Melvin Wagner, an Evangelical zealot, left the following comment on Facebook today. My response is indented and italicized.
Bruce..
Melvin . . .
God is long suffering not willing that any should perish..
There is no God, Melvin. You know I am an atheist, right? Just because you say something doesn’t mean it’s true. Do have any evidence besides quotes from the Bible for the existence of your peculiar version of God? I’m waiting . . .
Meaning an eternity in the lake of fire…Hell is real whether you believe it or not…..
Melvin, please learn how to use ellipses.
Do you believe fairies, leprechauns, the Loch Ness monster, Big Foot, and Allah are real? People say these beings exist. Surely, this is evidence for their existence, right? See how silly your claims are, Melvin? If you want to convince me of something, you are going to have to provide evidence for your claims. Bald assertions or quotes from a manmade religious text won’t cut it with me. Do better, Marvin, do better. I am willing to believe if you just convince me. Come on, big boy, “you can do it.”
Where, exactly, is my heart? Hint, in my skull. What I know is that neither you, nor any other Christian zealot, has provided sufficient evidence for your claims. What I know is that Christian apologists are long on bluster and short on persuasive arguments. You know I was an Evangelical pastor for 25 years, right? You know I was in the Christian church for 50 years, right? You know I spent tens of thousands of hours reading and studying the Bible, right? Knowing these things, what, exactly, are you going to tell me that I don’t already know? Your comment is little more than public masturbation. Makes you feel good, but the rest of us say, yuck. If you want to get into a Bible dick measuring contest, I’m game. You should know, however, that I am John Holmes.
but you are so hardened it no longer affects you
Damn, I am taking Viagra for the heart?
..what is worse than an apostate?
Lots of things. Christians like you who shit on the doorsteps of unbelievers. Donald Trump. The Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen.
how much sorer punishment is he worthy who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has done despite to the Spirit of Grace..The gracious means A loving God offered you , you have despised..How shall you escape his Righteous Vengance?
Welp, Melvin, the Righteous, I am an atheist. Your claims about God, judgment, grace, love, vengeance, and eternal punishment fall on deaf ears. Do you know what I think? You sought me out because you have doubts about your beliefs. What better way to allay one’s doubts than by attacking an unbeliever, attempting to “prove” your beliefs are true. (If you have not read any of Dr. Bart Ehrman’s books on the nature and history of the Bible, I encourage you to do so. Read, and then we can talk.)
What did you hope to accomplish with your comment, Melvin? Feel better now, flaccid gospel dick in hand?
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.
I hope what follows is lesson 28 she can add to her video. My comments are indented and italicized.
Hi there I read all your posts.
Since December 2014, I have written over 4,000 posts for this site. You saying that you read all of my posts is laughable. I know for a fact, based on the site server logs, that you read five posts. So, this means you’re lying. Evidently, you missed the verses in your trusty leather-bound King James Bible that call lying a sin.
I felt compelled to let you know what I think.
Who or what compelled you to tell a complete stranger what you think? Do you run around the Internet seeking out people you don’t know so you can tell them what you think about them? I left Christianity in November 2008. Over the past 13 years, I have never sought out a Christian stranger so I could tell them that their religion is untrue or attacked their character. What kind of person does this?
First, there is no way we are here by accident or big bang. God is real. You can see there is design and order. In fact He is the one holding your body together (Laminin).
What is your evidence for these claims? Are you a scientist? Do you have any post-high school science training? What training do you have that leads you to think you are qualified to make these statements? Reading books published by Answers in Genesis doesn’t count. The fact that we can see design and order at times in our world does not mean that your peculiar version of God had anything to do with it. Since you believe that your God is a perfect deity, wouldn’t that mean that everything we can observe in the natural world would be perfect? Even an IFB preacher’s wife should know that there many examples of bad design. Perhaps God was having a bad day when he created those things?
From what I read I think you did truly trust Christ for salvation, but the ministry was a heavy burden to you that after years of serving in, left you feeling as if it wasn’t worth it. You mentioned how little you were paid among other things and that life has “been better” since you stopped following Jesus.
