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Quote of the Day: Why Evangelicals Are Such Bad Christians

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quote of the day

Yesterday, I read an article about vertical and horizontal morality; that most Evangelicals practice vertical morality. I found this to be the best explanation for the bad behavior we see from Evangelicals. How do we explain their overwhelming support of Donald Trump? How do we explain trolls such as Revival Fires, Dr David Tee, Jaisen, and John, to name a few? These under overpass dwellers have all the right beliefs, but treat people they disagree with like shit. Why? They have vertical morality. The problem, of course, is that Jesus primarily taught his followers horizontal morality.

Caroline Bologna writes:

For many Americans, the gap between Christian teachings and MAGA politics is baffling. How can people profess faith in Jesus ― who preached love, mercy and care for the oppressed ― while supporting policies that punish immigrants, demonize LGBTQ people and glorify cruelty?

The key to understanding this apparent contradiction might lie in something called “vertical morality.”

This ethical framework measures righteousness not by goodness to others, but by something more simplistic. Below, Christian advocates and former fundamentalists break down what vertical morality means and how it explains our political landscape today.

….

“Vertical morality teaches that authority, power and a moral code of right and wrong, or acceptable and unacceptable, come from ‘above’ ― an external superior who designates rules, systems and tenets that must be obeyed by those beneath,” said Tia Levings, a former Christian fundamentalist and author of “A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy.”

In the context of religion, the superior is God. In politics, it might be an authoritarian dictator. In a cult, it would be the controlling leader. Whatever the circumstances, the idea is that behaviors are only right or wrong based on what the figure in power says.

“Vertical morality in Christianity is the idea that our ethics and behaviors have a duty to please God alone. We get our morals from God and we must obey him, furthering the will of God no matter the cost,” said April Ajoy, author of “Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith.”

….

“Vertical morality is just how I describe what’s called ‘divine command theory’ in metaethics,” she said. “I’m a teacher, so I’m always looking for ways to make complicated concepts a little more simple. It’s basically the idea that morality comes from authority above, which is what I was taught when I was raised within conservative Christianity.” [Rachel Klinger King]

Vertical morality stands in contrast to the concept of horizontal morality, another term Klinger Cain has broken down in her videos. 

“Horizontal morality prioritizes the well-being of our neighbors, communities and personal relationships,” Ajoy explained. “We act in ways that cause the least amount of harm to those around us, regardless of beliefs. Someone with vertical morality may help someone in need because they believe that’s what God wants them to do, versus someone with horizontal morality may help that same person for the benefit of the person that needs help.”

Rather than unquestioning obedience and superficial optics, this approach focuses on genuine empathy, compassion, and love toward others, recognizing the actual effects our actions have on people.

….

In Matthew 25, Jesus describes people who fed and clothed those in need, who welcomed the stranger, who took care of the sick and visited those in prison,” she noted. “He then says, ‘What you did for the least of these, you did for me.’ He equates loving our neighbors (horizontal morality) with loving Christ (vertical morality).” [April Ajoy]

….

“Evangelicals are taught that all morality comes from God and therefore true goodness can only be spread by obeying God, even if it harms people around us,” Ajoy said. “This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if pleasing God manifests by following the teachings of Jesus ― loving our neighbors, loving our enemies, promoting peace and taking care of the poor, the widow, the immigrant and standing up for the marginalized. It becomes dangerous when Christians weaponize this vertical morality for power, which is exactly what we’re seeing with the Christian nationalism in the Trump administration.” [April Ajoy]

“What’s interesting is that Jesus taught a compassionate, flexible, grace-filled view of what it means to live a life loving God,” Levings noted. “But today’s conservative Christianity is less influenced by Jesus and more by the Old Testament and Paul.”

She pointed to theonomy, the belief that Old Testament laws should be applied to modern society, as an influence on Christian nationalist politics.

ummarizing the role of vertical morality in the Old Testament, Klinger Cain highlighted the story of Abraham, who was commended for his willingness to obey God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac, despite the act’s inherent immorality.

