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Patriotic Masturbation: Our Obsession with Expressing Patriotism

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Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to a country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one’s homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, political, or historical aspects. (Wikipedia)

Generally, patriotism is the love of country. I was born in the United States of America in 1957. I am grateful to have been born in the United States. That said, I don’t think the United States is #1, the best country above all others, or a nation that is uniquely blessed by God. We have a violent, bloody history, one marked by slavery, capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism, so much so that I understand why non-Americans have less than positive thoughts about us. Worse, we have the prominent form of American patriotism that is actually jingoism:

[a form of] nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country’s advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, jingoism is excessive bias in judging one’s own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism.

I love going to high school football and basketball games. One thing that happens at every game no matter where I go, is that attendees are asked to stand, remove their hats if men, put their hands over their hearts, and listen to or sing the Star Spangled Banner. Due to its unsingability, few people sing our national anthem. I still try to sing it but have long since lost the range to do so.

Before the anthem is sung, the announcer reads a statement reminding people that we live in a nation with freedoms like no others, and that men and women are fighting over “there” so we have freedoms over “here.” Neither statement is true, but plays well with our jingoistic notion of country and place.

Government meetings are typically opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, a pledge of fealty to God and country. I refrain from saying the pledge due its demands that I swear allegiance to the Christian deity and the United States. This, at times, causes me problems when people notice my (supposed) lack of patriotism, but one of the freedoms each of us has is the right to dissent. My refusal to utter the Pledge of Allegiance is my private, silent way to say, “I object,” that I don’t applaud or approve of the violence and bloodshed our flag represents.

The trappings of American jingoism are everywhere to be found: flags, military flyovers, militarized pre-game festivities at sporting events, patriotic clothing, bumper stickers, yard signs, and household goods, and multiple patriotic holidays. Speaking of basketball games, every official wears a shirt with an American flag on one arm, similar to what is worn by law enforcement officers and soldiers. One local school board voted to require high school athletes to wear a flag patch on their uniforms. Why? The school superintendent said he wanted students to be reminded of the greatness of America.

With Donald Trump set to become our jingoist-in-chief on January 20, 2025, we should expect increased tribalism and white Christian nationalism. Claiming to be patriots, they are anything but. True patriots care for the common good of their fellow citizens; embracing differences of beliefs and practices. True patriots don’t threaten their neighbors in other countries with violence, war, and economic destruction. Trump’s threat to take over the Panama Canal and Greenland with military force, invade Mexico, and turn Canada into a state is so far beyond the pale that surely no right-minded American agrees with him, right? Think again. Millions of Americans agree with Trump’s expansionist ideas. The same can be said for his nationalistic economic beliefs which will likely lead to inflation and increased unemployment. Trump is willing to destroy the U.S. economy to prove a point. He is more than willing to ruin the lives of millions of people who live in the United States, all because they are “illegals.”

A patriot, I am, but I reject the patriotism being peddled by Trump, the Republican Party, the MAGAs, and, sadly, many Democrats. You will never see me show my patriotism by saying the Pledge of Allegiance, wearing a flag pin, or flying a flag on our front porch. Such things are what I call patriotic masturbation; feel good behaviors that have little to do with real patriotism. I choose to show my patriotism by loving and caring for others and working for the common good. At the political level, patriotism demands I push back against colonialism, imperialism, and military interventionism that presents the United States to the world as a violent bully who only cares about her thirst for power and world dominance. People hate America not for her greatness, but because she only cares about what advances her interests. Countries with oil, minerals, and other things that fuel our materialistic lust interest us, but emaciated people of color without food, water, housing, or medical care? Who gives a shit about them? Oh, we throw a bit of foreign aid here and there to help with these problems, but most aid goes to prop up governments and expand U.S. military presence across the globe (and the very reasons Trump wants the Panama Canal and Greenland).

I know patriotism is a touchy subject. Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Church Prayer Chains: How Many Prayers Does a Healing Make?