I was in the Christian church for 50 years. I was an Evangelical pastor for 25 years. At the age of 15, I made a public profession of faith at Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio — an IFB congregation. Several weeks later, I went forward again and let the church know that I believed God was calling me to preach. A few weeks after that, I preached my first sermon. From that time until the spring of 2005, I preached over 4,000 sermons and witnessed hundreds and hundreds of people make public professions of faith as a result of my preaching. My wife and I were passionate, on-fire followers of Jesus Christ. We devoted ourselves to following the teachings of Christ and laboring in God’s vineyard. So, yes, I really did trust Christ for salvation. I am so glad you stop by to tell me that. That means, of course, that I am still a Christian. Once saved, always saved, right?
I have written countless autobiographical posts over the past decade. (Well, I could count them, but you know what I mean. Well, maybe you don’t know what I mean. After all, according to you, “every” means five.) These posts detail the reasons why I left the ministry (2005) and later left Christianity (2008). At no time have I ever said that the burden of the ministry was the main reason why I stopped preaching. I never made a good living pastoring churches. That never kept me from doing the work God had called me to. I would have preached for free. Money was never the object of my ambition. I suspect that you have taken a few things that I said on this subject and twisted them to fit the narrative you have in your mind about my character and life. Too bad you couldn’t be bothered to actually read my autobiographical material. Had you done so, you would have had a better understanding of my life. (Please see WHY?)
Yes, my life is better in every way since I left Christianity. Why? Freedom.
You know the truth, God does not change. Our views can change and our hearts as well. When you first heard truth as a young man you believed it with gladness and trusted in it, in what? In God’s word. After leaving the ministry you read many books…did you search the good book? God’s Book? You said you were seeking the truth of Christianity, did you draw nigh to the Lord? No, you drew yourself to man’s ideas and opinions and found in them the validation of your doubts about your faith.
You, of course, believe that TRUTH=BIBLE. I reject such a silly notion out of hand. It is an irrational claim. That’s not to say that there are not good things in the Bible — there are. (For example, I love most of the Semon on the Mount, the book of Ecclesiastes, and a few Proverbs here and there.) However, the Bible is an antiquated, contradictory religious text. Some of its teachings are downright immoral. Since you are a “Bible believer” I assume you are pro-slavery, think incest is okay, and murdering non-Christians is morally permissible? Thus saith the Lord, right?
I read the Bible from cover to cover numerous times. I spent tens of thousands of hours reading and studying the Bible. I have likely forgotten more Bible than you will ever know. I’m not prideful or arrogant (well, about this, anyway), just stating the facts. If you want to talk about the Bible, I am game. Let’s start with your claim that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Ready? The ball is in your court.
What did that do? It caused you to drift further away from God, further and further until you could not see him anymore, like a boat disappearing into the horizon. God did go anywhere or cease to exist because your view changed from the boat. He will always wait for you.
You have constructed a narrative about my life in your mind that is simply not true. All you would have had to do is read my autobiographical writing to know this. Let me share with you what God says to you: He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. (Proverbs 18:13) The Message translates it this way: Answering before listening is both stupid and rude.
The primary reason I left Christianity is that I no longer believed the central claims of Christianity were true.
I pray you will seek him again in this life, either way you’ll know the truth after death.
Ah yes, an IFB zealot can’t conclude a message to an Evangelical-preacher-turned-atheist without a passive-aggressive threat about Hell and eternal damnation. You know I don’t believe in the existence of Hell (or Heaven), right? Threatening me with judgment from a fictional deity has no effect on me. I am more afraid of my wife than I am your deity. She wields a mean cast iron skillet.
By all means, keep praying. Thousands of Christians have said the same over the years. My continued apostasy is a poignant example of the powerlessness of prayer.
This entire Chapter of the Bible is what God has to say about knowing the truth and then forsaking it. I hope you’ll read it. 2 Peter 2 [verses deleted, cuz I ‘fear the words of the Lord].
