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Why Christianity Matters

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guest-post

A guest post by Ian

Since telling everyone that I was no longer a Christian, I have been able to look at how Christianity affected my life; and, more importantly, why. Understanding why it was affecting me so drastically gives me a better understanding of how it was controlling me. In the end, Christianity is about control; control of our actions and our thoughts. This control is exerted by telling people that almost everything they do is a sin that keeps them from God. The good things that are done can only be done through the control of God, or they are selfish and, ultimately, a sin (the pride of life).

Christianity matters to people for many reasons. A few of the most prevalent reasons are fear of eternal torment, loss of community, and self-worth issues, in no particular order. There are countless other reasons and minor variations of these reasons. In the end, if a Christian is pressed hard enough, these are the three that will be the main reasons.

The first reason, fear of eternal torment, is a powerful motivator. People are told that, without the sacrifice of a murdered savior, they will die (like everyone else on earth) and will be tormented forever in a place of fire and brimstone. By looking at this idea honestly, you can see that this makes no sense. The basic premise for this idea is that an all-powerful God created the universe and perfect people to inhabit it. These mortal, insignificant people were able to do something so egregious that caused the all-powerful God to condemn them, and all of their offspring, to an eternity of torment, unless they believe in the aforementioned savior. Not just punishment for the two who broke the law, but a punishment, for all humans, that has spanned 6,000 years of Bible history and will continue on forever. Punishment that consists holding a dead person’s immortal soul into a place of fire and torment until a final judgment can be made. This judgment is a foregone conclusion, since a soul is unable to receive salvation or forgiveness from this all-powerful God. After the final judgment, everyone being held in this fiery place of torment will be cast into an eternal Lake of Fire. The fact that one person has suffered for 6,000 years and another person has suffered for a day before being thrown into this eternal fire has no bearing on anything. This is the work of a petty God, one who acts childish and holds a grudge.

This idea of eternal torment keeps people in church and pacified because it is such a fearful thing. The truth is that people don’t really want to do good to honor God, they want to do good to avoid eternal fire. This is not to say that some people don’t want to sometimes do good deeds for others, but the fear far outweighs the promise of a reward. Some people have called this fear irrational, since eternal fiery torment doesn’t exist; but if you are a Christian, this is a totally rational fear. (The eternal punishment idea never came from where Christianity claims its origins. The Christian idea of hell and eternal torment are easily traceable to Greek and Roman ideas of the afterlife, among other religions.) A rational person would be well advised to do everything they could to avoid such a punishment. The truth is that everyone dies and that is all there is. The fact that some evildoers in life get away with their crimes is remedied by having a place of eternal torment. The only way to escape this eternal torment is to be a Christian (of some sort).

Even Christians are affected by eternal torment. I have heard several people over the years say that they had doubts of their salvation. Usually this occurs late at night or when there is personal turmoil. Many people “get saved” more than once—I did this myself. In the back of our minds, there is no way to be 100% sure that you will miss out on eternal torment. We have been told that you can; but, until you die, there is no way to know for sure; so, people will cling to any chance they have of missing torment. And this is one of the reasons that it matters if you are a Christian.

The second reason Christianity matters to people is the community it forms. Many people are born into families that are Christian, or at least have roots in the church. Growing up in this environment means that most of the people you know are Christians and leaving Christianity means leaving family and friends behind.

Leaving behind everyone you love means two things. First, you separate yourself from them. You are no longer in close contact, or fellowship, with them. You miss out on many of the things you used to do together and you grow apart. Secondly, many types of Christians will shun you for leaving Christianity. In practice, this means you are worse than a regular unbeliever and deserve to be ignored by them. You are told, initially, that Christians are praying for you; but, when you are resistant to their prayers and pleadings, they treat you as though you are worse than a rapist or child molester. This is because you have once experienced the goodness of God but now trample it underfoot. They believe there is no redemption for you. They believe that for a person to renounce Christianity means you were never saved and you will be condemned to eternal torment.

Leaving behind all of you friends and being shunned is a strong motivation to keep people in Christianity. Being an ex-Christian opens a lot of doors and places you into unfamiliar territory. Leaving likeminded people and a pastor who tells you what to do and think means that you will have to make your own decisions, which is something many people don’t want to do. This community has been your stability, so leaving it is hard to do. You can feel as if your whole world is upside down. Many people stay, even when they aren’t particularly happy or satisfied with their situation, because they fear this shunning and loss of relationships.

