Menu Close

Tag: Evangelicalism

Bryan Hospital Overrun with COVID-19, Nurses Protest Mandatory Vaccinations

19 Comments
mike-pence-coronavirus-prayer

My wife and I live in a rural, one-stop light , two-bars/restaurants, one-convenience store/gas station community of 356 people in Northwest Ohio. We live on Main St, also known as Route 15, the connecting road between nearby Bryan and Defiance.

Ney has a post office, but no door-to-door delivery. Every resident has a PO box for their mail and packages. Every day or so Polly or I go “uptown” and retrieve our mail — mostly magazines, medical bills, and junk mail. Our medications come via mail, as do the Lionel O-gauge train purchases I make on eBay. Sometimes, a package will come through the post office from Amazon or one of the hat companies I do business with: Hats in the Belfry, Village Hat Shop, and American Hats. The post office is very much a part of the rhythm and flow of our lives.

The Ney Post Office is manned by a middle-aged postmistress, a friendly, talkative woman. Polly talks to her every time she goes into the lobby. Polly considers her a casual friend with whom she shares many things in common. Several days ago, she recounted to Polly the following:

A sign on the front door and on the service counter — which is covered with plexiglass — tells patrons that masks are required for entrance. Everyone who enters the small, suffocating building knows this. The “lobby” is 100 square feet or so, the PO box space, separated by a door, is even smaller. Three people in the lobby at the same time is a big crowd.

A male patron walks in the door. Unless he is blind, and he’s not, the man knows he must wear a mask while in the building. He deliberately chooses not to.

Postmistress: Sir, you are required to wear a mask when you enter

Man: I don’t read signs.

Postmistress: But, that’s what’s on the door.

In an act of toddler-like defiance, the man flips the sign off the counter onto the floor.

Man: I don’t read what doesn’t pertain to me.

And with that, the man turns on his heels and walks out of the building.

Polly has seen the same beautician for years, a winsome, talkative woman in her fifties. She always wears a mask when cutting hair, as does Polly. We try to wear masks when coming in close contact with others (though we no longer do so when our children and grandchildren are visiting). As the woman started cutting Polly’s hair, she asked Polly what vitamins she was taking for COVID. WHAT VITAMINS ARE WE TAKING FOR COVID? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? The woman went on to tell Polly that she was taking Zinc and Vitamin D. That’s right, the woman is not vaccinated. She works up close and personal with the public, and she’s not fucking vaccinated. Polly informed her that both of us were vaccinated and had also received booster shots. This woman will not be cutting Polly’s hair again.

Two of my closest friends — a friendship of 55 years — are presently in the hospital for COVID. Unvaccinated, both have respiratory problems. When admitted, their oxygen levels were in the 70s. The man also has pneumonia. The woman has numerous comorbidities, including diabetes. Her glucose level was almost 800 when she was admitted.

My friends went to ER earlier last week, only to be sent home with oxygen tanks. Why? The Bryan Hospital (Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers) is overrun with COVID patients — literally. There are no beds available, and hospitals in Toledo and Fort Wayne — having their own problems with COVID — are refusing transfers from the hospital. Some COVID patients are stacked up in the ER, waiting hours and hours for rooms to become available. (WTOL-11 news report on Williams County COVID outbreak.)

Last Sunday, Bryan Hospital nurses and their supporters gathered at the Williams County Courthouse to protest the hospital’s vaccination mandate. A hundred or so people showed up for the protest, waving signs sporting messages about FREEDOM and bodily autonomy. Several nurses were interviewed by WTOL News.

Sarah Pettit stated:

To force us to have something that we do not want is not the answer. You’re going to be short-staffed even more in these hospitals. Your communities are going to hurt because they don’t have the appropriate staff to take care of the community.”

When asked how nurses can keep themselves and their patients safe if they aren’t vaccinated, Pettit replied:

I think with diligent hand washing and masking and doing everything that we can to protect our patients, will help our patients and our community get better.

Yes, we will do everything we can EXCEPT be vaccinated. I am of the opinion unvaccinated hospital employees should be fired. However, this would cause a worker shortage for the hospital, so it is unlikely this will happen. Those who need the services of the Bryan Hospital will be left to wonder if the nurses and technicians caring for us are vaccinated, whether we will survive our surgeries only to be killed by a COVID infection we got from employees who only care about their personal freedoms. (Cue Mel Gibson and Braveheart.)

Another nurse, Brooke Gordon, the founder of Northwest Ohio Medical Freedom — which is only on Telegram — ignorantly said:

The word ‘safe’ around it I believe has been used as a shield to further push it, even though the evidence is not showing that it is providing safer environments or lesser transmission.

According to a West Bend News article, the “concerns” of the Northwest Ohio Medical Freedom group are as follows:

• The ads for the COVID-19 vaccine claim it is “safe and effective” but many are seeing the reality in their friends and neighbors that it is neither. VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System) numbers have climbed since the release of the vaccine.  

