The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Welcome

  • Whatever God Does is Right

    god is always right

    I listen to a plethora of YouTube channels, particularly call-in shows whose hosts attempt to engage and debate Evangelicals, Catholics, Muslims, and Jews. Evangelicals, in particular, often appeal to “divine command theory” to justify their God’s behavior.

    The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines divine command theory as:

    the view that morality is somehow dependent upon God, and that moral obligation consists in obedience to God’s commands.

    In other words, whatever God does is right. And I mean whatever . . . I have listened to countless Evangelicals defend everything from owning people as property (slavery) to rape to genocide. From philosophical arguments to appeals to the supremacy of “God’s ways,” God is vociferously defended by Evangelical apologists. No quarter is given. God’s holy name must be defended at all costs. And defend it they do, with justifications, excuses, and bizarre interpretations.

    Underlying the notion of divine command theory is the claim that God is ALWAYS good; that whatever God does is, without exception, good. This means that when God ordered the genocide of the Amalekite people, it was a moral, just, and good command. When God ordered the slaughter of infants, no fault can be found in what followed.

    Sensitive to being accused of promoting and justifying genocide, Evangelicals often cook up all sorts of explanations that allegedly protect God’s name against accusations of immorality. “God knew all those babies were going to go to Heaven anyway, so babies having their heads dashed upon the rocks is “good.” Of course, this means Evangelicals should be pro-abortion, killing fetuses before they are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. Most Evangelicals believe fetuses and babies go to Heaven when they die. so it stands to reason that abortion (or slaughter by the Jews) is good as the result is eternity in Heaven. In other words, the end justifies the means. Wait a minute, I thought Evangelicals oppose situational ethics? Oh that’s what they say, but when defending God, absolute morality becomes an ever-moving target. The Ten Commandments say “Thou shalt not kill (murder).” Yet, it seems that when God is doing the killing, the supposedly “moral law of God” is massaged or ignored. Just remember, God’s ways are not our ways. In the minds of Evangelicals, whatever God does is moral and right, even when it seems that what he is doing is immoral. Just because rape, slavery, genocide, and murder are “sins” to fallen sinners, it doesn’t follow that those same acts committed by God are just, moral, and right. The Evangelical deity is never held accountable for his actions. How can mere mortals judge God? Evangelicals say, carving out an exception for God. This means that despite claims of having objective morals, Evangelicals, as do all of us, actually have subjective morals

    Most Evangelicals believe the Bible was written by God, inerrant and infallible in all it says. This core belief forces Evangelicals to commit to defending the Bible regardless of what it says. No evil is beyond justification if God did it. Remember, this is the same God who created Hell/Lake of Fire, the final resting place for all non-Evangelicals. As eternity rolls on, unbelievers will be tortured by God for one simple reason: they didn’t believe in Jesus.

    Here’s the thing, belief isn’t a choice. Either you believe or you don’t. We cannot genuinely believe if we are not convinced that a claim is true (I speak generally). Yes, this is a complex issue, especially when you consider human free will. Do we have free will? I’m inclined to think that we don’t; that our lives give the appearance of free will without actually being “free.” The notion that we have libertarian free will cannot be rationally sustained, though I am sure that some commenters want to disabuse me of this notion.

    The Christian God is neither just, moral, nor good. I have seen no evidence in the Bible that would suggest I am wrong. If you disagree with me, please defend your God or divine command theory in the comment section. I await your defense of a “good” God.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    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.

  • Quote of the Day: The Process of Grotesque Self-Deception in American Politics

    war brings peace middle east

    By Mark Twain

    Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception. (Chronicle of Young Satan)

    ….

    The loud little handful—as usual—will shout for the war… The great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes… and say, earnestly and indignantly, ‘It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it. (The Chronicle of Young Satan)

    ….

    Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities—War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. (The Lowest Animal)

    The War Prayer, a short story by Mark Twain, as published on American Literature

    It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

    It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

    Sunday morning came-next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their faces alight with material dreams-visions of a stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!-then home from the war, bronzed heros, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation — “God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!”

    Then came the “long” prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever–merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory –

    An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there, waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal,”Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!”