Finally, self-worth issues keep people in Christianity. Christians are told that they are sinners and deserving of eternal torment. They are told that, without Jesus, all of their good deeds are nothing but filthy rags and there is “none righteous, no not one”. Being told these kinds of things for many years makes you believe that you have no self-worth outside of Christianity. No one wants to feel worthless, especially when eternity hangs in the balance.

Christians are told to be humble and to only “glory in the cross” of Jesus; the cross where a man was murdered because he was falsely accused of sedition, according to the New Testament. By keeping people enslaved to the idea of embracing low self-esteem, they feel that they are worthless. Their only value comes through Christianity and the affirmations of their pastor and church. When these affirmations are taken away, many Christians become depressed and feel that God has forsaken them. They then start a spiral into self-destruction, which they believe is because God is punishing them for not being true to Christianity. When these people “get right with God”, they were able to put away their “sins” because their self-worth was restored. This shows how insidious and powerful these self-worth ideas are.

Ultimately, these three reasons are intertwined. As I have shown, the overlap in these mindsets is a powerful tool for keeping people in bondage to Christianity. Understanding why Christianity matters to people is an important step in finally freeing yourself from its lingering grip. It will also help you understand why people are so upset when you finally announce your deconversion.

Fear the Gnome, and Fairies Too

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cincinnati reds gnome
Cincinnati Reds Gnome that graces our front yard

The Galatians 4 blog is a site dedicated to:

Gal 4:16 asks “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”. This discernment blog is to warn fellow Christians and others, about what is happening in the churches, stand against the one world religion, and promote the truth of the Bible in standing up before a myriad of last days delusions.

Sites like Galatians 4 love my writing when I expose the “sin” and “heresy”  that is going on in Evangelicalism and the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement. Galatians 4 has even linked to a few of my posts, a rare act by a discernment blog because they usually don’t like sending traffic to sites like mine

I try to stay up to date with what is going on in the Evangelical/Fundamentalist world, so I subscribe to the RSS feed of sites like Galatians 4. A year or so ago, I decided to go to the Galatians 4 site and see if there had been any more comments on an article that mentioned a post I had written about Jack Hyles. There were no new comments, so I decided to poke around the site a bit.  I found a post written by Bible Believer on November 13, 2013 about Fairies, Gnomes and Elves.

cincinnati bengals gnome
Cincinnati Bengals Gnome. We will get him out in two weeks and start worshiping him in hopes that we win the division and the Super Bowl

Bible Believer, there’s a catchy pseudonym,  is worried about people building doors at the base of their trees for fairies.  Bible Believer had this to say:

The other day, a non-Christian acquaintance from my old community told me they were making a fairy door for their tree outside, and I said “What is that?” It seems that this is a new trend where people will make little miniature doors, and windows and rooms for would be “fairies”. They will use bottom crevices in trees often to put these doors. I found myself very disturbed by this.

Why do these fairy doors DISTURB Bible Believer?  In classic Fundamentalist, Joseph McCarthy paranoia, Bible Believer thinks:

Ever hear of wood, water sprites? of elementals? of “lights” out in nature? Some claim they see little lights or orbs. Faeries are known to be connected to magic. Faerie magic is a known subject in Wicca. There are magic spells to call up faeries [aka demons]. There are herbs and magical properties that go along with the faeries or “little folk”……

….One thing I noticed is some dictionaries listed fairies as “imaginary creatures full of mischief”, in other words “not real”. I am sure some would read this post and think it crazy that someone would protest the building of fairy doors and little doorways spread around a town for fairies to move into. But how many places in our society are we told that spirits aren’t real and that dabbling with the spirit realm is just child’s play and FOR FUN? How many times do lost people invite the occult in under the guise of fantasy and fiction or just playing a game? Why are human beings so fascinated by the idea of little creatures who have powers superior to human beings moving into cracks in their trees or little doll-houses they have set up for them?Talk about an invitation to false spirits. Talk about leading children into vain imaginations. That’s what that Santa Claus and Easter Bunny stuff does too.

fairy door
Fairy Door

And it is just not fairy doors he is worried about. Bible Believer writes:

I believe that demons shape-shift, in various forms, and that fairies definitely would be one of those forms during human history. Today one form are aliens. There is a reason they never have found a UFO with little green men to take to the lab. Those are sometimes spiritual manifestations in my opinion. [Of course with Project Blue Beam and other deceptive forces among human beings there is a lot of planned trickery as well]

Many mystical creatures are demons shape-shifting throughout history. If the creature is “metaphysical”, has special powers, etc, then watch out!  Leprechauns, Gnomes, Elves, Fairies, Goblins, Aliens, etc. Perhaps even Big Foot and some of the other creatures seen out there beyond what the tricksters are up to. While yes, they can be just imaginative and not a physical manifestation of a spirit, I believe there is a reason the theme of their existence crops up in all human societies. Demons have shown up to deceive and mislead. These creatures are demonic and as they have appeared in history to people they are just shape-shifted variations on demons….

