On weekends, I typically listen to podcasts by content creators such as The Line (including Matt Dillahunty and Jimmy Snow), Paulogia, The Atheist Experience, Talk Heathen, Skeptic Generation, SciManDan, MisterDeity, Rationality Rules (Stephen Woodford), Gutsick Gibbon, Genetically Modified Skeptic, Allegedly Ian, Forrest Valkai, Dan McClellan, Bart Ehrman, Alex O’Connor, Religion for Breakfast, and Justin (The Deconstruction Zone).
Many of these programs are call-in shows that encourage Christians to call in and defend their faith or answer questions about various teachings of the Bible. The answers upchucked by many of these Evangelical zealots are usually shallow, contradictory, and, at times, heretical. These defenders of the faith attend church multiple times a week, hearing the Word of God taught and preached. Some of the people who call in are pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and college professors. Sadly, many of their arguments and explanations are just as bad as people with no Bible college or seminary training. Some of these preachers need to quit preaching and go back to college to get a real education. Of course, a “real” education can and does lead to a loss of faith.
It is not uncommon for those who call these shows to complain about all the atheist programming on YouTube and TikTok. “Can’t you just keep your beliefs to yourself? Why do you have to cause people to doubt (or lose) their faith? Of course, when I put the shoe on the other foot and apply the same standard to Evangelicals, they stupidly think that only atheists should keep their mouths shut; that Evangelicals are commanded by God to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. However, what is good for the proverbial goose is good for the gander.
One apologist bitterly moaned and complained that atheists were using the Internet to target children. Guilty, as charged, though most social media providers have rules that prohibit young children from using their services. If your eight-year-old son is watching The Atheist Experience on Sundays, that’s on you, parents. Or you might question why your children are watching atheist programs like the ones mentioned above. If Christian children are watching atheist shows, it is a sign that they are not getting the answers they need from their parents, pastors, and churches. Children are Internet savvy. They know that the answers to their questions are a few clicks away. I have had numerous Christian teenagers and young adults contact me. I have had a few youthful readers send me questions to answer for a Christian school project of theirs. I always politely and honestly answer their questions, planting seeds that I hope will sprout and grow in time. I don’t press, push, or evangelize. I’m content to answer their questions, hoping that they develop rational, skeptical thinking skills.
I have been repeatedly asked over the years to stop publicly telling my story; that I was causing people to lose their faith. Here’s what I know: if the mere telling of my story directly causes Evangelical Christians to deconvert, their faith was on shallow ground to begin with. Many people already have one foot out the church door before they stumble upon my content. Regardless, I have no intention to stop telling my story or critiquing Evangelical Christianity.
Unlike many Evangelical churches, questions are always welcome on this site. I will do my best to answer them, and if I can’t, I will point questioners to authors and websites that can. More times than I can count, I have recommended readers read one or more books by Dr. Bart Ehrman. I know that doing so is the cure for Christian Fundamentalism and Bible inerrancy. Sadly, most people whom I recommend Ehrman to refuse to read his books. Why? Their pastors warned them about reading Bart’s books lest they lose their faith. It is a shallow faith, indeed, if one book can cause you to lose it. No single book caused me to deconvert. It took numerous books and podcasts to lead me out of the doors of the church. I suspect many of the readers of this blog will say the same thing.
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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“Why can’t atheists keep their opinions to themselves?” I dunno, why do Christians need to plaster the Ten Commandments, crosses, Jesus statues and portraits, and crucifixes everywhere in public? Why do they get pissy when people say they don’t want all that? Maybe it’s Christians who need to keep their opinions to themselves.
What I enjoy about atheist broadcasting is that it keeps expanding its arguments. In this respect I find Alex O’Connor especially interesting, because he has a deep grounding in philosophy which he combines with very acute critical thinking. So for example, he’s recently questioned why, if god has infinite mercy, why does it cut off at the point at which you die? If you continue into afterlife then why not allow you to redeem yourself then? Or when Eve ate the apple in defiance of god why is she blamed for the origin of evil, when evil clearly predated this in the form of the serpent! Obviously apologists will counter both these with the usual word salad, but they don’t come up with anything new. Never ever. The last argument that appeared to have any merit was Fine Tuning, but that’s now been debunked so much that ‘serious’ apologists tend to avoid it.
The immense irony of those who routinely preach across as many avenues as they please, demanding the silence of atheists, is an irony they will not understand. They really do think freedom of speech should be conditional, which shows how little they care for or respect the idea.
It’s the old “We’re being persecuted” bullshit paradigm that evangelicals in particular like to spread. I believe everyone has the right to free expression of their belief within reason. A Catholic hospital has the right to have a crucifix in their lobby. But at the same time, a public hospital should be religiously benign (except maybe for the chapel, but even here there needs to be nuance).
Atheists have the same rights to free expression as anyone else in our society. Our country was founded (at least in principle) on the free exchange of ideas in the intellectual marketplace. Everyone knows my chosen belief, and I feel it is a great privilege to be able to read and comment on Bruce’s page. Do I struggle with my own religion? Yes, definitely, everyday. Does reading Bruce’s page hurt my faith? No, absolutely not in fact it helps me to take more ownership and responsibility for it. I was raised in Pentecostalism, which is cult-like itself. Many of Bruce’s feelings he expresses during his journey resonate with me personally, because I experienced many of the same things. So this page has been therapeutic for me, and I will always appreciate being able to read and post on it.
When Evangelical critics complain that atheists are openly sharing their lack of belief and are causing people to lose their faith, I like to think that perhaps it’s part of God’s plan, because God hasn’t prevented it from happening. So, dear Evangelical critics: “Blame God”.
Isn’t a core tenet of Christianity to proselytize? To spread the message of their beliefs and stories? It’s interesting that they consider opposing viewpoints to be competitively counteracting their proselytization efforts. I remember deep down recognizing that aspects of Christianity just did not add up and couldn’t withstand evidence-based scrutiny. As a teen i understood that. Of course, I was told that the reasons were “it’s the devil standing in the way”, or “human pride”, or “disobedience and rebellion”. But I understood it was MORE than all that.
If Christians -and any other group – have the right to speak up, so do I. Period.
As I said in a comment to your deconverting post, people (even nones) want me to just shut up when I notice social problems (which includes problems created by religious groups). Evidently only people from their group have the right to free speech, not anyone else. I think the “economy” is a part of human society and human social views but am told to shut up about this as well.