Give it up for Zealot of the Week Jennifer ‘Karen’ Meeks, who took it upon her pious self to scurry around her Arkansas neighborhood’s Little Free Libraries, remove “bad” books that “don’t align with Christian values” – mostly, eww, “Pride stuff” – and put in “good” books, aka Bibles. Her GOP lawmaker husband says “leftists” are lying and his wife is just nobly replacing worn-out books with newer ones, which means he’s already breaking 2 Commandments – stealing and lying – so God help him.
“I have been swapping out books in little free libraries for awhile,” the enterprising Ms. Meeks – sorry, she probably prefers Mrs. – announced on Facebook, possibly ill-advisedly, earlier this month. “A lot of these books and other things don’t align with Christian values,” she wrote. “Today, I saw a bunch of Pride stuff in one. There’s a group of leftists, especially in Conway, who are very active in keeping little libraries well stocked. I have seen good books, terrible books, toiletries, and needles (yes, needles)…Recently I have been picking up free Bibles at flea markets and thrift stores. Sometimes I find good devotion books or kids’ Bible stories at a good price to add. Or just great books, and a gospel tract is a nice idea too.” She went on, “This is a (sic) opportunity for the silent majority to be salt and light in our communities.” She’s presumably referencing Matt. 5:13, in which, “Our Savior calls His disciples the ‘salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world,'” two substances that transform food or darkness much as the church can transform society – especially if there are creepy sexy-time books lurking around in your blasphemous neighborhood.
Little Free Libraries is a non-profit promoting neighborhood book exchanges and literacy under a “take a book, share a book” honor system where people can freely borrow and donate books. They encourage “stewards” to curate boxes “in a way that best serves their community” with books that “enlighten readers, nurture empathy, and open (up) diverse perspectives.” Under that rubric, censorship is taboo: “When an individual removes books (that) don’t match up with their personal beliefs, they silence critical voices that deserve to be heard” – often LGBTQ and people of color. Ditto, said Meeks’ “group of leftists” keeping libraries stocked – the Faulkner County Coalition for Social Justice – who happily chimed in, “Thank you Mrs. Meeks, that would be us!” They said they continue to offer “life-saving” books, food, toiletries, reproductive health care and naloxone for queer kids not out to their parents, teens who need Plan B for an unwanted pregnancy, the “good neighbor preventing an overdose.” “Keep removing them, Jennifer,” they wrote. “But we will never stop coming right back (to show) love and decency will always win.” They also added that the Meeks’ “voting records and actions speak for themselves.”
That would be Stephen voting for a bill criminalizing librarians for distributing material deemed “obscene”; trying (unsuccessfully) to remove “explicit materials” from libraries and cut their funds; voting for an anti-trans “bathroom bill,” an abortion ban, a heartbeat bill, to allow guns at universities and churches, to have Bible instruction in public schools etc. After local outrage, his wife’s proud post about deciding what books other people should/shouldn’t read was deleted – hubris remorse? – but anyway Meeks said it was “a complete lie” by a “leftist” group she was “removing books that she disagrees with..My wife would not do that,” even though she herself wrote she’d “taken out a bad one and left a good one in its place.” Also, the post went public because someone “betrayed her” hoping to get “political dirt” on him; his wife is “adding Christian-related books as well as history, science and other books,” sometimes removing “a worn-out history book” to replace it with a nicer one; as Christians “we too should be stocking Bibles, devotionals, things like that” to “give people more choice,” and “I think everybody would agree having more choice is a good thing,” except when it comes to, you know, your own body or health care or voting or beliefs or… Also, his wife “did not want to discuss the matter.” Cowards, liars, bigots all.
“Judge not, that you be not judged.” – Matthew 7:1
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The limitations of man and God’s reach does not stop at the school house gates. In the coming days, I will introduce a national prayer in school law so that in every classroom in America, there will be time for students to pray if they choose. And you know what? This beautiful new supreme court that President Trump gave us, just might uphold a constitutional law like that based on the values that this country was built on.
God’s reach does not stop at the schoolhouse gates. Our country’s education policy forbids students and faculty from praying while endlessly promoting degenerate LGBT and anti-White propaganda. My legislation unlocks religious freedom once again so that in every classroom in America, there will be time for students to pray if they choose.
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to any limitation on the ability of that person to engage in prayer in any school shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Mike Allison pastors Madison Baptist Church in Madison, Alabama. Madison Baptist is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) congregation. Allison has been its pastor for thirty-four years.
Dr. Michael Allison was born in Sturgis, MI and married his wife Janet shortly after high school. They have two daughters, Kathy and Kari. He was saved in October of 1971 while working his afternoon shift at Radio Station WAOP in Otsego, Michigan. He was called to preach in 1974 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tennessee Temple College in 1976. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Religious Education and a Doctor of Ministry from Bethany Theological Seminary and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Fairhaven Baptist College. He has been pastor of Madison Baptist Church since 1989.
His degrees and “doctorate” are from unaccredited IFB institutions.
Most churches are welcoming. Not Madison Baptist. Allison plasters the following on his church’s website:
We are an independent, fundamental, King James Bible-preaching, Bible-believing church. It is our prayer that we can help you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as you seek to do His will. Pastor Mike Allison has been our pastor since 1989.
Our services are live streamed on YouTube, Facebook, Sermon Audio and Vimeo.
Madison Baptist Church is not an open forum for discussion and ideas. It is a Church, an assembly of believers in Jesus Christ as Saviour, who accept the Bible to be TRUE and right in EVERY detail. This assembly meets to worship the God of the Bible, and to hear His Word preached by a MAN of God as designated by the Church. This assembly invites any and all who want to HEAR the truth of God expounded and explained. However, any disruptors on the premises will have their invitation immediately revoked; they are then trespassers, and will be treated as such.
Bathroom Policy: our bathrooms are only for those whose anatomy would match the word on the outside of the bathroom, not what they think or feel they are. Violators will be expelled and prosecuted.
There’s one king at Madison Baptist, and it sure ain’t Jesus.