…One thing about Gnomes, they were praised even in the Gnomes book for having magic powers. You may want to rethink the next time you buy a garden gnome to decorate your yard with…

…In fairy tales, elves, fairies, leprechauns, brownies are called upon to aid humans and they all require a spell or a price in every fairy tale I ever have read. So why are these creatures celebrated by Christians in too many instances? Why do they buy their child a fairy-princess bedroom set, or buy a set of Gnomes for the garden? Trust me I know these are some things that may not even occur to some folks until pointed out.  I know some are going to be outraged by this article, telling me I am legalistic and in disbelief that I am even addressing this issue, but if you know God’s mandates regarding spirits and witchcraft, why celebrate characters that are associated with BOTH?

Here is a comment Bible Believer made to a commenter on his post:

I’m not surprised either anon, that it has helped the world get more overtaken with witchcraft. The perverted bible versions WATER everything down.

I don’t think the news casters are shape-shifters but some be mind-control types with tons of alters? I could go with that.

I agree Don, the fairy doors are a way to invite in the demons. That’s not a Christian dominant place sprinkling the fairy doors all over the place.

Well I went into the cryptozoology realm including Big Foot above. A lot of the ‘animals” like that could be shape-shifted demons too. Why haven’t they been able to haul a Yeti in or a Big Foot after all this time?

Some of the cases may be mistaken identities with the Chupacabras, a dog with manage, another type of animal where the hair fell out.

For those of us who spent a lot of years in Fundamentalism, Bible Believer is just another bought by the blood, sold out for Jesus Christian who sees Satan, demons, principalities, and powers everywhere he looks.  This is no different from Jerry Falwell’s Teletubbies are gay, Smurfs are demons  or any of the numerous demonic toys listed in the classic book of Fundamentalist paranoia, Turmoil in the Toybox. Let me illustrate this with a 1980′s video clip of Pastor Gary Greenwald interviewing Phil Phillips, the author of Turmoil in the Toybox. The video is quite long, but it gives great insight into how many 1980’s fundamentalists viewed the world:

Video Link

Here’s a short 7 minute version

Video Link

After writing Turmoil in the Toybox, a book I once owned, Phil Phillips went on to write several more books, books like:

Halloween and Satanism

Saturday Morning Mind Control

The Truth About Power Rangers

Dinosaurs: The Bible, Barney, and Beyond

turmoil in the toyboxPhillips’s books played an crucial part in the Satan/demon hysteria that was prominent in Fundamentalist churches in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Mike Warnke and Johanna Michaelsen also helped fuel the hysteria with their false claims about demonism, Satanism, and human sacrifices.  BTW, Phil Phillips, Gary Greenwald, Mike Warnke, and Johanna Michaelsen are still involved in Christian ministry, a testimony to the fact that there are always new sheep to fleece.

Now I want to get quite personal for a moment. I think there is a lot of truth in what Bible Believer and Phil Phillips are saying. It is hard for me to admit this, but I must. You see I have a Gnome in my front yard. He is a Cincinnati Reds Gnome. I bought him thinking he would use his magical power to help the Reds get to the World Series. Little did I know, he is an ANTI-REDS Gnome, secretly manufactured and supernaturally possessed in a Saint Louis Cardinal Gnome factory. Proof? The Reds are dead last in the Central Division, well on their way to losing 100 games.

Silly, you say? How dare you insult my intelligence. I know what I know!! Gnomes are possessed by demons and they control everything the Fairies, Elves, and Smurfs don’t control. Either that, or I am full of shit like Bible Believer and company. This is what Bible literalism and newspaper theology, the art of reading the newspaper and finding Bible verse to fit the news,  does to the Fundamentalist mind. They begin to live in an alternate reality where Frank Peretti novels are true and demons and Satan are everywhere. It is a reality dominated by fear and delusion and the only way out of it is to admit that EVERYTHING you once believed is a lie. Few “Bible Believers” are willing to do this, so they continue to live a life  detached from the reality of the world they live in.

Notes

Here is a link to an interesting article about Turmoil in the Toybox on Cartoon Brew.

