cultists, blackmailers, hate mongers, moralists, magic miracles, devils, satanists, witches, extortionists, murderers and others on his side of the spiritual divide are hard to beat for excitement. I feel like I’m being left out of something. Damn that atheism!?!
What an end to such a beautiful relationship 😮
Yeah, another fundie loser.
Well, the things wrong with American Express do have their roots in Britain. The Pilgrims/ Puritans went to Holland before invading the U.S. continent, and they left Holland because they felt they were too liberal in that country.. The Ditch treated them well, never persecuted them. So said Brits came to set up their own theocracy, kill off the true owners, so they could sweep in and grab that land.,( in America). No one should be surprised by Steve Ransom.
Well, this gave me a laugh over my breakfast today. If anyone’s interested, this ancient grey-haired granny, Matilda, still hasn’t grown testicles as Stevie-boy said several times I should. (Imagine if I had, how confused my 2yo g/son would have been. He wanted to watch me shower last time I visited. Cos of lockdown, I hadn’t seen him for months, he was afraid I might disappear again if he took his eyes off me.)
Bruce, my comments of 2016-17 here were the first time I dared put my head above the atheist parapet and commit to print that I’d deconverted. Thanks for the opportunity to do that, it was cathartic – and I have to admit – enjoyable to have my first spat with a delusional fundy. (Had several more since of course.) Being a gerencserite, a devoted member of your cult just gets better and better as time goes by folks, doesn’t it?
Stan Ransom, the Connecticut Peddler, of Northern Adirondack Fame, called, he wants his last name back!