Evidently, Allison checks for penises and vaginas at the front door.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Evangelicalism has a deconstruction crisis. I know they do based on the sheer number of articles, blog posts, podcasts, and sermons churned out by Evangelical taking heads, warning that deconstruction is okay as long as it keeps your ass in the pew and your tithe in the offering place.
Deconstruction is not a bad thing if it leads to reconstruction. Sometimes you have to demolish a building that has mold and then build something else on that foundation. We’re not getting rid of the foundation. The foundation is Christ. But we’re building on that foundation and tearing down some things that were unnecessary.
Of course, Evangelical preachers wish deconstruction would go away altogether. They see it as a product of postmodernism, with its questions and doubts. They wish for a return to the good old days of the 1950s, but an increasing number of Evangelicals refuse to buy what preachers are selling. Deconstruction begins with seeking answers to unanswered questions. Evangelicals often turn to their pastors, parents, and fellow church members first, hoping to find answers to their questions. Instead, they are served up warmed-over rote answers, complete with appeals to the Bible. When these “answers” fail to assuage inquiring minds filled with questions, preachers often turn to fear, warning deconstructionists of the danger of wandering outside of the Evangelical bubble. Hell and judgment, being powerful motivations to conform, will sometimes put an end to deconstruction. PRAISE JESUS, another loss averted. Please make that check out to “First Baptist Church.”
An increasing number of Evangelicals ignore the paternalistic warnings of their pastors and continue seeking answers to their doubts and questions. These folks typically leave the fold, never to return. Tired of cheap, easy answers, they seek out people who will tell them the truth with no strings attached. I have helped countless people along their deconstruction journey. I don’t have an agenda. I am not interested in turning them into atheists. I don’t want their money. I just want to share my story and, if possible, answer whatever questions they might have. And if I can’t, I recommend books that might help him. My goal is to help facilitate their journey, knowing that the journey is far more important than the destination. Can any Evangelical preacher say the same thing?
Many Evangelical preachers can’t imagine a world where God, Jesus, or the Bible are called into question. Questions and doubts are from the Devil or signs of worldliness. Sure, it is okay to question whether Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, but, by God, we must not question the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. There are certain foundational “truths” in Evangelicalism that must never, never be challenged or questioned. Deconstruction demands that no subject be off-limits. Post-modernity is coming for Evangelicalism, and unless they rethink their defense, deconstruction will only increase, both among the laity and the clergy.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Over the past two days, I have responded to two emails from a Christian author from Tennessee named D.S. Mullis. Please see the previous emails and responses here and here. Today, she sent me another email, this time telling me what she really thinks of me. If you have been following the Mullis Saga, you will see that her latest email is her crowning achievement: putting the atheist Bruce Gerencser in his place. As she will find in a moment, I am not one to wither when one of Jesus’ followers pisses in my direction.
To give readers an idea of what is coming, let me give you the sentence Mullis ended her screed with:
Will see if you’re man enough to post this reply on your blog for the world to see.
I checked, and yes I am “man” enough to post her email on this site for the “world” to see. 🙂
Mr Gerencser,
First off, let me say I don’t surf the net nor seek out strangers, either.
You came to this site via a search or a link that took you to a post in the Black Collar Crime series. You had no idea who I was when you came to this site, and over the past seventy-two hours, you have made no effort to remedy your ignorance. No need, right? I said I was an atheist, end of discussion.
You have a public site I had never heard of or seen until it came up from an article I was reading. I think God allowed it for such a time as this.
“God allowed it for such a time as this”? Really? How could you possibly know this? Did God whisper in your ear and tell you to come to this site; to send me increasingly hostile, preachy emails? Did you read the text on the Contact page? If so, you would know I am not interested in receiving emails from people like you. The Contact function exists for people who need help to contact me. It is evident you don’t need help, have questions, or want to do anything else but preach. For the Contact function to work properly, I must endure emails from Christian zealots. I decided years ago to turn emails such as yours into blog posts, providing entertainment and instruction to readers.
Even though you state I came into your home and overstepped a boundary, I would say if that were true you should either get off social media or else not have a public blog site giving any and everybody who visits it access for comment. You are opening your ‘home’ and ‘life’ to the world which is your first amendment right, as are my comments which your site gives ability to do.
Let me educate you. This is a private site that the public can read if I permit them to do so. If you read the comment policy, you know that I don’t give “any and everybody who visits it access for comment.” Besides, you haven’t commented on this site, to start with. You have sent me three emails, and not three comments.
You are a debater.
A masturbator too. I can be, but did you think I was trying to debate you? If that was the case, I would have burnt your vacuous statements to the ground. No, the purpose of my response to you was to show you why your first email was impolite, disrespectful, and rude. A proper response from you would have been: “You are right, Bruce. I don’t know anything about you, and I shouldn’t make any judgment about you until I educate myself about your background and life.”
Apparently you have a need to be heard and as long as you have supporters who applaud your lifestyle you receive them gladly.
Remember, you never commented. If you had, your first comment would have been approved. Christian zealots are given one opportunity to say WHATEVER they want in a comment. Let ‘er rip! Tell me what God had laid upon your precious little heart! However, after the first comment, you must abide by the comment rules. If you prove you can play well with others, then I will continue to approve your comments.
This site is read by thousands of people every day from every walk of life. Scores of Christians read my writing and some of them even comment. Without knowledge of who actually reads my writing — shocker, right? — you have pigeonholed the readers of this blog.
Otherwise, those of us who don’t you call us attackers. Truth is still truth, whether one believes it or not. And a life lived and based on God’s word still stands the test of time. When one folds up like a dishrag and opens their heart and mind to the god of this world, then all hell wreaks havoc and torments them to the point of death. It happens every day.