2005 Bryan Times Editorial by Bruce Gerencser About the Iraq War

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bruce gerencser 2002
Bruce Gerencser, 2002

Published on August 25, 2005. This was written two years after I left the ministry. If you have been reading the previous editorials I have posted you will notice in this editorial that my worldview has definitely shifted. This was written in reaction to my frustrating inability to find a church to attend that did not support the war in Iraq This was not a Letter to the Editor. I wrote it for the Community Voice editorial column on the editorial page of The Bryan Times.

There is a new fundamentalism rising up in America. While it has Christian theological overtones, it is really right-wing political extremism wrapped in the clothes of conservative Christian dogma. There was a time when politics and religion did not mix and were considered separate planes in God’s created order.  Things are much different today. Political activism from the pulpit is common. A recent front-page feature article in the Columbus Dispatch about Rod Parsley, pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus shows very clearly the agenda of this new fundamentalism. Parsley pastors a Church with over 10,000 members. The annual Church budget is in excess of $32,000,000. Parsley advocates pastors rising up to become Patriot Pastors. Theocracy is the goal.

Some would suggest that we ignore this folly and it will fade away as quickly as the Atkins Diet. Our nation has faced many well-intentioned but misguided attempts at reclaiming the culture for God. All have run their course. All have utterly failed because they attempt to use political means to gain a spiritual end.

But we can not ignore this movement because it is resulting in the death and maiming of thousands of people. Virtually every person involved in this new fundamentalism supports the war in Iraq. They have bought into the rhetoric that the war in Iraq is a war of good vs. evil. Opposition to the war is shouted down with angry words such as traitor, unpatriotic, liberal, etc. All discussion has ceased. Arrogant fundamentalism has usurped the right to speak for all Christians. We must always remember that one of the key tenets of fundamentalism is the belief that you have the complete truth and that all other views are error. No discussion. No shades of gray. Those who hold a different view are considered the enemy.

The most dangerous factor in the Iraq war is the fundamentalist religious right. Their thinking is not much different from that of fundamentalist Muslims. They believe God is on their side and that the infidel needs to be destroyed. It is no wonder that many Muslims view the war in Iraq as a religious war. America, led by a Christian President, claims to be a Christian nation. God is invoked to justify virtually everything we do.

Most of the leaders of the fundamentalist religious right have a particular eschatological belief called pretribulational premillennialism. This is the theology of the wildly popular Left Behind book series. It is a relatively modern school of eschatological thought which is first found in writings of the mid-19th century. According to this system of thought, the world is headed toward a seven-year period called the Great Tribulation. This period of time concludes with Armageddon, at which time the thousand-year millennial kingdom of Christ will be established. Prior to the Great Tribulation, Jesus will return and rapture out all the Christians. it is important to keep this in mind when listening to the war rhetoric of the fundamentalist religious right. According to their theological system, Mathew 24 must be literally fulfilled. One of the key tenets of Matthew 24 is “war and rumors of war.“ Those holding to this theological persuasion have no impetus to be “peacemakers.“ War is inevitable, and the more war we have the closer we are to the rapture.

I am a conservative Christian. My theology and personal lifestyle practices place me squarely in the conservative Christian camp. Unfortunately, I am, along with many others, the son no one talks about. We sit silently in church while our ministers talk up war and nationalism from the pulpit. l speak for those who are Christians but who can not support the war in Iraq. I speak for those who believe that Jesus called us to be ”peacemakers.” It is not enough to believe In peace. We must actively promote peace.

Where are the conservative Churches and pastors that take a stand against war and actively promote peace? Have we become so blinded by our political agenda and fanciful eschatological interpretations that we have forsaken the Jesus who preached the Sermon on the Mount?

We should note that when justification for war is talked about, it is the name of God that is invoked. Have you noticed that no one says, “Jesus supports the War In Iraq?“ Using the generic term God invokes the Image of the wrathful God of the Old Testament. When we speak the name of Jesus we come away with a different image. We do not see Jesus as the soldier, the warrior. We see him as the shepherd, as the meek, mild-mannered, peace-loving Savior of the world.

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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Hustling for Jesus: Can We Please Have Your Name, Address, and Credit Card Number?

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Snark ahead

Every so often, I get card pack mailers that contain post card sized and larger advertisements for businesses. Last week a pack titled Explore History arrived in my mailbox. (the card packs are marketed by Marketshare Publications)  (link no longer active) I always go through the cards, never buying anything, just to see who is trying to sell what.

