I find it amusing how my Evangelical critics think I live my life. Over the past thirteen years, I have heard all sorts of silly, outlandish things about the former Evangelical pastor, Bruce Gerencser. Evidently, verses about lying and corrupt communication have been cut out of their Bibles. Either that, or their objective is to trash my name, hoping that readers will stop frequenting this site. Or, maybe, just maybe, they are mean-spirited, judgmental assholes who don’t know how to play well with others.
Take Spaniard VIII, the purveyor of the Spiritual Minefield: Exposing the spiritual landmines of the devil through the Word of God blog. Sp8 loves to throw shade my way. He’s fond of distorting and lying about what it is atheists actually believe. Sp8, in particular, is quite into all things Satan. Anything and everything he disagrees with or cannot understand is labeled Satanic. It should come as no surprise that Sp8 thinks I am a tool of Satan, used by the evil one to deceive people he deems “weak” Christians. Atheists, in general, are Satanic too. Sp8 is a twenty-first-century Fundamentalist equivalent of anti-communist Joseph McCarthy. Everywhere Sp8 looks, he sees Satan. Why, I suspect if Sp8 looks under his bed at night, he sees Satan lurking there, ready to pounce on him if he takes off his spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18).
The remainder of this post is for the Sp8s of the world, people who think I am possessed by Satan, AKA the Devil, Lucifer, Slewfoot, Beelzebub, Son of God, Mephistopheles, AntiChrist, Moloch, Prince of Darkness, Father of Lies, the Evil One, Abaddon, Accuser of the Brethren, Beast, Belial, Dragon, Wicked One, King of the Bottomless Pit, Leviathan, Prince of the Power of the Air, Ruler of this World, Ruler of Darkness, Serpent, Son of Perdition, and Morningstar (names of Satan).
I arise from my bed, ready to face a new day. I raise my hands towards Heaven, praying, “Lord Satan, thank you giving me another day to worship you; to advance your kingdom on earth; to wage war against Sp8 and all the evil Christians. I pray you will give me strength to do your work, on earth as it is in Heaven — err, I mean Hell. Sorry about that, Lord. Amen.”
I put on my Satan Rocks tee shirt, God Sucks underwear, pants, and ball cap. I love my hat. It has a big A emblem on its front, signifying my allegiance to the one true faith of atheism. My grandchildren, however, think the A stands for Aardvark. Someday, they will know the truth. I long for the day when my grandchildren worship with me on Halloween — the day when atheists make blood sacrifices to Satan and bob for apples afterward.
I spend the afternoon reading atheist books. I must keep my mind sharp if I ever hope to defeat Sp8 — a man who has John Holmes-sized apologetical skills. Later in the day, my lunch of broiled aborted fetuses, smothered in the blood of Christians, makes its way through my digestive tract. Time to use the bathroom. It is during my daily constitution that I “read” the Word of God. Well, kind of read. I have to decide if I will go Old Testament or New Testament to wipe my ass. Today, it’s NT, so I rip John 3 out of my King James preaching Bible and take care of business.
Finally it is time for me to sit down and start writing for The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser. I offer up a quick word to Satan, and then, filled with anger, rage, bitterness, and hatred for the Christian God, Jesus, the Bible, and Sp8, I begin to write. My blood pressure rises to 180/130 as I slam my fingers into the keys on my Model M IBM keyboard. Soon, I am frothing at mouth, uttering invectives against SP8’s God.
Several hours later, I finish writing. Time to post it to my blog. Before I do, I offer up another prayer to my Lord. “Dear Satan. Thank you for filling me with your words. I pray that you will use this post to tear down strongholds and defeat the true evil one, Jesus. May countless souls be saved by reason and common sense. Amen.”
As evening turns into night, it’s time for me to watch TV. I scan through the twelve Christian channels I receive with my Directv satellite package. “Nothing to see here,” I say to myself. “Con-artists, the lot of them, out to fleece their flocks. Keep preaching the word, angels of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)
My fellow Satan worshiper, Polly, arrives home from work, and we soon head for bed. Polly quickly falls off to sleep, but not me. My mind is filled with thoughts about my hatred for God, Sp8, and all things Christian. I am already planning tomorrow’s attack on True Christianity®. Finally, I fall asleep, dreaming of a day when reason rules the land and the Sp8s of the world finally understand that atheists don’t believe in God or Satan. Both are mythical beings, the creations of Bronze Age minds. Will the Sp8s of the world ever see the light? Oh Lord Satan, may it be so.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen 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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Atheists worship Satan? Nonsense, we just have tea with him, Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, and Odin on the third Sunday of the month. Bruce, hasn’t anyone invited you? Beware, it’s Satan’s turn to bring the snacks, and he’s REALLY into jalapeños.