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Recently, Heidi left the following comment (slightly edited):

I love coming up with my own practical deconstructions, such as: Why does God care more about popular people? Every time there’s a prayer chain for someone, isn’t it just an admission that God is keeping a tally, and once the prayee is sufficiently supported by the numbers, then that person will be healed? I guess the person with few friends is out of luck where God is concerned.

For the uninitiated, a “prayer chain” is a group of Christian church members who agree to pray for a person or circumstance when the chain is activated either by the pastor or whoever is in charge of it. Typically, a church member calls the pastor with a prayer request, asking others to pray for him, or a member is made aware of a “need” someone has and passes that need along to the pastor or whoever is in charge of the prayer chain. The pastor then calls one or more people on the chain, who then call one or more people until everyone on the prayer chain knows about the need. Sometimes, one person handles the chain activation, calling everyone on the list. The goal, of course, is to get as many people as possible begging God to save/heal/deliver someone or meet some sort of need. The thinking is that the more people who bug God in prayer, the more likely it is that God will favorably grant the prayer request.

The Bible diverges in two directions when it comes to God answering prayers. On one hand, the Bible portrays God as an instantaneous prayer-answering deity. Ask and it shall be given to you, right? Most Christians learn early on that God rarely, if ever, answers prayers immediately. Believers are encouraged to have faith, pleading with God without ceasing to answer their prayers. These prayers rarely, if ever, get answered either. Christians love to trumpet to the world that their peculiar deity answers millions, billions, and gazillions of prayers every day, but when pressed for evidence for their claim, believers turn deaf and dumb.

When my partner and I deconverted seventeen years ago, one of the first things we wrestled with was our past prayers. Both of us were praying people — morning, noon, night, before meals, at church, in the car, together, and alone. I suspect between the two of us, we uttered over 100,000 prayers for ourselves and other people. Yet, when we gave an honest accounting of our prayers, we concluded that only a handful of prayers couldn’t be explained naturally. Most of our prayers went unanswered, and those we thought were answered by God were actually answered by self, family, church members, or friends. Virtually every answered prayer was of human origin. And the few that weren’t were not enough to convince us that the God of the Bible exists, that he is personally involved in our lives, and that he answers our prayers. What we were left with was a few experiences we could not explain. Live long enough and you too will have similar experiences; things you can’t explain.

Heidi raises an excellent point about prayer chains. The same can be said for corporate prayer meetings. Evangelical churches often set aside one day a week for members to gather together and corporately pray. I grew up in an era when Baptist churches typically held prayer meetings on Wednesday or Thursday evenings. Some churches take praying seriously, spending an hour or more beseeching God, while others give lip service to the notion of a prayer meeting, taking requests from the congregation and then offering a single prayer, usually given by the pastor, for the people and needs mentioned. Sadly, most church prayer meeting nights are long on gossip and short on prayer.

The thinking goes, that the more people who pray for a person or need the more likely it is that God will answer their prayers. God is waiting and willing to answer prayer, but only if enough prayers come into Prayer Central. Picture God sitting in Heaven with a scorecard, putting a “I” on the card every time a Christian prays for Sister Bertha’s gallbladder or Brother Ernie’s hemorrhoids. Once the prescribed number of “I” are marked on the scorecard, God answers the prayer in the affirmative. As Heidi notes, pity the poor person who has few friends or isn’t well known. They never get healed because they don’t have enough people praying for them.

Why does God operate this way? Why doesn’t he help and heal people the moment they ask? Why does praying seem to be an exercise in futility; a practice that may comfort people, but rarely brings healing and deliverance? As with most things, Christians only count the “hits’ when deciding whether God answers prayers, ignoring the “misses” — which are statistically far more common than affirmatively answered prayers.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Is “Does God Exist?” The Most Important Question We Can Ask?