• Local Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor RoseAnna Hollo of Deep Roots Wellness in Defiance, says, “I have seen an increase of adults presenting with severe symptoms following Covid-19 injections. I am concerned about the short and long term effects of this jab. I have been educating those affected on reporting to VAERS. I am of the opinion that this vaccine is not worth the risk in most circumstances and mandates are endangering the health of many.”

• Many healthcare providers, military, airline, and nearly every other industry are standing up to these mandates in the forms of walk outs, resignations, and lawsuits.

• Mandated vaccines are un-American. 

• Many have natural immunity, which has been shown to be robust and complete in the medical literature. 

To receive updates from the NWO Medical Freedom group, you will need to have the Telegram app on your mobile device. The link is https://t.me/medfreedomnwo 

NWOMFG consists of medical choice-loving people of all political leanings, gathering monthly to share how they can combat COVID-19 mandates locally and statewide, exemptions available, alternative treatments, and other helpful resources.  

Let this group’s stated “concerns” be a reminder that just because someone is a nurse doesn’t mean that they have a comprehensive understanding of science, medicine, reason, or common sense. And don’t even get me started on “Local Board Certified” Naturopathic Doctor RoseAnna Hollo:

Rose Hollo, a Certified Master Herbalist and Naturopathic Doctor-in-training holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts/Holistic Health from Union Institute & University, an M.BA. in Digital and Social Media, and a Yoga Teacher Level 1 Certification from Aura Wellness Institute and is an Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Master. Her previous background is in the animal healthcare and rescue field, and was a certified PetMassage practitioner and Veterinary Technician. She saw how well natural treatments worked for animals and decided to research alternative therapies for herself after experiencing some severe health issues. 

I know her personally — a nice, friendly woman — but she peddles all sorts of pseudoscientific nonsense. And now she’s an anti-vaxxer, who just so happens to be a registered Democrat. Board-certified means she took online classes and got a certificate. Hollo is not a doctor, nor is she a nurse. Hollo is a promoter of woo, appealing to the fears of (primarily) local women. And her “advice” is helping fuel the spread of COVID.

Currently, Northwest Ohio has the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the state of Ohio. Williams County, where the Bryan Hospital is located, has the highest county infection rates in the state, and nearby Defiance, Henry, and Fulton counties are not far behind. COVID is everywhere. People are getting sick and dying. Yet, local residents, businesses, and schools pretend the pandemic is a myth or nothing to be worried about. No matter how many people get sick and die, all that matters to an overwhelmingly Trumpist, libertarian, Evangelical populace is personal FREEDOM (people like Rose Hollo are the black swans in the midst of a flock of white swans). Most of these freedom-lovers profess to be Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, yet they show no regard for their neighbors. You know, the people Jesus told them to love.

There was a time when local residents — Democrats and Republicans — understood the social contract we have we each other; that matters of public health and safety rise above partisan divides. Those days are over. Trumpism now has a firm, authoritarian grip on rural Northwest Ohio. Almost 7 out of 10 locals voted for Donald Trump in the last election, ditto 2016. Every state and local government is controlled by Republicans. Ohio, a one-time blue state, has been taken over by red-meat Republicans — lovers of Donald Trump, guns, and the Evangelical God. Current attempts to further gerrymander Ohio, if successful, will likely make 12 of Ohio’s 15 districts solidly Republican. JD Vance (a Catholic who talks like an Evangelical) and Josh Mandel (a Jew who talks like an Evangelical) — both of whom are anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers — are the leading Republican candidates to replace Rob Portman in 2022. Need I say more? Both of these men are running on Trump’s coattails, each trying to out-Trump the other. If elected, neither of them will represent the diverse people of Ohio. They are partisan hacks, religious extremists with theocratic tendencies. It’s hard to believe that there was a time when Ohio was a Democratic-leaning union state, a state that gave us august statesmen such as Howard Metzenbaum and John Glenn (and even Republican George Voinovich, for that matter).

Sadly, there’s no hope on the horizon for rural Northwest Ohio. Extremism rules the roost, and now Trumpists are intent on taking over local school boards and election offices. Quite honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that our six children and thirteen grandchildren live here, we would pack up our belongings and move away. Outside of having a few liberal/progressive friends, we have little, if anything, in common with the people around us. Good people, kind people, but people who have bought into all sorts of political extremism and conspiracy theories. Polly and I have to live here and get along with our neighbors, but since less than half of them are vaccinated, it’s hard not to think that they are out to infect us with COVID and kill us. And if they don’t infect or kill us, they hope to deliver us from our atheistic, communistic, socialist beliefs — by the barrel of a gun, if necessary. Theocratic tendencies and militia sentiments waft through the air, leaving us to wonder what will happen to us if these folks ever gain absolute control.

