Spend any amount of time on this site, and you will likely read posts detailing emails and social media messages I have received from Evangelical Christians. I left Christianity in November 2008. Since then, countless Evangelicals have attempted to evangelize me, attack my character, or threaten me with Hell. Rare is the thoughtful, polite Evangelical. I mean ivory-billed woodpecker rare. I see nothing in their behavior that commends Evangelical Christianity to unbelievers. Why would any of us ever want to willingly be in the same room with such people?
Some Evangelicals make it their personal mission to attack and harass me. What drives these people to do so? I have long pondered this question, wondering why these people repeatedly email me, send me messages on social media, and leave comments on my blog? What do they hope to accomplish? Surely they know that there is no chance that I will ever become an Evangelical Christian again. The same can be said for many of the readers of this blog. We are not low-hanging fruit. We are not prospects for Heaven. Why not go after people who might be more receptive to the gospel than Bruce Gerencser and his fellow agnostics and atheists?
I’m convinced that some Evangelical zealots have an unhealthy obsession with me. Why is that? I suspect some of them have fantasies about me. Outraged over what I write, they fantasize about me burning in Hell or being tortured by God. Others gleefully fantasize about me dying a slow, painful death (and they see my current health problems as proof they are right). And still other fantasize about God saving me and mightily using me to win souls to Jesus.
Here’s what I think. I am like porn to the Evangelicals mentioned above. They can’t quit looking at me and fantasizing about what they would like to do to me (or what God would do to me). I have thought that maybe I need to send the David Tees, David Barkers, Rev. Makerfields, and Daniel Kluvers of the world — my latest “lovers” — a naked photo of me they can put it on the ceilings above their beds. 🙂 Good idea?
Such people are not going away. As long as I continue to write, I will have to contend with people who are obsessed with me. I will continue to make public their emails, messages and blog posts, and do my best to ignore their harassment behind the scenes.
I appreciate your continued support.
They are obsessed with you because, according to their theology, people like you should not exist. So you are embarrassment to them. And, because you have a very public presence, you are a public embarrassment to them.
“I am like porn” LOLOLOL! (But you’re not wrong…)
It’s like how all those anti-gay ministers who talk all the time about the evils of gay sex. Apparently they are thinking of it more than actual practicing LGBTQ people. And then, it’s never a surprise when one of them is outed. As for attacking you, I guess you’re an important target in this area. You speak publicly against the prevailing Christian nationalists (directly or indirectly) and most of these fundies want to RULE us. So winning over you or publicly destroying you gives them cred, I guess. And yet, they can do neither.
They live in fear that their cult..we..church members will look at your writing and say Hey…wait a minute…is this all true?.?
Hello, Bruce. And Happy Fourth to you, and yours. As I consider the antics of the IFB, and their church- split, as well as the morbid sorts who are envisioning a bad eternity for you, because you do such a great job of exposing their foilables, all I can say is how did I tolerate the various churches and their environments over the years ? I marvel that I kept at it. Looking for something that doesn’t exist– a sane church body !🤣
Modern evangelicalism was born from a reaction to ‘modernism’, which when used in Christianity was a reaction against Christian ministers who were educated, open minded, more or less well rounded individuals accepting the facts of modern science and geology which very effectively challenged the information as claimed by the bible.
What was left in this evangelical reactionary state were typically resistant to education, thoughtfulness, prone to narrow mindedness and conspiracy theories, more or less people who did not display virtues Christianity was at least once known for.
So sadly now, that evangelical thread of persona continues, one of fear rather than embracing the teaching of the bible that we should have no fear. If the bible is true why should you have to close your eyes and hate scientific and social progress? So some did not fear it and added up the evidence and modernised their religion so to speak, but some decided instead to live in fear and paranoia, as if the world and people were too powerful for them.
So it’s a rare thing to come across a decent, respectful, thoughtful well rounded engaging member of Christianity now (as today’s evangelical remain true to their comparatively recent roots)
It reminds me of my own self, I’m sorry to say. I was dumped by a girlfriend and even though I knew there was no hope for reconciliation, I obsessively thought about her and even wrote her a couple of letters. I suppose it is a common psychological flaw to not accept cold harsh reality. In your case you have the additional aspect of being what many of them fear (a fallen saved Christian), you step on toes of some of their cult leaders, and of course the fantasy that they could get a lot of church cred for bringing you back to the fold.
