I recently received an email from a bought-by-the-blood, King-James- Only Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) man by the name of Lester Rees. My response to Rees is indented.
I read your story on this website about how the big bad world dealt you some crappy cards and all.
Wow, an Evangelical who can read. I suppose it is too much for me to expect Rees to actually comprehend my writing.
I don’t believe I have ever described earth as a “big bad world.” Rees must confuse my writing with that found in the Bible and that which is preached Sunday after Sunday in Evangelical churches. Is it not Evangelicals who believe the “world” is wicked, sinful, and ruined by Adam and Eve’s fall into sin? Isn’t it the Protestant Christian Bible that says the “world” is vile; that Evangelicals are not to love the things of the “world?”
I don’t believe I have ever described my life as one where I was “dealt crappy cards.” Through this blog, I try to give a thoughtful, honest accounting of my life — warts and all. I will leave it to readers to determine the quality of my past and present life.
Guess what? Life and people have dealt me some crappy cards as well.
Rees tries to make a connection with me by saying life and people have dealt him some crappy card too. But Rees is on his own on the “crappy cards” end. Live long enough, and you are going to have wounds and scars from the people, institutions, and things you have experienced. That I have faced a lot of pain, suffering, trauma, and loss in my life is just how it is. Rees, instead of being a decent human being, chooses instead to diminish or dismiss the difficulties I have experienced over the past 63 years. Why? Jesus.
Has that made my faith in the Lord diminish? On the contrary, it has made my faith in God much stronger.
We now come to Rees’ “look at my big dick” moment. For Evangelicals such as Rees, Jesus is Viagra. Life has brought him trials and adversity too, but one tablet of Jesus Viagra has made him stronger than that pathetic, weak atheist, Bruce Gerencser.
Seeing how most people live, including those who’ve done me wrong and comparing that with God’s way, I am even more convinced now that there is a God.
It seems Rees doesn’t like his fellow humans, especially those who have “harmed” him. This is strange, by the way, since Jesus commands Christians to love those who hate them; to materially help people who are their enemies. Jesus commands Rees to love his neighbors, even if they are atheists, Muslims, or Democrats. I will leave it to readers to decide whether Rees truly loves his neighbors as himself; if his words reflect a man who loves Jesus and the teachings of the Bible.
I don’t live my life anymore in hopes of gaining anything of this world or the love of people. I don’t care about any of that at all. I live to serve the Lord and realize that my riches are laid up for me after I die. The things that most who are of this world care about the most are very vain and shallow things. I despise & reject them.
I don’t believe for a moment that Rees doesn’t “live [his] life anymore in hopes of gaining anything of this world or the love of people.” I suspect that Rees, materially, has a house, land, automobile, dog/cat/hampster, and all the trappings of American consumerism. I don’t know of one Christian who resolutely lives according to Jesus’ teachings about how to live one’s life and about material possessions. Rees talks a good line, but I am certain that he is not living in a refrigerator box, wearing one set of clothes, and giving all his money away to the poor, widows, and orphans.
And that’s okay. We only have this one life to live. Does not the wisest man in the Bible, Solomon, that we should eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; that we should enjoy the fruits of our labor?
You probably think you are soooo edgy being an atheist and all. You are not that, let me tell you.
I don’t believe I have ever called myself “edgy,” — nor have readers of this blog. Open? Honest? Transparent? Sarcastic? Funny? Sure. But “edgy?” That’s really not my style. That said, if I had any thought of being “edgy,” Rees has sure put me in my place, right?
Job, who went through even worse things than you have gone through, kept his belief in the Lord and he was rewarded by God in the end. Even if I get no rewards in this life for my firm stand I have as a Christian, so be it. I’ll get them after I die. Praise be His name!
First, we have no evidence that the story of Job is about an actual person. In fact, an honest reading of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, shows that the story of Job is a fictional work. Does Rees have any evidence for his claim that Job is a real person? Of course not. He just believes this to be true, because it is in the Bible. Well, there’s a lot of bad shit in the Bible. Perhaps Rees would like to talk with me about these things; about the nature and history of the Bible; about whether the Bible is what Evangelicals claim it is.
