AOC, look, I think she’s very nice. But she’s very low-IQ, and we really don’t need low-IQ. Between her and Crockett, we’re going to give them both an IQ test to see who comes out best.
Now, I took my test. I took a real test at Walter Reed Medical Center, and I aced it. I got every one of all those questions right. Now it’s time for them to take a test.
[It should be noted that Trump was given a cognitive test that checks for dementia, not IQ. I had this very test myself a few years back. As far as Representatives Accacio-Cortez and Crockett are concerned, the former graduated cum laude with duel-degrees in economics and international relations, and the latter has a law degree and passed the bar.]
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.
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Woe to those [politicians] who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, to make widows their spoil and to plunder orphans! What will [politicians] you do on the day of punishment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will [politicians] you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth…
— Isaiah 10:1-3 NRSV
Does this not describe Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and some Democrats?
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.
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Are devout Christians mentally ill because of their irrational supernatural beliefs? For those of us who were committed Evangelicals at one time, were we mentally ill? Does this mean that billions of people are mentally ill just because they devoutly worship, serve, and follow God? Listen to some atheists, and it is clear that they believe the answer is a resounding YES! Most atheists who make this claim have never been religious. To them, religion is a virus that causes mental disease. This allows them to dismiss Christianity out of hand without wrestling with and engaging their claims. In my opinion, this is lazy thinking.
We humans, religious or not, are prone to irrational belief. All of us, at one time or another, have had wonky, crazy beliefs. As a former Evangelical, I know that many of my past religious beliefs were illogical and unjustifiable. Does this mean I was mentally ill? Of course not. For those of us raised in Evangelical churches, we spent years being indoctrinated and conditioned by our parents, pastors, youth directors, Sunday school teachers, and others. We believed what we did because that’s all we knew at the time. How could I have believed otherwise?
I wish atheists would stop saying religious people are mentally ill. Christians might have mental health problems, but is religion solely to blame for this? I don’t think so, and it is uncharitable and unkind to suggest otherwise.
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.
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I have been told countless times over the past twenty years, what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Is this a true statement? Not from my perspective. Two-plus decades of chronic pain and suffering have not made me stronger. Over the years, I have been diagnosed with and treated for (in order of severity): degenerative spine disease, peripheral nerve pain, gastroparesis, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, osteoarthritis, diabetes, and high blood pressure. I have also been treated for basal cell and squamous cell skin cancer three times, with another treatment forthcoming due to a cancerous growth on my left forearm.
My first battles with health problems date back to the 1980s. Primarily immune system problems, I ended up in the hospital with mononucleosis in 1991. What is called a “kissing disease” for teenagers, for adults, mono is a serious disease that can kill you. I was so sick that I had a 104-degree temperature, my liver and spleen were swollen, as were my lymph glands, and my adenoids and tonsils were pure white from infection. The internist treating me said that there was little he could do for me; that it was up to my body to fend for itself. I eventually recovered. All told, I lost over fifty pounds and was unable to preach for two months. One oddity to come out this is that my normal body temperature is now 97.0 degrees. (Good luck trying to explain to a nurse that 99 degrees is the equivalent of 100.6 degrees — you know, a fever.)
Suffering is part of the human experience. All of us will suffer at one time or another in our lives, and our suffering is unique to each of us. Can suffering make us stronger? Sure, it can, but that doesn’t mean it necessarily does. I know that for me, I don’t see anything redemptive in my suffering. I don’t have pain-free days — ever. I have bad days, less bad days, and days when I want to kill myself. My mobility is greatly diminished, and I am prone to nasty falls. Life is what it is, and I accept that this is life until I die. No magic surgeries or miracle drugs await me. What DOES await is life, and I do what I can to make the most of it.
Has chronic pain and suffering made me a better man? Maybe. I am more empathetic towards the suffering of others. As a fellow sufferer, I understand what they are going through. However, I am more inclined to think that pain and suffering have turned me into a broken man; a man who silently pleads for a day, just one day, without pain. I have found that the only pain-free times in life were when the anesthesiologist told me to count back from ten as I fell asleep.
