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Tag: Independent Fundamentalist Baptist

Quote of the Day: Why Evangelicals Are Such Bad Christians

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quote of the day

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

Caroline Bologna writes:

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

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

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

….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

….

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

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

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

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

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

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

— End of Quote —

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

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Is Jesus Coming to Earth Again?

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rapture

Jesus told a whopper of a lie when he said there were people alive who would see him return to earth after his execution, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven. This, of course, did not happen. Everyone who lived in the first century eventually died, all without Jesus returning to earth. Since then, twenty centuries have come and gone without Jesus splitting the eastern sky. False prophet after false prophet has said that Jesus was coming back on such and such a date, without success. According to the Bible, these lying prophets should be executed for their false prophecies. Imagine if this sort of punishment actually happened? Why, the predictions would stop overnight. As it stands now, there’s no punishment for lying about the second coming of Christ.

Since the nation of Israel was established in 1948, countless Evangelical preachers have predicted certain dates and times for the Lord’s return. Passions are stirred, books are sold, prophets get rich, all without Jesus’s return to earth. And no matter how many times these prophets fail, gullible believers will give them more chances to lie, thinking that someday they will hit the winning numbers.

Just because Jesus lied and these false prophets lied, apologists say, doesn’t mean that Jesus is coming back to earth again. True, but after being told over and over and over again that the rapture is “imminent,” it’s not our fault if we think these preachers are frauds. The burden of proof rests on the shoulders of the apologists who say Jesus will soon return to earth. If a friend of mine repeatedly told me that he was coming to visit me and never showed up, I would be justified in concluding that he is a liar. So it is with every preacher who has falsely claimed the rapture was nigh. And if they are willing to lie about this, why should we believe anything they say?

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.

Knocking on Doors for Jesus

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knock on door

Most of us are familiar with Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Independent Fundamentalist Baptists (IFB) knocking on our doors, hoping to share their version of the Christian gospel with us. If you are anything like me, you find such intrusions into your privacy to be irritating. These God-bothers mean well — thoroughly convinced that they are right. “Hell is real, death is certain,” their thinking goes. I knocked on countless doors in nondescript rural communities as an IFB pastor. I hated the practice, but I was taught by my pastors and college professors that it was essential for me to knock on every door where I pastored. And so I did, for years, taking a handful of loyal church members with me. Spring, summer, winter, and fall, we knocked on doors, hoping to share the gospel with sinners. I taught classes on soulwinning, teaching congregants the most effective way to knock on doors and evangelize people. I even had “specialists” come in to teach church members tricks they could use to reach people with the gospel. Year after year, we knocked on doors, without success. Oh, people would listen to us, and even get “saved,” but few of these converts ever walked through the doors of the church, and those who did rarely stayed.

Fortunately, I eventually outgrew Baptist Fundamentalism and its evangelism practices. In the late 1980s, I became a Calvinist. This change in theology delivered me from the need to bother people with my version of the Christian gospel. “God is sovereign, and he alone saves,” I believed. While I still preached on the street (please see My Life as a Street Preacher — Part One, My Life as a Street Preacher — Part Two, My Life as a Street Preacher — Part Three, and Bruce, the Street Preacher), my focus was on the message instead of evangelism techniques. While there were still people “saved” as a result of my preaching, my focus had changed. I saw that it was my duty to preach the Word and let God do the “saving.”

Did you knock on doors as an Evangelical Christian? Please share your experiences in the comment section.

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.

If Evangelicals Really Believed What They Preach

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the rapture 3

According to most Evangelicals, the Bible is the inspired (God breathed) Word of God, inerrant and infallible in all that it says. “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me,” Evangelicals often say. “We are people of the book!” Supposedly, Evangelicals are True Christians, people who take seriously the teachings of Christ. Yet, when careful attention is paid to how Evangelicals live, we find that most believers preach one thing and practice another

Some Evangelicals believe Jesus is coming again on September 23, 2025. Yet, if you look at their lives, you see little difference between them and the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. If I believed Jesus was returning tomorrow, I would be doing all I could to win my family, friends, and neighbors to Christ. Instead, most Evangelicals live as if Jesus is NEVER coming back, even though they believe his return is imminent.