Ah, here comes the first attack: I have opened up my heart and mind to Satan. You say by opening my mind (heart is the same thing as mind) to Slewfoot that “all hell wreaks havoc and torments.” Really? I haven’t had any of these things today. Woke up in a lot of pain today; decided not to go to the races; drove to Fort Wayne to eat dinner with Polly and Bethany at an upscale Chinese restaurant; took a country drive home; made a joke about Skynet when we saw the wind turbines; laughed at and mocked church signs; ate a chocolate cone at DQ in Paulding; counted deer; saw a new type of hawk we’ve never seen before; laughed, sang, made jokes — a wonderful time. No havoc and torment, for me.
I adequately answered your first and second emails.
You assume your personal beliefs = truth. Are you interested in having that premise challenged? I mean, really challenged? Something tells me that you are really aren’t a truth seeker. Instead, armed with certainty and an inspired, inerrant, infallible ancient religious text, you arrogantly think you are absolutely right. Your mind is shut off from any challenges to your peculiar “truth.”
My first comment still stands true.
Again, you didn’t make a comment, you sent me an email.
I feel sorry not only for you, but countless thousands if not millions who enjoy the beauties and splendors that our Creator made, who daily thumb their nose at Him because they are their own gods.
Picture D.S. Mullis, shovel in hand, digging deeper and deeper, unable to stop with her zingers, one-liners, and cliches.
Atheists don’t thumb their noses at the Christian God — he doesn’t exist. It would be silly for us to go around being upset with mythical beings. No, our argument is with organized religion and those who want to shove it down our throats.
You seem to think that atheists can’t enjoy the beauties and splendors of our world. This, of course, is untrue. We just have no need to point to a tree, flower, or star and say “God did it.” I was a professional photographer for twenty-five years. I know a good bit about wonder and beauty, having captured a good bit of it with my cameras.
And atheists I’ve met seemingly thrive off trying to thwart Christianity. If atheism is real, why talk about God, Christians, the Bible, and not about all the ways atheism enriches one’s life since they’re void of those elements?
The purpose of this blog is to help people who have questions and doubts about Christianity and provide help and support to those who have already left the faith. In that context, I talk about God, Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity. It’s what I do; it’s my calling.
I have written a number of articles on atheism too, but you are too lazy to read them. Yesterday, I wrote a post titled Is Atheism Meant to Offer Answers for Human Meaning and Purpose? Did you read it? Of course not. Had you done so, you would have found your questions answered there.
It is evident that you don’t know anything about atheism or atheists, in general. Most atheists don’t give a shit about what you and your fellow blood cult worshippers do on Sundays. Keep your religion out of government, stop trying to evangelize us, stop trying to force us to live by your peculiar interpretations of the Protestant Christian Bible, and end your theocratic delusions. Then most atheists won’t say another word about Christianity. In fact, I’ll quit blogging. Of course, you are unwilling to do this. So, as long as Christians do these things, they should expect atheists, agnostics, humanists, liberal Christians, and non-Christians to push back.
You say I attacked you, when in reality you are the attacker.
You know this is gaslighting right?
You say you’re an atheist but you’ve quoted Prov. 18:13 to me twice. Having a ministry background of over 25 years, you can’t get away from the Word, can you? Countless scriptures come to mind, but I’m sure you know them.
Yes, I know the Bible inside and out. In fact, I have no doubt that I know it better than you do. I quoted Proverbs 18:13, thinking its words might challenge your behavior. Alas, it seems you are resistant to God’s Word. When dealing with people who refuse to read my autobiographical work and make judgments about me anyway, I use the Bible they “say” they believe to point out that their God condemns such behavior. Evidently, I believe the Bible more than you do. 🙂
You lied when you said I knew nothing about you until after you responded to me. Your site gives enough information about who you are that anyone who visits it can immediately know what kind of person you are. No, I don’t know you personally, as I’m sure most who comment on your writings don’t.
No, I didn’t lie. I know exactly what posts you clicked on. You didn’t read any of my autobiographical writing, yet you felt justified to judge my life — particularly the quality of my life. All you knew is that I am a former Evangelical pastor, an atheist, and a humanist. That’s it, yet that was all you needed to know for you to say “I truly feel sorry for you,” and all the other bullshit found in your subsequent emails.
I am not asking you to know me “personally.” I am, however, asking you to at least make a good faith effort to understand my story before launching into moral judgments and critiques. When I saw your email, the first thing I did was do a Google search on your name. I looked at ALL the available information about you. Several weeks from now, when people search for D.S. Mullis, you know what they will find? Links to your emails and my responses — usually first page. I hope you are proud of your behavior. Soon others will share “pride” in your actions too
You are explicit to tell that you left ministry in 2005 and Christianity in 2008 to become a humanist and atheist. That’s what made me say, I truly feel sorry for you.
This still doesn’t change the fact that you made no effort to know and understand my story. Is this how you typically do things; read a few words and think you know all you need to know about a person or subject?
Proverbs ch. 26 is a powerful chapter because the wisest man in the world confronts the subject of the actions of fools. Psalm ch. 14 and ch. 53 further attest to same.
Finally, we come to invectives and namecalling. Awesome. A Christian called me a “fool.” Oh My Loki, no one has done that before. (That’s sarcasm, by the way.)
I will say your rebuttals don’t insult me, although it’s apparent with your “biting back” comment you want to.
If my words mean nothing to you, then why did you dissect my reply and post it for all your followers to read?
Your words and my responses are, at the very least, instructive; reminders of the fact that Evangelicals find it almost impossible to treat atheists as Jesus asked them to do in the Sermon on the Mount. Your emails are added to a mile-high pile of other emails I have received from Christians, reminders of the bankruptcy of a religion that supposedly is transformative, yet, in fact, many of its adherents are no different from the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. Jesus told you how to treat your enemies in the Sermon on the Mount. Paul spoke of the fruit of the Spirit; the behavioral traits that must be in the lives of his followers for them to be considered believers. Do your emails reflect the words of Jesus and Paul? I think not. So, don’t tell me about your faith, show me. Show me with your behavior. D.S., not sermonettes, cliches, one-liners, and personal attacks.
I hold myself accountable daily, as does God.
Sure . . . How could anyone possibly know this? Not by your behavior. Tell Jesus to give me a call so I can check your accountability report.