Well, shucky darn, girl, I have never, ever read 2 Peter 2. *sigh* Thank you for pointing this passage of Scripture out to me. God has now spoke to my h-e-a-r-t. Nope. I still don’t believe. Sorry, threats and incantations from a magic book won’t work with me.
I hope you now see how silly and offensive your comment was. I hope you will think twice, or even five times, before doing so again.
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.
Recently, a Christian man named Ricky New sent me several short emails. Here’s what he had to say:
You don’t have to respond, you do show the scriptures are true. He cannot deny himself, see you there.
and
You only have two choices, big bang, GOD, both take faith. No one on this planet was there. Here say is all they have. A GOD would better for to trust than the bang.
Typically, I don’t answer such emails. The senders usually just want to hear themselves talk. I decided, however, to answer New’s first email. Here’s my reply:
Ricky,
Oh, but I will .
True about what, exactly?
Can’t deny who, exactly?
What evidence do you have for the existence of God?
Have you read any of Dr. Bart Ehrman’s books on the nature and history of the Bible? The Bible is not what you claim it is. Bring it on, Ricky.
See you “there.” Where, exactly, is “there?” How do you know that “there” exists?
What, exactly, did you read on my site? Do you know anything about my story? Please see Why?
The ball is in your court. Typically, I tell people like you to fuck off. Today, I am in a generous mood.
A sinner saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser
New, of course, never responded to me. Once you have shot your load, there’s nothing left. (And yes, that’s a sexual reference. I consider such emails as the equivalent of masturbation.)
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.
Did you stop eating after ever vomiting from bad food? The answer is probably no, and you probably never will.
Actually, the answer for me is yes. You see, I have gastroparesis, an incurable stomach disease. I am sick all the time. There’s never a day when I want to eat. I have to force myself to eat, knowing that eating will cause me pain and may lead to violent fits of vomiting. And so it is with Evangelical Christianity. I have an incurable disease called reason, skepticism, and common sense. When “eating” Evangelical food, I want to vomit. Worse yet, when I see and experience bad behavior from Evangelicals, I want to run to the bathroom and hurl. There is nothing in Evangelicalism that makes me say, “yummy, this is tasty, nutritious food.” Instead, Evangelicalism is a case of food poisoning waiting to happen. No matter where I eat from the Evangelical buffet, I find under-cooked, slimy food. But hey, the price is right. FREE, according to Evangelical preachers; but later, when diarrhea and vomiting hit you, you learn the true cost of FREE.
Then you shouldn’t have stop believing because of some bad taste or behavior put in your mouth. A lot of the bad behaviors that i see that go on in the name of God will never separate or stop this BORN-AGAIN Believer from believing in God thru Jesus Christ!!
You commented on a Black Collar Crime post, a series devoted to exposing the crimes and misconduct of primarily Evangelical clerics. You seem dismissive of this behavior, thinking that it speaks nothing about the veracity, truthfulness, and morality of Evangelical Christianity. Much like the Roman Catholic Church with its pedophile problem, Evangelicalism has a huge problem with preachers who are sexual predators. Throw in preachers who have sexual affairs with church members, and it is easy to conclude that children and women are not safe within the four walls of Evangelical churches. This isn’t a matter of a few bad apples — as if that somehow justifies immoral and criminal behavior. The barrel is full of rot, littered with bad apples, and thanks to the Internet, the truth about what Evangelical preachers (and other church leaders) do behind closed doors is finally being exposed.
Come back to God, Bruce, you know He loves you.
There is no God for me to come back to. Do you have any actual evidence for the existence of your peculiar God; anything besides bald assertions and personal testimonies? Since there is no God, your claim that he loves me is false. And even if God does exist, how do you know he loves me? Perhaps I am an apostate, or I have committed the unpardonable sin. Maybe the Calvinists are correct, and I am not one of the elect. Or perhaps the Arminians are correct, and I have crossed the line of no return. So, it is arrogant for you to assume that God loves me.