“What should happen if you have a horizontal moral system is, you should go, ‘I’m not murdering someone, even if an authority figure has told me to do that,’” she said. “But under vertical morality, that would be a sin because you’re disobeying God.”

Drawing from the most violent and extreme chapters of Biblical history, this approach frames unquestioning obedience as the highest virtue, even when it demands actions that defy compassion or common sense. And what might’ve once been a religious debate has now become a broader cultural conflict thanks to the role of conservative Christians in writing Project 2025 and otherwise shaping public policy.

“The problem with MAGA Christians is that they promote policies that often go against the teachings of Jesus,” Ajoy said. “They justify it by promoting a view of God that is vengeful. They demonize all immigrants as criminals, all queer people as predators, all leftists as violent and all Democrats as satanic ― with no evidence to back these claims. And because they believe in a literal hell and a God-ordained calling to make the nation Christian, they justify cruelty in the name of ‘tough love.’”

Under a vertical moral system, the worst thing you can do is disobey God’s laws, and this perspective has bled into politics as well. Klinger Cain offered the example of the rather callous response to “Alligator Alcatraz” and the extremely punitive treatment of immigrant detainees from MAGA Christians.

“On one side, we’re looking at people who are undocumented, so yes, they’ve broken a rule. But for the most part, there are no victims ― so why is our government being so harsh?” she said. “But the other side, with this fundamental Christian worldview, sees every broken rule as deserving a super harsh punishment. You don’t have to be a murderer or a rapist to go to hell. Every broken rule leads to hell ― even just taking a bite of an apple cursed all of humanity.”

This religious viewpoint desensitizes people, so inhumane immigrant detention feels fine and deserved. Klinger Cain added that, for people with this perspective, the only way to escape the fate of hell is not through good actions but simply by being on the right God-ordained MAGA team.

“Vertical morality has caused white conservative, MAGA-aligned Christianity to completely abandon the core of Christ’s teachings because their focus is on self-interest and perceived moral purity,” Hale said. “To them, they are Christians and haven’t abandoned the faith at all, but their framework measures righteousness in a way that can excuse behaviors that the general public knows and sees aren’t Christlike at all.”

This system also demonizes empathy. Some conservative authors have even written books describing empathy as sinful or “toxic.”

“If Abraham had empathized too much with his son and chosen not to kill him, then that empathy would have been a sin,” Klinger Cain said. “We’ve seen this concept play out in Christianity with pastors telling parents not to allow their children to be gay, even if it hurts them. The idea is don’t allow your empathy to support sin in this way.”

….

“Vertical morality feels safe in chaotic times, when ‘figuring things out’ or ‘learning from past mistakes’ feels daunting,” Levings said. “It’s also easier to comply with when the bottom-dwelling citizens feel like they have little power or agency to resist an authoritarian system. Sometimes, compliance is a matter of survival, and agreeing with it is a necessary means of getting along and staying safe.”

Hale agreed that vertical morality feels easier and less complicated than actually confronting systemic issues and the complexities of social justice. 

“It’s easy to measure your faith by private devotion or rules that you think are in the bible, rather than by how you show up in the world,” she said. “The unfortunate part is that it can blind people to injustice and sometimes cause them to justify harmful behavior. When your focus is on individual righteousness rather than collective responsibility, you don’t learn how to show up for others ― you only care about your own journey.”

As a result, Hale added, you risk fostering a society where people aren’t held accountable for harmful actions and can be cruel and exclusionary, as long as they are “good Christians.” Rather than social responsibility, it’s all about personal salvation.

“We’re seeing vertical morality weaponized today in the Trump administration,” Ajoy said. “If they can convince people that they are ‘of God,’ then it doesn’t matter who they hurt in the process. They say Christian things. They quote scripture. But they are wreaking havoc on the very people Jesus calls us to love and care for. It reminds me of another verse in Matthew 15 that says, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’”

“Vertical morality can’t take into consideration modern advancements or needs, evidence of failures, new research and information and human progress in civilization,” she explained. “Those with a vertical structure aren’t inclusive or accepting of other worldviews. Diversity can’t exist because it threatens the high contrast right-wrong rigidity found in fundamentalist authoritarianism.”