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I recently watched a discussion between Alex O’Connor, an atheist, and Dr. Francis Collins, an Evangelical Christian and former Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on YouTube. You can watch the video here:

Video Link

I have heard countless discussions, debates, arguments, and brawls over the existence of God. Eighteen years in, I’m no longer interested in the “God debate.” I have heard every possible defense of or “proof” for the existence of God. Many of these arguments try to establish the existence of a creator God, a generic deity of sorts that they posit is found in every culture and religion. Such discussions are largely philosophical masturbation, for which I have no interest. I will, at times, engage Evangelicals when they try to claim and prove that the generic deity I mentioned is actually the Christian God of the Bible. Such arguments miserably fail. Why? They rely on the Bible as proof for their claims. (I am using the words proof and prove in a colloquial sense. I know proof is a mathematical term, not a theological/philosophical one.) As a former pastor and theologian, I still enjoy discussing the Bible and theology, though I no longer have the stomach for WWE-style wrassling matches over minute points of dogma. That said, I have yet to have an Evangelical make a compelling argument for their peculiar God’s existence.

Even within the framework of the Bible, there are numerous gods, beginning with multiple deities in the book of Genesis to the insurmountable differences between the God of the Old Testament and the Son of God in the New Testament. There’s no such thing as a singular Christian deity. One could argue that there are more Christian gods than we can count, with each believer shaping his or her God in their own likeness. That’s why, when talking to Evangelicals about the existence of God, the first question to ask them is “How do you define God?” What are his qualities and attributes? Typically, no two Evangelicals will give you the same answer.

During O’Connor’s discussion with Dr. Collins, one idea came up several times; that the most important question any of us can ask is “Does God exist?” I suppose in atheist-Christian debating circles this might be true, but, for me personally, and I expect for many of you who read this blog, answering the question “Does God exist?” is not at the top of your list of important questions to answer. In fact, I suspect, for those of you who have always been atheists or deconverted years ago, the God question rarely crosses your mind, that is, unless a Christian zealot is in your face trying to get you to pay attention to his God and the importance of getting saved lest you die and end up in Hell.

The only time I even think about God is when I am writing an article for this site. Otherwise, God rarely crosses my mind unless I just stepped on a Lego left on the floor by one of my grandsons, leading to me uttering “God dammit” or “Jesus Christ.” I sure hope the Lord appreciates my worship. 🙂

Pondering deep philosophical questions is largely the domain of white, affluent westerners who have time and money to sit around pondering God’s existence and the meaning of life. For most people, their lives are focused on more pressing questions such as earning a living, providing for their family, renting/buying a home, putting food on the table, and making sure they have a running automobile or reliable transportation to get where they need to go. By the time working-class/middle-class people sit down at the end of the day, the last thing on their minds is the question, “Does God exist?

How about you? Is the “Does God exist?” question important to you? Or do you find such discussions boring, reminders of the endless chattering about theology during your days as a Christian? I wonder if I am alone with my indifference towards this question. I have reached a place in life where I simply no longer care. I have far more pressing issues that vex my soul, especially matters concerning my health, family, and economic well-being. Please share your pithy thoughts in the comment section.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

We Are the Only Hell That Exists

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Evangelical Christians believe in everlasting punishment for all those who die without faith in Jesus Christ. According to Evangelical dogma, the vast majority of humanity — past, present, and future — will end up in the Lake of Fire after they die, forever tortured by God for their sin and unbelief.

When asked where Hell is located, Evangelicals either stupidly say it’s in the center of the earth or, in a rare breath of honesty, say they don’t know. The Hell of eternal punishment exists only in the pages of the Bible. Within broader Christianity, the existence of Hell (the Lake of Fire), its purpose, and who ends up there, if anyone, is hotly debated. For unbelievers, especially agnostics and atheists, Hell is a myth, a theological concept used by clerics to promote fear among church members, knowing fearful congregants are more likely to obey their commands, attend church, and keep offering plates full. Remove the threat of Hell and I suspect scores of people will stop attending church. Without fear, they might be inclined to sleep in on Sundays, watch the NFL, and spend their tithes and offerings on personal needs instead of funding their pastors’ every whim.

When asked if I believe in the existence of Hell, I give a two-part answer. No, I don’t believe in the existence of big H Hell, but I do believe in little h hell. Little h hell is what humans do to each other, other animals, and the planet they live on.

Hell is a creation of human imagination. I explain it this way:

Good News: Hell is the creation of human imagination.