Maybe it is time for me to buy a gun . . .

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.

“Dr.” David Tee Continues to Obsess Over My Writing

17 Comments
dr david tee

“Dr.” David Tee, an elderly Evangelical preacher who lives in a basement somewhere in the Philippines, continues on an almost daily (hyperbole, David] basis to obsess over my writing and that of my friend Ben Berwick (Meerkat Musings). Also known around these parts as TEWSNBN (The Evangelical Which Shall Not Be Named), Tee sees himself as some sort of Evangelical pope, a man with a perfect understanding of the Bible. Tee is, to quote an old Bud-Light Commerical, a “Real Man of Genius.”

Video Link

Believing his peculiar interpretations of the Bible are inerrant and infallible, Tee pontificates on anything and everything that runs afoul of his narrow Fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible.

Over the past two months, Tee — who has an oversized picture of me swinging naked from a stripper pole on his bedroom ceiling — has written the following posts about me:

Tee will likely point out that he has recently written several favorable posts about me:

On October 24, 2021, a man named Johann James, left the following comment on Tee’s blog:

I know Bruce Gerencser. I attended his church in Texas in the 90s. He’s a con-artist with lots of secrets.

Thank you for exposing this false prophet.

Tee replied:

We verified that he preached n Texas before approving this comment. If you have more things to say and want to keep it private, use our contact e-mail address.

James replied:

I dare not say more lest he come after me. His rainbow suspenders tell you all you need to know.

Some day, this false prophet will stand before God and then the truth will be known.

James added later:

I will tell you this much,…. the name of Christ.

I am not going to publish that information. It would need a lot of verifiable evidence to do that- theologyarchaeology

The part deleted by Tee said that Bruce Gerencser had been excommunicated from the church because he had an affair with a man. I hope Tee realizes by now that Johann James is not a real person. 🙂 The reasons for my excommunication from Community Baptist Church in Elemendorf, Texas are clearly articulated in the six-part series I Am a Publican and a Heathen.

Over the past week, Tee has even gone after MJ Lisbeth, a Transgender guest writer for this site, and my wife, Polly.

Tee’s post about MJ is titled, I am a Transgender Woman. When I first saw the title, I thought maybe the real David Tee (TheologyArcheology) was coming out of the closet. Alas, any sort of honesty coming from Tee is not to be. While Tee does not mention MJ by name (or several other Transgender people who regularly comment on this blog), I have no doubt MJ is the target of his vile prose:

Not us but the title reflects the mentality of many people who think there was a mistake at birth. If you believe that a person can change their gender or that there are more than two, you would be in error.

This is a deception that many people have fallen for and have come under the spell of evil. Unhappy with their birth gender, evil has found a way to get people to follow and accept a lie.

Supporting such people and accepting their deception as normal is not right. It is as wrong as claiming to be a different gender than your birth gender. God made only two genders and you are one or the other.

Even science has found that out. Yet, science is often used to perpetuate the deception and its knowledge and abilities are used to alter the body of a man or a woman. That is the wrong use of science and scientific knowledge.

The wrong use of science also leads to a wrong use of political power as well. Hoping to get votes, politicians try to appease those who are deluded and create sinful laws to make sure those deceived people are accepted as normal.

Do not follow those scientists or politicians, etc., who side with the transgender community or support it. You would be siding with evil if you do.

The way to lead these people to the truth is by following God’s instruction. It will not be done through might, but by the power of God. We do not need to make laws to stop this trend.

We need the wisdom and understanding from God as well as his power to know how to proceed. Only God can release these people from the deception so rely on him to help you handle these situations when they arise.

If the transgender refuses to listen to you or let Christ change them, do not accept them. Just let them go on their merry way. Just do not let them into the church leadership or have a say in the church operation.

They have rejected the truth and have nothing to offer the church or the Christian.

In his post titled Do Not Listen to Unbelievers, Tee had this to say about Polly and her preacher husband (my short, pithy comments are in [ ]:

God cannot be more clear than that. it is said throughout the Bible that the unbeliever is lost, deceived, and blind. [Yet, we can see right through Tee’s bullshit.] Jesus also told us that the unbelieving world does not have the Spirit of Truth guiding them to the truth.

That means you cannot get to the truth through the unbelievers’ words. [Sure you can. Tee does it all the time. He came to the “truth” about Bruce and Polly” by reading the words of an unbeliever — me. 🙂 Damn, skippy. Sure stepped in that one.] Yet many people who were once Christian have done the opposite of God’s directive and the end result was, they lost their faith.

One prime example is BG and his wife. We have spent some time reading his website trying to understand how he went from a believer to an unbeliever [This is a lie. Tee reads my blog to provide fodder for his site.]. One of the clearest pieces of evidence that we found was his own admission that they read and listened to those who did not have the truth nor knew Jesus:

[quote from my post] “For most of 2008, I had been doing quite a bit of reading about the history of Christianity and the Bible.  From Bart Ehrman to Robert M. Price to Elaine Pagels, I read dozens of books that challenged and attacked my Christian beliefs.”