🙂
Amazing and poignant. That’s almost a perfect description of my workday. Nobody really appreciates the amount of Satanic influence that goes into web design, cloud computing, and database management… but it’s there, in all the little touches.
It turns out that Satan is actually the good guy. After all, he didn’t commit genocide against an entire planet!
Sounds like a full day, Bruce, lol. It’s weird to think of all the different world views people have-his is filled with fascinating characters like God and Satan who are constantly doing all kinds of things. Your life is devoid of these players. Yet you’re both living similar lives, eating, sleeping, working, going to the store, etc. If you met in the grocery store and didn’t realize who the other was, you’d just think there’s a regular guy buying groceries. You are probably both living a pretty happy, peaceful life. So…believing the correct things doesn’t seem to have much to do with how we fare in real life.
Bruce, I’m curious regarding your thoughts about why “christians” are so obsessed with sex. It seems all black collar crime revolves around sex in one form or another. Perhaps you can address this in your blog or direct me to a post of yours that already does this. Thanks.
I’m not Bruce, but as an ‘incel’ who due to my issues has never married, and in all likelihood never will, I went thru about 8 years of ‘Evangelical purity CRAP’ in the church before bailing. I have a few theories- 1) Their sexuality scares the shit out of them as it can’t be easily controlled. No matter how much time they spend in church, reading the Babble, or in prayer, those kinky desires just won’t go away! 2) Fear driven repression is the only methodology their ‘god’ has apparently to keep people struggling, and maybe perhaps at times, showing some semblance of ‘obedience’ to the long list of ridiculous, prudish rules. Can’t stop wacking off in the shower every morning? Just fix your mind firmly upon HELL, and make a decision as to whether or not those few moments of pleasure is worth an ETERNITY of agony! 3) They’re JEALOUS! They look out thru the stained glass, and see a world that is enjoying themselves, and not total uptight pains in the ass regarding S-E-X, and they can’t understand it. ‘Sure, those folks are gonna B-U-R-N!!!! one day, but I sure wish the hell I was having a modicum of the fun they’re having right now!4) They think it is their JOB to peddle to ‘the World’ why their, errrrr, I mean Gawwdz view of human sexuality is the ULTIMATE BESTEST! And they will not accept any hint that they could be WRONG! A few ideas anyway-
Satan is my main man! On Saturdays, we sacrifice a goat. We enjoy our devotional time together and have covered a lot of ground, reading Dawkins, books about science and history, doing calculus equations, with the dulcet tones of Metallica playing in the background. Satan really likes the Harry Potter series too – he thinks Voldemort is a real hoot! He mentioned the other day that we should get some black nail polish.
Am besten, doood….AM BESTEN!!! 🙂
Sometimes I think to myself, unleash Ephesians 6 right back at them. Rip a spiritual warfare prayer back in their face.
Father God,
In the name of Jesus, I rebuke Sp8 and so on and so forth.
So often, people don’t realize that kind, compassionate and loving atheists are all around them. Some of them ministering to their fellow Sp8 human beings at times of great distress. They don’t even realize it. Naturally though, they’ll just say those kind, compassionate, loving and serving atheists are just demons disguised as angels of light.
I found it amusing that Bruce referred to SpaniardVIII as “Sp8”, because the most popular brand of beer in my town in south of New Zealand is called “Speight’s”, and Sp8 looks like shorthand for “Speight”.
Anyway, good on ya mate!
John Holmes?! That made me laugh.
Good stuff and it seems you may get a day off to go levitate a stadium. Love this post!
Your God Sucks undies do have a photo of Jesus on the rear, don’t they, Bruce? Otherwise they’re not THE official Satanic brand. : )
Hey, Bruce, I see that something deep down inside is bothering you. Jesus loves you and can still forgive you if you repent of all your sins and ask Him, to be your Lord and Savior. Atheism is satanic in nature and antichrist ideology, no doubt about that. Only the Holy Spirit can take your blinders off. You can talk all day about me, it doesn’t bother me one bit. I know that the demons behind you are the ones bothered by my ministry. All glory to Jesus Christ.