Bad News: Human imagination knows no bounds when it comes to cruelty and violence

I do not fear landing in Hell after I die. I am confident that once I draw my last draw, that will be the end for me; that I will return to the same darkness and nothingness as before I was conceived. I do, however, fear the hell that my fellow humans can and do inflict upon our planet and its inhabitants. Come January 20, 2025, Donald Trump will become president and unleash upon the American people hell that we have not seen in many years. Imagine the hell that will be unleashed by MAGA extremists such as Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence), Scott Bessent (Treasury Secretary), Pete Hegseth (Defense Secretary), Pam Bondi (Attorney General), Kristi Noem (Homeland Security Secretary), Robert F. Kennedy Jr.(Health and Human Services Secretary), Doug Burgum (Interior Secretary), Chris Wright (Energy Secretary), Linda McMahon (Education Secretary), Lee Zeldin (EPA Administrator), Kash Patel (FBI Director), Tom Homan (Border Czar), Elon Musk (Department of Government Efficiency), Vivek Ramaswamy (Department of Government Efficiency), and Russ Vought (Office of Management and Budget Director). These men and women are committed to enacting and enforcing Trump’s extremist social, health, education, and economic policies, regardless of the hell they cause the American people and the world at large.

Trump relishes chaos, so we shouldn’t be surprised when his rhetoric and saber-rattling land the U.S. in new military incursions while trying to end conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East abruptly. His threat of withdrawing the U.S. from N.A.T.O. should scare all of us. Trump’s insane commitment to tariffs will certainly cause increased inflation as businesses increase prices to offset tariff costs, as will his plan to cut the social safety net. His plan calls for large-scale immigration enforcement and deportations of primarily Mexican and Latin American immigrants. Doing so will likely tank portions of our economy that rely on migrant workers (many of whom are undocumented). The new Department of Government Efficiency hopes to set much of the federal government and its agencies on fire, causing untold harm to the American people. And Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.? Left to his own devices, Kennedy, Jr. will turn HHS into a health food store, and leave us largely unprepared for the next pandemic.

Of course, the United States is but one country out of 193, each with its dispensers of hell on earth. As of June 2024, there were 56 military conflicts in the world, involving 92 countries in conflicts outside their borders. Famine and lack of sufficient food, water, housing, and medical care remain a major problem in many countries. Increased world temperatures and weather extremes remain a threat to our very existence; that is if a nuclear war doesn’t destroy our planet.

Hell and threats of hell abound, and all any of us can do is help put out as many fires as we can. Yes, Trump is a major hell threat, but his ability to burn everything to the ground except his bank account remains to be seen. Will there be Republicans who will stand up to his extremism? It’s doubtful, but perhaps a few of them will wake up, get their noses out of Trump’s ass, and remember that they serve the American people. The year 2026 will provide voters will an opportunity to right the Congressional boat, thus limiting the damage Trump and his acolytes can do. However, Trump has two years to pretty much do what he wants. Democrats are largely powerless, most Republicans are MAGA devotees, and the U.S. Supreme Court is controlled by right-wing ideology. Protests are sure to come, and I fear violence will follow. Sadly, this will give leave for Trump to unleash “HIS” FBI and Justice Department on protestors and anyone else on his blacklist.

I see little that would cause me to be optimistic. We are in for hell over the next few years. I will do what I can to put out fires or at least keep them from engulfing people and institutions, while at the same time pushing back against Christian Nationalists who see Trump’s presidency as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn back sixty years of secular, social, and church-state progress.

I hope I am wrong, but so far, all I see is a raging fire on the horizon. Hell awaits us, and whether we survive remains to be seen.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Disciples of Christ Pastor Arturo Laguna Camas Accused of Voyeurism

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pastor arturo laguna camas

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.

Pastor Arturo Laguna Camas, pastor of the Casa De Adoración church in Phoenix, Arizona stands accused of multiple counts of voyeurism. Casa De Adoración is affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. Laguna Camas allegedly put video recording equipment in the women’s restroom.

Arizona’s Family reports:

Pastor Arturo Laguna Camas of the Casa De Adoración church is being charged with multiple counts of voyeurism.