Except for Mr. Price, we have read those same authors, including similar ones that BG did not mention. Yet we asked God [instead of truth, reason, and skepticism.] to guide us through those words and we came to the exact opposite conclusion that BG did. [Tee allegedly read all of these authors, but never mentions them on his site. Why is that?]

We saw where those authors erred and ignored their conclusions, with God’s help. They are all unbelievers who do not accept the Bible nor accept Christ as their savior. They are classified as scholars and some people get confused when the word scholar is used. [Tee believes there is no truth outside of the Bible. Everything must be strained through the sieve of his peculiar interpreation of the Protestant Christian Bible.]

They think those educators, speakers, and authors have an inside track to the Christian faith. They do not. [We follow truth wherever it leads.] and they spend a lot of their time, like Mark Goodacre does, and ignore the truth.

[quote from my post] “I often read large passages of this or that book to her and we would compare what we had been taught with what these books said. While Polly was never one to read nonfiction, she did read several of Bart Ehrman’s books. Over time, both of us came to the conclusion that what we had been taught wasn’t true.”

Comparison is not wrong as it can help you sort out who is a false teacher and who is not. The question is who are you listening to? [Truth, reason, skepticism, common sense.] Bart Ehrman started out as an unbeliever like the rest of us, became saved when he was young, and then lost his faith over some off-hand remark made by the late Dr. Metzger  (that story of his changes in Dr. Ehrman’s many retellings). [Ehrman’s deconversion is more complex than Tee suggests. I have actually read almost all of his books.I wonder how many of Ehrman’s books Tee actually has on his three shelf Sauder bookshelf.]

The question for BG, his wife, and other unbelievers is why would you take a human’s word over God’s words? Especially when those authors do not believe in God and write against the Bible and its truth. [The Bible is human words, not God’s. Why would I treat the Bible as anything other than a human book. Asserting that the Bible is God’s Words doesn’t make it so.]

[quote from my post] “After we decided in 2005 we no longer wanted to be Pastor and Mrs. Bruce Gerencser, we spent a few years trying to find a church that took seriously the teaching of Jesus. Not finding such a church frustrated us and led us to conclude that the Christianity of Jesus no longer existed, and most churches were just different flavors of ice cream; same base ingredients with different added flavors.”

This is a controversial method to try. BG did not give us the criteria that he used to come to the conclusion that many churches did not practice or follow Jesus’ teaching.

It was very unfair of him to do this as he was standing in judgment of others, something that God said not to do. [Yet, Tee daily passes judgment on people he disagrees with. Judging others is fine. We all do it. To suggest otherwise is a denial of how humans think and behave.] it is also very subjective. Who says that every church practicing the true teachings of Jesus will do it in the same manner as BG and his wife demand? [Tee is straining at gnats and swallowing camels. He knows what criteria we used to judge these churches. Besides, doesn’t the Bible say that there is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism? Sure seems like there’s an objective (and practical) standard by which to judge churches.]

Then, their response to this lack of discovery was for them to give up Jesus and salvation. [Yes, we followed truth wherever it led.] Where was their commitment to Jesus? [There was no Jesus to commit to. He’s dead.] There is a song that every believer has sung at least once in their lives and one of the verses goes like this: ‘if no one joins me, still I will follow…’

So, no one joined BG and his wife and their response is to give up and join those churches that did not practice the true teachings of Jesus.[This sentence makes no sense.] There was something wrong in their thought processes as they did not even give Jesus a chance and they fled the moment they found themselves alone. [Uh, we were Christians for almost fifty years. We gave Jesus more than a “fair” chance. In fact, even now, if Jesus showed up at our door we would listen. So far, the only people who show up are the David Tees of the world. Jesus definitely has a PR problem.]

Much like the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested by unbelievers. Also, BG and his wife were very unfair to those churches as they placed the responsibility of their decision on those churches, not themselves. [Are you not making a judgment, the very practice you decry above? Hypocrite.]

Those churches did not force or encourage BG and his wife to give up their faith. That decision is the complete responsibility of BG & his wife. [And I have never said otherwise.] There is one more important point to make here.[Did you make an important point to start with?]

BG and his wife still had the opportunity to follow Jesus, start their own church, and lead their new members in following the true teachings of Christ. Yet, they decided to give up their faith instead. That is not a smart move to make. [Sure it is. We are happy, and that, my friend, is the only thing that matters.]

….

The Bible tells us that the way to salvation is straight and narrow, and FEW FIND IT. Do not be one of the majority and flee to the broad way just because you want company.

Jesus should be enough for everyone [Bruce and Polly] even when other humans are not helping out. God and Jesus are real [no evidence provided], they alone have the truth and have given it to us through the Bible.

