The reason new atheism has lost its mojo is that it has no answers to the lack of meaning and purpose that our post-Christian societies are suffering from. What will fill that void? Religious people have their answer. Do the rest of us?
From the ashes of 9-11 arose what is now called new atheism. Popularized by men such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris, new atheism adopted a polemical approach to religion — especially Christianity and Islam. In the mind of these men and others like them, many forms of religious faith deserved ridicule and mockery. From writing books to podcasts to debates, new atheists directly challenged Christianity and Islam, saying that it was time to abandon tribal religions and embrace science, reason, and skepticism.
A decade ago, some new atheists proposed a new atheism called atheism+. According to these atheists, atheism was more than the absence of belief in the existence of gods; that atheism included various social justice issues. This led to a horrific split among atheists: those who embraced atheism+ and those who held that atheism was the absence of belief in the existence of gods, nothing more and nothing less.
While atheism+ certainly appealed to me, I rejected the notion that atheism proper required certain social and political beliefs. Atheism described my view of deities, and that’s it. My moral and ethical framework came not from atheism, but from secular humanism. So to Konstantin Kisin’s claim I say, (new) atheism was never meant to provide “answers to the lack of meaning and purpose that our post-Christian societies are suffering from.” Humanism, in both its Christian and secular forms, can and does provide answers to questions about human meaning and purpose.
Politically and socially atheists believe all sorts of things. I embrace many of the same things that the proponents of atheism+ do. I have been called “woke” or a “social justice warrior,” to which I reply, “and your point is, exactly?” I have nuanced political and social beliefs. However, none of these beliefs is dependent on atheism. What I found with atheism+ was a fundamentalism of sorts, not much different from that which I experienced in Evangelical Christianity. And when I pointed out this fact, the evangelists of atheism+ jumped on me with both feet. These preachers of the infallible, inerrant atheism+ gospel let me know, in George W. Bush fashion, that either I was with them or against them.
Atheism is not meant to answer any other question except does a god or gods exist? If you are looking for meaning and purpose in a postmodern world, you are going to have to look elsewhere. For me, secular humanism (and other non-religious philosophies) gave me what I needed to find purpose and meaning in life.
Atheism tells me there is no God. Humanism tells me I don’t need a deity to provide meaning and purpose in my life. Over the past sixteen years, I have repeatedly answered and rebutted Evangelicals who say that without Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you cannot have meaning and purpose in life. My life, and that of numerous people who read this blog, suggests otherwise.
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.
Based on this site’s server logs, Mullis read three Black Collar Crime posts and, at the very least, skimmed the front page. She read none of my autobiographical material, nor did she read the About page. Thus, she doesn’t know anything about me, yet she feels qualified to make a moral judgment about my life. Proverbs 18:13 says, Answering before listening is both stupid and rude. It seems that this verse is missing from the Bibles of many Christians.
Mullis does not say why she feels sorry for me, but I have a good idea why she thinks I am worthy of such judgment. Just one time I would love to have a Christian say to me that they feel sorry for me because of my health problems; because of my chronic, unrelenting pain; because of my loss of mobility; because of gastroparesis, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and degenerative spine disease. Scores of Christians have told me they feel sorry for me, yet not one person has bothered to see the real me. Instead, they see my beliefs, my atheism, or my liberal politics. Because who and what I am is different from them, I deserve their pity.
What a narrow, empty world such people live in. Unable to see purpose, meaning, and value in any other worldview but their own, they stupidly think that people like me live pitiful lives. Of course, Mullis doesn’t know me, and I suspect she doesn’t know many people like me. She sees me from the periphery through Bible-colored lenses. She can’t see me as I am because my story does not compute with her. My story doesn’t fit in her carefully constructed religious box. Inside this box, no purpose or meaning is possible without Jesus; no happiness and peace can be found outside of its cardboard walls.
I have been married to my wife, Polly, for forty-five years. We deeply love one another and are best friends. We enjoy one another’s company. We are blessed to have six adult children, ages thirty to forty-four. We have thirteen grandchildren, ages three to twenty-two. Our family lives within twenty minutes of our home here in Ney. We are close with our children and grandchildren. We have fusses and disagreements as all families do, but come holidays, our love for one another (and alcohol) is on full display. I am proud to be their husband, father, and grandfather, and I know Polly feels the same.
We live in a ramshackle two-story home built in 1871. Its rooms are small, and on holidays when our home is filled with Gerencsers, there’s little space to move. Yet, this home belongs to us, our first, bought sixteen years ago. We previously owned two mobile homes but never owned the dirt below them. Now we own not only the house but one-third of an acre of land. Over the years we have planted numerous trees, bushes, and flowers. Our yard has turned into a veritable woods in town. A plethora of birds, animals, and cats frequent our yard, providing hours of pleasure and entertainment. I rarely go outside of the house these days, so the view from our windows means the world to me.