— End of Quote —

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Letter to the Editor: Donald Trump’s Grand Agenda

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letter to the editor

Letter sent to the editor of the Defiance Crescent-News.

Dear Editor:

Our republic was saved from Donald Trump’s worst tendencies during his first administration by Republicans who understood what unchecked power could do in the hands of megalomaniac. Over the course of four years, they were replaced by feckless true-blue believers willing to bow to Trump’s delusional demands.

Today, the three branches of government are dominated by devotees to Trump and Project 2025. Loyal to the man, instead of the people, these servants tirelessly work to advance the whims of their leader. No regard is given to the U.S. Constitution or the rule of law. All that matters is obeisance to their savior Donald Trump. He alone, they say, can deliver us from communism, socialism, atheism, liberalism, and anything that paints White American Christians in a bad light.

In their minds, the United States is a Christian nation governed by the teachings of the Protestant Bible. Well, some teachings anyway. Trump-loving Christians ignore the verses that talk about how they should treat strangers and enemies; they ignore verses that explicitly condemn the Trump administration’s immoral treatment of undocumented workers and LGBTQ people. They worship what I call a Jesus of convenience; a Jesus that is used to advance political and social agendas instead of saving souls and transforming society.

It remains to be seen if our country will survive Donald Trump. Democrats fiddle while Rome burns, offering muted responses to Trump, if any at all, waiting until the time is “right.” If they can’t see the flames erupting through the roof, they aren’t paying attention. Protests and letters to the editor have their place — I’ve been writing letters for almost 50 years — but they alone cannot bring political and social change. The solution remains what it has always been: voting. As long as we are a democratic republic, voting remains the only means to effect change. If most Americans don’t vote, we can’t expect lasting change.

Trump plans to roll back progress to the Gilded Age of robber barons. The rich now control the reins of government more than ever before. One of their own now sits at the head of the table, acting like he’s a mob boss. All that matters to Trump is power and money; things Jesus expressly condemned. And if you stand in Trump’s way or dare to challenge his actions, he will bring the full force of the government down upon your head.

Bruce Gerencser
Ney, Ohio

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

A Reader Asks, How Can We Forgive Without Divine Enablement?

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god's forgiveness

Recently, a Christian reader asked:

How can a person forgive their worst enemies without divine enablement? Is this something we can do on our own, without supernatural love? Because we humans, as good as many are, would still balk at loving a person who killed their child, or loved one, or caused immense personal injury. And yet, there are many who have done just that.

I assume this reader is talking about the Christian (or other Abrahamic) religion. According to Christianity, believers are indwelt by the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. God lives inside of every believer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He is their teacher and guide. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit teaches Christians EVERYTHING about life and godliness. Yet, we see no difference between how Christians and the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world live their lives.

This reader thinks that “forgiving their worst enemies” requires some sort of divine enablement; that, by implication, non-Christians, lacking divine enablement, are unable to do. Yet, countless Christians refuse to forgive others, and innumerable non-Christians selflessly forgive those who transgress against them. Forgiveness is a human thing; a learned character trait. Forgiveness is modeled (or not) to children by parents, grandparents, siblings, and other people close to them. A child who grows up in an unforgiving home will likely grow up to be an unforgiving adult. One can undo negative nurture in their lives, but it ain’t easy. Sometimes, it requires therapy to overcome negative character traits deeply embedded in a child’s psyche. Yes, parents, you can fuck up your kids. One need only look at President Donald Trump to see what bad parenting does to a person.

The reader’s comment reveals a false notion that is drilled into the heads of Christian children: you are required to forgive anyone who does you wrong. This idea is reinforced week after week through sermons and Sunday school lessons. Believers are taught to forgive everyone, just like God does. However, a cursory reading of the Bible clearly shows that God does not forgive everyone. He never has. Not in the Old Testament, and not in the New. Sure, we see God, at times, forgiving people, but we also see God not doing so many, many times