My main focus is to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The love that Jesus showed for mankind was by dying for their sins and afterward rising from the dead. Having victory over death. There is hope in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
sigh
Spaniard rages against Bruce and Satan, but Spaniard doesn’t seem to realize that he is “Satan” inspired, if by Satan you mean diabolos (the diabolical one) or the devil.
Spaniard’s religion is not loving kindness. He’s an OT Fundamentalist and a book of Revelation fanatic with its warrior God and its Jihadi Jesus. His OT god is worse than the character called “Satan” because he murders, or commands the murder of, little children and babies.
Atheism is not evil, in itself. There are many kind atheists who love their fellow human beings and do a far better job of loving their enemies as the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount and Sermon on the Plain commanded his disciples than Spaniard and his fanatical followers do.
S8, why does “Jesus” need you as a messenger? Cat got his tongue?
As for salvation, I reject it unconditionally. No one dies in my place for anything allegedly did, and if that isn’t good enough for your hell-creating imaginary fiend, that’s just too bad.
There is no victory over death. You are destined to lose your faith forever at the moment of your eventual demise, because conscious thought, belief and knowledge are all 100% dependent on a living brain.
Dear Sp8,
I think something deep down inside you is bothering you. We love you and we forgive you. No apology necessary. Christianity is quite diverse and we’re use to all sorts of varieties and well, all the spiritual warfare that comes with it. We can’t take your blinders off. That belongs to you and you alone. You can continue your warfare all day and most of us aren’t bothered by it though well, it gets tiresome at times. I know in my heart there are no demons behind you and yes to tell you the truth, some are bothered by your ministry but it’s because we’re concerned about your well-being. We wish for you only health and peace.
Our main focus is to treat you with some sort of respect (sometimes we don’t do very well here because we’re only human after all). Some of us were you at one time. We believed too. Now we don’t. Oddly enough, many of us still have hope.
You loving atheist friend,
Zoe
Spaniard,
Your main focus is NOT on a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, if by “saving” you mean that which makes you whole. Your website states that your purpose is “Exposing the landmines of the Devil through the Word of God”, not “focusing on a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ”. Why continue to lie to us? We all know what you are up to, don’t we?
Hello Mr. Arthur,
If you go to my blog, on the right side of it, you will find…
“Salvation
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I encourage you today to do so. Repent and believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and took your punishment upon Himself, was buried and on the third day rose from the grave. If you give your life to Jesus by faith in His sacrifice, He will give you eternal life.”
I do two things in my blog.
1. Exposing false doctrine and demonic religion
2. Telling people how to get saved through faith in Jesus Christ.
I even have tracts that can be downloaded in a pdf file to give out. One of the tracts talks about how to get saved.
So Spaniard, here’s what you say
“ I do two things in my blog.
1. Exposing false doctrine and demonic religion
2. Telling people how to get saved through faith in Jesus Christ.”
In other words you give your opinions.
My opinions are that
1. Your doctrine is false.
2. Believing in demons consigns you to the loony bin.
3. Having faith as a way of getting saved makes absolutely no sense.
You’re obsessed with demons, not with salvation. The Greek word sozo, which is often translated salvation, means that which makes you whole. Nothing you say on your blog makes anyone whole. Your religion is a religion of condemnation and the alleged wrath of God, in terms of its emphasis, rather than on compassion, healing mercy and loving-kindness.
You write so much about Satan, the Devil and demons and about the so-called wrath or anger of God and people burning in hell forever that your claim to be a compassionate person lacks credibility.
Giving out tracts helps no-one. You either lie about atheists or you are totally ignorant of what they are like. Many atheists are kind and considerate persons who actually help those in need unlike some Fundamentalists. Your whole problem stems from thinking that the bible is the Word of God when some of it has a god who is bloodthirsty, very violent and cruel. Parts of this book were written by ancient savages who created their god in their own likeness.
If you follow an alleged inerrant bible you will eventually become like the god that you believe in, or maybe you are already there, I don’t know. You need to do a u-turn and repent of your bloodthirsty Fundamentalism.
Lol, I will never accept your nonsense, and be an atheist. You might believe that you came from a monkey, but I believe that The true Living God, Jesus Christ, created the universe.