    The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside — which the startled minister did — and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said

    “I come from the Throne-bearing a message from Almighty God!” The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. “He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd and grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import-that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of-except he pause and think. “God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of His Who hearth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this-keep it in mind. If you beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it. “You have heard your servant’s prayer-the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it-that part which the pastor, and also you in your hearts, fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory-must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God the Father fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

    “O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

    (After a pause)

    “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits.”

    It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    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.

  • Quote of the Day: The Connection Between Oil and U.S. Military Conflicts

    iranian oil

    Americans are very lucky, because wherever they go to bring freedom… they find oil.

    — Michele Serra, Italian journalist

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    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.

  • Christians Say the Darnedest Things: The Patriarchy Lives on at The Heritage Foundation

    ignorant for jesus

    By Scott Yenor, a political scientist at the Heritage Foundation (the group behind Project 2025), as reported by MS Now

    Every effort must be made not to recruit women into engineering, but rather to recruit and demand more of men who become engineers. Ditto for med school and the law and every trade.

    If every Nobel Prize winner is a man, that’s not a failure. It’s kind of a cause for celebration. Why can’t our celebration of male excellence in sports be translated into all facets of life. More successful men will mean more happy citizenry and a stronger nation.

    ….

    Such medicated, quarrelsome and meddlesome women gain their meaning through the seeming participation in the global project. They are agents of the new world, but not new life. Such women are now the backbone of every left-wing cosmopolitan party in the Western world, from the Greens in Germany to the Democratic Party in America. And if our ideal woman is a childless media scold or a barren bureaucratic apparatchik, there is no question whether we can have a future. We can’t. There is a question of whether we deserve one.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    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.

  • OMG! I Have Moles in My Yard, What Should I Do?

    evangelicals moles

    Evangelicals believe that God gave them dominion over the Earth and all its inhabitants. Progressive Christians will suggest that “dominion” actually means stewardship; that Christians are to care for and protect the natural world. Evangelicals — with a few noteworthy exceptions — ain’t having none of that. No sir, God gave them control of the Earth and they are free to do whatever they want with it. This, by the way, is the theology driving men such as Secretary of Illegal Wars Pete Hegseth, to do unspeakable things in the name God, freedom, and manifest destiny. Left to their own devices, the Pete Hegseths of the world will burn everything down because they can, all the while praising Jesus for giving them the “victory.”

    If there is one thing Americans do well it is this: we kill anyone or anything that gets in the way of our personal, religious, or political fulfillment. Currently, U.S. military forces are bombing the hell out of Iran, slaughtering countless civilians, including 175 children at a school. Our Liar-in-Chief, Donald Trump suggested that the Iranians got a hold of one of our Tomahawk missiles and used it to kill their own children. Typical Trump. Always blame someone else. Name the last time Trump stood before the American people and confessed that he made a mistake or he acted without understanding a matter? Never, that I know of. Kristi Noem did what Trump wanted, yet because she embarrassed him in testimony before Congress, he fired her. Trump never complained when Noem’s storm troopers beat and killed scores of American citizens and peaceable, family-loving undocumented immigrants. Why would he? Of late, Trump has uttered murderous, violent threats against the leaders of countries such as Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Columbia, causing war mongers such as Senator Lindsay Graham to repeatedly cream their pants. (Link provided for Fundamentalist Christians who are euphemism-challenged and think they need to buy coffee creamer to put in their pants.) All of this traces back to dominionism: the establishment of a Christian kingdom on earth by exercising control over every aspect of society. It should surprise no one that Pete Hegseth is a devotee of Doug Wilson, a Fundamentalist reformed pastor in Moscow, Idaho. Wilson has long been a theocrat, with a nasty Calvinistic bent.