Thirty-seven years ago, Edgar Whisenant predicted Jesus would return between September 11 and September 13, 1988. Whisenant wrote a small book titled 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. Five million copies of the book were sold and distributed. At the time, I pastored the Somerset Baptist Church in Mt. Perry, Ohio. I still remember the big crowd we had at church on September 11. Most church families had read Whisenant’s book, frightened, yet excited, that the rapture was about to happen. As their pastor, I felt it my duty to minister to them, telling them what I believed the truth to be about the rapture. The title of my sermon was oh-so catchy: Why Jesus Won’t Return in 1988. My sermon relieved some and angered others. As you know, Jesus did not return in 1988.

Now we have yet another prediction of Christ’s return:

South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela predicted the Rapture, or Second Coming of Jesus, will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, or Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. Mhlakela’s claims, which have gone #RaptureTok viral on TikTok and social media, state that the revelations came to him in a dream, with Jesus telling him he will “come to take my church.”

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The dates of Sept. 23, 2025, or Sept. 24, 2025, that Mhlakela has marked the “Rapture” coincide with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish Feast of Trumpets, which many Christians associate with the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy.

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A TikToker with over 1 million followers said people are selling their cars and houses, leaving items behind for those who “don’t get Raptured.” Tiktoker Sonja (@sonj779) has shared multiple videos on “Rapture Trip Tips,” which have garnered tens of thousands of views. Her posts have led to confusion over whether it’s satire or truth: Among her tips, she urges people to buy new underwear before the Rapture, suggesting that the last impression of you” should not be your old underwear.”

Sigh. (Please see Why I Use the Word “Sigh.”)

As with past predictions, scores of believers will really believe Jesus is coming to earth, and come Wednesday, they will be sorely disappointed. No rapture, and all the stupid decisions they made thinking Jesus was coming again now come due. Most Evangelicals, however, will continue living their lives just as they always have — giving lip service to the teachings of the Bible. Imagine if you were an Evangelical Christian and you KNEW the rapture was happening tomorrow. How would you respond? Everywhere I look, I see Evangelicals acting more like the people talked about in Matthew 24:

Who, then, is the faithful and wise slave whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly, I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:45-51 NRSV)

Here’s what I know: watch how people live, and they will reveal what they really believe. Most of the people I pastored were good people. However, their lives were so filled with the present — jobs, family, church — that they had little time to ponder the imminent return of Christ. It was no different for me, as their pastor. Between ministry and family obligations, I had little time to think about the return of Christ. I thought that if I were busy working in God’s vineyard when Jesus returned, all would be well. Whether my thinking was justified or not, one thing was certain then and is still certain today: Jesus is not coming back to earth. Why? Jesus is dead. That’s why, 2,000 years after Jesus was executed by the Roman government, he remains buried somewhere in an unknown grave.

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.

Bruce, Were You Happy in the Ministry? — Part Two

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bruce and polly gerencser 1978
Bruce and Polly Gerencser, in front of our first apartment in Pontiac, Michigan, Fall 1978, with Polly’s Grandfather and Parents

If you have not done so, please read Bruce, Were You Happy in the Ministry? — Part One.

When I write posts like Leaving the Ministry: Dealing with Guilt and Regret, I am always concerned that someone might conclude that I was unhappy while I was in the ministry or that I felt I was trapped in a job I didn’t want to be in. Neither of these conclusions would be an accurate assessment of the twenty-five years I spent in the ministry.

In October 1979, Polly and I, along with our newborn son Jason, packed up our meager belongings and moved from Montpelier, Ohio to Newark, Ohio. Polly’s parents lived in Newark. Her father was the assistant pastor at the Newark Baptist Temple, an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church pastored by her uncle James Dennis. (Please see The Family Patriarch is Dead: My Life With James Dennis.) For a few months, until we could find a place to live, Polly and I lived with her parents. Our first home in Newark was a duplex several blocks from Polly’s parents’ home. Living in the other half of the duplex was an older couple who attended the Baptist Temple. Later, we would move to a two-story home across the street from Polly’s parents. We lived there until we moved to Buckeye Lake, Ohio in 1982.