Second, I don’t believe for a moment that Rees isn’t interested in “rewards” in this life. I know Christians are supposed to say that, but how they live suggests that they are very much interested in material and personal gain, Religious platitudes lack honesty. We know that Evangelicals are no different from the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. We know that Evangelicals enjoy the fruits of American capitalism and Mastercard and Visa. Rees might be able to convince the uninitiated that he is some sort of “special” Christian, but those of us who spent years intimately connected to Evangelicalism know better.
Third, Rees says that he is taking a “firm” stand for God/Jesus. There’s that Viagra reference again. What does it mean to take a “firm stand for Jesus”? Would Rees like to compare dick sizes with me? I suspect he will find that I, too, lived a rock-hard life for Jesus; that I devoted most of my life to loving and following after the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The difference between us is that I am honest about my true self; I am willing to forthrightly account for my life. Few Evangelicals are inclined to do this. Instead, what matters is outward appearance; looking the part. That’s why it is so easy to pretend to be a Christian. Dress a certain way, use the right lingo, behave publicly as Evangelicals do, and in short order everyone will think you really love Jesus. I know Rees thinks it is hard to be a good Christian, but it’s not. Sorry, acting like an Evangelical really isn’t that hard.
Rees believes that he will receive some sort of divine payoff after he dies — which is theologically incorrect. When Rees dies, he will be buried in a grave, and will remain there until Jesus comes to earth and resurrects him from the dead, Then, and only then, will Rees be judged by God and rewarded accordingly.
Let me conclude my reply to Rees with the advice I give on the ABOUT page:
You have one life. There is no heaven or hell. There is no afterlife. You have one life, it’s yours, and what you do with it is what matters most. Love and forgive those who matter to you and ignore those who add nothing to your life. Life is too short to spend time trying to make nice with those who will never make nice with you. Determine who are the people in your life that matter and give your time and devotion to them. Live each and every day to its fullest. You never know when death might come calling. Don’t waste time trying to be a jack of all trades, master of none. Find one or two things you like to do and do them well. Too many people spend way too much time doing things they will never be good at.
Here’s the conclusion of the matter. It’s your life and you best get to living it. Some day, sooner than you think, it will be over. Don’t let your dying days be ones of regret over what might have been.
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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Rees sent me the following response to my post:
“Rees believes that he will receive some sort of divine payoff after he dies — which is theologically incorrect. When Rees dies, he will be buried in a grave, and will remain there until Jesus comes to earth and resurrects him from the dead, Then, and only then, will Rees be judged by God and rewarded accordingly.”
“It’s only the Jehovah’s False Witnesses that believe in that ludicrous ‘soul sleep’ crap, not saved-by-the-Blood KJV-only fundamental Baptists lime myself. Don’t even try to associate me with JFWs. Apples & oranges.”
Ah yes, another theologically ignorant, I-know-I’m-right Fundamentalist Baptist. I never mentioned “soul sleep.” What I did state is that, according to historic Christian orthodoxy, the BODY remains in the grave until the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead. A good book on this subject is N.T. Wright’s book Surprised by Hope.
Lester, books are your friends.
Lester fears books. He believes that there is one book. Lester, you sound exactly like thousands of clones who have stumbled through here, armed to the teeth with salvation and mad as hell at the world.
Rees sent me another email that said:
I don’t believe I have ever described earth as a “big bad world.” Rees must confuse my writing with that found in the Bible and that which is preached Sunday after Sunday in Evangelical churches. Is it not Evangelicals who believe the “world” is wicked, sinful, and ruined by Adam and Eve’s fall into sin? Isn’t it the Protestant Christian Bible that says the “world” is vile; that Evangelicals are not to love the things of the “world?”
“Yes, the world does have a lot of evil in it, along with beauty, kindness, love, etc. Unlike yourself, though, I’m not gonna let the bad/evil things of the world stop me from believing in God, nothing will.”
Again, Rees has fabricated a false (lie) narrative about my life. I wonder if Rees would read the posts on the WHY page?
http://brucegerencser.net/why/
That’s a rhetorical question, by the way. He has already judged me without knowledge.
Rees might want to read his Bible and act accordingly:
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. (Proverbs 18:13)
This dude doesn’t get you at all. As long as he can mention Jesus, he can ignore real humans that are close by, humans that may be suffering. But most Christians don’t go out and help the poor. No, these types are always into the prosperity gospel and grasping as much worldly goods as they can get. They have contempt for the poor, the sick, minorities, and anyone who isn’t like them. I don’t know why they bother with Jesus, Trumpism is a better religious fit.