    Who is primarily behind attempts to rollback advances made on the climate change front? Evangelical Christians. Who gives a shit about climate change? Evangelicals say. The rapture is imminent! Why build out wind and solar infrastructure when Jesus is fixing to come to Earth to remove all Christians before he destroys the environment and every living thing in it. (See what God has in store for us in the book of Revelation. God is one sick puppy.) Why worry about the environment when God will soon set the Earth on fire? This sort of thinking drives Evangelical indifference towards the plight on immigrants and the poor. Jesus — the God of erectile dysfunction — is coming again soon, so all that matters is getting saved. Oh, Evangelicals will give lip service to ministering to “the least of these,” but don’t be deceived by their superficial acts of charity. Their goal is to get fat on preaching, Bible study, and praise and worship music as they wait in their megachurch bunkers for the second coming of their lover, friend, and car key finder. Yes, there are exceptions, but all exceptions do is what, class? Prove the rule.

    poor people

    If you happen to be an Evangelical preacher who wants to challenge my claims about how churches minister to “the least of these,” please send me a copy of your FULL church budget and income/expense statement. I want to run the numbers and see how much your church really cares for people outside of the four walls of your building. Not the summary budget you use to hide how money is really spent. I want to see the complete, in-depth budget. I first made this challenge over a decade ago. So far, not one pastor/church has provided these documents (which should be readily available, but are often hidden from prying eyes). Why? They know that I am not an outsider. I know how things really work behind the scenes. Further, having a business background helps me to quickly see through the bullshit church leaders often peddle to obfuscate how money is really being spent.

    Thirty years ago, I was the co-pastor of Community Baptist Church in Elmendorf, Texas. One of the first conflicts I had with my fellow pastor was over the church budget. I asked, “Why don’t we provide complete financials to church members?” My co-pastor replied, “How much do they really need to know?” With raised voice, I said, “EVERYTHING!” I won this battle, but I suspect my colleague didn’t like having to be accountable for how he and his fellow elders spent money. Sadly, this kind of thinking is all too common.

    Bruce, I thought this post was about moles. It is, as I shall now make clear. I live in rural northwest Ohio, the land of God, guns, and Trump. Seven out of ten local voters voted for Trump three straight times. I give them a pass on their first Trump vote, thinking they were ill-informed about our Fascist-in-Chief’s beliefs and lifestyle. Many of them convinced themselves that Trump was a “baby Christian” — a phrase coined by James Dobson. However, I refuse to give them a pass on the 2020 and 2024 elections. They knew better, but they voted for Trump anyway.

    Evangelicalism dominates rural America, and that’s certainly the case in northwest Ohio. And with Evangelicalism comes the belief that God gave them dominion over the Earth and all its inhabitants. If one of those non-human inhabitants gets in the way of Evangelicals controlling and dominating the natural world, the solution is to kill them.

    I read several local groups on Facebook. These groups are largely filled with gossip, questions about what time this or that business opens, or rants about local government. I find these groups quite entraining, though it troubles me that I live around so many ignorant people. One such discussion had to do with moles.

    For readers who are unfamiliar with moles:

    Moles are small, subterranean mammals. They have cylindrical bodies, velvety fur, very small, inconspicuous eyes and ears, reduced hindlimbs, and short, powerful forelimbs with large paws adapted for digging.

    ….

    Moles may be viewed as pests to gardeners, but they provide positive contributions to soil, gardens, and ecosystems, including soil aeration, feeding on slugs and small creatures that eat plant roots, and providing prey for other wildlife. They eat earthworms and other small invertebrates in the soil.

    picketing moles

    I find moles to be fascinating creatures. “But, Bruce, moles make trenches and holes in my pristine, dandelion-free yard.” And your point is what, exactly? Evangelical dominionists say, “Die, mole, Die! How dare you mess up my weed-free, chemical-laden, perfectly green yard!” This is why the mole discussion featured ways to effectively kill moles:

    • Put moth balls down their burrows
    • Dump grub poison down their burrows, killing a primary food source for moles
    • Pump propane into the tunnels and set it on fire
    • Dump anhydrous ammonia (a dangerous fertilizer) down the tunnels
    • Flood the burrows with water, drowning the moles
    • Find the moles and kill them with a spade

    This is what Evangelical dominionism looks like, stripped of all of its flowery theological verbiage. Kill anything that gets in your way, be they moles, ground hogs, raccoons, stray cats, or Iranian school children. Why? Because God told them they could.

    I wanted to leave a comment on the mole discussion, but since I was using my partner’s Facebook account, I refrained from doing so. I wanted to say, “What the fuck is wrong with you people? How about leaving the moles alone? They have a right to live too. They aren’t hurting anyone.”