According to Arizona law, these felony charges stem from invading someone’s privacy by recording or photographing without their permission for sexual stimulation.

These charges are class 5 felonies, which can range from a couple of months to a couple of years in prison, depending on the sentencing factors.

….

Arizona’s Family stopped by the Casa de Adoracion church Friday; however, no one was inside at the time.

A grand jury indicted Laguna Camas, who already had his initial appearance.

Court records show the crimes occurred during October. He was arrested in early November.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Catholic Priest William Damroth Pleads Guilty to Grand Larcency

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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.

William Damroth, the pastor of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Newburg, New York, pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny and will pay the church $300,000 in restitution.

The Hudson Valley Times reports:

Father William Damroth pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny charges on Dec. 17, and will pay $300,000 in restitution to St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Newburgh. Damroth is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on March 18, 2025.

The case stemmed from an investigation that began in the summer of 2022 when the Archdiocese of New York conducted an audit and discovered financial discrepancies at the parish. Damroth, who served as pastor of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which included Saint Francis and Sacred Heart churches in Newburgh, was transferred to Immaculate Conception Parish in Port Jervis that same summer.

Following news of the investigation, parishioners were informed by letters sent out by the archdiocese. Damroth stepped away from his duties during the investigation, which led to grand larceny charges in December 2023.

Damroth’s case is being handled in Orange County Court, with his next appearance scheduled before Judge Craig Brown. His defense attorney, Joseph Gulino confirmed the plea and explained that prosecutors had recommended five years of probation. However, Judge Brown imposed a split sentence: six months in Orange County Jail, followed by five years of probation.

A split sentence, also known as shock probation, involves serving part of the sentence in jail and the remainder on probation.

Gulino stated he plans to argue for straight probation at sentencing, citing mitigating circumstances, but withheld further details until then. He also clarified that the $300,000 restitution would cover all allegations against Damroth. Gulino did not provide specifics on how the funds were used, if at all.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

What God’s Treatment of Animals Says About Him

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You can judge a man’s true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.

— Paul McCartney

I agree with Paul McCartney. Observe how a person treats both domesticated and wild animals and you will learn a lot about their character. The same can be said for deities. Take the Christian God. The Bible says in Psalm 145:9: The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. Is God truly good and merciful to all, including animals? I will argue in this post that he is not.

What was the first thing God did after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden? The first humans were created naked and got a show on the Discovery channel. However, the moment they ate bananas off the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, breaking God’s command to NOT do so, they sensed they were naked and took fig leaves and sewed them together, making aprons to cover their nakedness. God said their plant-based clothing was inappropriate. What did God do? He killed two animals, skinned them, and made Adam and Eve aprons. These unnamed animals were likely the first creatures to die in the Garden. God could have clothed them in garments made of cotton or polyester, but, instead, he chose to kill two innocent animals so he could use their fur to make clothingfor the sinning couple. God could have created fur garments without killing animals. Still, he wanted to establish the foundation of the blood cult that would one day be called Christianity, so he killed and skinned the animals to provide a covering for Adam and Eve’s nakedness. (Evangelicals believe that while these things really happened, they were meant to be a metaphor for the blood atonement of Jesus on the cross thousands of years later.)

In Genesis 6-9, we find the story of Noah and the flood that killed every human being, save Noah’s family of eight. The Bible gives the justification of God killing every man, woman, child, and fetus as their exceeding wickedness. How fetuses and children were exceedingly wicked is not explained; that is, until centuries later when theologians cooked up the doctrine of original sin to render all of humanity guilty before God and deserving eternal punishment in Hell. Left undiscussed is why Noah had to take pairs of animals upon the ark. Before the first drop of rain fell upon the Earth, God had determined to kill every animal on the face of the earth except those safely ensconced upon the ark. God savagely drowned billions of animals, starved to death countless birds, and killed off saltwater marine life by deluging their habit with fresh water. What, exactly, did these animals do to deserve such callous punishment? Nothing, other than being alive when God decided to violently rain judgment and death upon the human race.