High school football will start soon. Two of my grandchildren play in the band. I had to stop driving in March 2020, so I must rely on my children to take me to the games. Several games on are my schedule, so I look forward to getting out of the house and spending time with family. Polly and I, along with Bethany, our daughter with Down syndrome, have attended a number of concerts this summer, everything from rock to blues to pop. We have heard nationally known bands and musicians who aren’t known beyond the dozen people sitting in the bar hearing them sing. On Friday, Polly is taking me to a sprint car race in Lima. Two weeks later, we plan to attend a late model race in Attica. We also plan to go to the Henry County Fair and watch several of our grandchildren show their pigs and 4-H projects. Come September, we are driving to a club in Ann Arbor, Michigan to hear a man I met through the Songs of Sacrilege series give a concert. After that, we plan to go to a comedy club in Toledo — a first — to hear Trae Crowder, the Liberal Redneck. A transgender friend of ours plans to attend too. Fall and Winter will bring more games, band concerts, choral concerts, and plays. Several of our grandchildren are involved in community theater. We will certainly attend their productions. I will continue to eat dinner monthly with three friends. We now call ourselves “The Woke Mob.” Polly and I will plan several date nights monthly, eating out at nice restaurants locally, and in Toledo, Fort Wayne, and Findlay. Two of our granddaughters will graduate this coming spring and then will head off to major universities in the fall. The Cincinnati Reds are still in playoff contention, and the Bengals look like a Super Bowl-caliber team once again.
So why did I write the previous paragraphs? I am saying to Mullis and others like her that life is good; that my life is filled with meaning and purpose. Sure, living with awful pain is challenging, and sometimes, it is overwhelming. Polly plans to retire by the end of the year. I am looking forward to this new chapter in our lives, yet I worry about how we will do financially going forward. Life is unpredictable. Plan as we might, we can’t account for every negative possibility. So, we will do what we always do: walk hand in hand, facing what comes each and every day. And when I can no longer walk — a looming possibility — I’m confident Polly will push me forward. And when she can no longer do so, I’m certain that our children and grandchildren will do the pushing — perhaps off a cliff. 🙂
Will anything I have said in this post likely change Mullis’ opinion of me? I doubt it. She can’t envision a life worth having without Jesus. Worse yet, she can’t imagine anyone not wanting to have what she has — faith. She can’t fathom someone not thinking “God is definitely the answer to any and all of life’s problems.”
Bruce Gerencser, 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.
Incandescent bulbs are now officially banned in the United States. Global temperatures dropped five degrees upon hearing the announcement. That’s sarcasm, by the way. I propose a ten-year study on this issue to determine whether getting rid of incandescent bulbs and replacing them with LED bulbs — oh CFL bulbs, the savior of our world, where did you go? — makes any meaningful difference in US or global temperatures. My money is on no.
Yes, LED bulbs use less electricity, but they also are more expensive. One report says the average American family of three will save a trip through the drive-thru at McDonald’s on their annual electric bill by totally switching over to LED bulbs. The report failed to add the cost of the LED bulbs into their equation, so I suspect the savings is minimal.
Remember when CFL/LED bulb manufacturers said their products would last 5-7 years and proudly advertised this “fact” on their bulbs? Consumers quickly learned this claim was a lie. Most bulb manufacturers no longer make life expectancy claims/warranties for their products. Of course, Americans should be used to manufacturers lying to them. Lifetime warranty on my $8 can-opener, my ass. The federal government should do something about these lies, but it won’t. Campaign donations keep such inquiries and enforcement to a minimum.
Using only LED bulbs is much like recycling — feel-good things we can easily do, but make little difference in battling global warming. If we want to concretely do something meaningful about global warming, we must make hard, painful decisions about how we live and what we consume. First-world countries and rising Asian countries have no interest in doing what is necessary to save our planet (Or better put, save our habitation. Once the next great extinction kills us off, the planet will get on just fine without us.)
Are we willing to drive less, fly less, eat less, buy less, consume less — “less” being the key operative? Can we envision a world where we have less than previous generations? Hard choices are required, but I don’t see the necessary political will to effect such changes. Americans will simply not abide by politicians telling them to do with less. We want what we want, and we want it now. God dammit, we are AMERICANS!
Capitalism lies at the heart of the global warming crisis. As long as companies put profits and shareholder returns above moral and ethical responsibilities, there’s no hope for a better tomorrow. I am not sure that hoping for a better tomorrow is anything more than a fantasy. We glowingly talk about the American dream and American exceptionalism when reality tells a very different story. We can chant USA! USA! USA! WE’RE NUMBER ONE! WE’RE NUMBER ONE! WE’RE NUMBER ONE! at football games and political rallies, but virtually every metric suggests we are a declining empire, that is killing itself one arrogant, self-righteous choice at a time.
By all means, change all your lightbulbs — I have. But, don’t delude yourself into thinking that it will make much difference. I am a cynic, which is just another word for a realist. We have likely crossed the line of no return. Weather extremes are the norm. Our oceans are rising. We continue to kill off animal species at an alarming rate. We stupidly think that “science” will ride to the rescue and save us; that a technological “fix” for what ails us is just around the corner. No such savior is coming to deliver us. We made this mess and now we must bear the consequences of our “sins.”