As an atheist, I reject the notion that I must always forgive anyone who offends me or causes me harm. I also reject the notion that we must love everyone unconditionally. (Please see Does God Love Us Unconditionally?) Is loving and forgiving others a good idea? Sure, but as with all “ideas,” there are nuances and exceptions that must be considered. Christians, however, must always, without exception, love and forgive. I contend that there are people who are not worthy of my love and forgiveness. My grandparents — who were fine, upstanding Christians who believed every word of the Bible — come to mind. (Dear Ann and Life with My Fundamentalist Baptist Grandparents, John and Ann Tieken.) Not only did I not love them, but when they died, I said, “Good riddance.” I said the same thing about my Christian uncle when he died; you know, the one who raped my mother. My grandparents caused untold harm to me and my mother. It was infuriating to hear people talk about how wonderful John and Ann were — awesome, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus — while knowing they were anything but. They had countless opportunities to practice Christianity in a meaningful way with our family, but they chose not to. And when they did deign to walk in Jesus’s steps, there were always strings attached to everything they did for you. Cross them, and as swift as getting your head cut off with a guillotine, they would cut off whatever help they were giving you. Critical and mean-spirited, they demanded, via Bible verse quotations, that people not treat them in kind. Simply put, they were fucking hypocrites.

All forgiveness and love are conditional. Christian or not, some lines can be crossed that are beyond love and forgiveness. And if you say otherwise, I don’t believe you. Stop with the syrupy claims that you love and forgive everyone. Can you not think of any circumstance where you wouldn’t love or forgive someone? I generally love and forgive others, but I can think of circumstances that are beyond my love and forgiveness. I refuse to pretend and love and forgive people, as I was commanded to do as a follower of Jesus; though even Jesus didn’t love and forgive everyone either.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Why It Upsets Me When Evangelicals Say “I’m Praying for You”

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prayer

Why do I get upset when Evangelicals (and other Christians) say, “I’m praying for you?”

First, Evangelicals who say this to me deliberately violate the clear teaching of the Bible. Did Jesus not say:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:6 NRSV)

These verses seem clear, without ambiguity. Jesus commanded his followers to give and pray in secret. Why, then, do so many Evangelicals think it important for them to tell me that they are praying for me?

Second, I ask Evangelical readers in the comment guidelines to not leave “I’m praying for you” comments. Unlike some readers of this blog, I find no value or purpose in telling people you are praying for them. God is a myth, and so is “answered” prayer. I view prayer in the same light as I do God — a waste of time. It’s fine if Christians think differently, but understand that telling me that you are beseeching the God of the Bible on my behalf does little more than irritate me. Why do something that you KNOW will irritate the hell out of me? Especially since my knowing that someone is praying for me plays no part in whether God answers said prayer.

Third, praying for me is literally the least you can do for me, no different than politicians who offer up “thoughts and prayers” when there is another mass casualty shooting. Countless Christian prayers will be offered up for the dead. Why? They are dead. Instead of prayers, how about actually doing something that will make a meaningful difference?

Thousands of people have allegedly prayed for me. I say allegedly because I know Evangelicals are famous for lying about praying for others, or they briefly pray one time and move on. Instead of doing something that will tangibly improve my life, Evangelicals choose the one thing — prayer — that does nothing for me.

I have been blogging for seventeen years. I can count on two fingers the number of Evangelicals who have done something material for me; something that would make a difference in my life. The two people I have in mind sent me money to help with my needs. Is this not the essence of loving your neighbor as yourself? I am known for being a big tipper when we go out to eat. During the holidays, it is not uncommon for me to leave a tip equal to the bill total. I do this for one reason; to be a blessing and help to others — no strings attached. I should add that these two people — both preachers — have left Christianity. Beware of giving money to Bruce Gerencser. It could cause you to lose your faith. 🙂

One of my biggest beefs with Evangelical churches is that they rarely, of ever, do anything just to be a help to others. Years ago, an Evangelical preacher named Iggy left a comment detailing all the things he and his church did to be a blessing to others. I dared to question the motivations behind these acts of love. Boy, did we have a digital fight. 🙂 I concluded that the goal was not helping others as much as it was advertising the church’s and pastor’s name.

Will this post keep Evangelicals from saying they are praying for me? Silly boy, of course not. Evangelicals gonna do what Evangelicals do.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Is Jesus Found Anywhere in the Old Testament?