Please don’t tell a chronic pain sufferer that their suffering is making them stronger. You can’t know this, so instead of pretending you are a mindreader, how about (gently) embracing their suffering with love, kindness, and compassion?
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.
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This is what happened to the “Epstein Client List.”
For you too young to remember the Men in Black movies, the agents used a neuralizer to wipe the minds of other people. Evidently, this is what happened to Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, and other MAGA hacks.
For stupid MAGA Republicans, this is satire. Or is it? How can you know? 🙂
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.
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One reason various institutions are crumbling and the people in charge of them so unpopular is that the material reality they defend is so different from their own professed values. They claim to value the “rule of law” but only enforce some laws against some people some of the time. They claim to value “public safety” but pursue policies that make most people less safe. They claim to value liberty but jails hundreds of thousands of society’s poorest people solely because they lack access to cash. They claim to value equality but ensures a small number of people control nearly every major decision. They claim to value evidence but pursues policies that defy evidence. They claim to value health but let us all be regularly poisoned and then destroy the opportunity for most people to get quality health care. They claim to value merit but ensure that fealty to power is what gets rewarded in elite institutions. As a result, establishment politicians, university presidents, and pundits are constantly speaking gibberish instead of being real with people.
Here’s what I want to know: why can’t Evangelicals turn water into wine, raise the dead, or heal through sick? The miracle-working Jesus allegedly did all of these things and more. Surely, people saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, and owners of leather-bound Bibles they rarely, if ever, read, should be able to do the same miracles Jesus did.
Did not Jesus say to his disciples:
Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12 NRSV)
Was Jesus lying? Name one place where we see Jesus’ followers doing greater works than he did? If Evangelicals are commanded to walk in the steps of Jesus, you would think they would work a few miracles, now and again. Instead, Evangelicals are busy waging war against anyone who disagrees with them.
Of course, just because words in the Bible are red doesn’t mean Jesus said them. All we have is what an unknown author, sixty to eighty years after the death of Jesus, says Christ said. And since it is clear that Evangelicals don’t have supernatural powers, we can either conclude that Jesus lied or Evangelicals are not real Christians.
What say ye?
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.
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Supposedly, Evangelicals believe in salvation by grace, not by works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9). For those of us who spent years in Evangelical churches, we heard preachers say that we are saved by grace apart from the works of the law. Of course, these same preachers quote Old Testament verses, when needed, to justify their claims — i.e. tithing.
Recently, world-renowned theologian Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, wrote:
Circumcision was instituted by God, and that makes it a right and healthy act to do. When one circumcises their male child, they are acting in obedience to God’s instructions and not mutilating the body.
Thiessen claims Christians are commanded by God to circumcise their male children; that in doing so, they are being obedient to God.
If circumcision is commanded by God, we can conclude that it is a sin not to circumcise your male children, right?
Just another day in the wacky theology of Dr. David Tee. I have long believed that Theissen has a warped understanding of the Christian gospel. This is yet another example of this.
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.
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U.S.Attorney General Pam Bondi recently released a statement saying that the man in the following picture with Donald Trump is none other than former President Barack Obama. When questioned about the photo, Bondi said that it is the Trump Administration’s policy to blame everything on Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and the Democrats. When asked about the missing Epstein Client List, Bondi told reporters that Biden and Obama broke into her office in the dead of night and stole the list. When asked by MSNBC for evidence for her claim, Bondi replied, FAKE NEWS!
This is satire for Republicans too stupid to know the difference between fact and fiction.
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.
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Warning! Evangelicals who have never had sex with the lights on or in anything other than the missionary position might find this post offensive. The rest of us? Snicker away!
Last night, I listened to a YouTube channel called the Deconstruction Zone. Its host is a college-trained former Evangelical preacher named Justin Holmes. I love Justin’s approach when challenging Evangelical dogma and presuppositions. He regularly “cooks” Evangelicals in their own juices. 🙂
Justin has a wonderful, snarky sense of humor, which is shown below.
Snarky Atheist named Justin: No, but I’ve heard of cunnilingus.
Bruce rolls on the floor laughing.
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.
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