I will soon be dead, so I don’t worry much about how these things will affect me. My plane is circling the runway, getting ready to land. I do, however, have six children who could live to the year 2060 and thirteen grandchildren who could still be alive in 2100. I have palpable worry and fear for them. What kind of world are Grandpa and Nana and fellow boomers leaving behind? Will 2100 be a technological wonder or a mash-up of Mad Max, Waterworld, and The Road? I want a better tomorrow for them, as all grandparents do, but everything I see and know tells me that difficult days lie ahead for those I love most.
Bruce Gerencser, 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.
Thank you for stopping by to read my blog. You probably came to this blog via a web search, social media, a link on another website, or a link in an email sent to you by someone asking if you had seen this blog. Whatever path you took to get here, I want you to know that I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog.
Let me tell you a little about myself. Here’s the short story:
I am a sixty-six-year-old man who lives in rural Northwest Ohio. I have been married for forty-five years. My wife and I have six adult children and thirteen grandchildren. I was in the Christian church for fifty years, and for twenty-five of those years, I pastored Evangelical churches in Ohio, Michigan, and Texas. In 2005 I left the ministry, and in 2008 I left Christianity. I am now an atheist and a secular humanist.
If you want more details about my life, please read the ABOUT page. If you want to learn more about my journey from Evangelicalism to atheism, please check out the WHY? page.
I have been blogging since 2007. Most Evangelicals who visit this blog fall under one of four categories:
They have questions and doubts about Christianity and are seeking answers
They are a former friend, family member, or member of a church I pastored
They are curious about my life
They want to let me know they are praying for me, or they want to evangelize me, correct me, preach to me, lambast me, quote Bible verses to me, tell me I am going to Hell, or tell me how wrong I am
If you have questions or doubts about Christianity and would like my help, I am more than happy to help you. Please send me an email via the Contact form and I will get back to you.
If you are a former friend, family member, or member of a church I pastored, I appreciate you reading my story. I know it must be painful for you to read about my deconversion, but I hope you will do your best to try to understand my journey. I try to be open, honest, and transparent — character traits you at one time admired. If you are perplexed by the fact that I am now an atheist, I think you will find these posts helpful:
If you came to my blog so you could let me know you are praying for me or you want to evangelize me, correct me, preach at me, lambast me, quote Bible verses to me, tell me I am going to Hell, or tell me how wrong I am, I want you to know that I am not interested in what you have to say. After sixteen years of being psychologically brutalized and bullied by people like you, I have zero interest in what you have to say. Based on years of experience, I know you are likely not interested in dialog or in understanding my point of view. In your mind, you already know all you need to know. You have read one, two, or five posts and are now ready to pass judgment. You are ready to leave the mother of all comments, and I am sure you will be peacock proud when you are done.
To save you some time, I have made up a form that should make your commenting easier. This information also applies to Evangelicals who are “led” to email me via the contact form.
Here’s the form that should make things simple for you:
Name: (Put in fake name because you are so fearless)
Email Address: (Put in fake email address because God knows who you are)
Reason for Contacting Bruce Gerencser (Check all that apply)
_____To tell him he is wrong
——-To tell him I feel sorry for him
_____To preach at him
_____To quote Bible verses to him
_____To evangelize him
_____To tell him he doesn’t know anything about the Bible
_____To let him know God still loves him
_____To let him know I am praying for him
_____To tell him he never was a Christian
_____To tell him he is going to Hell
_____To tell him he is still saved and can never be un-saved
_____To tell him he was/is a false prophet
_____To tell him he was/is a wolf in sheep’s clothing
_____To tell him he is angry
_____To tell him he is bitter
_____To tell him his writing shows he has been hurt
_____To tell him he is fat
_____To tell him I hope he burns in Hell
_____To tell him that I am praying God will kill him
_____To tell him that he has a meaningless, empty life
_____To tell him he is going to die soon and then he will find out THE TRUTH!
_____To tell him that I know THE TRUTH about him!
Once you have completed the form, cut and paste it into your email or comment.
Please understand that the purpose of this blog is to help people who have doubts and questions about Christianity and to help and encourage people who have already left Christianity. Those who frequent this blog are like family to me, so I hope you will understand if I don’t let you fill up the comment section with your trollish, abusive, argumentative, and judgmental comments.
Please don’t try to claim that you have a First Amendment right to say whatever you want on my blog. You don’t, and you know it. But I will make you an offer: I will allow you to say whatever you want in the comment section IF I can come to your church on Sunday and preach my atheistic beliefs. Deal? That’s what I thought . . .
Generally, I give Evangelicals one opportunity to say whatever they want. I know my writing constipates them, so I want to allow them one Fleet soft-tip enema to clear out their metaphorical bowel. Just one. Say what you think “God” wants you to say and move on. And 99% of the time, I will not post any other comments after the first one. For the 1% of Evangelicals who leave a decent, thoughtful comment, I am willing to continue approving their comments if they can abide by the comment policy:
All commenters are expected to use a functioning email address. The use of a fake or non-functioning email address will result in your comment being deleted.