You wrongly think that when I left Christianity, I suffered loss. I didn’t. Instead, I gained freedom. Real freedom. I would say to you, don’t you want real freedom, ZulaBula? No Heaven, no Hell, no sin, no wrathful, judgmental God, no dictates from the Bible. Just F-R-E-E-D-O-M.
I get the impression that you were a sincere and honest Pastor with lots of compassion.
And I am still a sincere, honest, compassionate man — no God, no religion needed. Do you really think it was God who made me sincere, honest, compassionate, and now that I am an atheist, my character has changed? What evidence do you have for this claim — especially since you don’t know me?
No man lives or dies to himself.
All of us live and die to ourselves, so I am not sure what point you are trying to make. That I need God? That I have a God-shaped hole that needs to be filled? That my life lacks meaning and purpose without Jesus? None of these claims is true. You believe they are because your religion and pastors have told you they are. Freedom awaits, ZulaBula, once you recognize that you have been sold a false bill of goods; that meaning and purpose can be yours without your peculiar brand of religion and God.
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.
C.T. Townsend is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) pastor and evangelist located in North Augusta, South Carolina. In 2019, Townsend became the pastor of Victory Baptist Church in North Augusta.
In the eyes of some of Townsend’s followers, he is a demigod, a man of God who must be defended at all costs. As I showed in my previous posts, some of Townsend’s devotees are vitriolic and hateful. Townsend likely knows about my writing. My posts show up first page in Google Search. I suspect that this why my posts about him attract so much attention from loving, kind devotees of his. Townsend has made no effort to stop his attack dogs, so I assume he is okay with their defenses of his preacher virginity.
Over the weekend, I received the following email from yet another Townsend follower. I am starting to think that Townsend is a cult leader. Naw, just typical IFB behavior.
William, a Baptist preacher, had this to say (all spelling and grammar in the original):
I believe the Great White Throne judgement will be much worse for people like you. I am glad there is enough grace and mercy in GODs salvation plan for people like you. The BIBLE says YOU will be judged with the same judgement that you judged CT Townsend with. I have seen myself 100s of people accept CHRIST UNDER HIS GREAT HOLY GHOST PREACHING I don’t believe you have a clue what that is. You may be an atheist now but when you get to this judgement I promise you Will Not be an atheist. I wont be at this judgement but I would love to watch people of great intellect like Darwin and you bow before a 3 times HOLY GOD and CONFESS JESUS AS THE ONLY BEGOTTON SON OF GOD. How you can look at GODs beautiful creation and believe there is no creator is beyond me. The BIBLE says to TOUCH NOT mine anointed. Be careful brother you are walking on dangerous ground. You know nothing about CT Towsend. The life He lives and what He says proves what’s in His heart I don’t know you but THE BIBLE SAYS Out of the abundance of the Heart the mouth speakerth What you say about GODs man exposes who You Are ! It’s funny to me that a child of satan thinks he’s so smart that he can judge a Great Man of GOD like CT Townsend. I will leave you with this Bible verse The FOOL hath said in his heart There is no GOD. THE BIBLE IS NEVER WRONG. I wouldnt be in your shoes for all the world’s riches you may have years of experience but that means nothing when you’ve never been born again . I am a Baptist preacher and have been a lot of years and there is absolutely nothing you can teach me. But there is a Whole lot I could teach you. But you will learn soon enough you expect respect from Christian’s really ?? You can run down our savior our indewller and God himself and you want respect. Talk to other atheist maybe they will ! Lol !
Just another day in Bruce Gerencser’s inbox.
While I was working on this post, I received a comment from a follower of Townsend (who says she’s not a “follower” of Townsend, but commented on a post specifically about him) named Dedra McCoy:
Jesus Loves You even though You Don’t Believe in Him. My Prayer is that You find The Truth. I would rather take my Chance in believing in Heaven and hell. I definitely don’t want to take a chance going to hell. I’m Church of God, and I have experienced The Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Meaning of True Love. I Love You and Pray that You find God in Your life.
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.
As a young boy, I was a big fan of actress Stefanie Powers. In particular, I loved her movie Die! Die! My Darling! Polly had not seen this movie before, so last year we watched it together. I’m still in love with Powers.