Both Polly and I agree that our time spent living in Newark was one of the most difficult and challenging times we have ever faced in our forty-seven years of marriage. Polly started working at Temple Tots — the unlicensed daycare “ministry” of the Baptist Temple. In the fall of 1980, Polly found out she pregnant with our second son, Nathaniel. By then, she had started teaching first grade at Licking County Christian Academy (LCCA) — an unlicensed, unaccredited school operated by the Baptist Temple. (Polly was paid less money than male employees because she wasn’t her family’s breadwinner.)

I busied myself working in the church’s bus ministry, hoping that Pastor Dennis would make me the director of the bus ministry. He did not, telling me that it wouldn’t be right for him to give a family member the job. (Numerous family members would later work for the Baptist Temple.) James Dennis and I spent the intervening years in a love-hate relationship, with major conflicts seemingly bubbling to the surface every few years. While Polly’s family puts the blame for this squarely on my shoulders, a fair accounting of our conflicts shows that both of us bore responsibility for our inability to see eye-to-eye. Our history is long, complex, and littered with buried secrets that, even at this late date, could prove to be embarrassing. (Please see The Family Patriarch is Dead: My Life With James Dennis.)

After working for the local cable company repairing push-button cable boxes and working at several factories, in early 1980, I accepted a managerial position with Arthur Treacher’s — a large fast-food seafood restaurant chain located in Columbus, Ohio. My starting pay was $144 a week, or about $423 a week in today’s dollars. After my training and a few months as the assistant manager of the Heath, Ohio store, I was promoted to the general manager position of the Brice Road store in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. I would spend the next eighteen months daily driving back and forth from Newark to Reynoldsburg — about 27 miles one way. I worked long hours, six, sometimes seven, days a week.

bruce and polly gerencser 1985
Bruce and Polly Gerencser, Sweetheart Banquet, 1985

With Polly busy raising young children and teaching at LCCA, and me working long hours at the restaurant, we found ourselves estranged from one another. For a time, Polly and I were like two ships passing in the night. Polly, ever the awesome mother, focused her attention on our two boys, figuring that our marriage would be just fine. In her mind, the kids came first. I, on the other hand, ever the workaholic, poured myself into my job, often leaving for work early in the morning and returning late in the evening. Conflict with Polly’s parents and Pastor Dennis increased during this time, so I used my long work hours as a way to avoid interaction with her family. I was able to avoid family gatherings by saying, I have to work, sorry. Polly’s family didn’t seem to mind that I was absent, believing then, as they do today, that I was “different.”

While Polly and I never talked about the dreaded D word — divorce — both of us recognized that our marriage was in trouble. We were deeply committed followers of Jesus and active in the machinations of the Baptist Temple. Despite my long work hours, I still worked in the bus ministry, went on visitation, and attended church services on Sunday. Polly helped with the nursery and sang in the choir. While we were busy, our lives were not what we expected they would be when we left Midwestern Baptist College in 1978. Both of us believed God had called us to the ministry, so as long as we weren’t in full-time service for the Lord, our lives were not in line with the will of God. Polly and I saw this as one of the reasons we were having marital troubles. Decades later, now an old married couple with grandchildren, we now know that our root problems were immaturity, fanciful expectations, and religious demands. Our focus should have been on family and building financial security. Instead, we yearned to be a Pastor and a Pastor’s wife. In our minds, Jesus and the ministry came first. Wholeheartedly believing this would plague us for much of our married life.