In 1 Samuel 15:3, God commands Saul to kill all the oxen, sheep, camels, and donkeys:

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel, and ass.

In Joshua 11, God commands Joshua to hough all the horses. Hough is King James for hamstring. God commanded Joshua to cut the hamstring on all the horses so they would be unable to run:

And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.

From these two passages of Scripture, what do we learn? That God has no problem with killing innocent animals or inflicting horrific suffering upon them.

And then there are the blood cult rituals commanded by God throughout the Old Testament. God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice certain animals to atone for their sin and appease his wrath. For Christians, Jesus became the final lamb sacrificed to atone for sin. What we see time after time in the Old Testament is God’s indifference to the cruel suffering and death of animals.

In Exodus 12, we find God telling Moses that he plans to kill all the firstborns in the land of Egypt, including firstborn cattle. God told Moses that the only way for the Israelites to avoid this judgment was to kill a lamb and wipe its blood over the doorposts of their homes. Countless animals died, and for what reason? God wanted to prove a point?

Christian apologist C.S. Lewis attempted to explain these passages of Scripture and others this way:

The Christian explanation of human pain cannot be extended to animal pain. So far as we know beasts are incapable of either sin or virtue: therefore, they can neither deserve pain nor be improved by it. … From the doctrine that God is good we may confidently deduce that the appearance of reckless divine cruelty in the animal kingdom is an illusion.

The authors of the paper, Neo-Cartesianism and the Expanded Problem of Animal Suffering, explain Lewis’s position thusly:

From the fact the animals suffer we may confidently deduce that either there is no divine Being or he is reckless, cruel, or completely indifferent to animal suffering.

Some Evangelical apologists suggest that these “problems” are in the Old Testament; and that Jesus was different. However, Jesus is God, so it is impossible to divorce him from the actions of the Old Testament deity — that is, unless apologists embrace Arianism, which none of them do.

In the New Testament — Mark 5 — we find the story of a mentally ill man, whom the Bible says is demon-possessed, living in a cemetery, often bound with chains he would break. When Jesus came nearby, the Maniac of Gadera, as he is called in other verses, ran to meet him. Jesus preceded to cast unclean spirits out of him, leaving the man in his right mind. And what did Jesus do with the demons? Why, he cast them into a herd of pigs who promptly ran over a cliff and died. Jesus could have just cast the demons out of the man, killing them with no further action, but, instead, he killed 2,000 animals. And for what, to prove a point? We are not told, but I think that Jesus thought very little of animals. The Jewish blood cult’s animal sacrifices were still going on during Jesus’ thirty-three years on Earth, yet he said not a word about the senseless slaughter of countless animals.

And finally, we come to the book of Revelation, the book that reveals that Jesus is just as bloodthirsty, violent, and cruel as his Father. God rains judgment upon the earth killing virtually every living thing, including animals. Revelation is a sick horror flick beyond imagination, a reminder of the true character of the Christian God. Why does God slaughter most animals? He’s pissed off that Adam and Eve ate bananas off the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so every human being and animal must pay for their disobedience to God.

God is, indeed, a bloodthirsty deity, and Christians have built a blood cult upon his bloodthirstiness. From Genesis to Revelation, we see a violent deity who demands blood sacrifice and has no problem shedding the blood not only of humans, but innocent animals too. This God, if he exists, is unworthy of our fealty and worship. Fortunately, this God is a myth. The only blood lust that we must concern ourselves with is that of our fellow humans, especially those who sit in seats of power, using bloodshed as a means to hold power or gain land/resources. Sadly, way too many of our fellow earthlings are just like the God they worship.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Quote of the Day: Why Secular Humanism is Superior to Christianity

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quote of the day

Secular Humanism is about humans and what’s good for them. Christianity is about Jesus and what’s good for him.

— Matt Dillahunty, The Atheist Experience, 2017

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Christmas: A Plea to Evangelicals Who Evangelize Non-Christian Family Members

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confrontational evangelism
Evangelical Tom “shares” the gospel with Atheist Jean

Christmas: it’s that time of year. Joy to the World. Handel’s Messiah. Cookies and fudge. Eggnog. Shopping. Evergreen trees decked with ornaments and lights. Cards. Presents. Ugly sweaters. Family gatherings. Excited grandchildren. Ah, the wonders of the Christmas season.