Do not listen to unbelievers[Bruce and Polly] for many [Bruce and Polly] have given up and rather live their lives out as best as they can. That is not a good life to live. For humans can abandon you [Bruce and Polly] in that situation as well.

Tee’s post is littered with lies, half-truths, and mischaracterizations. In other words, a typical response by TEWSNBM. I have no problem with people interacting with and critiquing my writing. In fact, I encourage such responses. I just wish Evangelical interlocutors would at least “try” to be honest and represent me accurately. Surely, that would be the Christian thing to do, right?

I am sure this post will provoke a response from TEWSNBM. And thus the circle of life shall continue. 🙂 As you can see, I have pretty much ignored Tee’s recent posts about me. And I will continue to so do. I will occasionally respond to him, sending a few readers to his site (99% of his few commenters are readers from this site). I will not, however, allow his screeds to distract me from my calling: to advance my stripper Santa image. 🙂

Previous Posts About “Dr.” David Tee:

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.

The Best Portrayal of American Evangelicalism I’ve Ever Seen

5 Comments
proud american christian

What follows is a 2019 documentary released by Java Films — a French film company. Produced by Sarah Fournier, the documentary provides the best portrayal of American Evangelicalism I have ever seen.

I am a former Evangelical preacher. I spent 50 years in the Christian church, 25 years pastoring Evangelical churches in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. I am well-versed in all things Evangelical. This video does a good job explaining Evangelical Christianity. No, the video is not all-encompassing. It doesn’t cover every shade or flavor of Evangelicalism, but its breadth is sufficient to give non-Evangelicals a good understanding of how American Evangelicals think. Of particular interest to me is how Evangelicals view atheists (who evidently are all communists).

If readers want to know what kind of pastor I was, this video describes the type of Christian I was for most of my teen and adult life. I have often wondered where I would have ended up had I remained an Evangelical Christian? Would my beliefs, theologically, politically, and socially, have become more stringent, narrow, and defined had I stayed on the straight and narrow? How different would my marriage and family be if I was still Rev. Bruce Gerencser? I shudder to think how things might have turned out. Fortunately, thirteen years ago in November 2008, I left Christianity and later embraced atheism and humanism. I am so grateful for having the opportunity to change the course of my life. The journey has been rough at times, but all in all, I am pleased with where I am in life. As you watch this video, remember I once was, as were thousands of you, just like the people portrayed in this film. Change is possible.

I have one quibble with the video. On at least three occasions, the narrator uses the word “evangelism” instead of “Evangelical.” Not a big deal, but I do wish media companies would have people familiar with Evangelicalism and its lingo proof their work, thus eliminating errors such as this one.

Please watch the video and let me know what you think in the comment section.

Video Link

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.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: There’s No Evidence There Isn’t a God

4 Comments

Why are there atheists? There is no evidence that there isn’t a God. Why then do atheists staunchly defend their atheistic identity? Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, admitted that the belief in “no god” freed him to live the way he desired:     

I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently I assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption . . . For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation . . . [from] a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.   Huxley chose the religion of “liberation” and meaninglessness. But does denial lead to liberation?

The Polish poet, Czeslaw Milosz, confessed that the atheistic religion offered another form of freedom:   · “a true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death—the huge solace of thinking that our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders are not going to be judged.”   Atheism provides “liberation” from the fear of judgment. As such, it is a religion which requires a constant vigilance against our accusing conscience, which testifies otherwise. Consequently, this religion does not bring peace. Instead, it pits the atheist against himself in an exhausting battle to suppress the obvious.

In contrast, it is the love of Jesus that has enabled me to accept my unworthy self because He does! I am now at peace. The battle has ceased.

— Daniel Mann, Mann’s Word: Defending the Christian faith and promoting its wisdom against the secular and religious challenges of our day, The Religion of Atheism, December 6, 2021

Bruce, Are You Hostile Towards Religion?

11 Comments
proud american christian

I’ve been accused of being hostile toward religion. Am I? Yes and no.

A hostile person is one who is antagonistic in action, thought, or principle. Am I antagonistic in action, thought, or principle toward all religions? No. Am I antagonistic in action, thought, or principle toward some religions? Yes.

I have a number of friends and acquaintances who have all sorts of spiritual and religious beliefs. Do I think some of their beliefs and practices are strange? Sure. But, their beliefs are theirs and they have every right to believe them. I am indifferent towards their beliefs. For these friends and acquaintances, spirituality and religion is personal. They have no desire or need to convert other people or argue about whose religion is the “true” one. For the most part, they live according to the Live and Let Live maxim. I would be an arrogant fool to be hostile toward this kind of religion. I know that, for many people, religion and spirituality serve a purpose. They benefit from their beliefs and practices and many of them find meaning, purpose, and direction through their religions. Each to their own.