This month there were several cards hawking goods for several Christian ministries businesses. I thought readers might enjoy seeing the cards, so I scanned them.

Mike Huckabee and Learn Our History

christian advertising cards

christian advertising cards-003

Learn Our History, a business founded by fundamentalist Baptist and 2016 Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, wants to send me a FREE DVD detailing the REAL history of the United States. All they ask is that I give them my name, address, and credit card number so they can charge my card $1 for shipping and handling. What’s not told is the fine print which is available on their website:

learn our history fine print

The NEXT DVD will cost me 11.00 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling and will keep coming every month until I tell them to stop sending them. Man, I can get coasters cheaper than that at Walmart.

Mike Huckabee is a theocrat who thinks that public school history books are teaching a false narrative about the founding and history of God’s city set on a hill, the United States of America, incorporated by God 1776, all rights reserved. If I was a betting man, and I am, I bet there are a few undercover for Jesus Christians teaching in the public school who use these DVD’s to teach their students the REAL history of the greatest nation on the face of earth.

United Church of God

christian advertising cards-001

The United Church of God: an International Association, is an offshoot of Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God. Crazy then, crazy now, but from what I hear they are more orthodox now than they used to be, so  much so that many Christians consider them real Christians who just happen to be bat shit crazy on some stuff. You know, just like every other cult except the one the true Christian is in. They always seem to see the error in other cults, but never their own. Too bad there isn’t a God, heaven, hell, judgment, and afterlife. Finding out who the REAL Christians are would be quite entertaining.

Church website

Steps to Christ

christian advertising cards-002

Steps to Christ is:

…a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to giving every home in America the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ through the mass distribution of free Bible-based, Christian literature. Over the past 40 years, we have distributed free books to over 22 million homes across the United States, bringing hope, peace, comfort, and encouragement to thousands.

At PROJECT: Steps to Christ we believe the Holy Bible should be our source for truth. While there are many authors and religious organizations that have great insights and observations about truth, ultimately the Bible MUST be our guide! We have observed that denominational labels often influence our willingness to examine new ideas and resources. We have intentionally NOT provided a denominational affiliation in an effort to minimize pre-conceived ideas about the material provided.

Isaiah declared “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20 KJV) We endeavor to ensure ALL materials provided by us are Biblical. We invite you to examine any resource that we provide for its Biblical accuracy and bring to our attention any variations from scripture.

I love how Steps for Christ doesn’t say what their denominational affiliation is. They want to give the appearance of being above the denominational fray when in fact they have defined, narrow theological beliefs just like every other sect.  One thing I found interesting is that Steps for Christ thinks smoking will keep someone out of Heaven. They even have a Bible Answers section on their website, filled with hundreds of proof texts for the various issues that Christians seem to preoccupy themselves with. What a way to live…just find a Bible verse and you can justify almost anything. Strike that….find a Bible verse and you can justify almost anything. History is replete with stories about Christians who used the Bible to justify vile, murderous behavior.

What do these three Christian businesses have in common? They want your name and address so they can continue to help market and sell their shit to you. It’s all about adding names to a mailing and donor list so they can periodically contact you, warn you about the evil world we live in, and ask you for money to help them continue spreading fear. And if you could send them the names of a few friends who might be interested that would be great too.

 

Songs of Sacrilege: Your God by Cheryl Wheeler

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This is the fifty-fourth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please  send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Your God by Cheryl Wheeler.

 Video Link

Lyrics

Is your God the same God who’s working with the Pope?
Is it the same God suspicious of Tinky Winky?
Is it the God corralling virgins into herds of 72,
deciding where to send them when the glorious martyrs are through?

Is your God the same God who’s burning the science books
and trampling lives to hoist the right to life signs?
Or is he running the breeding program from the Temple by the lake
till one big in-bred family will be an entire state?

Are they his priests who can’t keep from buggering little boys?
Is it your cash retaining their attorneys?
I guess he had to overlook the nastiness with the tykes,
to keep the grace of marriage from the clutches of fags and dykes.

Is your God the same God who won the Superbowl?
I hope it’s not that loser God the Eagles had.
Or is your’s the God decreeing all the women wear a sack,
and presiding over stonings and beheadings in Iraq?

Is your God commanding you
to tell everybody what to do,
to kill your brain and praise his name
and bury the bastard who’s not the same,
and spew your heinous and hateful shit
like something holy was driving it
to take over all the earth and skies above?
Oh mercy, whatever happened to the GOD of love?