Late in 1981, Mrs. Paul’s bought out Arthur Treacher’s. Mrs. Paul’s made all sorts of stupid changes, and after several months of working for them, I decided I had had enough and turned in my resignation. Several weeks later, I started working for Long John Silver’s as an assistant manager. Long John’s was rapidly expanding in the Central Ohio area, and I was part of a team of managers that helped open new stores. Polly had, by then, stopped teaching and returned to working at Temple Tots. Towards the end of the year, Polly’s Dad decided to leave the Baptist Temple — a long story in and of itself — and start an IFB church in nearby Buckeye Lake. He asked if Polly and I wanted to come along and help him with the new church. We quickly agreed, and I became the assistant pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Buckeye Lake, Ohio. Finally, Polly and I thought, we are back on track, doing that which God had called us to do. Unfortunately, she was fired from her job because she was no longer a member of the Baptist Temple

Though much turmoil and heartache would await us in the years to come, we were happy to be in the ministry once again. Outside of a few months here and there when I was between churches, we would spend the next twenty or so years pastoring churches in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. No matter what trials and adversities came our way, we were happy to be serving the Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote that he had learned, regardless of the state of his life, to be content (Philippians 4:11). Over time, Polly and I became quite stoic about life. No matter what came our way, we smiled, put our trust in the Lord, and practiced the contentment Paul spoke of. Our commitment to Jesus gave us what the Bible calls, a “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). Life wasn’t easy for us, but it was satisfying. Difficult times were seen as tests from God (James 1:2-4) or loving correction (Hebrews 12:5-8) from our Heavenly Father. All that mattered was that we were in center of the perfect will of God for our lives (Romans 12:1,2). Believing that the calling of God was irrevocable (Romans 11:29), being in the ministry was what mattered most to us. Over time, the “ministry” swallowed up Bruce and Polly Gerencser, leaving us with no self-identity. We spent much of our marriage denying self and sacrificing ourselves for the cause. After leaving the ministry, and later leaving Christianity, Polly and I had no idea who we were. Our post-Jesus years have been spent reacquainting ourselves with who we really are. This process has been painful, yet satisfying. While we were happy in the ministry, our happiness was derived from “doing.” These days, we continue to learn that happiness most often comes from being, not doing.

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.

Black Collar Crime: IFB Pastor Albert Wharton Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Child Sex Crimes

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arrested

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.

In 2023, Albert Wharton, former pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Warsaw, Virginia, was accused of 22 felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a child under the age of 13 while in a custodial position and eight felony counts of aggravated sexual assault. Victory Baptist is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) congregation.

ABC-8 reported:

A former pastor of an independent Baptist church in the town of Warsaw in Richmond County is facing 30 felony charges relating to multiple incidents the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office alleges occurred at the church between 1981 and 1997.

Albert Benjamin Wharton, 86, of South Carolina, was arrested in South Carolina at 8:42 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 8 by investigators from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and South Carolina’s Pickens County Sheriff’s Department.

On the same day, Wharton was extradited to the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Richmond County.

Sheriff Steve Smith of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office said Wharton’s arrest was the culmination of a 15-month investigation into more than two dozen alleged incidents that occurred while he was a preacher at Berachah Academy between 1981 and 1997. The academy has since closed.

Wharton was charged with 22 felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a child under the age of 13 while in a custodial position and eight felony counts of aggravated sexual assault.

“Wharton has lived and served seven churches in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida over the past four decades,” Sheriff Smith said.

Today, Wharton was sentenced to eight years in prison for his crimes.

ABC-8 reports:

 A former Warsaw pastor at Victory Baptist Church in Richmond County will spend eight years behind bars for child sex crimes committed between 1981 and 1996.

Dozens gathered inside of a Richmond County courthouse in the afternoon of Monday, Sept. 8 in the small town of Warsaw. The anticipated hearing was set to determine the sentence for 88-year-old Albert Wharton, a former pastor at Victory Baptist Church.

In 2023, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department arrested and charged Wharton with 22 felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a child under the age of 13 while in a custodial position and eight felony counts of aggravated sexual assault. 

According to deputies, the crimes were committed at the church’s former school, Berachah Academy, where Wharton was a pastor.

….