Pseudonyms are permitted. Please use the same pseudonym with every comment.
All first-time comments and comments with more than one HTML link are moderated.
Before commenting, please read the ABOUT page to acquaint yourself with my background. You might also want to read the Dear Evangelical page.
Evangelical commenters will be given one opportunity to say whatever they want. One, not two, three, or ten. Just one. Quote the Bible. Preach the sermon God has laid upon your heart. Put in a good word for Jesus. Deconstruct my life. Call me names, attack my family. You have one opportunity to impress readers with your John Holmes-like Bible prowess. After that, the following rules apply:
The following type of comments will not be approved after your first comment:
Any comment that is not on point with what the post is about
Any comment that denigrates or marginalizes abuse victims
Any comment that attacks LGBTQ people
Unsolicited medical advice of any kind (and I mean ANY)
Any comment that disparages my wife, children, or grandchildren
Please be advised that personal threats of violence or stalking will be reported to your service provider and law enforcement.
I write about issues that might not be child-friendly. Please be aware of this. I also use profanity from time to time, and I allow the use of profanity in the comment section. Any butt-hurt comment about language will be ignored, and if warranted, ridiculed.
The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser is not a democracy where anyone has a right to say whatever they want. This is my personal blog and I reserve the right to approve or not approve any comment. When a comment or a commenter is abusive towards the community of people who read this blog, I reserve the right to ban the commenter.
If you can be respectful, decent, and thoughtful, your comment will always be approved. Unfortunately, there are many people — Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians in particular — who have a hard time playing well with others. They often use a passive-aggressive approach towards me and the non-Christian people who frequent this blog. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated and will result in a permanent ban.
This blog is also not a place for hardcore atheists to preach the gospel of atheism. While I am an atheist, many of the people who read this blog are not. Frank, honest, open, and passionate discussion about religion, Christianity, and Evangelicalism is encouraged and welcome. However, I do expect atheists not to attack, badger, or denigrate people who still believe in God. If you are respectful, decent, and thoughtful, you will be fine.
My writing is direct and pointed and so is my response to comments. Please do not confuse my directness and pointedness with me attacking you or your religion. This is a grown-up blog, so crying that I offended you or “attacked” your religion will fall on deaf ears.
If you can play by these rules, I hope you will become a part of our community and join the discussion.
Here’s one thing I have learned over the years: most Evangelical zealots will ignore the comment policy. They think they have a right to say anything they want because they think they speak for God. But, invoking the name of God carries no weight here. If God really wants to speak to me, I am sure he doesn’t need you to carry the message. God knows where I am and he can speak to me any time he wants. So far, God has not said a word. Either he is busy, mad at me, taking a shit, or doesn’t exist. I am going with the latter.
If my unwillingness to allow you to foul the comment section offends you, I encourage you to start your own blog. You can have your own blog in as little as five minutes (Blogger, WordPress, and Tumblr) and then you can rage against me and deconstruct my life all you want. Be aware that several people have, in the past, decided to do this and they have found it hard to faithfully and regularly deconstruct my life. All of them have abandoned their efforts.
Most of all, I hope you will consider what your words and actions say about you as a person and the God you say you serve. What in your behavior would draw me to Jesus and compel me to come back to the Christian religion? Thousands of Evangelical zealots have come before you. And in every case, if given enough space to expose who and what they are, they have proved to be poignant reminders of why I am glad I am no longer a Christian.
I wish you well.
A sinner saved by reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 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.
Joe Biden got on the phone with his son, Hunter’s, business partners, but didn’t talk “business” with them? Sure, and I have a bridge to sell you.
Many Republicans think the indictments against Trump are political payback. Many Democrats, wink, wink, think the indictments are all about the rule of law.
There’s no doubt that Donald Trump is a mob boss, albeit a cartoonish one. That said, he could murder our republic if he is not stopped.
Am I the only one who is tired of the theatrics on MSNBC: waving indictment papers, showing the ass-end of defendants walking into court, showing largely empty press rooms, and reporters chasing after Trump loyalists, asking them stupid questions? How about reporting the damn news! All I hear on MSNBC is Trump 24/7.
I miss Walter Cronkite — a true news reporter. Thirty minutes of no-nonsense news. Today? Most news programs seem long on opinion and short on factual reporting.
I live in a world of spin; a fast-spinning merry-go-round, from which I’m hanging my head and vomiting. I’m sick of spin.
There seems to be little correlation between the price of oil and the cost of gasoline at the pump.
If Ohio Issue 1 passes next Tuesday, it will put an end to successful voter-driven constitutional amendments and initiatives. This is exactly what Republicans want.
I see you Fall, sneaking up on the upper Midwest. I love ❤️ you, but I sure do hate your deranged sister Winter.
Apple buying the streaming rights to PAC-12 football 🏈 and putting it behind a paywall is a bad idea. What about poorer fans who can’t afford to pay an exorbitant fee to watch games on Saturdays?