Another email from Rees:
“Rees tries to make a connection with me by saying life and people have dealt him some crappy card too. But Rees is on his own on the “crappy cards” end. Live long enough, and you are going to have wounds and scars from the people, institutions, and things you have experienced. That I have faced a lot of pain, suffering, trauma, and loss in my life is just how it is. Rees, instead of being a decent human being, chooses instead to diminish or dismiss the difficulties I have experienced over the past 63 years. Why? Jesus.”
On one hand, you were saying that you didn’t have a big chip on your shoulder about all the wrongs you’ve suffered. On the other hand, you write stuff like this in which you’re more-or-less pouting, advocating this notion that God doesn’t exist because of all the wrongs that you’ve suffered. It’s quite ludicrous, if you ask me. It’s like you’re holding your breath in front of God, saying to him, “If I can’t have everything go my way, I’m gonna hold my breath!”
Actually, had Rees bothered to read my story, he would have learned that the primary reason I left Christianity was because I no longer believed the central claims of Christianity to be true. I see no satisfactory evidence for the existence of God.
What’s ludicrous (and dishonest) is Rees’ refusal to accept my story at face value.
Rees is a masturbatory shamer. He delights in hurting people by suggesting they ‘pout’ or feel sorry for themselves. Rees should be so lucky as to have a clue about caring for the self. Bullies usually don’t know the first thing about caring for themselves. He instead hates the world and lives for his death-reward. It’s quite the delusion on display here, and quite the homogenized version we are so painfully accustomed to here.
Rees, you are a generic product. You have abandoned your life and have to shame/blame to manage your days. It is a sad, oft-repeated tale. Ask yourself why you hate yourself and have abandoned life… Just try it and see if you hear any answer at all… What harmed you so badly that you gave up the wonderful world with all its immense challenges, sufferings, joys and sorrows? Do you even know what made you like this?
Another email from Rees:
“We now come to Rees’ “look at my big dick” moment. For Evangelicals such as Rees, Jesus is Viagra. Life has brought him trials and adversity too, but one tablet of Jesus Viagra has made him stronger than that pathetic, weak atheist, Bruce Gerencser.”
“Yeah, Jesus is like Viagra. Good comparison, I never would’ve thought up that one myself. He has given me strength to go on and strive for the ultimate prize – eternal salvation. Amen!!!”
Another email from Rees:
“It seems Rees doesn’t like his fellow humans, especially those who have “harmed” him. This is strange, by the way, since Jesus commands Christians to love those who hate them; to materially help people who are their enemies. Jesus commands Rees to love his neighbors, even if they are atheists, Muslims, or Democrats. I will leave it to readers to decide whether Rees truly loves his neighbors as himself; if his words reflect a man who loves Jesus and the teachings of the Bible.”
“Who said I hated them? I just see the way others live, including those who’ve done me wrong, and I realize just how base and vain their ways are. I hope the scales will fall from their eyes, like they did from mine.”
Another email from Rees:
“I don’t believe for a moment that Rees doesn’t “live [his] life anymore in hopes of gaining anything of this world or the love of people.” I suspect that Rees, materially, has a house, land, automobile, dog/cat/hampster, and all the trappings of American consumerism. I don’t know of one Christian who resolutely lives according to Jesus’ teachings about how to live one’s life and about material possessions. Rees talks a good line, but I am certain that he is not living in a refrigerator box, wearing one set of clothes, and giving all his money away to the poor, widows, and orphans.
“And that’s okay. We only have this one life to live. Does not the wisest man in the Bible, Solomon, that we should eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; that we should enjoy the fruits of our labor?”
“Actually, I don’t have much in the category of worldly possessions. Except for a vehicle, the apartment I live in, and a few other miscellaneous personal possessions, I don’t have much at all compared to others.”
Rees violates several Biblical commands in this comment. So much for being a “Bible-believer.” Besides, isn’t the life of Jesus the standard, not Lester, the Poor?