Songs of Sacrilege: One True God by Austin Lounge Lizards

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This is the fifty-third installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please leave the name the song in the comment section or send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is One True God by The Austin Lounge Lizards from Austin, Texas.

 Video Link

Songs of Sacrilege: Sunday in Reality by Cynthia Carle

0 Comments

This is the fifty-second installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Sunday in Reality by Cynthia Carle.

Video Link

 

Songs of Sacrilege: Wages of Sin by The Rainmakers

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This is the fifty-first installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Wages of Sin by The Rainmakers, a Kansas City, Missouri-based original rock band.

Video Link

Video Link

Lyrics

I was praying last night when an angel broke the line
She said “I’m gonna have to put you on hold for a time”
I said “Hold like Hell, let me talk to the Boss”
She said “Sorry sucker (sinner), it’s the Boss’s day off”
And I realized then that the wages of sin
Was two bucks an hour and working weekends

I was ignoring the thief who was lashed to the cross
He cried “Help me get this son-of-a-bitch off”
I said “I would if I could, I can’t so I won’t
Well I wouldn’t want you messing your hair up, so don’t”
And I realized then that the wages of sin
Was all the lumber you can carry, all the nails you can bend

The wages of sin, the price that you pay
Is worrying and fretting every second of the day
If Heaven is guilt, no sex and no show
Then I’m not sure if I really want to go, Oh

The wages of sin, the reward of fear
Is worrying and fretting every second of the year
The Church and the State, your God and Countrykind
One gets your body, the other gets your mind

Mary, Mary Magdalene, how ’bout a date?
You’ve been wasting your time staying up so late
Your boyfriend’s dead, the word is you’re a whore
Just about then I heard a knock on the door
And I realized then that the wages of sin
Was a bad reputation and too many friends

The wages of sin (repeats)

The Anatomy of an Unaccredited Christian School

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pace cartoon
clip from PACE used by many Christian schools and homeschoolers

Originally written in 2014

In this post, I want to take a look at State Line Christian School, an unaccredited fundamentalist Christian school that is operated under the auspices of the Lewis Ave Baptist Church in Temperance, Michigan. I know nothing about this school or church, and everything I write in this post has been gleaned from the church’s or school’s website.

Lewis Avenue Baptist Church, is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church pastored by Steve Hobbins. Pastor Hobbins has been the pastor of the church since 2008. Prior to that, his father was the pastor for 37 years. Like many IFB churches, Lewis Avenue is a franchise operation, handed down from father to son.

In 2001, the church built a 1,300 seat auditorium. I found nothing on the church’s website that states their actual attendance.  Interestingly, I found nothing on their website that stated what they believed. There is one page (link no longer active) that details how a person can go to heaven when they die. Here is the prayer they suggest a sinner pray:

Dear Jesus,

I know I’m a sinner, I know I cannot save myself. I know you died on the cross for my sin. I ask you to come into my heart and forgive my sins, and take me to heaven when I die. AMEN

Lewis Avenue operates a bus ministry, along with a seniors ministry, singles ministry, mentally handicapped ministry, children’s ministry, music ministry, a teen ministry that focuses on soulwinning, and a Spanish ministry. The church also has a Reformers Unanimous chapter.

The centerpiece of Lewis Avenue Baptist Church’s plan to train future IFB leaders is the State Line Christian School. The school’s about page states (link no longer active):

When State Line Christian School opened in 1973, Pastor Hobbins’s vision was to open not just a private school, but a Christian school, one that held the beliefs of Lewis Avenue Baptist Church and the other churches in the Greater Toledo area. The school is Baptist-based with a strong emphasis on evangelism.

State Line started with just a K-4 and K-5, but added grades every year, until they graduated their first class in 1980. It is considered a preparatory school for college – a student’s core classes are chosen for him, and each student gets four years of English, math, and science. The school uses A Beka Book curriculum. State Line has been successful in preparing its students in that better than 90% of graduates go on to pursue college…

State Line is an unaccredited Christian school that uses A Beka Books, the publishing arm of Pensacola Christian College, for their curriculum.  For one child in grade 1 through 12, the tuition cost is $4,000 plus an enrollment fee and an additional costs fee. Total cost for one child? Around $4,100.  For families with two children enrolled the tuition cost is $6,250. Four children? $8,250. The State Line website does not mention if there is an additional tuition cost for more than four children. If a family is delinquent (link no longer active) in making their tuition payments for more than 45 days, their children will not be permitted to attend the school. If payment arrangements are not made, the school will “pursue any and all action to
collect past due money.” If this step is taken, a 20% fee is added to the amount owed.