Bonus: Strong-handed left-handers face greater adversity and obstacles than right-handers. They are at greater risk for injury and accidents due to being forced to live in a right-handed 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.
It has been sixteen years since I left Christianity and declared myself to be an atheist – sixteen years of countless emails and comments from primarily Evangelical Christians asking me to explain WHY I am no longer a follower of Jesus. It has been a long time since someone has asked me a question that hasn’t already been asked by someone else. This is to be expected. There are only so many ways I can explain my reasons and motivations for becoming an atheist after spending twenty-five years in the ministry.
To help me better manage my time, I have created a WHY page that I can point people to when they have questions about my deconversion. After the questioner has read some or all of the following posts, I will then be quite happy to answer whatever questions they might have. These posts will likely answer 99% of the questions people ask me about my journey from Evangelicalism to Atheism.
Thank you for taking the time to read these posts. If you have any questions, please use the contact form to email me. If you are an Evangelical, I ask that you read one more post, Dear Evangelical, before sending me your question, sermon, prayer, rebuke, or denunciation. Thanks!
Please note that the initial paragraphs of this post are written from an Evangelical perspective. I’m an atheist, so I don’t believe in the existence of the Christian God. Further, I am not a medical doctor, nor am I an expert on human sexuality. I understand that human sexuality is a diverse subject; that there is no singular view about sex. I speak generally in this post. If my words don’t fit your particular sexual practices or experiences, there’s no need for you to object. I see you and understand that humans have all sorts of views on sex.
Before I respond to the specifics of Piper’s post, I need to talk about several things that will provide background on this issue.
According to Evangelicals, their peculiar version of God created human beings 6,025 years ago. God gave men a penis with sensitive nerve endings that, when aroused and massaged by physical contact give men pleasure and typically lead to orgasm. (Male orgasm consists of the contraction and pulsating most men feel in their penis, prostate, and pelvic areas. These sensations are met by increased heart rate, rapid breathing, muscle tensing, anal, sphincter, and pubococcygeus muscle (muscles at the base of the penis) contractions, and an increase in blood pressure, which then result in a massive and sudden release of pressure.) God gave women a vagina with sensitive nerve endings that, when aroused and massaged by physical contact give women pleasure and typically lead to orgasm. (An orgasm in the human female is a variable, transient peak sensation of intense pleasure, creating an altered state of consciousness, usually with an initiation accompanied by involuntary, rhythmic contractions of the pelvic striated circumvaginal musculature, often with concomitant uterine and anal contractions, and myotonia that resolves the sexually induced vasocongestion and myotonia, generally with an induction of well-being and contentment.) In particular, women have a clitoris — often called the Devil’s doorbell — that is hyper-sensitive to physical massage that also leads to orgasm.
God created males and females with sex drives that are strongest when men and women are younger — during childbearing years. We rightly say that teenagers and young adults have raging hormones; that God-given hormones drive most sexually aware humans to want, need, and desire copulation and sexual gratification.
It is clear, at least to me, that if there is a God, he created humans as sexual beings; that he designed their bodies in such a way that sexual intercourse and sexual gratification are very much a part of who they are. Certainly, sexual desire plays a big part in the biological drive to procreate, but this is not the only reason we want, need, and desire sexual gratification. Sex feels good; it’s fun; it can be an act of love and commitment.
Piper is a Fundamentalist Christian; a pastor who has repeatedly shown himself to be a sexually repressed, prudish, Puritanical man. For Piper, sex is an act of love and commitment between married heterosexual couples for primarily procreation purposes. While Piper thinks this man having sex with his girlfriend is a grievous sin, his moralizing goes much further than that. Piper believes, as the Apostle Paul did, that it is “good for a man not to touch a woman”; that any physical activity between two people outside of marriage that leads to sexual arousal is sin. Thus, petting, passionate kissing, and mutual masturbation are sin too. Why? In Piper’s view, these behaviors are driven by “lust.” Jesus said that looking on a woman with lust is akin to committing adultery with her in your heart. Ponder that thought for a moment. Just having sexual desires for someone else is a deadly sin, one that leads to God’s judgment and the Lake of Fire. God supposedly gave these desires to us, yet if we act on them in the wrong way, we are in danger of hellfire and brimstone. God could have created us otherwise, but he chose not to. He could have done all sorts of things that could make it less likely that humans would break his law, but he chose not to. Instead, he gave us raging hormones and then allegedly told us in an ancient religious text to not act on them unless we are married; and even then, we better have potential babies in mind when copulating.
In his post, Piper asked and then answered this question: what would you say to a young man who is considering sleeping with his girlfriend?
First, according to Piper, it is vitally important to determine whether the man is a Christian:
I would ask him if he was a Christian first. “Do you trust Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Do you know that you’re a sinner on the way to deserved everlasting punishment, and that there is one way out, namely the blood of Jesus Christ to cover all of your sins? Do you know that?”