But there’s one aspect of Christmas hated by non-Christians, and that’s their Evangelical relatives and friends using the holiday as an opportunity to evangelize those they deem lost and headed for Hell.

From tracts stuffed into Christmas cards to Christian-themed gifts, evangelistically-motivated Evangelicals make sure that their non-Christian family members and friends know that Jesus is the Reason for Season and that unless they know The Prince of Peace, They will Have No Peace.

Even worse are those Evangelicals who make a concerted effort to talk to unsaved relatives about their spiritual condition at family Christmas gatherings. Told by their pastors to use the Christmas season, with its focus on joy and family, as an opportunity to witness to the lost, Evangelicals make concerted efforts to put in a good word for Jesus whenever they have an opportunity to do so.

We’ve all been there. We’re hanging out with our family at the annual Christmas gathering: eating Mom’s food, swapping childhood stories, drinking wine, laughing, and enjoying life. And out of the corner of our eye, we see Evangelical Uncle Bob coming towards us. Oh shit, we say to ourselves, not THIS again. “This” being Uncle Bob snuggling up to you so he can tell you for seemingly the hundredth time that Christmas is all about Jesus, and that the greatest gift in the world is the salvation that God offers to every sinner. Sinner, of course, being you. And as in every other year, you will politely listen, smile, and think in your mind, just one time I’d like to tell Uncle Bob to take his religion and shove it up his ass. Your thoughts will remain unspoken, and after your evangelizing relative is finished extolling the wonders of Jesus and his blood, you say to him, just as you do every other year, Hey, Uncle Bob, how ’bout them Cowboys? You know that there is one thing that Uncle Bob loves to talk about almost as much as his savior Jesus, and that’s America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys.

Several years ago, Fundamentalist Calvinist pastor John Piper reminded his fellow cultists of the importance of giving non-Christian relatives prayed-over, Bible-saturated books during the Christmas season. Piper wrote:

The Christmas season is ripe for “reviving your concern” (Philippians 4:10) for the spiritual wellbeing of friends and family members. We may lament the expectations of gift-giving and the excesses of holiday spending, but we can take it as an opportunity to invest in eternity by putting God-centered, gospel-rich content into the hands of those we love.

Next to the Bible, perhaps the most enduringly valuable gifts you can give this Christmas are books soaked in God and his grace. Online articles, sermons, and podcast episodes change lives and sustain souls, but they don’t make for typical material Christmas gifts. Printed books, on the other hand, wrap well, and can be just as life-changing and soul-saving, and more.

As Christmas approaches, we wanted to remind you of our recent titles from the team at Desiring God. We’ve done our best to saturate them in the Bible and fill them with God and his gospel, and we’ve prayed over them again that they might be a means of God’s grace not only for you, but also your loved ones…

Randy Newman, Senior Teaching Fellow for Apologetics and Evangelism at the C.S. Lewis Institute, suggests that Evangelicals look for opportunities to share bits of the gospel:

I know this sounds counterintuitive. In fact, to some, this may sound like downright heresy! Some of us have been trained to “make sure to state the whole gospel” or “their blood will be on our hands.” To me, that sounds a bit like a lack of trust in the sovereignty of God. In our day of constant contact (through email, texts, tweets, etc.) we can trust God to string together a partial conversation at Christmas dinner to a follow up discussion the next day, to a phone conversation, to numerous emails, etc. Some of our unsaved family members and friends need to digest parts of the gospel (“How can God be both loving and holy?”) before they can take the next bite (“Jesus’ death resolves the tension of God’s love and his holiness.”)…

Back in the days when I was a fire-breathing Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) preacher, I encouraged church members to use the Christmas holiday as an opportunity to witness to their unsaved relatives. Hell is hot and death is certain, I told congregants. Dare we ignore their plight? Remember, the Bible says that if we fail to warn our wicked relatives of their wicked ways and they die and go to Hell, their blood will be on our hands. Despite my attempts to guilt church members into evangelizing their relatives, not one member reported successfully doing so. Most of them, I suspect, ignored my preaching and said nothing to their relatives. And those who did likely made half-hearted attempts to interject Jesus into family Christmas discussions. Regardless, not one person was saved as a result of our Christmas witnessing.