In June, Wharton entered an Alford plea for eight of those charges. Meaning he is maintaining his innocence while recognizing the Commonwealth’s evidence could find him guilty if this case were sent to trial. The remaining charges were nolle prosequi — meaning officials are declining to prosecute.

….

Four victims shared impact statements during the sentencing hearing. Many were brought to tears as they recounted the sexual acts. Some shared that Wharton abused his role as a pastor and say they were beaten and touched inappropriately. Every victim shared the emotional and mental toll this has taken on their lives and said they wish Wharton would take accountability.

Four of Wharton’s family and friends also spoke out during the hearing to share who they know Wharton to be. Many stated that the actions he was charged with was unlike the character they knew. Instead, they described Wharton as a caring, loving, man of God. Wharton’s daughter was among those to speak in Wharton’s character. She described Wharton as her hero and a great example for her kids.

Wharton’s defense attorney shared during his argument to the judge that Wharton does not deserve to die in prison. He cited the 88-year-old’s health as a reason for the judge to suspend his sentence or give him a shortened or at home incarceration.

The Richmond County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Elizabeth Trible, argued that Wharton’s age should not be a factor.

“Mr. Wharton used the girls ages in order to commit these crimes against them and attempted today to use his own age to avoid responsibility for these crimes. I am pleased that the judge didn’t accept that argument,” Trible said.

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

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 Know God Did It Because He (The Bible) Says He Did

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god did it

An Evangelical preacher recently said:

Evidence for the Bible is everywhere, including outer space. We just have to be willing to look for it in a credible manner that brings glory to God. He does not lie, and the presence of water in Space shows us that God does not lie about biblical events. We know God did it because he told us he did it, and the evidence comes to shore up Christian faith when the time is right. As Christians, we do not need physical evidence. We just need to believe God because he does not lie.

And this is why having a discussion or debate with an Evangelical Christian is usually a waste of time. Discuss and debate if you must, but you won’t win. Why? When shown their beliefs and practices are false, what do Evangelicals do? Do they admit they are wrong? Do they admit you are right? Do they deconvert? Do they admit to having serious questions and doubts about their faith? Of course not, silly boy. When cornered, Evangelicals run to the safety of the house of faith and the inerrancy/infallibility of the Bible. Within the house of faith, all is ordered and well, and the Bible is true. Everything is right in this house. Of course, toking marijuana gives the same result — in my professional opinion. 🙂 It is only when Evangelicals venture outside the house of faith that change is possible. For it is in the world that they will find their beliefs and practices questioned, challenged, and overcome. Over the years, many devout Evangelicals and IFB Christians have stumbled upon this site, only to crawl away beaten and bruised, with more questions than answers.

Is my goal to evangelize for atheism? Nope. I don’t do it — ever. I am just one man with a story to tell. If my writing troubles someone or causes them to question or doubt, that’s on them. If they contact me, I will help them any way I can. I’m content to answer sincere questions and suggest books for people to read. Whatever they do with what they learn is up to them. Do some of them deconvert or move on to what I call “kinder, gentler Christianity?” You bet, and I am glad they did. Some sects of Christianity are more harmful than others. Evangelicalism, the IFB church movement, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Catholicism come to mind. These sects might be “right” about religion, but they sure cause a lot of harm, both physically and psychologically.

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

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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

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

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god's forgiveness

Recently, a Christian reader asked:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Sometimes “Nice” Christians Are the Worst

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nice christian

Millions of Evangelicals have read my writing since I first started blogging in 2007. Most of them never leave comments, but thousands of their fellow brethren have over the years. Sadly, many of their comments are judgmental, hateful, and argumentative. I have previously shared that some of these God-fearing, Jesus-loving, Holy Spirit-filled Christians turned to threatening me with violence. And yes, threatening someone with eternal torture in the Lake of Fire is a violent threat; one that countless Evangelicals have made towards me, my family, and the readers of this blog.