    As long as dominionism infects the collective American mind, we will continue to rape the land in the name of freedom and kill anything that gets in the way of fulfilling our wants and whims. And that includes killing people in faraway lands all because their political, religious, and social systems are different from those of God’s chosen people — white Christian Americans. The goal is nothing short of the domination of every corner of the world, from the heights of outer space to the depths of the seas. What makes this thinking so dangerous in this present world is that Evangelical dominionists now control the U.S. government. Their magnum opus? Project 2025; which Evangelicals in the Trump administrations are feverishly trying to implement before we run the whole lot of them out of office.

    It may seem that “moles” are a silly subject for me to write about, but as a pacifist and animal lover, I think ALL life is important, even moles. This post is also a metaphor for what Evangelical dominionists plan to do to usher in the iron-fisted rule of Jesus on earth. Get in their way and they will metaphorically chop off your head with a Bible spade.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    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.

  • Health Update for Bruce Gerencser

    As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted a meaningful post in nine days. Outside of my life partner, Polly, and my writing partner, Carolyn, I haven’t talked to family or friends about my current health status.

    For new readers who may not know what’s ailing me, I am battling several diseases: gastroparesis (an incurable stomach disease that causes vomiting, nausea, satiation, weight loss); exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (a disease of the pancreas causing the insufficient production of digestive enzymes, leading to diarrhea, weight loss, and malnutrition); severe axonal neuropathy (a painful nerve disease in my legs and feet causing burning, numbness, and increased falls and injury); fibromyalgia (a chronic disease that causes widespread muscle pain/weakness and fatigue); osteoarthritis (a chronic degenerative disease affecting my joints causing pain and debility); degenerative spine disease (affecting my neck and spine causing pain and limited mobility); skin cancer (I have had five cancer surgeries and chemotherapy treatments, the last being surgery on my neck for melanoma three weeks ago). I am also being treated for high blood pressure and diabetes—both of which are well managed. My latest a1c was 5.8.

    Of late, my pain levels have been impossible to manage. I could always take more narcotics—they work—but then I will spend my days unable to do anything other than exist and sleep. The rest of the stuff is out of my control. I regularly see my primary care doctor, take prescribed medications, eat properly, and sleep when I can. “Sleep when I can” means I sleep in short 1-3 hour blocks throughout the night, and then nap throughout the day. I am never not tired or fatigued.

    Of late, I’ve been losing weight again. I have lost a total of 120 pounds. I’m down to what I weighed 30 years ago. I have little to no appetite, so eating has been reduced to “eating because I have too” unless I want to starve myself to death. My diarrhea and vomiting have gotten to the point that I fear going out in public lest I have an accident. Two weeks ago, I had an abdominal CT scan, with contrast. Down went the contrast, up came the contrast, in a waiting room of people. I was so embarrassed to make such a public scene. I’m a private person, so there’s the added psychological stress from embarrassing myself in front of others.

    My daily life has come to a standstill. Three weeks of unopened mail sits on my desk. I haven’t filed our taxes—which I’ve done for 50 years. I contacted one local man about doing our taxes, but he wanted $250 to do them (W-2 wages, social security, one Schedule C for my blog income/expenses). That’s not going to happen, so I need a “good” day soon to file. Blog-wise, I haven’t answered reader emails in several months, and my writing output has declined 90 percent. Writing is one of the few pleasures I have in life, so I find the inability to do so distressing.

    There’s no cure on the horizon. All doctors can do for me is help to manage my symptoms. There are days when I feel “this is it.” A week ago, for some unknown reason, my blood pressure dropped to 98/50, with a 120 resting pulse rate. I also had dangerously low blood sugar. I woke Polly up, stammering and unable to talk in complete sentences. She got me a Coke and some high carb junk food to eat, and my blood sugar rebounded to a low normal level. Polly took the day off of work to care for her dilapidated, but still s-e-x-y, man. Gotta have some humor, right? 😂

    There are other problems I’m dealing with health-wise, but they are inconsequential compared to what I’ve shared above. I suspect it’s time to ask family to come in and help, but I find it difficult to make my problems theirs. They have their own lives to live. My family will say of me: “Bruce/Dad/Grandpa is a stubborn, prideful man who doesn’t like to ask for help.” When I was a strong buck, I was the master of my domain, but such is no longer the case. As anyone with chronic pain/health problems will tell you, one of the biggest problems to deal with is the inability to be self sufficient.