Let me conclude this post with a heartfelt, honest appeal from non-Christians to Evangelicals bent on witnessing to family and friends during the Christmas season:

Christmas is all about love, joy, peace, and family. Religion, like politics, is a divisive subject, and talking about it will certainly engender strife and resentment. I know that you think our negative response toward your evangelistic effort is the result of our sinfulness and hatred of God. What you fail to see is that our irritation and anger is the result of your unwillingness to value family more than you do Jesus. Besides, we’ve heard your Jesus shtick before. We get it: we are sinners, Jesus died on the cross for our sins and resurrected from the grave three days later. If we want our sins forgiven, we must repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If we refuse God’s wonderful offer of salvation and eternal life, when we die, we will go to Hell. See? We heard you. There’s no need for you to keep doing your best imitation of a skipping record. If we ask you a question about your religion, then, by all means, answer it. We asked, and we wouldn’t have asked if we didn’t want to know. However, if we don’t ask, please keep your religion to yourself. If you truly love and respect us, please leave us alone.

If you choose to ignore our request, we will assume that you are determined to be an asshole for Jesus. While we will likely walk away from you, we might, depending on our mood, decide to give you a dose of your own medicine by sharing why we think your God and Jesus are fictitious. We might even challenge your so-called Bible beliefs. You see, we know a lot more about Christianity than we are telling. It’s not that we don’t know. We do, and we find the Christian narrative intellectually lacking. While Jesus gives your life meaning, purpose, and peace, we have found these same things in atheism, agnosticism, humanism, paganism, or non-Christian religions. We don’t need what you have because we already have it.

Most of us who are non-Christians will spend the Christmas holiday surrounded by believers. In many instances, we will be the only non-Christian in the room. While we love the Christmas season — with its bright colors, feasts, and family gatherings — contemplating the fact that we will be the only atheist at the family Christmas gathering can be stressful. We understand that Christmas is considered a Christian holiday. When Christian prayers are uttered, we will respectfully bow our heads.  When Christmas carols are sung around the hearth, we will likely join in (many of us like singing Christmas songs). We will do our best to blend in.

Please, for one day, when we are all gathered together in expression of our love for one another, leave Jesus and your religion at the door. By all means, if you must talk about Jesus, seek out like-minded Christian family members and talk to them. When talking to us, let’s agree to talk about the things we have in common: family, childhood experiences, and our favorite football team.

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.

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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Is Jesus the Reason for the Season?

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jesus is the reason for the season

Evangelicals would like us to believe that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” Churches will perform acts of charity for poor, disadvantaged people — often forgetting and ignoring these same people the rest of the year. Many congregations will put crèches in front of their buildings, complete with lights to glaringly remind atheist passersby that Christmas is all about the virgin-born baby in the manger. Scores of churches will have special Christmas programs, including cantatas, candlelight services, and plays performed by children. The plays will often contain mythologies about the Christmas story. Rarely are children ever taught the facts about Jesus, his parents, his birth, the star, and who was in attendance. For secularists, this isn’t a big deal. Why let facts get in the way of telling a good story? But for people committed to the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of the Bible, you would think they would want to get the Christmas story right.

Certainly, Christmas, along with Easter, is a big deal for those who worship Jesus — he who came to Earth to save his people from their sins (that’s right, Jesus originally came to only save Jews). However, once you get beyond the clichès, yard decorations, carols, programs, and perfunctory charitable giving, Christian spending on gifts, decorations, and other trappings of the season is right up there with that of the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. So, I have to ask, Is Jesus really the reason for the season? Or has Christmas become a secular holiday; one that is an admixture of religious iconography and Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, fir trees, flashing color lights, and the like? I suspect it’s the latter.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.