How he answers that is going to make a huge difference in which way I go here. Let’s just assume that he says, “I am.” Then I would say, “So that means that you cherish Jesus Christ as your Savior, your Lord, and as the Treasure of your life. Do you?”
He is probably going to weasel a little bit there, because he has sin crouching like a lion trying to devour him, and he wants this sin. And when you want a sin, you are very hesitant to affirm truths that seem to contradict the sin you’re about to desire. So he is going to start to get troubled at this point. But I’m pushing on him at the center, to confess Jesus as his precious Treasure, Lord and Savior.
That’s the only kind of obedience I want! Staying out of bed with your girlfriend doesn’t get you into heaven, right? It doesn’t make you a good person. There aren’t any good persons. The kind of person I want is a yielded person, a broken person, a person who is just stunned by the grace of God in his life.
One way is to just go the obedience route and say, “You confess him as Lord, right? He said, ‘Flee fornication.’ He says it in 1 Corinthians 6:18: ‘Flee fornication.’ And he gave arguments for it: ‘Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Don’t be united with a prostitute [or with your girlfriend]!'”
Piper wants this young man to go against his nature; the nature, by the way, God gave him. Polly and I dated for two years before we were married. We were naive, immature Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) Christians; a young couple committed to following Jesus and keeping his commands. We were also young adults with raging hormones. While we were virgins on our wedding day, by the time we reached the month before our wedding, we knew we needed to say “I do” as soon as possible; that we were dangerously close to rounding third and sliding into home. In retrospect, both of us wish we had acted responsibly on our sexual desires for one another, but threats of judgment and Hell kept us from doing so. (IFB churches, colleges, and pastors are notorious for promoting and demanding sexual repression.)
Piper’s first approach is to tell the young man “Just say no.”
That would be one thing. Just say, “Don’t do it! The Bible says, ‘Don’t do it,’ so don’t do it!” That’s one approach. Maybe not the most effective, depending on who you have before you. It’s what works for some people. They just need a sentence in the Bible that says they shouldn’t do it.
The man wants to have sex with his girlfriend. I assume his girlfriend wants to have sex with him. Both of them have sexual desires for each other. Maybe, their hormones are raging, saying, to quote the Waterboy, “You can do it!” Piper’s response? Tell the young man, “Don’t do it. The Bible says _________!” Rarely does this approach work. Paul Vanaman, a grizzled old IFB preacher who taught at my alma mater, Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan, told a group of ministers-in-training, “Men, a stiff prick has no conscience.” Crude? Sure, but Vanaman understood human sexuality. When a couple reaches the place of saying “Should we?” it is usually only a matter of time before the answer is “Yes!”
Piper’s second approach is this:
“You know (don’t you?) that Christ died for your sins—all of them—including your future fornication. When you penetrate this woman, you thrust a sword into Jesus’ side. Think about that. Do you want to do that? All your sins—if you’re a Christian—are on him. Every new sin you commit is a fresh sword thrust into the side of Jesus. Keep that in your mind, buddy. This pleasure that you’re getting is murdering the Son of God. Don’t do it lightly.”
To put it crudely, Piper is saying, “When you are fucking your girlfriend, you are fucking Jesus; that every pelvic thrust is you stabbing a knife in Jesus’ side.”
It takes one sick, twisted mind to come up with such analogies.
Piper then suggests that the man save himself for marriage; that marital sex is far better than intercourse or other sexual activity before marriage:
A third approach is to say, “Save it! I promise you, your life will be richer, your marriage will be deeper. God designed this so beautifully for you to enjoy. Save it. Save it! Don’t throw it away! It will hurt you and your marriage in the end. You’ll always wish you hadn’t done it in the end. I promise you. That’s the truth. This is a beautiful gift, it’s not an ugly thing. It’s a gift, designed to be the physical counterpart to an emotional, psychological, spiritual union with a wife. There is nothing sweeter—I say it from testimony—to lie with your wife, look right into her eyes at the moment of sexual climax and say, ‘Only you! Only you! Never another!’ That’s worth a billion dollars!”
Of course, Piper is giving this man terrible advice. No, marital sex is not always better than extra- or pre-marital sex. If sex is such a big part of our lives — and, for most people, it is — then it is prudent for couples to know if they are sexually compatible. When buying a car, we drive it first, right? Who would buy a car (or a home) without ever looking at it and testing it out? It is only religion that expects and demands couples trust God that they will be sexually compatible. This approach often leads to sexual and marital dysfunction, adultery, and divorce.
Finally, Piper pulls out the old Fundamentalist canard, “If you have sex with your girlfriend, she could give you a sexually transmitted disease (STD).”
A fourth and really pragmatic thing to say is, “You might get a very serious disease doing this.” That’s really low on the priority list.
Evidently, you can’t contract an STD if you are married; marriage protects you from syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, and HIV. That’s sarcasm, by the way.
Piper goes on to give some advice to the girlfriend:
I would say all of that to the woman and add this: “If a man wants you in bed, you don’t want that man. Period! You don’t want him! If that man is willing to use you outside the covenant of marriage, why wouldn’t he use another woman outside the covenant of marriage ten years from now?”