Another email from Rees, one in which he admits using circular reasoning and rejecting what the Bible says about death, the grave, and resurrection from the dead:
“First, we have no evidence that the story of Job is about an actual person. In fact, an honest reading of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, shows that the story of Job is a fictional work. Does Rees have any evidence for his claim that Job is a real person? Of course not. He just believes this to be true, because it is in the Bible. Well, there’s a lot of bad shit in the Bible. Perhaps Rees would like to talk with me about these things; about the nature and history of the Bible; about whether the Bible is what Evangelicals claim it is.
Second, I don’t believe for a moment that Rees isn’t interested in “rewards” in this life. I know Christians are supposed to say that, but how they live suggests that they are very much interested in material and personal gain, Religious platitudes lack honesty. We know that Evangelicals are no different from the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. We know that Evangelicals enjoy the fruits of American capitalism and Mastercard and Visa. Rees might be able to convince the uninitiated that he is some sort of “special” Christian, but those of us who spent years intimately connected to Evangelicalism know better.
Third, Rees says that he is taking a “firm” stand for God/Jesus. There’s that Viagra reference again. What does it mean to take a “firm stand for Jesus”? Would Rees like to compare dick sizes with me? I suspect he will find that I, too, lived a rock-hard life for Jesus; that I devoted most of my life to loving and following after the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The difference between us is that I am honest about my true self; I am willing to forthrightly account for my life. Few Evangelicals are inclined to do this. Instead, what matters is outward appearance; looking the part. That’s why it is so easy to pretend to be a Christian. Dress a certain way, use the right lingo, behave publicly as Evangelicals do, and in short order everyone will think you really love Jesus. I know Rees thinks it is hard to be a good Christian, but it’s not. Sorry, acting like an Evangelical really isn’t that hard.
Rees believes that he will receive some sort of divine payoff after he dies — which is theologically incorrect. When Rees dies, he will be buried in a grave, and will remain there until Jesus comes to earth and resurrects him from the dead, Then, and only then, will Rees be judged by God and rewarded accordingly.”
First off, yes, I do believe that Job actually did exist and everything that was written about him in the Bible is true. Why, you ask? It’s simply because it’s in the Bible. All the Words of the Lord are pure and true. I know that’s circular logic and all.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” – Hebrews 11:6-8
Secondly, I don’t believe that anything I do or any way that I behave will have anything to do with my salvation. It is Christ’s righteousness and Christ’s righteousness alone and my 100% faith in it that’ll get me saved. And no, I am not any sort of “special” Christian. How can I be special if it is Christ’s righteousness and Christ’s righteous alone that’ll get me saved? I’ll say it once again that I do not believe in that soul sleep damnable heresy that the Jehovah’s False Witnesses believe in. I believe that one immediately goes to either Heaven or Hell after he or she dies. I’m a Fundamental Baptist, not one of those Jehovah’s False Witnesses.
And yes, the power of Christ does have that fuzzy warm Viagra-like effect on me! Thanks for pointing that out again! 🙂
Toodles!!!
“I don’t believe that anything I do or any way that I behave will have anything to do with my salvation.”
So, in other words, he admits that Christianity has absolutely no moral content. Which completely destroys any moral argument for the existence of God.
He’s right you know — his behaviour doesn’t have anything to do with salvation.
Mainly because there is no salvation. He’s going to live and die and stay dead just like everyone else, no matter how fervently he believes.
This guy looks past the suffering of people, says it’s all for the good, then tops it off with the odd look at that guy over there, he is worse off than you. Such a typical non-caring christian view that they wrap in a fake “I love you” message.
Then, once they are done accusing someone of letting suffering seperate them from god, they go on the attack and start trying to belittle and insult. Surely the only reason you can reject god is because you are only looking out for yourself and trying to be sooooo edgy and cool.
Or, on the other hand, maybe some of us reject christian dogma because .it is not logical, and is in fact quite harmful to many people. Maybe we reject it due to these fine examples of christian love, as shown by Lester in his unsolicited and unwarranted attack on Bruce. Maybe we have looked at this carefully and considered it over time, and found the whole christian narrative based on nothing but unconnected stories and ancient myth.
But I may be biased, I have a very strong dislike of christianity for personal reasons.I did try, but then I realized christianity was more harmful to me than helpful. I am happy I made it out of the darkness of christianity and into the light of the world.