However, there IS a kind of religion I am hostile towards:

  • Religions that try to convert.
  • Religions that purport to KNOW the truth.
  • Religions that say they are the ONE TRUE RELIGION.
  • Religions that invade the lives of others and attempt to force others to believe like they do. Religions that divide people into groups: saved/lost, believer/unbeliever, elect/non-elect. 
  • Religions that tout their holy book as a divine, authoritative message to humanity from their God.
  • Religions that kill, rape, steal, and pillage to advance their cause.
  • Religions that try to engender social strife to advance their cause.
  • Religions that engage in culture wars.
  • Religions that try to brainwash children, be it at home or in school.
  • Religions that stir up hatred towards others because of who and what they are.
  • Religions that ignore or are hostile towards the separation of church and state.
  • Religions with theocratic ambitions.

It is these kinds of religions towards which I am hostile. I make no apology for this. I see the hurt and damage done by these religions and I want to strangle the life out of them, liberating those who are ensnared, oppressed, and controlled. How can I, as a sentient, caring being, ignore beliefs that cause such psychological and, at times, physical harm? Perhaps the real question is how can I NOT be hostile towards such religions?

Bruce, which religions are you talking about? You know which ones. They are not hard to spot. You don’t need a lot of schooling to know which religions fit the above description. If you need a little more insight into my hostility, please read Why I Hate Jesus.

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.

Polly and Bruce, Two Godless Peas in a Pod

16 Comments
bruce polly gerencser our fathers house west unity
Polly and Bruce Gerencser, Our Father’s House, West Unity, Ohio Circa 2000

Several years ago, Kenneth asked:

I am currently married to a Southern Baptist woman who is likely never going to change her mind about her beliefs. I deconverted late last year and am now an atheist. I’m curious as to how your wife ended up an atheist seemingly around the same time as you? I guess deep down I want her to see my views as an atheist but if anyone knows how hard it is to talk to a Christian as an atheist, it is you. My question is, can you tell us more about how Polly came to the same conclusions as you during the time of your deconversion? Maybe she can give us some input too. In a lot of scenarios, one spouse is still stuck as a believer while both the atheist and theist struggle with now being in a “mixed” marriage — I’m in one of them now. Thanks!

After we decided in 2005 we no longer wanted to be Pastor and Mrs. Bruce Gerencser, we spent a few years trying to find a church that took seriously the teaching of Jesus. Not finding such a church frustrated us and led us to conclude that the Christianity of Jesus no longer existed, and most churches were just different flavors of ice cream; same base ingredients with different added flavors. (Please see But Our Church is DIFFERENT!) The last church we attended was Ney United Methodist Church, four blocks from our home

For most of 2008, I had been doing quite a bit of reading about the history of Christianity and the Bible.  From Bart Ehrman to Robert M. Price to Elaine Pagels, I read dozens of books that challenged and attacked my Christian beliefs. Polly and I spent many a night discussing what I had read. I often read large passages of this or that book to her and we would compare what we had been taught with what these books said. While Polly was never one to read nonfiction, she did read several of Bart Ehrman’s books. Over time, both of us came to the conclusion that what we had been taught wasn’t true. We also concluded that we were no longer, in any meaningful sense, Christian. The last Sunday in November 2008, we walked out of Ney United Methodist, never to return. Several months later, I wrote the infamous Dear Family, Friends, and Former Parishioners, which I sent to hundreds of Evangelical family members, friends, and former church members.

For a time, both of us were content calling ourselves agnostics. I soon realized that the agnostic label required too much explanation, so I embraced the atheist label. While Polly is hesitant to use the atheist moniker, her beliefs about God, Christianity, and the Bible are similar to mine. She’s not one to engage in discussion or debate, content to go about her godless life without having to define herself. I often wish I could be like her.

When we left Christianity, I feared that Polly’s deconversion was a coattail deconversion; that she was following after me just like she was taught to do in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church. Some of my critics, unwilling to give Polly credit for doing her own thinking and decision-making, have suggested that Polly was/is being led astray by me. Fundamentalist family members have voiced their concern over Polly being drawn into my godlessness, rarely giving her credit for being able to think and reason for herself. Their insinuations only reinforce her belief that she made the right decision when she deconverted. Polly graduated second in her high school class and has a college degree. She is quite capable of thinking for herself. Granted, this ability was quashed for many years thanks to being taught that she should always defer to me as the head of the home. That I was also her pastor only made things worse. I can confidently say that Polly is her own person, and her unbelief is her own.

Where our stories diverge a bit is the reasons why we deconverted. While both of us would say we had intellectual reasons for abandoning God and Christianity, Polly’s deconversion had a larger emotional component than mine did. We’ve spent countless hours talking about the past, this or that church, and the experiences each of us had. Polly spent most of her married life under the shadow of her preacher husband. I’m amazed at how differently she views our shared past, now free to speak openly. While I was the center of attention, heaped with praise and love, she was in the shadows, the afterthought, the one who had to do all the jobs church members had no time for. It should come as no surprise that her view of the 25 years we spent in the ministry is much different from mine.