According to Piper, if the man wants to have sex with his girlfriend he is “using” her. Evidently, sex without the benefit of marriage is “using” your partner; the moment you say I do, however, sex becomes mutual, holy, and pure. Evidently, Piper has never counseled any married couples where the wife or the husband thought their spouse was “using” them. You know, three minutes, and a grunt, and then rolling over and falling asleep. Marriage is no remedy for sexual dysfunction. Countless couples are in loveless marriages; relationships where sex is perfunctory or out of need, if it happens at all.
Thoughtful readers will likely conclude that Piper gave this young man bad, if not dangerous, advice; that such thinking can lead to sexual dysfunction and harm. If this young man is a real person — and I doubt that he is — I hope he ran as fast as he could away from Piper and his abhorrent advice. I suspect that nothing Piper said kept the man and his girlfriend from having sex. If Piper wants to blame someone, I suggest he blame God.
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.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Jason Shenk stands accused of stealing over $30,000,000 meant for Bible distribution and missionary work.
A former Dublin resident is wanted on multiple federal charges for orchestrating a scheme to misdirect more than $30 million donated for a Christian ministry in China, according to a release from the US Attorney’s Office.
45-year-old Jason Gerald Shenk is charged in a newly unsealed federal indictment with four counts of Wire Fraud; three counts of International Concealment Money Laundering; 13 counts of Concealment Money Laundering; 21 counts of Money Laundering Involving Transactions Greater than $10,000; and one count of Failure to File Report of Foreign Bank Account, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
If convicted Shenk would face up to 20 years in prison, forfeiture of any property involved in or traceable to the offenses, substantial financial penalties, and a period of supervised release upon completion of any prison sentence. And he would not be eligible for parole, as it is a federal offense.
Warrants have been issued for Shenk’s arrest. He is considered innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
“When people of faith donate money for evangelistic purposes, they reasonably expect those who solicit their donations to act as faithful stewards of those funds,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “This case alleges an egregious breach of that trust at the expense of multiple charities and individual donors.”
Shenk is alleged to have planned and executed a scheme in which he obtained more than $30 million from faith-based charities and individual donors, primarily from religious communities in Ohio and North Carolina, based on his promises that he would use the funds for producing and distributing Bibles and Christian literature in the People’s Republic of China.
The indictment alleges Shenk obtained approximately $22 million from one charitable organization and its donors, and approximately $10 million from another charity and its donors, along with other donations from individuals. The funds were directed to a variety of shell corporations.
The indictment says Shenk started the scheme in April 2010 until July 2019, and that Shenk renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016 to avoid financial reporting requirements under federal law.
Shenk allegedly used the money for his own use for the following purposes:
Payments of approximately $1 million to an online sports gambling website;
Purchases of equity shares of approximately $850,000 in a privately held nuclear energy company;
Approximately $4 million in purchases of at least 16 life insurance policies in various people’s names;
Purchases of diamonds, gold, and precious metals in amounts totaling approximately $1 million;
Purchases of domestic and foreign stocks totaling more than $188,000;
Payments of approximately $7 million to the company running Shenk’s family farm;
Purchases on at least 10 personal credit cards totaling more than $820,000
Purchases of $320,000 in real estate in the “Galt’s Gulch” development in Santiago, Chile.
Federal authorities have launched an international manhunt for a Georgia everyman-turned-fugitive who is being sought for an alleged scheme that redirected more than $30 million from Christian charities meant to be spent on Bible distribution in China.
According to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday, 45-year-old Jason Gerald Shenk took more than $33 million in donations from charities and individuals—money that he allegedly promised to use for producing and distributing Bibles and Christian literature—and spent it on a slew of expensive personal purchases.
Shenk allegedly spent about $1 million on diamonds and precious metals, $7 million on his family farm, $320,000 on real estate in Chile, $4 million on 16 life insurance policies, $850,000 on shares of a private U.S. nuclear company, $820,000 on credit card payments and $1 million deposited in an online sports betting site—which was subsequently shut down for fraudulent activity.
He also went to great lengths to cover his tracks, the indictment claims. Shenk allegedly directed the funds to a variety of shell corporations that had bank accounts stationed around the globe to “conceal the nature of the transactions.”
He even sent completely fabricated spreadsheets—containing phony statistics about how many Bibles were distributed to different Chinese provinces—to the charities he was scamming, according to the indictment.
All the while, prosecutors say he continuously lied to international banks about who he was and how much money he and his family had. Shenk even renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016—a move that the indictment claims was motivated solely by his desire to avoid financial reporting requirements under federal law.
Shenk’s efforts allegedly kept the elaborate scheme afloat for nearly a decade. Prosecutors say it may have started as early as April 2010, running all the way until July 2019.
Warrants have been issued for Shenk’s arrest, which will likely involve extradition given the international nature of the search.
“He could be anywhere,” Barry Paschal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia told The Daily Beast. “We think we might know where he is. We aren’t at liberty to say where we think he is, but we think we might know.”