Yesterday, I received a short email from a Christian woman claiming her name was Cynthia Love. As I read Love’s comment, I thought about the movie Die! Die! My Darling! Based on the site server logs, Love only read one post on this site, Jesus Loves the Little Children, All the Children of the World, before sending me the following email. Afterward, Love was served up the front page. Whether she read any of the posts on the front page is uncertain.
What is certain is that something I wrote offended Love. Instead of walking in the fruit of the Spirit and emulating the life and teaching of Jesus, Love decided to show me some “Christian love”:
Spreading your blatant generalized hatered about people only makes you a worse person. I am glad you are sick, there are many people suffering needlessly. You deserve it.
Spreading blatant hatred? Where? Certainly not in the post Love read. Maybe she is one of those kinds of Christians offended by anything and everything critical of her precious Jesus and religion. Regardless, Love says my “hatred” has turned me into a “worse” person. What, exactly, is a “worse” person? Worse than a woman telling a sick, dying man that she’s glad he’s sick, and she hopes he suffers and dies? Worse than telling a man that he deserves the pain and suffering from gastroparesis, fibromyalgia, and osteoarthritis he battles every day of his life? Worse than being so callous and indifferent towards the suffering of an alleged “hateful” atheist that you hope he gets sicker and dies (that’s the practical implication of her kind, thoughtful, loving words)?
To my fellow atheists and agnostics, can you imagine going into a cancer ward and telling sick, dying patients that you are glad they are sick; that they deserve being sick? Of course not. We have morals and ethics. We care about others, even if they believe differently from us. No, it is a special kind of Christianity that causes Cynthia Love to wish on me more pain and suffering. No doubt, in the Dark Ages, Love would have loved torturing heretics.
Is it any wonder that Evangelicals-turned-atheists don’t want anything to do with God/Jesus/Christianity?
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.
What follows is “overwhelming evidence” for the Biblical Jesus. Or so says Etienne Van Heerden. My response is italicized and indented.
I have an extremely inquiring mind and questioned the religious teachings of my parents by wanting prove which i concluded after logical and scientific consideration of the following undeniable facts :
According to Van Heerden, what follows are undeniable facts for the Biblical Jesus. Van Heerden paints himself as one with an inquiring mind, one who came to these conclusions through logic and science. As readers shall see, Van Heerden skipped numerous shelves of books in his inquiries, coming to conclusions that are little more than apologetical talking points or fanciful thinking.
1) There must have been somebody like Jesus since his birth is still celebrated annually across the globe, by Billions of people.
Why? What actual evidence do you have for this claim? Billions of people worship all sorts of deities that Christians say are false gods. How do we determine your god claims are true, and all others false?
Do you believe Santa Claus is real? Every December 24th and 25th, people across the globe celebrate Christmas and pay homage to Santa. Using your logic, this means Santa is real. The same can be said for the Easter Bunny.
Personally, I believe there was in first-century Palestine a man by the name of Jesus. He lived and died, end of story. You are making claims that are not supported historically, as I shall show in just a minute.
2) He performed numerous well documented, teachings and miracles including curing the blind, feeding thousands of people with 5 loaves of bread and raising the dead including a partially decomposed Lazarus ( SOME EVENTS WITNESSED BY THOUSANDS) hence the reason for his huge following ,with no documented evidence to the contrary.
You are kidding, right? Well documented? Where, exactly? Please provide all this well-documented evidence for the claims you make for Jesus. All you have is the gospels — books written 30-90 years after the death of Jesus by unknown authors. None of the gospel accounts were written by eyewitnesses.
Further, there is little to no extrabiblical evidence for Christ’s existence, let alone the miracles you claim he performed. You would think that if a man had been performing these stupendous miracles in and around Jerusalem that a Jewish or Roman historian would have mentioned it. Yet, history is silent. Why is that? What logical conclusion should we come to?