And again, having been a man of the Word, you lied when you said, “I don’t concern myself with eternity…Just because the Bible says something doesn’t make it true.”
In what way did I lie? It is most certainly true I don’t concern myself with eternity. I care about the present — today — not a mythical Heaven (or Hell).
You have asserted a lot of things from the Bible. Just because the Bible says something doesn’t make it true. If you want to have a full-throated discussion about the history and nature of the Bible, I’m game.
You’re treading on thin ice, according to the writer of Hebrews in ch. 6…
Ah, yet another threat. Surely you realize these threats don’t work with me. I am not afraid of your God, Satan, or the Bible. The only person I fear is my wife. 🙂 Is there cyanide in my food tonight? 🙂
I’ve done the math. You’re 66 years old, was in ministry 25 years, and have been an atheist now for 16 years.
There’s more power in the Word of God which supposedly you preached those 25 years, than all the words of humanism and atheism you’ve acquired in the past 16…must be why you continue to speak of Christ and God and Christianity daily. Actually, you’re a testament to Christianity more than some Christians I know.
Yea! You can do math.
Actually, my influence lies in turning people away from your brand of Christianity. I am confident that I have been more successful as a soulwinner than you. You seem clueless to the fact that your emails are actually helping my cause. Ponder how a doubting believer might view your emails. Read the comments on this post and the previous two. They reveal a lesson for you if you are willing to learn.
Jesus is the living Word-and He said He will never leave us nor forsake us. Even though you are claiming to have forsaken Him, He still has your number.
So, I’m still a Christian. Good to know.
Some were sent, others went…Whether you were ‘called’ by God to serve Him in ministry or you went into it on your own, the fact remains Isaiah 55 still burns in your life. You cannot escape the power of the Word, unless you become a reprobate and be damned.
So you know my life better than I do? Surely you can see how arrogant this sounds.
Wait a minute, I thought you said “once saved, always saved. Now you say I am a reprobate and damned. Which is it. Since you can “read” the essence of my life, by all means tell me: am I in or am I out?
I will end on that note. Will see if you’re man enough to post this reply on your blog for the world to see.
Do you see how ugly your words sound; challenging my manhood?
Respectfully,
You have not said one respectful word in any of your emails, so please stop with the fake respect.
D. S. Mullis
Saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
None of us likes to apologize. Apologizing to a person or a group requires us to admit that we were wrong. Im not talking about fake apologies here: “I am sorry you feel that way” or “I am sorry you feel offended.” I am talking about apologies where we recognize we caused harm and want to make amends.
All of us are going to say or do things that offend or harm others. None of us is perfect. We can act out of selfishness, greed, offense, or anger, harming others in the process. In such times, it is proper, dare I say essential, for us to apologize. As a former Evangelical pastor, I said and did a lot of things that harmed my wife, children, and church congregants. While I can justify my bad behavior by saying I didn’t know any better or that I was a product of Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) indoctrination and conditioning, the fact remains that I materially harmed people. To those people I owe, at the very least, an apology, and, if possible, the making of amends.
I left Christianity in 2008 — fifteen years ago. After deconverting, I sent out a letter explaining my decision to family, friends, and former parishioners. You can read this letter here. This letter elicited a number of judgmental, hostile, hateful responses. Overnight, I became a pariah, an enemy of God. People I had known for upwards of fifty years said some pretty awful things to me, accusing me of being demon-possessed, mentally ill, and a false Christian. My best friend said that I was mentally ill; that I was destroying my family. Another dear friend sent me a long letter that suggested I was under the influence of Satan. She was the only Christian during this period who later had second thoughts about what she said to me and apologized.
Over the years, I have received thousands of emails, blog comments, and social media messages from Evangelical Christians, including pastors, evangelists, missionaries, professors, and college friends. I have received very few emails, comments, or messages from Evangelicals (or conservative Catholics) that I would consider thoughtful or respectful; attempts to sincerely understand why I deconverted. The rest of them were openly hostile toward me, often saying and doing things that caused hurt and harm. I quickly learned that some Evangelicals will lie to prove a point; that others totally ignore what Jesus said about how to treat your enemies.
A handful of Evangelicals have later come back to me and apologized for the things they said to me and I happily forgave them. That said, I am not one who thinks an apology requires forgiveness in response. Shortly before Polly’s mom died, I had an IFB family member call me and say all sorts of vicious, vile, hurtful things, including threatening me twice with violence. I finally hung up on the man. At Mom’s funeral, this family member came up to me and said “I’m sorry for those things I said you.” I replied, “Thank you, and then turned away.” The man crossed a line of no return with me. Nothing he could say would fix the harm and hurt he caused, not only to me, but to Polly and our children. I suspect he felt guilty over his behavior and that was the motivation for his attempted apology. Religion will do that to you. Guilt is one thing, contrition and restoration are something else. Sadly, this man wasn’t too apologetic. When it came time for him to settle Mom’s financial accounts — Mom refused to let us do it because we are atheists and she didn’t “trust” us — he shorted Polly’s inheritance by at least $5,000. (Money, the one thing that will show the truth of one’s religious beliefs.)
I generally forgive people who sincerely, with no strings attached, apologize. I have only withheld my forgiveness from three people in sixty-six years: the aforementioned family member, my mom’s father, John, and his wife, Ann. (Please see Life with My Fundamentalist Baptist Grandparents, John and Ann Tieken.) My Mom’s dad is dead and his wife is in a nursing home. I haven’t spoken to either of them in over twenty years. I cut them out of my life and that of my children years ago. I have no regrets for doing so. They were bad people. As the living family member mentioned above, he might be able to buy my forgiveness by returning the $5,000 he stole from Polly (and the leftover money from the insurance and the jewelry that was supposed to go to Polly). 🙂 That’s never going to happen, so I have no intention of forgiving him.
Thinking about the thousands of Evangelicals I have interacted with over the years on this site, why is it so hard for them to admit and apologize for being uncharitable, meanspirited, or hateful? When their behavior is challenged straight from the Word of God, why do they ignore my rebuke or try to justify their awful behavior? Is what I say true, regardless of whether an atheist is saying it? Isn’t the message what matters, not the messenger?