As I’m writing this post I am thinking to myself, Polly needs to be telling this story. I can’t tell her story. While I can give the gist of it, I think it is better if she tells her story, that is if she is willing to do. I do know that she has no desire to relive the “wonderful” ministry years. She’s quite content to be free of God, the church, and the Bible, free to just be Polly. Not Polly, the pastor’s daughter, not Polly, the preacher’s wife, just Polly. And I can say the same for myself. While I am noted for being a preacher-turned-atheist, an outspoken critic of Evangelicalism, I am content just to be Bruce. Most of our life was swallowed up by the ministry, so we are quite glad to be free and we enjoy the opportunity to live our lives on our own terms.

In many ways, our story is not typical. I’ve received scores of emails from people who deconverted and are now in mixed marriages. Like Kenneth, they want to share their unbelief with their spouses, but are unable to do so because of their spouse’s Christian beliefs or because they fear outing themselves will destroy their marriages. (Please see Count the Cost Before You Say I Am an Atheist.) Polly and I fully realize that if one of us had remained a Christian it could (would?) have ended our marriage. We are grateful that we’ve been able to walk this path together hand in hand. The farther away we get from the years we spent in the ministry, the more we realize how good we have it. Our deconversion could have destroyed our marriage and alienated us from our children, but it didn’t. Instead, we’ve been given a new lease on life; the opportunity for each of us to seek our own path. We deeply love one another, have six wonderful children and thirteen grandkids, and are, in every way, b-l-e-s-s-e-d.

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.

Genesis 1-3: Who Was “God” Talking To?

9 Comments
creationism

The night before October 23, 4004 BC, God, you know, THE God, the one and only God of the King James Bible, decided to create the universe. For the next six literal 24 hour days, God created the sun, moon, stars, planets, earth, animals, insects, fish, and plant life. Oh, and don’t forget God’s super-duper, special creation on day six:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Wait a minute . . . what’s this US thing all about? Do I detect polytheism? Whoever US is, they created a human man and woman in their image. (Genesis 2 says it was the LORD God that created Adam and Eve) After creating Adam and Eve, the Gods closed up their creation shop and went on vacation. Next October 23rd we will celebrate the 6,026th anniversary of the first day of creation. Time for a new Hallmark card, yes?

Now I am being a bit silly here, but let me point out something very important. It is clear, based on Genesis 1:27, that there was more than one God involved in creating humans. Once we get to Genesis 3, we see that there is one God called LORD God. It is this LORD God that comes to the Garden of Eden to talk to Adam and Eve. It is this LORD God that tells Adam and Eve their punishment for eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. An interesting point here is that Adam and Eve can see God and talk to him, yet the Bible says that no man has seen God at any time.

After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and both knew, for the first time, that the other was naked. While we don’t know how long the time span was between the creation of Adam and Eve and their act of disobedience, it’s hard to imagine that neither Adam or Eve paid any attention to their partners’ nakedness. Surely they were created with a sex drive. Sooooo . . . I don’t know about you, but I think I would notice that the only other living person, the person who snuggled up to me around the Camp Eden campfire, was naked.

The LORD God, being the prude that countless Fundamentalist preachers have said he is, was quite disturbed over Adam and Eve’s nakedness. The LORD God took it upon himself to get some clothing for Adam and Eve. He spotted a bear or maybe a buffalo or mountain lion, and in the first act of violence on earth, the LORD God killed the animals so he could make Adam and Eve clothes to wear. Using a process that humans to this day have not discovered, the LORD God killed the animal(s), dried and tanned the skin, and sewed the skins into clothing quicker than a Chinese sweatshop worker sewing a shirt for Walmart.

The LORD God then had a conference call with the other Gods. He said, look, remember those two humans we created? Remember the one rule we gave them? Yeah . . . those dumb asses picked fruit off the tree and ate it. Now they are like us, knowing good and evil. We need to do something immediately lest they eat from the Tree of Life. We don’t want them to do that, right? If they do, they will live forever, just like us. Can’t have humans living forever.

So the LORD God, acting on behalf of the other Gods, evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Of course, they didn’t want to go. After all, they only had one set of clothes in their dresser. But the LORD God was insistent and he drove them out of the Garden of Eden. To make sure that Adam and Eve could not eat from the Tree of Life, the LORD God put a flaming sword that turned every which way near the tree.

Reading Genesis 1-3 without importing Trinitarian theology into it presents a very different creation story from that which countless Evangelicals have been told. Go back to the text and read it for yourself. Is what I have written here plausible? On what basis do we say there was just one God? Is it not just as plausible to say that there was more than one God, a LORD God, and other Gods that were perhaps subservient to him/her?