Have you read any of Dr. Bart Ehrman’s books? Ehrman is a New Testament scholar at the University of North Carolina. His books demolish virtually every claim you make in your email. If you haven’t read his books, I encourage you to do so. You have definitely NOT done your homework if you haven’t read Ehrman’s books. And frankly, I know you haven’t. Had you actually read his books, you would never have made the false claims you make in your email.
3) His cause of death (well documented by numerous historians) was definitely attributed to crucifixion ,prophesied 600 years prior to his birth.
Again, I would love to see this well-documented evidence for the crucifixion of Jesus from NUMEROUS historians. This, my friend, is untrue. You are either ill-informed or delusional. If Jesus was the miracle worker you say he is, was executed on a Roman cross, and rose from the dead three days later, why did contemporary Jewish and Roman historians not write one word about it?
4) He must have been resurrected as the pharisees who hated him and organized for the Roman guards would have left no stone left alone grave stone unturned , to find his body if it was stolen as some might suggest.I live on a farm in South Africa with a fair amount of tracking skills and can conclude that it would have been relitively easy to track the transportation of his body on the gravel roads as it would not be more than a few hours of his body discovered as missing.
You seem to think bald assertions are evidence. Jesus was a flesh and blood human. What do we KNOW about humans? They all eventually die. No exceptions. Jesus was executed because he committed crimes against the Roman state. Whatever the circumstances of his burial, Jesus remains dead to this day. Do you have any actual evidence to the contrary?
Unless you can provide any ancient scriptures or documents to the contrary, one then has to except he was the son of GOD / MIGHTY BEING with the power to perform such miracles.
The burden of proof is yours, not mine. You have provided none, except for boldly asserting the Bible and its second/third/fourth hand testimonials are true. Do you believe NASA landed a spacecraft on the Moon in 1969? Do you know that there are people who believe the moon landing is a hoax, and they have even written books about it? You claim to be a rational man. I suspect you believe the Moon landing really happened, just as described by countless eyewitnesses. Why, then, do you reject the claims of the hoax believers? Evidence, right? Why would you not apply this same methodology to the Biblical Jesus? There’s no verifiable firsthand, eye witness evidence for the claims made for Jesus in the Bible. Yet, you accept what the Bible says as fact. And that’s fine as long as you admit that you believe these things on faith, not scientific, historical evidence.
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.
Remember Steve Ransom (Ransomovitch)? Several years ago, Ransom — an Evangelical Christian — stopped by to let me know that he was quite sure that he could successfully win me back to Jesus. Here’s what he had to say:
Hello Bruce,
I have read through your entire blog. You write honestly and you choose to do so publicly. Therefore, you should also publicly be prepared to defend your theological/philosophical position in certain areas. But the Bruce Gerencser ‘rules of play’ on your site have all but ruled this out. The many, many dos and donts aimed at the ‘evangelicals’ certainly provide an effective earthly shield for you. The thing is Bruce, do you dare enter a very public debate ‘one on one’ with somebody who does not need to resort to any of the cheap shots you quite rightly cite as unacceptable on your site?
And by cheap shots I mean such things as lobbing that favourite scriptural/philosophical hand-grenade (you know, the one we Christians like to lob as a last ditch defence of our position – Ha! That’ll sort ‘im!-type grenade) resorting to such defences as calling on guilt or hell or ‘the evolution v creation debate’ or resorting to looking somehow to ‘save Pastor Bruce’ in order to try and resolve my own inner demons or soul baggage – all these cheap shots plus a load more have undoubtedly already been aimed at you and your loving family – a family that very evidently been strung out and wrung out to dry so many times already and who’ve heard all these cheap shots so many times before.
The thing is Bruce, having read through your entire blog, I am confident that none of those arguments are necessary in order for you and your family (and dare I say many of your readers) to be set on your feet and enjoying God’s favour. But do you dare take that step? And I certainly don’t use the word ‘dare’ lightly or as some kind of you don’t dare means I win position. No, by dare, I mean, look at the blog and the subsequent new life you have since created – the huge emotions involved in your journey so far – the investment can hardly bear thinking about. What if was taken from you? Could you face all of that spiritual upheaval all over again? Do you even want to?