I have tagged 212 posts with the Evangelical Email and Comments tag. I suspect there are a hundred or more posts from earlier years that I should have tagged but didn’t. Read their emails, comments, and messages to me. Where, oh where, is Jesus anywhere to be found?
When I give these followers of Jesus what loyal readers call “The Bruce Gerencser Treatment®,” I always notify them that I have responded to them. Some of them use fake names and email addresses — cowards for Jesus — so I can’t let them know that I have weighed their words in the balance and found them wanting. What I found interesting about the rest of them is that over ninety percent of them never acknowledge or respond to my response post. Why is that? Fear? Upset that they have been outed or made to look bad? Or perhaps they deep down know they shouldn’t have called me names, slandered me, attacked my character, disparaged my family, or ridiculed the readers of this blog. They are embarrassed by their assholery; that their ugly behavior is on public display for all to see. I warn Evangelicals on my comment page:
If you email me anyway — and I know you will, since scores of Evangelicals have done just that, showing me no regard or respect — I reserve the right to make your message and name public. This blog is read by thousands of people every day, so keep that in mind when you email me whatever it is you think “God/Jesus/Holy Spirit” has laid upon your heart. Do you really want your ignorance put on display for thousands of people to see? Pause before hitting send. Ask yourself, “How will my email reflect on Jesus, Christianity, and my church?”
I suspect this warning wards off many Evangelicals from sharing the “good news” with me. Several hundred people access the contact page every month, but most never hit send. While I still get email these days, the volume is minuscule compared to what I received ten or so years ago. Either Evangelicals have given up on me — doubtful — or the various roadblocks I have set in their way frustrate them enough that they give up or refrain from hitting send out of fear of being publicly exposed. Either way, I get enough email to keep me (and Carolyn, my editor) busy and hopelessly behind.
If Evangelicals are anything, they are certain they are right. Many of them, such as Dr. David Tee and others, believe that, as an atheist and a humanist, I don’t say anything worth hearing. In their minds, I am under the influence and control of Satan, so what could I possibly say that is relevant and true? This certainty, of course, breeds arrogance. Evangelicals can’t apologize because that would mean that they were wrong. Filled with the Holy Ghost and armed with an inspired, inerrant, infallible Bible, how could they possibly be wrong? Or so their thinking goes, anyway. So they run roughshod over atheists and anyone else they disagree with, thinking Jesus approves of their stand for truth and their war against atheism.
Think about your time in the Evangelical church. Do you remember a time when your pastor or another church leader stood before the congregation and admitted they were wrong? Do you ever remember your pastor or another church leader apologizing to you personally or to the church as a whole? Never? Once, maybe twice? I did, on occasion, but certainly not as often as I should have.
That’s why I have stopped expecting Christians to take seriously the teachings of Christ, especially the Sermon on the Mount. I have stopped expecting them to give behavioral evidence that they are followers of Jesus — especially the fruit of the Spirit. And because they have abandoned the teachings of the Bible they “say” they believe, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Evangelicals do the things they do.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Yesterday, I responded to an email from a Christian woman named D.S. Mullis. You can read my response here. As is my custom, I sent her a link to my response. Today, Mullis sent me another email, which follows below, along with my response.
Dear Mr. Gerencser:
Thank you for replying to my one line comment.
I suspect that Mullis wants to point out that my voluminous response was to a one line sentence. It is what she implied, as she makes clear in this email, that mattered to me. Why would anyone seek out a complete stranger on the Internet, make no effort to get to know them, read a handful of posts, and then say to them “I truly feel sorry for you”? I am sixty-six years old. I have never behaved in such a manner. I do NOT seek out Christian strangers on the Internet and comment on their blogs, telling them that I feel sorry for them. This seems like boorish behavior to me. Certainly, I respond to people who respond to something I’ve written or who have decided to deconstruct my life, but I don’t roam the Internet looking for confrontation with followers of Jesus.
I must say I was a little taken aback at your comments.
Why? You came into my home and overstepped a boundary — one that should have been clear to you according to what is written on the contact page. Maybe you are not used to having strangers you criticize bite back. I’m known for biting back. If you didn’t know that, now you do
But, then again, as I continued to read your words it seemed you were defending your stance of atheism, which is truly your privilege.
My email was not a defense of atheism. That you missed the point of my response to you is astounding. My point is that you had no foundation for feeling sorry for me; that you made a moral judgment about me without knowing anything about me. My post should have led you to read more of my writing, especially my autobiographical material, but you chose not to. (Remember, the server logs of this site tell me exactly what posts you clicked on and how much time you spent reading them.)
This leads me to conclude that your mind is already made up.
My statement was not condemning…it was factual. I do feel sorry for you. I have sympathy, not empathy; for through all the trials and misfortunes, weaknesses and disappointments in my 70+ years, I’ve never found a place of denouncing the faith that was once delivered to the saints, and to my heart intentionally. So I can’t empathize with your reasoning for turning your back on God after having been in ministry for 25 years, nor for any other reasons you state as justification.
Nice attempt to escape accountability for your words. Surely you know that someone can be factual and condemning at the same time. You, however, weren’t being factual. You literally knew NOTHING about me when you sent me your first email. Any opinions you might have about my atheism or my humanism come AFTER I responded to you.
I won’t weary you with my words, as you have your mind made up to live this life without the One who loved you so, He gave His all that you might not only have a earthly life filled with wonder amidst the sorrows, but one day in the not so distant future you could spend eternity with Him and all those who have gone before.
You realize these words mean nothing to me; that I see no evidence of “the One” who loves me or gave “his all for me.” These are claims, not evidence for the existence of God. I don’t concern myself with eternity because I see no evidence for its existence. Just because the Bible says something doesn’t make it true. I am convinced we all have one life and then we die, end of story. I shan’t waste my time on heavenly promises for which there is no evidence except that preachers say so.
