A guy who has a blog called Eternal Life Blog with the subtitle “covering all aspects of eternal life” (I do like thoroughness, don’t you?) thinks it’s a tragedy when clerics escape.
Sadly, spiritual tragedies do occur in this dangerous spiritual environment. That is why Christians are told to guard themselves, hold on, keep themselves, etc. One of the most recent and openly publicized spiritual tragedies among preachers losing their faith would be Jerry Dewitt. Jerry DeWitt, from Louisiana, became an atheist after more than twenty-five years of Pentecostal ministry! He was senior pastor of a congregation when he became an unbeliever and now claims he could not be happier because he feels he has regained his integrity.
Emphasis his. Formatting his. Alternation between bold and italics his. Anyway he’s amazed that a former minister could be happy because he feels he has regained his integrity. I, on the other hand, find that thought completely intelligible. It’s similar to what I always think when I try to imagine myself taking up religion for any of the consequentialist reasons people so often cite – community, tradition, support in life’s difficulties, that kind of thing. It’s the fact that it would feel like such a gruesome surrender and cheat that makes it fall to the floor before it gains any respectable altitude. I couldn’t do it, because of integrity.
If Jerry DeWitt, Teresa MacBain or any atheist ever came to initial salvation or not, I can’t say. It is possible they were once saved at some point before getting back on the road to hell as they are now. As sad as it is for them to openly reject the existence of God (and therefore Jesus Christ), it is even worse when one ponders the many under their influence who might also be hurt by their horrible example. It is horribly bad for any professing Christian to renounce his faith, but even worse when a person who is considered by some to be a spiritual leader does it.
That poor man – he thinks there’s such a thing as “the road to hell” (or he professes to – who knows, really). Sucks to be him. He’s frantic about something that is not at all a bad thing. He’s throwing away his life on fictions and useless terrors.
Tragic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_5kv8QeBBc
Clearly the road to Hell has far better music, anyway.
“Heaven for climate, Hell for society.” -Mark Twain
Geez, this “faith” thing seems awfully fragile for something that’s enforced by the Almighty. Apostates left, right, center — even in the pulpit! Jesus just can’t keep a friend.
— Just another happy spiritual tragedy here
It’d be nice if he reconsidered his faith rather than excoriate those who left. I wonder if there are reasonably effective and safe avenues to suggest it to him.
/time passed in which I checked out his website
There is a po box so it’s reasonable to send him anonymous mail. OTOH, excessive bizarre web design always comes off as mentally unhinged / not really a great target to try.
It does, doesn’t it.
I want to find some way to pay Ophelia a royalty each time I re-use “Sucks be to him” and its variants. Wonderful!
The idea that a moral duty to care about the truth ought to trump consequentialist reasons for holding a belief *ought* to be more familiar to religious people. We have Bruno, but they have Jesus, for goodness sake. They should know all about this stunt.
@4: It’d be nice if he reconsidered his faith rather than excoriate those who left.
He can’t. Even over and above the standard shutting-out of contrary ideas, apostasy is deeply threatening to the True Believer because if it can happen to them it can happen to me.
I find that thought very familiar. Sounds much like how I felt when I finally called it quits with religion.
Also sorta familiar, this:
Except that, honestly, I’m not trying to one up ya or nothin’, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never previously even imagined doing that (or, more honestly, imagined going back to doing that, because I think my involvement always kinda had been somewhat of a practical/cynical/instrumental thing, which I think is exactly why it felt as it did finally to drop it)…
That is: I hadn’t imagined doing that ’til just now. But now that you mention it, ‘gruesome’ seems almost too kind a word.
I don’t think I’d ever again be able to look myself in the mirror. I really don’t.