Pastor Steve Hobbins is the superintendent and Joshua Newbold is the principal. Both Hobbins and Newbold attended an unnamed, and I assume unaccredited, Bible college. According to the hard to find listing of school staff (no link on school website), the school has 21 teachers:

  • 9 with degrees from unaccredited Hyles Anderson College (IFB)
  • 2 with degrees from unaccredited Tennessee Temple (IFB)
  • 2 with a degree from unaccredited Crown College (IFB)
  • 1 with a secretarial degree from Brown-Mackie College (teaches band and strings)
  • 1 with a degree from Grand Rapids Baptist Bible College (unaccredited?, once affiliated with the GARBC, now Cornerstone University)
  • 1 with a degree from Columbia Bible College
  • 1 with no degree
  • 3 with an unknown degree
  • 1 state certified kindergarten teacher

Out of 21 teachers, only one is certified by the state of Michigan.

State Line Christian School operates under the laws of the Michigan for non-public schools:

  • They are not required to use any particular textbook
  • Their school/church  properties and buildings are exempt from personal and real estate tax
  • They are required to do criminal background checks on all employees
  • They are not required to keep school records
  • They are not required to be accredited by any recognized accrediting body
  • They are not required to use certified or college educated teachers

At one time, Michigan law stated:

  • Teacher certification is optional. A teacher may qualify to work in a nonpublic school in one of the following three ways: obtain a Michigan Teaching Certificate; obtain a substitute, full year, or emergency teaching permit; obtain a bachelor‘s degree.
  • Persons without valid teaching certificates who have the requisite college credit may apply to the Michigan Department of Education for a teaching permit for employment in a nonpublic school under Mich. Admin. Code R 390.1142 (full-year permit); R 390.1143 (substitute permit); and R 390.1144 (emergency permit).
  • Teachers in the regular or elementary grade studies in a private, denominational or parochial school, i.e., a school other than a public school giving instruction to children below the age of 16 years, in the first eight grades, must hold a teaching certificate that would qualify them to teach in like grades of the public schools. Mich.Comp. Laws §§388.552; 388.553.

In 1993, The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the above provision was unconstitutional when applied to families whose religious convictions prohibit the use of certified instructors. In  People v. DeJonge, a lawsuit filed by the fundamentalist Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), the Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-3 for DeJonge and invalidated the requirements mentioned above. Thus, State Line is under no statutory requirement as far as their teachers are concerned, and this is why most them have degrees from unaccredited fundamentalist Christian colleges.

Like all fundamentalist Christian schools, State Line has a strict code of conduct. While I was unable to find a copy of their student manual online, which is not uncommon for fundamentalist schools that want to hide their rules from prying eyes, I did find a 7th-12th grade student conduct agreement form (link no longer active) which must be signed by the student, the school administrator, and the student’s parent. The student must answer in the affirmative or negative to the following questions/statements:

  • Do you attend church regularly? Where?
  • Do you have any objections to saluting the United States Flag, the Christian Flag, or the Bible?
  • Do you understand that the goals and standards of State Line Christian School are based on principles found in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament?
  • Have you read our Student Handbook carefully?
  • Is there any standard you do not understand? If answered yes, Which one?
  • Will you dress according to the standards of State Line Christian School?
  • Will you establish and have a daily time for devotions?
  • Will you honestly agree to keep all the school’s rules and respect authority without being critical and find fault?
  • Do you want to attend State Line Christian School?

After answering these questions, the student must READ ALOUD:

“As a student of State Line Christian School, I WILL NOT cheat, swear, smoke, gamble, dance, drink alcoholic beverages, use indecent language, use drugs, or behave in a disorderly or disrespectful manner. I WILL maintain Christian standards in courtesy, kindness, morality and honesty. I WILL strive to be of unquestionable character in dress, conduct and other areas of my life. I WILL attend all weekly services of my church unless providentially hindered. I am willing by the enabling of God to refrain from anything good or bad which might cause others to stumble, to bring reproach to the cause of Christ, to cause disrespect to the glory of God, or to be a negative influence in the character development of myself or others. I will at all times seek to maintain a careful discipline and diligence in the pursuit of my academic opportunities. I will cooperate with those in authority over me and will personally maintain respect for properly placed authority.

I realize that keeping the standards depends upon my attitude and spirit towards the goals of Christian Education. My spirit depends upon my heart commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and the goals He wants for me during my stay at State Line Christian School.