As an atheist, I understand both sorrow and wonder. I have had a lot of both in my life — no God needed. Your problem is that you lack imagination. You can’t imagine any worldview but your own. For my life, and that of my wife, children, and grandchildren to have meaning, purpose, and value, we must embrace and worship D.S. Mullis’ God.
As I read your biography of where you once walked, it was apparent that there was an element of animosity toward God, the church, religion, etc.
When did you read my autobiography? The server logs don’t show this activity from you, and they are infallible. 🙂 How about you admit that you really aren’t interested in my story; that all you wanted to do is make a snarky comment and move on?
Instead, you say there “was an element of animosity toward God, the church, religion, etc.” You just can’t help yourself, can you? What posts informed you in such a way that you felt justified in making this claim; a false claim, I might add. Ask long-time readers of this blog — some of them have been reading for sixteen years — if what you say rings true to them. I think you will find that most, of not all of them, will say no.
What I have possessed for over 50 years isn’t based on anything except the personal experience that was imparted to me in an altar of prayer. Then as I was taught to study God’s Word, learn it, apply it, and live by it, I found what Paul referred to in Colossians 1- “Christ in you, the hope of glory…”
So as the old song says, “I’ll tell the world that I’m a Christian”, by Baynard L. Fox, and never be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes it.
Okay? What’s your point? Are you justifying your first email to me; that you will tell the world you are a Christian by seeking out non-Christian strangers on the Internet and telling them you feel sorry for them? Proverbs 18:13 is clear: Answering before listening is both stupid and rude. Not my words, but God’s. Instead of admitting that you overplayed your hand and probably shouldn’t have emailed me, you double down and justify your behavior.
As Jack on the Titanic stated, “I figure life’s a gift, and I don’t intend on wasting it. You don’t know what hand you’re gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you—to make each day count.”
Yes, and isn’t that exactly what I explained to you in my first email; as an atheist, I only have one life to live, and I plan to take what comes my way and make each day count. Oh wait, that does not compute for you because you can’t fathom a life that matters without Jesus.
May you and your wife enjoy her upcoming retirement.
Respectfully,
D. S. Mullis
Saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Based on this site’s server logs, Mullis read three Black Collar Crime posts and, at the very least, skimmed the front page. She read none of my autobiographical material, nor did she read the About page. Thus, she doesn’t know anything about me, yet she feels qualified to make a moral judgment about my life. Proverbs 18:13 says, Answering before listening is both stupid and rude. It seems that this verse is missing from the Bibles of many Christians.
Mullis does not say why she feels sorry for me, but I have a good idea why she thinks I am worthy of such judgment. Just one time I would love to have a Christian say to me that they feel sorry for me because of my health problems; because of my chronic, unrelenting pain; because of my loss of mobility; because of gastroparesis, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and degenerative spine disease. Scores of Christians have told me they feel sorry for me, yet not one person has bothered to see the real me. Instead, they see my beliefs, my atheism, or my liberal politics. Because who and what I am is different from them, I deserve their pity.
What a narrow, empty world such people live in. Unable to see purpose, meaning, and value in any other worldview but their own, they stupidly think that people like me live pitiful lives. Of course, Mullis doesn’t know me, and I suspect she doesn’t know many people like me. She sees me from the periphery through Bible-colored lenses. She can’t see me as I am because my story does not compute with her. My story doesn’t fit in her carefully constructed religious box. Inside this box, no purpose or meaning is possible without Jesus; no happiness and peace can be found outside of its cardboard walls.
I have been married to my wife, Polly, for forty-five years. We deeply love one another and are best friends. We enjoy one another’s company. We are blessed to have six adult children, ages thirty to forty-four. We have thirteen grandchildren, ages three to twenty-two. Our family lives within twenty minutes of our home here in Ney. We are close with our children and grandchildren. We have fusses and disagreements as all families do, but come holidays, our love for one another (and alcohol) is on full display. I am proud to be their husband, father, and grandfather, and I know Polly feels the same.
We live in a ramshackle two-story home built in 1871. Its rooms are small, and on holidays when our home is filled with Gerencsers, there’s little space to move. Yet, this home belongs to us, our first, bought sixteen years ago. We previously owned two mobile homes but never owned the dirt below them. Now we own not only the house but one-third of an acre of land. Over the years we have planted numerous trees, bushes, and flowers. Our yard has turned into a veritable woods in town. A plethora of birds, animals, and cats frequent our yard, providing hours of pleasure and entertainment. I rarely go outside of the house these days, so the view from our windows means the world to me.
High school football will start soon. Two of my grandchildren play in the band. I had to stop driving in March 2020, so I must rely on my children to take me to the games. Several games on are my schedule, so I look forward to getting out of the house and spending time with family. Polly and I, along with Bethany, our daughter with Down syndrome, have attended a number of concerts this summer, everything from rock to blues to pop. We have heard nationally known bands and musicians who aren’t known beyond the dozen people sitting in the bar hearing them sing. On Friday, Polly is taking me to a sprint car race in Lima. Two weeks later, we plan to attend a late model race in Attica. We also plan to go to the Henry County Fair and watch several of our grandchildren show their pigs and 4-H projects. Come September, we are driving to a club in Ann Arbor, Michigan to hear a man I met through the Songs of Sacrilege series give a concert. After that, we plan to go to a comedy club in Toledo — a first — to hear Trae Crowder, the Liberal Redneck. A transgender friend of ours plans to attend too. Fall and Winter will bring more games, band concerts, choral concerts, and plays. Several of our grandchildren are involved in community theater. We will certainly attend their productions. I will continue to eat dinner monthly with three friends. We now call ourselves “The Woke Mob.” Polly and I will plan several date nights monthly, eating out at nice restaurants locally, and in Toledo, Fort Wayne, and Findlay. Two of our granddaughters will graduate this coming spring and then will head off to major universities in the fall. The Cincinnati Reds are still in playoff contention, and the Bengals look like a Super Bowl-caliber team once again.