So, here’s my take on this Bruce. I certainly don’t want to be a waste of your time and you’ll certainly read my post to you and you’ll take a position on all of this.
And here is my challenge to you: I challenge you to reproduce this post word for word on your site, ask what your readers think, and let’s take it from there. Have I broken any Gerencser site rules as yet? And be assured, none of you guys out there on the glorious www will be wasting any of my time, that’s for sure.
Thanks for reading.
Steve from the UK.
Ransom, much like a 14-year-old boy who brags of his sexual prowess, only to leave his girlfriend dry and unsatisfied, promised far more than he could deliver. One hundred and six comments later, Ransom was banished to what he calls “Gerencser Hell.” You can read the original post and comments here.
At the start of each new year, I clear all the email addresses and IP addresses that require moderation or are banned. Ransom’s email address and IP address were given new life, and just like that he returned to this site to share his wisdom with me and the people who frequent this blog.
First, Ransom sent me an email. Here’s what he had to say (all typing while drunk in the original):
regarding the italian homosexuality testimony, youre a sick man bruce, may God break throught to your stubborn heart and mind, what happen d to you that you look Him in the face every day and pretend He is not there.
Then Ransom left a comment on the post titled, Why I Hate Jesus:
bruce says: I don’t hate the flesh and blood Jesus who walked the dusty roads of Palestine, nor do I hate the Jesus found in the pages of the Bible.
do you actually believe your own hype? you’re actually a cult leader whose followers love your every utterance. you are completely deluded and you’ve fallen in love with your own blind alley logic. i am so glad you have not caught me up in your web of self-serving nonsense. ooooohhhhh say bruce’s adoring fans, how bitter and twisted is this man, how very shrill, how very clearly does he prove our point. no bruce, youve been left too long to ruminate on your own wisdom and youve fooled youreslf into believing youve got something insightful to say. you havent , youre just another bitter boring athesit
And…just like that, Ransom is banished to “Gerencser Hell” for another year. Praise be to Bruce Almighty.
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.
An Evangelical Christian sent me the following Facebook message today:
I don’t know you Bruce but I feel like god wants me to message you. He loves you and turn back to him. Bless your heart Bruce.
I replied:
And God told me to tell you to fuck off.
End of discussion. 😂
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.
Kluver wasn’t the only Evangelical zealot harassing us. A.J. Lively sent Polly and me his peculiar version of the plan of salvation, complete with Bible verses. I curtly responded:
Fuck off, A.J. You think I haven’t heard these Bible verses before?
My response brought more Bible verses from Lively. I replied:
I am not doing to do this with you dude. Want to masturbate? Please do it on my blog. Plenty of people there who will engage you.
Lively then turned his attention to Polly, sending her the same cut-and-paste lists of Bible verses.
I replied:
You are a fucking asshole. Now you go after my wife?
Lively responded thusly:
Do you not love your wife enough to want her to go to Heaven?
OMG, how do I even respond to such nonsense? There is no God, there is no Satan, there is no Heaven, and there is no Hell, so Lively’s Bible verse recitations carry no weight with us. Lively assumes that we will bow under the power and authority of the mighty inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God and submit ourselves to Jesus. He refuses to acknowledge that we have “been there, done that.” We reject the central claims of Christianity. We reject the notion that we are sinners in need of salvation. Lively knows these things, yet chooses to harass us anyway.
I long ago concluded that the Kluvers and Livelys of the world have a pathological need to hear themselves talk; that they doubt their own beliefs, and use harassing unbelievers on the Internet as a way to cover up their own questions, fears, and doubts. What better way to soothe your doubts than by trying to evangelize an Evangelical-pastor-turned-atheist and his wife? I can safely say that Lively hasn’t won a single unbeliever to Jesus using this approach — especially not someone like Polly or me. If Lively wants to reach us with his brand of magic, he’s going to have to pull a different rabbit out of his hat. The Bible–verse-Wabbit just ain’t going to cut it.
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.