    I hope to do some writing tomorrow. Of course, I’ve told Carolyn that every day for a week. Maybe Tuesday will be the day! 😂 I texted Carolyn earlier, “As you might have divined, rough days and nights lately. Still I hope, so tomorrow is another day to write.”

    signature

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    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.

  • UPDATED: Important Blog News

    blog news 3

    March 6, 2026

    The DoS attack has been dealt with by going to an upgraded ($180 a year) CDN (content delivery network) service. This service will keep this site up and running going forward. I had to change the DNS (Domain Name Service) records to reflect the new CDN. This may introduce issues I am not aware of, so if something is not working for you as it should, please let me know and I try to fix it.

    It takes DNS records up to 48 hours to propagate, so you might see intermittent unavailability. You will also see a security page/check which will remain until Siteground is sure the DoS attack has stopped.

    The CDN service will provide global data hosting, so readers should see quicker page load times.

    Thank you for your understanding.

    Bruce

    March 5, 2026

    This site was down earlier tonight due to a DoS (denial of service) attack. Hackers attempt to flood a site with massive amount of data, overwhelming the server. At one point, this site had 10,000 users a minute. Everything is up and running again, but I can’t guarantee service won’t suffer if hackers try to disrupt this site again. Usually reserved for big sites, I must have pissed somebody off. Maybe I finally got God’s attention. 🤣🤣❤️

    This problem is beyond my control. I hope you understand.

    Bruce

  • Bruce the Stupid Atheist Gives a Master Class on Debunking Fundamentalists

    stupid atheist

    Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, recently responded to my humorous post titled The Bible Says What?: Which Person on Noah’s Ark Had Gonorrhea?

    Here’s what Thiessen had to say (all spelling, grammar, and punctuation in the original):

    Both Bg [Bruce Gerencser] and MM [Meerkat Musings, Ben Berwick] say things that are not the most intelligent or wise to say.

    ….

    He obviously has not read our books on Noah’s Flood [link removed to book] in which we record a large amount of evidence for that event. BG should do so in order to not make this silly mistake again. Only unintelligent people would ignore the evidence and make such erroneous statements. 

    ….

    Another unintelligent and silly thing to say. Gonorrhea is not a ‘living element that was targeted by the flood. What was killed were all the humans who chose evil over God. 

    ….

    What makes BG’s statement so silly and unintelligent is that the flood did ot wipe out sin or corruption that entered the world at Adam’s sin. It also did not wipe out evil that leads people to sin and corruption.

    Thus, gonorrhea would not be wiped out as its source is found in a variety of places. The cattle on the ark were not perfect and incorruptible, nor were the other animals or the people on board. To assume that they were would be stupid andidiotic.

    The germs that affected the pre-flood world did survive in a variety of ways simply because the components that act as a catalyst were not removed during the flood. After the flood, people still got sick and died.

    ….

    But stupid people just do not think things through when they make their weird and out-of-reality accusations against the Bible and God. They also prove they do not know how diseases come to life and what conditions are needed to fuel that existence.

    They would rather just blindly accuse God of making a mistake. They take this step when they do not look at the whole picture.

    Sigh, Where, oh where, do I begin? Being a “stupid” man, I won’t have much to offer a renowned Biblical scholar and author such as the mighty Tee, but I will try.

    First, why in the world would I read Thiessen’s books? I have, in the past, read all the big- name authors in young earth creationism. At the first church I worked for, we had John Whitcomb come in and hold a two day Creationist Conference. I am well-versed in what Christian Fundamentalists believe about creationism and Noah’s flood.

    Second, it is evident that Thiessen does not know how to competently search the Internet. Had he done so, he would have learned that Gonorrhea doesn’t survive for long in water — no more than a couple of hours, depending on the water source. It only survives for a couple of minutes in chlorinated pool water. Thus, the flood did not kill the disease, and since it needs a human host, at least one human on Noah’s big boat was infected with the clap.

    Thiessen hurled a lot of slurs my way instead of actually engaging what I wrote. He failed to follow basic research principles, choosing, instead, to just make up shit as he goes. Thiessen has no answer for my Gonorrhea claim other than personal opinion and religious dogma.

    Do better, David,

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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