So why did I write the previous paragraphs? I am saying to Mullis and others like her that life is good; that my life is filled with meaning and purpose. Sure, living with awful pain is challenging, and sometimes, it is overwhelming. Polly plans to retire by the end of the year. I am looking forward to this new chapter in our lives, yet I worry about how we will do financially going forward. Life is unpredictable. Plan as we might, we can’t account for every negative possibility. So, we will do what we always do: walk hand in hand, facing what comes each and every day. And when I can no longer walk — a looming possibility — I’m confident Polly will push me forward. And when she can no longer do so, I’m certain that our children and grandchildren will do the pushing — perhaps off a cliff. 🙂
Will anything I have said in this post likely change Mullis’ opinion of me? I doubt it. She can’t envision a life worth having without Jesus. Worse yet, she can’t imagine anyone not wanting to have what she has — faith. She can’t fathom someone not thinking “God is definitely the answer to any and all of life’s problems.”
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Incandescent bulbs are now officially banned in the United States. Global temperatures dropped five degrees upon hearing the announcement. That’s sarcasm, by the way. I propose a ten-year study on this issue to determine whether getting rid of incandescent bulbs and replacing them with LED bulbs — oh CFL bulbs, the savior of our world, where did you go? — makes any meaningful difference in US or global temperatures. My money is on no.
Yes, LED bulbs use less electricity, but they also are more expensive. One report says the average American family of three will save a trip through the drive-thru at McDonald’s on their annual electric bill by totally switching over to LED bulbs. The report failed to add the cost of the LED bulbs into their equation, so I suspect the savings is minimal.
Remember when CFL/LED bulb manufacturers said their products would last 5-7 years and proudly advertised this “fact” on their bulbs? Consumers quickly learned this claim was a lie. Most bulb manufacturers no longer make life expectancy claims/warranties for their products. Of course, Americans should be used to manufacturers lying to them. Lifetime warranty on my $8 can-opener, my ass. The federal government should do something about these lies, but it won’t. Campaign donations keep such inquiries and enforcement to a minimum.
Using only LED bulbs is much like recycling — feel-good things we can easily do, but make little difference in battling global warming. If we want to concretely do something meaningful about global warming, we must make hard, painful decisions about how we live and what we consume. First-world countries and rising Asian countries have no interest in doing what is necessary to save our planet (Or better put, save our habitation. Once the next great extinction kills us off, the planet will get on just fine without us.)
Are we willing to drive less, fly less, eat less, buy less, consume less — “less” being the key operative? Can we envision a world where we have less than previous generations? Hard choices are required, but I don’t see the necessary political will to effect such changes. Americans will simply not abide by politicians telling them to do with less. We want what we want, and we want it now. God dammit, we are AMERICANS!
Capitalism lies at the heart of the global warming crisis. As long as companies put profits and shareholder returns above moral and ethical responsibilities, there’s no hope for a better tomorrow. I am not sure that hoping for a better tomorrow is anything more than a fantasy. We glowingly talk about the American dream and American exceptionalism when reality tells a very different story. We can chant USA! USA! USA! WE’RE NUMBER ONE! WE’RE NUMBER ONE! WE’RE NUMBER ONE! at football games and political rallies, but virtually every metric suggests we are a declining empire, that is killing itself one arrogant, self-righteous choice at a time.
By all means, change all your lightbulbs — I have. But, don’t delude yourself into thinking that it will make much difference. I am a cynic, which is just another word for a realist. We have likely crossed the line of no return. Weather extremes are the norm. Our oceans are rising. We continue to kill off animal species at an alarming rate. We stupidly think that “science” will ride to the rescue and save us; that a technological “fix” for what ails us is just around the corner. No such savior is coming to deliver us. We made this mess and now we must bear the consequences of our “sins.”
I will soon be dead, so I don’t worry much about how these things will affect me. My plane is circling the runway, getting ready to land. I do, however, have six children who could live to the year 2060 and thirteen grandchildren who could still be alive in 2100. I have palpable worry and fear for them. What kind of world are Grandpa and Nana and fellow boomers leaving behind? Will 2100 be a technological wonder or a mash-up of Mad Max, Waterworld, and The Road? I want a better tomorrow for them, as all grandparents do, but everything I see and know tells me that difficult days lie ahead for those I love most.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Thank you for stopping by to read my blog. You probably came to this blog via a web search, social media, a link on another website, or a link in an email sent to you by someone asking if you had seen this blog. Whatever path you took to get here, I want you to know that I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog.
Let me tell you a little about myself. Here’s the short story:
I am a sixty-six-year-old man who lives in rural Northwest Ohio. I have been married for forty-five years. My wife and I have six adult children and thirteen grandchildren. I was in the Christian church for fifty years, and for twenty-five of those years, I pastored Evangelical churches in Ohio, Michigan, and Texas. In 2005 I left the ministry, and in 2008 I left Christianity. I am now an atheist and a secular humanist.
If you want more details about my life, please read the ABOUT page. If you want to learn more about my journey from Evangelicalism to atheism, please check out the WHY? page.
I have been blogging since 2007. Most Evangelicals who visit this blog fall under one of four categories:
They have questions and doubts about Christianity and are seeking answers
They are a former friend, family member, or member of a church I pastored
They are curious about my life
They want to let me know they are praying for me, or they want to evangelize me, correct me, preach to me, lambast me, quote Bible verses to me, tell me I am going to Hell, or tell me how wrong I am
If you have questions or doubts about Christianity and would like my help, I am more than happy to help you. Please send me an email via the Contact form and I will get back to you.
If you are a former friend, family member, or member of a church I pastored, I appreciate you reading my story. I know it must be painful for you to read about my deconversion, but I hope you will do your best to try to understand my journey. I try to be open, honest, and transparent — character traits you at one time admired. If you are perplexed by the fact that I am now an atheist, I think you will find these posts helpful:
If you came to my blog so you could let me know you are praying for me or you want to evangelize me, correct me, preach at me, lambast me, quote Bible verses to me, tell me I am going to Hell, or tell me how wrong I am, I want you to know that I am not interested in what you have to say. After sixteen years of being psychologically brutalized and bullied by people like you, I have zero interest in what you have to say. Based on years of experience, I know you are likely not interested in dialog or in understanding my point of view. In your mind, you already know all you need to know. You have read one, two, or five posts and are now ready to pass judgment. You are ready to leave the mother of all comments, and I am sure you will be peacock proud when you are done.