But Bruce, in the first five days of creation the Bible says God (singular) created. True, but since humans weren’t created until day 6, who was God talking to on the first five days when the Bible says, and God said? Was he talking to himself? Perhaps he was talking to the other Gods, just like he did in Genesis 1:26 and 3:22?

And I am just getting started. Go back to the text, take off your Trinitarian, orthodox Christian glasses, and read it again. Is my story any less plausible than the one Evangelical children are taught in Sunday school?

Notes

There is textual evidence for God creating Eve AFTER the six days of creation in the second creation story found in Genesis 2. This conflicts with the first creation story in Genesis 1.

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.

Freedom without Jesus

9 Comments
jimmy carter lust quote

According to Evangelicals, we live in a world inhabited by fallen, broken, sinful people. All humans are sinners, from the moment they come forth from the womb speaking lies to when they draw their last breath. Numerous Bible verses reinforce the notion that there is something seriously wrong with every one of us. We have a disease called sin and it is killing us.

According to Evangelicals, we are helpless, hopeless, and empty. We lack purpose, direction, and meaning. Simply put, we are fucked. There is no hope for any of us. From the first man and woman to the baby born just a moment ago, all of us are wretches in bondage to our wants, needs, and desires. Sure sucks to be us, yes?

But wait, Preacher Billy Mays says. All is not lost. God sent his son Jesus to earth to die on the cross for sinners. Through his shed blood sin is expiated, and by putting faith in him we can have our sins forgiven and find purpose, meaning, and direction. And as an added bonus, at no extra charge, those who pray and ask Jesus to forgive them will be given eternal life and a home in God’s Trump Hotel after they die.

Millions and millions of people call the 1-800-salvation number only to find out that there is a catch. Yes, the salvation is free; yes, the eternal life and hotel room is free, but there is a small shipping and handling charge. How much, you ask?

Just your life. If you buy what Preacher Billy Mays is selling, the cost is your life. Every moment of every day will belong to Jesus until you die. Your life will be governed by an ancient, largely irrelevant religious text called the Bible. This text has hundreds and hundreds of laws, rules, regulations, and precepts you will be expected to obey. While technically you can still get eternal life and a Heavenly hotel room after you die even if you don’t obey, surely you don’t want the room at the back of the hotel — the room where the plumbing never seems to work and the couple next door are loudly fucking day and night.

Sold a fantastical story about sin and brokenness, and emptiness and forgiveness, and healing and fulfillment, Evangelicals give the operator their credit card numbers and order God’s Eternal Life Package® — free, just pay shipping and handling. This shipping and handling charge, as they will find out later, will be charged to their credit card every month until they die.

Evangelicals love to point out the awesome freedom they have now that they have bought God’s Eternal Life Package®. Are they really free, the non-Evangelical asks? Bound to the words of an antiquated, contradictory book, are Evangelicals really free?

According to Evangelicals, God created everything, including every human. God gave us sexual desire, the Evangelical says, but the Bible says we can only act on this desire if we are married to someone of the opposite sex (and Christians are only allowed to marry Christians). Acting on our sexual desire outside the boundaries of heterosexual marriage is sin, a sin that some verses in the Bible say will result in us forfeiting our Eternal Life Package® and room at God’s Trump Hotel. Instead, we will get Satan’s Eternal Death Package® and a room in Beelzebub’s Motel Six.

Not only does the Bible condemn any sexual behavior except married heterosexual intercourse, it also says that if we just look at a person and desire him or her sexually, we are sinning against God; so much so that God calls it “committing adultery in our heart.” Don’t touch, unless it is your spouse, and don’t look lest you burn in Hell. And Evangelicals call this freedom?

I watch five NFL games a week — Monday, Thursday, and three on Sunday. Attractively dressed cheerleaders are often part of the games. Sometimes, one or more of the cheerleaders catches my attention. I say, nice, and I hit the replay button so I can confirm my observation. Yep, nice. On to the game.

No guilt.

No fear.

No quick prayer asking forgiveness.

Like a road trip on a beautiful fall day, I was just enjoying the scenery.

Here’s the difference between the “freedom” the Evangelical thinks he has and the true freedom I have as an atheist. The Evangelical has to feel guilty over being a healthy, normal heterosexual (or bisexual or homosexual) man. He dare not hit the replay button lest he lust and commit adultery in his heart. If he does hit the replay button, he must later confess his sin to God and promise to never, ever, fingers crossed, do it again. And come football season, because he is a man with a normal, healthy libido, he will once again, with one eye covered, gaze upon the cheerleaders’ comeliness or the tight end’s nice ass. And as every time before, he will claim 1 John 1:9 (If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness) and promise God to never, ever, fingers crossed, do it again.

Me, the godless atheist? I am free to enjoy life with all its pleasures without feeling guilty over being a normal, healthy (normal and healthy being subjective terms) heterosexual man.

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.