Sometimes, “nice” Christians stumble upon my writing. As they read through my responses to hateful Fundamentalist Christians, these “nice” Christians are appalled by what some of their born-again family members say to me. Often, “nice” Christians will say that nasty, hateful believers aren’t “real” Christians. Using the No Scotsman Fallacy, “nice” Christians excise from their religious family anyone who gives their tribe a bad name. Problem solved, right?

If that’s all “nice” Christians did, I would have no objection. If Christians want to fight amongst themselves about who is and isn’t a “true Christian,” have at it. I couldn’t care less. If Christians want to have a food fight with each other, put it on pay TV, buy some beer, and enjoy the bloodshed. The problem, however, is that “nice” Christians see the atrocious behavior by their crazy uncles and rabid brothers on this site, and they automatically assume that the reason I am an atheist is because I was, in some way, harmed by Christians. This is patently false, and no matter how many times I correct the record, they refuse to change the strawman of me they have built in their minds. In their minds, if I were only exposed to “nice” Christians, I would see the light and return to Jesus.

Here’s the problem with this kind of thinking: how I was treated by church members, colleagues in the ministry, and other Christians played little to no part in my deconversion. My partner and I spent countless hours talking about Christianity and our evolving loss of faith. There wasn’t one discussion about the “hurt” caused to us by Christians. That discussion did not happen until after we left the faith; one that continues to this day. You see, it was AFTER we left the Jesus Salvation Club that the ugliness, hatred, and judgmentalism came flowing from our Evangelical family, friends, and colleagues in the ministry as a broken sewer pipe spewing effluent in every direction; splattering a couple they once believed were examples of devoted followers of Jesus with smelly, putrid shit.

No matter how often I explain to “nice” Christians why I deconverted, they convince themselves that if Christians were just nice to me, I would return to Jesus. Years ago, an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) evangelist took this approach to me, even though I warned him it would not work. We would chat back and forth; he even sent me $200. By all accounts, he was and is a nice guy. If we lived closer to one another, we would likely be close friends. As I continued to share with him why I wasn’t a Christian, a curious thing happened. This preacher of the KJV started listening to me; to my actual explanations for deconverting. One day, I got an email from him that said he was no longer a Christian. Did I jump up and down for joy? No, because I knew that he would pay a high price for walking away from the ministry and the true IFB faith. His kindness to me didn’t convert me, and neither did my kindness deconvert him. For both of us, our loss of faith came when we reinvestigated our beliefs, especially the central claims of Christianity. While how we were treated post-Jesus by Christians played no part in our deconversions, it certainly affects how we view some segments of Christianity today.

To “nice” Christians who come upon this blog, I give this advice: shut up and listen. Instead of analyzing my story, psychoanalyzing me, or combing through my story with a nit comb looking for the “real” reason I deconverted, how about letting me tell my own story, in my own words, on my own terms. Instead of making snap judgments, take time to read ALL of my story. And then, ask questions instead of rendering judgment

Millions of people have read my writing over the years, including countless Evangelicals-turned-atheists. For those of us raised in Evangelical churches before we deconverted, we are painfully aware of the practice of friendship evangelism or love bombing. Evangelicals are taught to shower unbelievers with fake love and friendship. Love bombing and friendship evangelism are fake because their goal is not friendship; it’s conversion; it’s increasing attendance and offerings.

Evangelicals-turned-atheists (and other former Evangelicals) develop skills that help them spot fakery or false motivations from a mile away. We understand the buzzwords and tactics used by “nice” Christians. Thus, when a “nice” Christian starts working their “magic,” unbelieving readers become irritated, often wishing I would send them packing. And I typically do, though sometimes it is good to be reminded of how “nice” Christians ply their wares.

To “nice” Christians who are offended by this post, I offer up a challenge: You may freely comment on this blog, but you cannot mention God, Jesus, the Bible, or your personal testimony. These things do not interest most of us. If your objective is to be a “nice” Christian, this should be easy for you to do. However, most followers of Jesus won’t accept this offer. Why? Because the real reason they comment on this site is to put a good word in for Jesus. And that’s okay. All I am asking is that “nice” Christians be honest about their motivations (as we all should).

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.