To save you some time, I have made up a form that should make your commenting easier. This information also applies to Evangelicals who are “led” to email me via the contact form.
Here’s the form that should make things simple for you:
Name: (Put in fake name because you are so fearless)
Email Address: (Put in fake email address because God knows who you are)
Reason for Contacting Bruce Gerencser (Check all that apply)
_____To tell him he is wrong
——-To tell him I feel sorry for him
_____To preach at him
_____To quote Bible verses to him
_____To evangelize him
_____To tell him he doesn’t know anything about the Bible
_____To let him know God still loves him
_____To let him know I am praying for him
_____To tell him he never was a Christian
_____To tell him he is going to Hell
_____To tell him he is still saved and can never be un-saved
_____To tell him he was/is a false prophet
_____To tell him he was/is a wolf in sheep’s clothing
_____To tell him he is angry
_____To tell him he is bitter
_____To tell him his writing shows he has been hurt
_____To tell him he is fat
_____To tell him I hope he burns in Hell
_____To tell him that I am praying God will kill him
_____To tell him that he has a meaningless, empty life
_____To tell him he is going to die soon and then he will find out THE TRUTH!
_____To tell him that I know THE TRUTH about him!
Once you have completed the form, cut and paste it into your email or comment.
Please understand that the purpose of this blog is to help people who have doubts and questions about Christianity and to help and encourage people who have already left Christianity. Those who frequent this blog are like family to me, so I hope you will understand if I don’t let you fill up the comment section with your trollish, abusive, argumentative, and judgmental comments.
Please don’t try to claim that you have a First Amendment right to say whatever you want on my blog. You don’t, and you know it. But I will make you an offer: I will allow you to say whatever you want in the comment section IF I can come to your church on Sunday and preach my atheistic beliefs. Deal? That’s what I thought . . .
Generally, I give Evangelicals one opportunity to say whatever they want. I know my writing constipates them, so I want to allow them one Fleet soft-tip enema to clear out their metaphorical bowel. Just one. Say what you think “God” wants you to say and move on. And 99% of the time, I will not post any other comments after the first one. For the 1% of Evangelicals who leave a decent, thoughtful comment, I am willing to continue approving their comments if they can abide by the comment policy:
All commenters are expected to use a functioning email address. The use of a fake or non-functioning email address will result in your comment being deleted.
Pseudonyms are permitted. Please use the same pseudonym with every comment.
All first-time comments and comments with more than one HTML link are moderated.
Before commenting, please read the ABOUT page to acquaint yourself with my background. You might also want to read the Dear Evangelical page.
Evangelical commenters will be given one opportunity to say whatever they want. One, not two, three, or ten. Just one. Quote the Bible. Preach the sermon God has laid upon your heart. Put in a good word for Jesus. Deconstruct my life. Call me names, attack my family. You have one opportunity to impress readers with your John Holmes-like Bible prowess. After that, the following rules apply:
The following type of comments will not be approved after your first comment:
Any comment that is not on point with what the post is about
Any comment that denigrates or marginalizes abuse victims
Any comment that attacks LGBTQ people
Unsolicited medical advice of any kind (and I mean ANY)
Any comment that disparages my wife, children, or grandchildren
Please be advised that personal threats of violence or stalking will be reported to your service provider and law enforcement.
I write about issues that might not be child-friendly. Please be aware of this. I also use profanity from time to time, and I allow the use of profanity in the comment section. Any butt-hurt comment about language will be ignored, and if warranted, ridiculed.
The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser is not a democracy where anyone has a right to say whatever they want. This is my personal blog and I reserve the right to approve or not approve any comment. When a comment or a commenter is abusive towards the community of people who read this blog, I reserve the right to ban the commenter.
If you can be respectful, decent, and thoughtful, your comment will always be approved. Unfortunately, there are many people — Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians in particular — who have a hard time playing well with others. They often use a passive-aggressive approach towards me and the non-Christian people who frequent this blog. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated and will result in a permanent ban.
This blog is also not a place for hardcore atheists to preach the gospel of atheism. While I am an atheist, many of the people who read this blog are not. Frank, honest, open, and passionate discussion about religion, Christianity, and Evangelicalism is encouraged and welcome. However, I do expect atheists not to attack, badger, or denigrate people who still believe in God. If you are respectful, decent, and thoughtful, you will be fine.
My writing is direct and pointed and so is my response to comments. Please do not confuse my directness and pointedness with me attacking you or your religion. This is a grown-up blog, so crying that I offended you or “attacked” your religion will fall on deaf ears.
If you can play by these rules, I hope you will become a part of our community and join the discussion.
Here’s one thing I have learned over the years: most Evangelical zealots will ignore the comment policy. They think they have a right to say anything they want because they think they speak for God. But, invoking the name of God carries no weight here. If God really wants to speak to me, I am sure he doesn’t need you to carry the message. God knows where I am and he can speak to me any time he wants. So far, God has not said a word. Either he is busy, mad at me, taking a shit, or doesn’t exist. I am going with the latter.
If my unwillingness to allow you to foul the comment section offends you, I encourage you to start your own blog. You can have your own blog in as little as five minutes (Blogger, WordPress, and Tumblr) and then you can rage against me and deconstruct my life all you want. Be aware that several people have, in the past, decided to do this and they have found it hard to faithfully and regularly deconstruct my life. All of them have abandoned their efforts.
Most of all, I hope you will consider what your words and actions say about you as a person and the God you say you serve. What in your behavior would draw me to Jesus and compel me to come back to the Christian religion? Thousands of Evangelical zealots have come before you. And in every case, if given enough space to expose who and what they are, they have proved to be poignant reminders of why I am glad I am no longer a Christian.
I wish you well.
A sinner saved by reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