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blue eyed jesus

Is Jesus found anywhere in the Old Testament? No. Jesus is not mentioned directly one time in the first thirty-nine books of the Bible. Evangelicals will point to Old Testament prophecies that allegedly reference Jesus. However, when these prophecies are read contextually without appealing to univocality, you will find that Jesus is not talked about in the Old Testament.

Bible scholar Dr. Dan McClellan has this to say about the subject:

If you were raised in an Evangelical church, you likely heard that Jesus is found in the pages of every book of the Bible; that Jesus’ blood is a scarlet thread that runs from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21. This sounds right to people who have never read the Bible, but if you carefully read the Old Testament prophecies attributed to Jesus, you will find out Jesus is nowhere to be found — and that includes Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 14, when read in context.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

God Has a Message for President Donald Trump and Congress

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evangelicals and donald trump

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.

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.

Are Religious People Mentally Ill?

10 Comments
fake news

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.

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.

Do You Oppose Genital Mutilation?

12 Comments
circumcision

Evangelical apologists are known for their hatred of LGBTQ people — especially transgender folks. Evangelicals argue that there are only two sexes and two genders, so gender reassignment surgery is morally wrong. Many apologists claim that top and bottom surgery are genital mutilation. Surely we can’t allow people to mutilate themselves, Evangelicals say. Yet, Evangelicals practice genital mutilation themselves. How many Evangelical women have had breast augmentation surgery? How many Evangelical men use Viagra or mechanical means such as a penis pump to get an erection? Worse, how many millions of Evangelical males have been circumcised? If it is a sin for transgender people to “mutilate’ their bodies, then it’s a sin for Evangelical women to have breast/butt implants and males to be circumcised. Disagree? Explain the difference between permanently cutting the end of your foreskin off and gender reassignment surgery. Both change the physical nature of the person.

What say ye, readers?

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Quote of the Day: The War Prayer by Mark Twain

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mark twain

Explanatory note added by Quaker.org: Outraged by American military intervention in the Phillipines, Mark Twain wrote this and sent it to Harper’s Bazaar.  This women’s magazine rejected it for being too radical, and it wasn’t published until after Mark Twain’s death, when World War I made it even more timely.  It appeared in Harper’s Monthly, November 1916.

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 spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread 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 outpourings 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 young faces alight with martial dreams — visions of the 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 heroes, 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 the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear 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 with 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 will 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 Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this — keep it in mind. If you would 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 of 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 — mustfollow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God 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 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 the 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, 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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Why Did God Use Men to Write the Bible Instead of Doing It Himself?

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read bible

According to Evangelicals, the Bible is God’s supernatural Word. Written by men divinely inspired by God, the Bible is a perfect book, free of mistakes, errors, and contradictions. Of course, this is nonsense. A cursory reading of the Bible reveals all sorts of errors. Sure, Evangelicals cook up plenty of explanations for these errors, but some of their explanations leave a lot to be desired, bordering on farcical.

God could have imparted his Word to humankind by writing it himself. A perfect God would write a perfect book, yes? So why in the Hell did God choose to impart his Word in such a way that has resulted in thousands of years of argument, debate, and fighting? Why choose fallible, frail, contradictory men to write the Bible instead of doing it yourself? There are thousands of Christian sects, each believing that their interpretation of the Bible is true and all other interpretations are false.

Imagine how much better it would be if God wrote the Bible himself. Not that he inspired the writers, but that he wrote every word, including punctuation and versification. If God had done this, any misunderstanding would be ours. As things now stand, Christians can’t even agree on basic beliefs such as salvation, baptism, and communion. The Bible says, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” but history reveals many lords, many faiths, many baptisms.

God could publish an updated version of the Bible, one that does away with the passages that make him look bad. No incest, no genocide, no slavery, no rape. Rewrite the Bible, put it on Amazon, and sell millions of copies. This sure would clear up a lot of problems. Instead, we are left with an ancient religious text that has little relevance today.

Come on, God, get your act together. It’s time for you to update the greatest book never read.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.