In my worldview, “getting saved” is one of the very worst things one can do. It is the height of cowardice to let someone die in your place, and just as bad to do so in the hope of appeasing the evil deity described in the Bible.
It doesn’t matter that one is being “saved” from nothing, by nobody. The psychological effect of such craven behaviour is bad in and of itself.
Eternal life is also rather pointless and unappealing unless you’re one of those people who is terrified by the prospect of not existing. (I’m not in that demographic, and am fine with being alive for only a limited time.)
Spaniard said “ Lol, I will never accept your nonsense, and be an atheist. You might believe that you came from a monkey, but I believe that The true Living God, Jesus Christ, created the universe.”
Humans didn’t ‘come from monkeys’, they are monkeys, or rather apes, of which monkeys are a version (we are all anthropoids). We are all, however, descended from a common ancestor. This, incidentally, isn’t opinion but fact.
Or we could be a simulation.
So you will never accept my nonsense and be an atheist. I didn’t ask you to. What I asked you is to do a u-turn on your violent conception of your barbaric god of the bible. This doesn’t necessarily imply that you become an atheist. You could become a very liberal Christian who doesn’t believe in literal demons, or perhaps a Buddhist or a follower of some other religion or even an agnostic. Of course, I wouldn’t mind it if you did become an atheist.
But if you are going to practice religion, why not make loving-kindness your religion. This requires no holy books, no temples or churches or other places of worship, no religious gurus to parse so-called holy books nor anything else religious. Just practice kindness to all you meet, no matter what they believe.
One thing that might help you (though it is not necessarily a help to some people) is to practice slow breathing, breathing in and out to calm your mind. You could combine this with a loving-kindness meditation, practised by many Buddhists.
John,
Wow, all I can say is, LOL
Whenever I hear religious people talking about their preferred deity, it sounds like this:
“You need Gerblerpablerp in your life to make things better. Gerblerpablerp loves you and sacrificed his bajingles for you. But the adversary Pingerglast is a deceiver, working in your heart to keep you from the one truth of Geblerpablerp. Surrender to Gablerpablerp and follow his commands. Wear blue on Tuesdays. Drink the holy Rezomple cocktail in his name on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Cut your right thumbnail into a point and paint it orange, so that all may know you are a follower of the right just holy Geberpablerp. And donate generously to the Temple of Gablerpablerp. Amen.”
I just left a comment on the Spiritual Minefield website, as this is something in which I’ve had personal experience. I thought I’d share it here:
I once worked for a deliverance minister who lived in a fantasy world of battling the enemy on the front lines. In the year I worked for her, she told detailed and bizarre stories of actual demon and angel (mostly demon) sightings, relating them as casually as if discussing the weather.
Events as trivial as a jammed ATM machine or missing a red light, were revised into demonic attacks. A demon once paralyzed and tried to choke her in her sleep; she managed to move her foot enough to wake her husband next to her, who woke up and banished the demon with spiritual warfare. Another time, she spoke of seeing a squat demon with legs like tree trunks and a perfectly round mouth, being wrapped in a chain by angels and led away. The demon turned its head around a full 180 degrees and berated her as it went. And at another time, a shining angel appeared in front of her, placed its hand on her head and gave her a blessing. She also spotted the archangel Michael once while out and about, and sometimes mentioned “my friend Michael.” And so on, and so on, and so on.
Now this person also had a hair-trigger temper and just as routinely ridiculed people behind their backs. She had her intimidation tactics down pat: mimicking in a dopey voice things you’d said–if anyone said something she didn’t like, she mimicked them in this way–raising her voice, shouting you down.
It ended when business slowed and the company laid me off. The manager assured me he’d call me if things picked back up. I found out much later, that at one point he was about to call me back, but she’d told him I’d gone to Florida. I’d had no contact with her at all since the day I was let go.
Are these two things related? I think so. I’m reminded of how the lamp of the body is the eye. She dwelt on Satan and demons all day, every day, and seemed locked into the habit of it. What you’re always taking in, is bound to come out. The sad part is that she had no idea this was going on–and if anyone tried to tell her, she’d start right in with the ridicule and mimicking.
Now I’m also reminded of Nietzsche. Yes, he once said God is dead, but he also made what I think is a very keen observation: Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.<
Let’s hope maybe it does some good.