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.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Steve Sumner, former pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Anderson, Indiana (an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist congregation), and a former Madison County Councilman was charged in 2022 with rape and other sex crimes.
The trial of former Madison County councilman Steve Sumner has been continued until Oct. 3.
Sumner, 52, is facing a total of 13 criminal charges for alleged sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.
If convicted Sumner is facing a possible sentence ranging from 10 to 57 years and maximum fines of up to $120,000.
The most serious charge is rape, a Level 3 felony.
Sumner is currently free after posting a $5,000 bond.
Special Judge Jeffrey Todd of Grant County granted a continuance of the trial that had been set for May 16.
The charging information for the rape charge states that between July 1, 2020 and Aug. 4, 2020, Sumner did knowingly or intentionally have sexual contact with a girl under the age of 16 when the person was compelled by force or the imminent threat of force.
Following his arrest in December, Sumner said he was innocent of the charges.
He was arrested initially on criminal charges of child solicitation and possession of child pornography, both Level 6 felonies.
Sumner was elected to the Madison County Council from District 2 in 2018 and resigned from his seat on the council in 2021.
He also served as a pastor with the Lighthouse Church in Anderson.
The probable cause also states that on multiple occasions, Sumner would open the shower curtain when the girl was taking a shower and at one point he climbed into the shower and asked the girl to wash the soap off of him.
Investigators obtained forensic information off of both Sumner’s and the girl’s cell phone. On Sumner’s cell phone investigators found numerous images and videos of a young nude female.
The girl said all but two of the photographs were of her taken in 2019 or the beginning of 2020, according to the charging information.
The girl told investigators Sumner indicated to her he looked at the images and it “turned him on.”
She also said that in August 2020 Sumner entered her bedroom, asked her to get on the bed and touched her upper thigh with a vibrator while everyone else was in the house was sleeping.
Facing an upcoming court date and trial, Sumner decided to flee the state of Indiana.
It is believed that former Madison County Councilman Steve Sumner has fled the state of Indiana.
An informed source that didn’t want to be identified said Monday that Sumner has left Indiana after failing to appear at a court hearing last week.
The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office charged Sumner with a felony count of failing to appear.
Once he is apprehended, Madison County officials will seek to return Sumner to Indiana.
Sumner, 52, was supposed to appear Thursday in Madison Circuit Court Division and did not appear.
A warrant for his arrest was issued by Special Judge Jeffrey Todd of Grant County.
“I have no idea why my client did not show up,” Sumner’s attorney Cody Cogswell said.
Cogswell was recently appointed to represent Sumner after attorney Bob Summerfield withdrew from the case.
“That Counsel has not made contact with the Defendant since being appointed on the case and has tried every avenue to do so,” Cogswell’s motion for the continuance states.
Sumner is facing a total of 13 criminal charges for alleged sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.
If convicted Sumner is facing a possible sentence ranging from 10 to 57 years and maximum fines of up to $120,000.
The most serious charge is a rape as a Level 3 felony.
The charging information for the rape charge states that between July, 1, 2020 and Aug. 4, 2020, Sumner did knowingly or intentionally have sexual contact with a girl under the age of 16 when the person was compelled by force or the imminent threat of force.
Following his arrest in December, Sumner said he was innocent of the charges.
Sumner was elected to the Madison County Council from District 2 in 2018 and resigned from his seat on the council in 2021.
He also served as a pastor with the Lighthouse Church in Anderson.
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.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Robert Lazzell, a former school principal and deacon at First Baptist Church in Danville, Illinois, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. According to the Blue Shirt Coalition — a group of school alumni and friends:
Lazzell is the third prominent former staff member to be charged with sexual crimes against minors since the late 90s.
Former First Baptist Church of Danville School Principal and Church Deacon Robert Lazzell has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to Criminal Sexual Assault against former student Michael Young.
The sentence was handed down by Associate Judge Derek J. Girton Tuesday (Aug 1st) morning, after a sentencing hearing in front of a standing room crowd in courtroom 3B. The speakers included Michael Young, and his mother and grandmother; all calling for the maximum sentence of 15 years. The defense asked for the minimum of four years.
Young, now 26, stated that the grooming, abuse, and sexual assault, and threats and bribery and efforts to isolate him from his family all began when he was an 8th grader; and that the harassment of him by Lazzell continued when he went away to college in Florida, with Lazzell trying to convince him to come to Maranatha Baptist in Wisconsin where he had gone to work.
Although the defense claimed a psychosexual examination of Lazzell claimed he was low risk for recidivism, Judge Girton looked at Lazzell prior to sentencing him and said that based on the evidence heard, the testimony given, and the pattern of his behavior towards Young for many years, he did not trust him.
The fourth person who spoke at the hearing for the prosecution was a long time friend of Young’s, as well as also a former First Baptist Church member and school student, Kate Gibson. She said after the sentencing that for students like Young and herself; that church was their entire world.
….
The 50-year-old Lazzell will be required to serve 85% of his 12 year sentence.
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.
