The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Tag: Why

  • The “Why?” Question

    Many Americans never asked “why” after Muslims hijacked planes and flew them into buildings on 9-11.

    Many Americans never asked “why” after Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis on 10-7 — most of them civilians— and kidnapped several hundred people.

    And now the United States is waging war against Iran, and few Americans bother to ask “why?”

    The U.S. government is currently controlled by fascists, oligarchs, theocrats, and technocrats. Donald Trump and his feckless, immoral administration only care about personal financial enrichment and political power. Trump, Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, and company show no care or regard for the American people. These fascists self-righteously say they are protecting the American people from nuclear weapons and Muslim terrorism. Never asked is “why?”

    Robert “I’ve Got a Brain Worm” Kennedy, Jr., has decimated Health & Human Services and is currently promoting distortions, conspiracy theories, and lies about vaccines, COVID, autism, and dietary guidelines. Why aren’t more Americans asking “why?”

    Donald Trump is doing away with federal support of wind and solar power, giving millions of dollars to oil, natural gas, and coal companies. Dare we ask, “why”?

    Americans tend not to be too big on answering the question “why?” Why? 😅 Cuz, we are AMERICANS! We are a people divinely chosen by the Christian God of the Bible. We are a shining light on a hill for all the world to see. Manifest destiny! Might makes right, right? Right? There’s no need to ask “why?” when God is on your side and you are always right.

    Name the last president who admitted to the American people he was wrong. Trump, for instance, has never been wrong. He’s an expert on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, including swimming pools, ballrooms, and grass. Trump doesn’t apologize to anyone. Instead, he blames others for his mistakes, failures, and errors in judgment. Trump is an impetuous man who cannot and will not tell the truth, even when a lie is not necessary. Does anyone doubt, then, that Trump NEVER asks “why?” (And the same can be said for MAGA in general.)

    Post-Jesus, answering the “why” question has been vital in helping me better understand the country and world I live in. And let me be clear, understanding both is essential to a well-rounded view of the world. If all we wear are Pro-American glasses we are going to have a false, truncated view of the world. This is why the majority of Americans are illiterate about countries, peoples, religions, and politics outside of the United States.

    Sadly, way too many Americans wrongly think the answer to the question, “Why do so many people hate us?” is “We’re America!!!!! And other countries hate the American Dream and our way of life!” Rarely do Americans step beyond the facade and wrestle with the hard questions about what our nation has become and why.

    As an Evangelical-pastor-turned-atheist, I am seldom asked “why?” by my critics, who ignore my attempts to answer the question without them asking. Their minds are made up, so there’s no reason to ask me “why” or read my biographical writing. In their minds, “The Bible says,” end of discussion. What they really mean, of course, is that their churches, pastors, and favorite podcast hosts interpret the Bible for them. Most Evangelicals do not daily read the Bible, and their go-to source for Bible knowledge is their pastors — who rarely preach exegetical sermons and are more focused on “felt needs.” The goal? Make people happy and their wallets lighter.

    If we are going to be skeptics, it is essential for us to ask “why?” even if the answers we receive are painful to hear. Part of the deconstruction process for me required asking “why” questions. I suspect that was or is the same for many of you. Evangelicalism taught us to trust and never doubt, especially in matters of faith. Want to be “happy in Jesus”? There’s only one way: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” Of course, the “obey” part is conditioned on obedience to the theological edicts of pastors and churches. Never ask “why,” just obey.

    Over the years, attempting to answer “why” questions has taken me down many paths, forcing me to confront my ignorance, biases, and bullheadedness. When the “why” question arises, I try my best to answer it, regardless of what I might find.

    Motivations matter to me. Personally, anyway, it was not enough to rage against Islam when Muslims flew planes into buildings on 9-11. “Why” did they do this? Is the United States culpable in any way? What about the “war on terror” that followed, to this day? Dare we ask “why” the United States is waging war on multiple fronts, killing scores of innocents with our bombs and bullets? So much so that we are running out of munitions and Hegseth is asking for billions of dollars of additional war funding. Surely you aren’t so stupid as to believe all the violence, bloodshed, and war crimes are “protecting the American way of life.” Do you feel safe? Now that undocumented immigrants are literally running for their lives, are we better off as a nation? Asking “why” about these issues and others is essential if there’s any chance for the “land of the free, and the home of the brave” to survive.

    Please share your pithy thoughts in the comment section. And if you don’t, let me ask, “Why?”? 😜😜

  • Bruce, I Am So Sorry Christians Hurt You

    this is why

    No matter how many posts I write about the reasons I left Christianity (please see Why?), I still get comments and emails from well-meaning Christians who think that the “real” reason I am not a Christian is that “bad” Christians hurt me. The thinking goes something like this: bad Christians psychologically harmed me in some way, resulting in my rejection of Christianity and my embracing of atheism. It seems that these armchair psychologists know more about me than I do.