I suppose I am challenged in the intellect department, but I cannot fathom why Rees contacted you and continues to engage in arguing with you. I didn’t find anything helpful or caring about it, merely a recounting of a myth about someone who “had it way worse than you, Bruce” and “praise Jesus, I am saved”. Is he just looking to engage with a Big Bad Real Live Atheist? Did he think he would “win”, or better yet, speak so eloquently that said Big Bad Atheist might fall on his face in worship of Jesus? Really? Obviously he was ignorant of the research you have done and the 5000 books you’ve read on the historicity of Christianity. I know, I know, the KJV Bible is the only book worth reading….
Seriously, what is Rees hoping to accomplish here?
Seriously, what is Rees hoping to accomplish here?
Well, he is spreading his ‘love’ as debilitated as it is… He is a bully for God and an excellent example of why I had to leave the church and eventually Christianity itself. Rees has lost the ability to allow any perspective on himself and instead quotes scripture to cover himself in warm and fuzzy denial…. trouble is, it doesn’t work, does it, Rees… You have to go out and stoke the fires of Christian hate-love on the internet. You have to judge others harshly because you have not been able to care for yourself and have thrown your essential humanity to the wind in order to follow the preacher who is not a Jehovah-false-witness. And your final word will always be denial, God said it, I obey, etc.
He can’t lose. If his “Hail Mary Pass” of engaging Bruce gets our hero re-Christianized, it’s a huge win for Rees, he makes his deity very happy with him. If it fails, he’s done his duty putting in a good word for Christ, and he can now let Bruce burn in Hell without any guilt on his part.
Note that nothing I said in the previous sentence suggests concern for Bruce the fellow human.
Lester is not bright. He is a very sad little sycophant to a make-believe tyrant.
“‘Job, who went through even worse things than you have gone through, kept his belief in the Lord and he was rewarded by God in the end. Even if I get no rewards in this life for my firm stand I have as a Christian, so be it. I’ll get them after I die. Praise be His name!”
Hmmm, Job was harmed by this god who wanted to win a bet with either a mere angel or the ultimate expression of evil, either way this shows this god to be a petty vain idiot. Then this god rages and swaggers around like a bully, whining that Job dares question it. This god then admits it was wrong and tries to pay Job off. Job ends up showing he’s a coward and accepts the payoff.
Not exactly a great story to show off this god or its pathetic followers.
Rees has a lot of time on his hands.
And I was actually going to disagree with your read on “Guess what? Life and people have dealt me some crappy cards as well.” Rees isn’t trying to make a connection with you here; this is just part of his setup to put you in your place by establishing how morally worthy he is (for having experienced these things and kept his faith) and by contrast how morally worthy you aren’t for having let those thing remove your faith.
(Never mind that that’s not why you lost your faith. Never mind that that’s not how any of this works. Never mind that his claim to moral superiority is based on a whole framework of faulty assumptions.)
No, about the only thing here that sets Rees apart is that he thinks the Book of Job — in which God, being all-knowing and perfectly just, decides to completely ruin a guy’s life over a bet — is any kind of argument in favor of the virtues of Christianity.
Other than that, he’s just another self-righteous moral scold whose attempts at Verbal Bullying For Jesus fail because he has no understanding of why former Christians no longer believe.
I sent many years in the healthcare field and witnessed terrible suffering on a daily basis. As a Christian I prayed for these victims to no avail. This was a key factor leading to my deconversion. I also pondered the dogma that many of these people would be destined for an eternity of suffering far worse than they had experienced in this life. The attitude of Christians who shrug this off and say “ oh well I’m going to heaven so it’s all good” is repulsive. To take the story of Job as true and uplifting ignores the suffering and death of Job’s family. I am disgusted by the arrogance and selfishness of fundamentalists who care about nothing but their own eternal destinies and are indifferent to the suffering of their fellow human beings.
It sounds like Lester has little to live for. And is simply an angry, lonely person.
It sounds like Lester has little to live for. And is simply an angry, lonely person. Mixed up. What kind of parents name their sons Lester ? That’s a Southern name. It seems that churches have failed him. That said, Job lived thousands of years ago, his way of beliefs typical of the Middle East he was born in. Job doesn’t apply to current times, whether he lived or not. If he actually did, and went through those events in the Bible, he had a great life before he was the butt of a wager. I’m not impressed.