There is much evidence from Pastors, Christian Educators, and Christian Counselors across our nation that bad music, Hollywood movies,television, and bad companionship affects the character, spirit and performance of students. Any evidence that a student is under the influence or control of such will result in disciplinary measures.

While these standards will be strictly enforced, it needs to be understood that we are far more interested in a student’s spirit and attitude than outward conformity to the standards with a rebellious spirit. The student should know that attitudes show just like actions and will be approved or disapproved.

There are tens of thousands of churches like Lewis Ave Baptist Church and thousands of these churches have schools that are just like State Line Christian School. Thousands of American children are being educated in unaccredited schools, taught by non-certified teachers. These schools use fundamentalist Christian textbooks that teach evolution is a myth and promote American exceptionalism and Christian nationalism. Some of these schools don’t even use textbooks, using instead a self-guided curriculum published by Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) or Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute (ATI).

Secularists and humanists think educating children is vitally important. Having an educated populace is for our common good, and it is to everyone’s benefit to make sure every child is adequately, properly, and comprehensively educated. We expect the goverment to regulate schools in such a way that they provide a quality education for every child.

Fundamentalist Christian churches and schools have lobbied legislators and have used lawsuits to demand exemption from state laws that regulate what they can and can not do. In many states, they have been quite successful and this is why there are schools like State Line Christian School. Here in Ohio, any church can start a non-charted, unaccredited religious school. There are no regulations for such schools, and for families who choose to home school, the regulations are few. In others words, many states and local jurisdictions have abdicated their responsibility to regulate and investigate many of the schools that educate their children. (see How to Start a Non-Chartered Christian School in Ohio)

Even worse, right-wing politicians are working hard to pass voucher laws that enable private Christian schools to receive state funding with little or no oversight.  Thousands of American children have their private, religious education paid for by taxpayers. These voucher programs have caused a huge census and financial drain for many public school systems.

I put this post together so readers could see how a typical fundamentalist Christian school operates. I do not know anyone at State Line Christian School or Lewis Ave Baptist Church. They came up in a web search I was doing and I decided that they would be a good example of a non-accredited, private, fundamentalist Christian school.

Should these schools (and home schools) be permitted to operate outside the purview of federal, state, and local authorities? Should they be exempt from the laws that public schools must follow? Should we “trust” these schools to properly educate children without making sure they do so? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

My opinion? ALL schools should be strictly regulated by federal, state, and local government. They should receive NO public funding unless they are. I have no objection to religiously motivated private schools or homeschooling as long as they are properly regulated. We ALL have a vested interest in making sure that American children are adequately, properly, and comprehensively educated.

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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

If the Bible is God’s Word

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guest-post

Guest post by Exrelayman

If the Bible were God’s word:

  • It would be perfectly engrossing. You would love reading it.
  • It would be perfectly clear. There would not be any disagreement anywhere about the meaning of any verse or passage.
  • It would be perfectly persuasive. People of any other faith would convert immediately upon reading this clear and persuasive message.
  • It would perfectly distributed to all the cultures of the world simultaneously, in their own language.
  • It would be perfectly indestructible. Neither years nor flood nor flame could mar or destroy it.
  • It would be perfectly original and accurate in all that it says.

In brief, it would be a perfect revelation proceeding from a perfect God.

And what do we observe in the real world:

  • Very hard to force yourself to slog through it. Most who profess Christianity don’t struggle through all the begats and directions for making temple garments. Very inferior to myriads of mere human novelists.
  • Earnest disagreement about what it actually says has led to thousands of differing denominations. Not so clear then.
  • It needs a bit of help. Pastors must spend Sundays being persuasive. Persuasive hymns and apologetics are needed. Heaven and hell must be dangled as carrot and stick to evince coercion through hope and fear and not clear evidential persuasion.
  • Given at one part of the world, the gospels especially,  through unknown biased writers at unknown places and times.
  • As susceptible to decay and destruction as any other book.
  • Sadly imitative, many other dying and resurrecting savior gods from surrounding cultures preceded the Christ story. The Old Testament stories largely derive from antecedent cultures also. Flatly in conflict with what science has discovered about the age of the Earth and the evolution of life upon it. Flatly contradictory with its own self in numerous places.

At each expectation of what the revelation of a perfect and powerful God would be like, the Bible fails. Now these expectations are admittedly subjective, so that each one of them might be arguable. But cumulatively they become, at least as I see it, irresistible. Thus the verdict that it is not a divine document, but is shown by its own nature to be the product of ignorant and superstitious men writing in ignorant and superstitious times.