You are a rare gem, Bruce – a full-bore on fire fundamentalist evangelical pastor who became the A word!!!! They can’t stop looking at you, examining your many facets. I suspect they want to see how sparkly you will become in hell. 🤣
You make them doubt their own salvation and worth. You represent their perceived loss. You are their stairway to heaven. Will they go to heaven without you if you aren’t saved? The whole thing reminds me of Sam Brownback once saying during one of Lou Engle’s “events” in WDC that the more babies you adopt, the easier it is to get into heaven. You are their ultimate baby! .
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I’m unable to permanently block David Tee. His IP address keeps changing. Maybe he’s using an VPN or something like that. So, I must delete every comment he posts.
They are would-be Captain Ahabs, and you are their Moby Dick. The difference is, of course, that you did nothing to hurt them—at least, you didn’t harm anything except their egos. (Hey! Let go of my ego!)
I also like the porn analogy. To them, you represent everything that is forbidden, or simply unavailable.
And, of course, your being kind and having sheer, unabashed integrity contradicts one of the foundations of their professed beliefs:,”There is no morality without God.” Of course, their behavior is just as much of a contradiction of that notion.
The IFB are authoritarians. You are not allowed to think differently. The fact that you can use tools like logic and make your own decisions scares them.
This is similar to the current push in the Catholic church to deny President Biden communion because he does not always think or live according to their authoritarian views.
I know you hate the truth as it goes against your narrative. You should be more honest and accept the fact hat al Christians are NOT as you describe. I have had my run ins with IBF people and some are as you describe but not all. The same with evangelicals but then you would lose your crowd of worshipers if you let the truth be known.
That is another point you should have taken care of while you were a Christian. It isn’t God’s fault or the Christians fault that you deconverted, it is our fault and yours alone
I’m going to approve this one. My “worshipers” will love to read your delusions. Keep “preaching,” David. Your words reveal what kind of man you really are . Thanks!
Theology/David Tee you yourself represent the kind of Christian I almost always encountered. You have been banned from this site yet you circumvent the rules with either a lack of care, a lack of awareness or an overall sense of entitlement. Apart from the fact that archaeological evidence does not support biblical old testament records (the events of Jericho, that you have cavalry in war fare hundreds of years before cavalry were used, and that’s the mundane stuff not even the so called miracles), Christians are by and large the poorest sets of character traits and behaviours I have seen. If only you really did follow the teachings of Jesus, but alas.
David, deconversion is no one’s “fault.” It is the conscious acceptance of an assessment that has already been made by the unconscious mind, based on analysis of whatever information was available
This is why it usually tends to be a one-way process, away from religion rather than towards it. It occurs in the spirit of “What has been seen cannot be unseen,” or “You can’t un-ring a bell.” Once belief is gone, it generally cannot be restored – although many people attempt to hold back a crisis of faith by continuing spiritual practices such as reading scriptures, praying, and attending services.
Comments like this help me understand why evangelicals are in such serious decline. If only they understood that they are really just humble salespeople, and learned the social skills necessary to succeed in that venture. They seem to be selling Jesus but more than that, they’re selling membership in their specific group. Unfortunately, evangelicals don’t want to be salespeople. They want to be lords. Hence, their social skills do not improve.
David: “I know you hate the truth as it goes against your narrative.”
Zoe: Not true.
David: “You should be more honest and accept the fact hat al Christians are NOT as you describe.”
Zoe: Honestly, this is rich asking Bruce to be “more honest.”
David: “I have had my run ins with IBF people . . . ”
Zoe: Is this short for irritable bowel farts?
David: “. . . and some are as you describe but not all.”
Zoe: True. Not all farts are equal.
David: “The same with evangelicals . . .”
Zoe: True.
David: ” . . . but then you would lose your crowd of worshipers if you let the truth be known.”
Zoe: Yes, because his “crowd of worshipers” totally lack any critical thinking skills of their own.
‘OMG, guru Bruce just revealed to his entire flock of dummies that indeed all evangelicals are not the same! That’s it, I’m leaving!’
David: “That is another point you should have taken care of while you were a Christian.”
Zoe: Looking around for the “point” . . .
David: “It isn’t God’s fault or the Christians fault that you deconverted, it is our fault and yours alone”
Zoe: Seriously?
‘OMG Bruce, will you please stop blaming David, his God and friends for your deconversion?!’
Time for my morning tea. 🙂
“It is our fault..”
A typo or a Freudian slip?