“Lester” isn’t necessarily Southern. My mother’s brother, the grandson of Irish and German immigrants who settled in the same southeastern corner of Minnesota where he lived his entire life, was “Lester”.
Christians love to use the “you’re just an edgy atheist” insult as if atheists are in some sort of teenage rebellion phase they think will pass. Granted, I guess there are some folks like that. But did he bother to R.E.A.D.? No. He just wants to preach and condemn to please his vile god in order to gain “heavenly treasures” and to make himself feel better. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Lester’s goal wasn’t to fulfill the “great Commission” or bring Bruce back into the fold; he’s just another god-botherer who’s mad at atheists for denying his beliefs.
Excellent responses, Bruce. Honestly, I don’t know how you manage not to torpedo these blowhards out of the water time after time. I admire your restraint.
I’ve been reading Bruce’s blogs for over 8 years, and he’s not edgy in the slightest. There are prominent atheists who would be happy with the overthrow of all religion. Meanwhile, Bruce is a “live and let live” type. Perfectly happy to let Christians be Christians, as long as they don’t try to force the rest of us to be Christians. (I’m saying Christian as that is the issue here, I’m sure he’d feel the same way about people practicing any religion.) Lester didn’t even read enough of Bruce to understand the tiniest bit of Bruce’s character, which is to help other people. sigh
Yulya, in junior high we had a janitor named Lester who would ‘display’ his penis to the girls by strategically positioning his pants in a certain way. We would call him “Lester, Chester child molester”. So every time I hear that name… ?
there are always idiots. I’m very fond of Lester Holt, the fellow who usually is the main person on NBC evening news shows.
Mr. Rees, suffering is not a fucking competition.
Exactly. The goal should be to reduce/eliminate pain and suffering.
May Rees’s God forgive him.
Yikes !! Bourbon & Ginger, I just hope someone at school ” baptized ” that janitor with an ice cold can of soda right where it counted, in addition to being fired. Then arrested ! One can always hope, lol.
PLEASE tell me he’s reading these comments! ? What an asswipe. He probably drove all his friends away with his smug sermonizing and inability to listen to anyone besides himself. That’s why he’s repeatedly emailing you—all that Jesus Viagra, and no one to engage with, the poor horndog is lonely.
He’s no doubt reading the comments; his barrage of emails to Bruce suggests that he’s taking a very active interest in this post…
I actually came to ask, as an ignorant Unitarian, what the deal is with these people and the KJV. How did it get such prominence in the evangelical community? I mean, it’s nice and all, not a great translation as I understand it but the language is lovely in places…. but the C of E isn’t at the root of most American evangelical denominations, so why is the KJV such a big deal as opposed to other similar but not identical bible versions? Perhaps Lester will educate me. 🙂
The arguments they used are many. Ignorant, to be sure, but whole books have been written in defense of King James-onlyism.
Let me give you one argument: the NIV has fewer words in it than the KJV. SEE! SEE! SEE! These Bible-denying translators have taken away from the very Word of God. 🙂
Now you know.
Wow. Just wow. 😀
Yulya, this was in the early 80s. Different times I guess. Maybe he had too much Jesus Viagra!
Emersonian, I can’t speak for others, but the Baptist churches here in the south almost exclusively use the KJV. Some of the more ignorant among them (there are a lot) believe the Bible was translated into English directly to King James (some even believe it was written in English!). I shit you not. ?✋?
I had a student once (who I believe was actually a Jehovah’s Witness) who insisted to me that the Bible had always been in English. So… yeah. But I guess I just would have thought that the KJV was more an Anglican/Episcopal thing, not ‘murrican enough for good American Baptists! 🙂 Shows what I know.
Doncha just love it when x-tians like this guy think they’ve done a ‘checkmate atheist’ by referring to a Hero Of The Faith from their fictional book? A crazee crazee fundy Trump-loving blogger wrote the other day ‘When you get given a Nebuchadnezzar as a president, BE A DAVID.’ R-i-i-ight, commit adultery and have her husband killed, a very x-tian role model for the rest of humanity then. I beg to disagree!
Happy Holidays to you, Bruce and Polly, family. Stay safe and enjoy. And the same for everyone. I’m celebrating Indigenous Day with my TV crazy ex-room mate, and chowing down, binge-watching DVDS, lol.