    I suspect the reason they refuse to accept my story at face value is that they cannot fathom why anyone would ever want to get a divorce from Jesus. In their minds, Jesus is a wonderful friend, companion, and lover, better than any that can be found in the universe or to infinity and beyond (to quote Buzz Lightyear). Who in their right mind would reject the love of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, and the promise of eternal life in Heaven after death? How about someone who thinks that Jesus was a mere mortal who lived and died; that the need for forgiveness of sins is a religious con game used to prop up church attendance and offerings; that the only thing that awaits humans after death is eternal decay, darkness, and silence?

    You see, the reason I am not a Christian today has little to do with whether someone hurt me at some point in time during my fifty years in the Christian church and the twenty-five years I spent in the ministry. Sure, I met a lot of hurt and heartache along the way. Some of the nastiest, meanest, most cantankerous people I’ve ever known, I met in church. But, some of the kindest, nicest, and most loving people I’ve ever known, I’ve met in church as well. In fact, the overwhelming majority of Christian people I’ve known over the years are good people. I may now think that they have some crazy beliefs, but that doesn’t mean they are bad people. I’ve met more than a few atheists who have crazy beliefs, including a few who voted for Donald Trump. I cannot for the life of me understand how atheists could vote for Trump, but they did. Does the fact that they voted for Trump mean that they are now bad people? Of course not! So it is with Christians.

    Christians who think my atheism is the direct result of exposure to the wrong kind of Christians must answer me this: since most of the Christians I was exposed to in my life were good people, why wasn’t their goodness enough to keep me on the straight and narrow? Shallow is the belief that rests alone on the goodness or badness of believers. On any given day, Christians can be found doing good and bad things, and the same can be said for atheists. It is impossible, then, to judge the merits of Christianity or atheism based on behavior alone. Yes, I think Evangelical Christianity, with its self-righteous moralizing, promises far more than it delivers. Yes, I think many preachers preach one thing and live another — I know I did and I know many other pastors who did the same. Yes, I have an ax to grind, a bone to pick — or any other metaphor you can think of — with Evangelicals who pontificate about morality and right belief, then ride the moral high horse, only to then be exposed as liars and hypocrites. Yes, I have no patience for denominations, churches, and pastors who turn a blind eye to child sexual abuse and other criminal acts, choosing instead to put the testimony of the church above the harm caused by offenders. Yes, I can find countless things that I don’t like about not only Evangelicalism, but progressive and liberal Christianity too. But, even taking all of this into account, most Christians are good people. I wish Christians would return the favor by saying that most atheists are good people too. I suppose this is too much to ask. Without atheists, agnostics, humanists, and secularists, who would Evangelicals have to fight? As long as they can paint people such as myself as workers of Satan, there will always be a mythical enemy to fight.

    Let me, one last time, be clear on why I am not a Christian. While there are certainly psychological reasons that played a part in my decision to walk away from Christianity, they are not the primary reasons I did so. If I had found that the Christian narrative was true, I would’ve kept believing regardless of how people treated me. However, through much study, I determined that the central tenets of Christianity were not true. While I believe that Jesus was a historical person, I do not think that he was God, virgin-born, worked miracles, resurrected from the dead, or ascended to Heaven. The Jesus who walked the dusty roads of Palestine was likely some sort of apocalyptic preacher who lived and died, end of story. I also think that the Bible is not in any way an inspired, inerrant, infallible text written by God, either directly or through men as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The Bible is littered with errors and contradictions and lacks internal consistency. While certainly the Bible has deeply influenced Western civilization, so have other books, yet we don’t consider these books to be of divine origin. I also reject many of the moral teachings of the Bible. In particular, I reject the notion that humans are broken sinners in need of redemption; that there is any such thing called original “sin.” Sin is a religious construct used to control people through fear of judgment and damnation if they don’t cower before Jesus and the church and ask for the forgiveness of sins. I consider many of the teachings of the Bible to be anti-human, used to subjugate women and control children.

    I hope this short post makes it clear to those desperate to suss out the “real” reasons for my deconversion that the primary motivator for my loss of faith is intellectual, not psychological. Sure as the sun rises in the morning, I will get emails apologizing for how “bad” Christians treated me, hoping that I will give Jesus another chance by finding a church of “good” Christians. In responding to them, I will send them the link to this post. There is really nothing more that I can say on this matter.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen 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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