Article by Cameron Spink

 

Put it to Richard Dawkins to come up with a plan to snatch pastor's off the pulpit and turn them into unbelievers. Dawkins doesn't even bother hiding his fingerprints:

"The Clergy Project was made possible through a donation from The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science."
http://clergyproject.org/about

 

It is disturbing that people like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett have managed to influence some pastors, yet it is unsurprising. At times there appears a staleness to the cultures of some of our churches. It is hard for the leaders of these churches to avoid being influenced by such cultures. Furthermore, many may have been brought up in Christian households only to adopt a belief that they could never claim as their own. The Clergy Project has provided them with an avenue to leave a life that they haven't believed for a very long time.

 

Jerry DeWitt is a prime example of the "atheist pastor". DeWitt is now one of the leading proponents of The Clergy Project and like many apostates he is part of a long line of preachers who have taken to the family business without believing in it:

"[DeWitt] and his wife began touring the South, building a reputation for the power of his sermons. It was a tremendous ego charge, especially for a short, chubby young man with dyslexia. For the first time, he was treated with respect, even awe. "I had this whole prophet persona going on. I wouldn't really mix with people before the sermon," he told me. "All kinds of people were seeing miracles, and I believed it 100 percent.""

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/magazine/from-bible-belt-pastor-to-atheist-leader.html?pagewanted=all

 

 

Now admittedly excommunication is not the most helpful solution when something like this occurs. The amount of stories mentioning friends and family turning away from those who leave the faith is saddening. Such an action usually reinforces that person's decision to walk away. In practical terms people like DeWitt are no different than nominal Christians who attend church without participating in the spiritual aspects. Yet, ostracizing yourself from your church community and deliberately rejecting God makes any further interaction with Christians who may encourage and bring you back to faith unlikely.

 

Unfortunately, this is not the end of the story. DeWitt (like many others in The Clergy Project) continued to preach until his employers (presumably the church Board) was made aware of his change in religious persuasion. DeWitt and other ex-pastors (like Teresa MacBain) report continuing to preach even when they no longer were a theist. It seems intellectually dishonest that these people would continue to stand behind the pulpit even while leading their church astray.

 

Albert Mohler reports succinctly upon this phenomenon:

 

"The Clergy Project is a parable of our times, but it is also a pathetic portrait of the desperation of many atheist and secularist groups. They are thrilled to parade a few trophies of unbelief, but do they really believe that these example are serving their cause? They celebrate a former Pentecostal preacher with no education, who was already a theological liberal when called to his church, and who then educated himself by reading Sagan, Dawkins, and Hitchens. Seriously?

The Clergy Project is a magnet for charlatans and cowards who, by their own admission, openly lie to their congregations, hide behind beliefs they do not hold, make common cause with atheists, and still retain their positions and salaries. Is this how atheists and secularists groups intend to further their cause? They are getting publicity from the media to be sure, but do they think it will win them friends?

Ministers struggling honestly with doubts and struggles are in a different category altogether. Doubt will lead to one of two inevitable consequences. Faithful doubt leads to a deeper embrace of the truth, with doubt serving to point us into a deeper knowledge, trust, and understanding of the truth. Pernicious doubt leads to unfaithfulness, unbelief, skepticism, cynicism, and despair. Christians - ministers or otherwise - who are struggling with doubt, need to seek help from the faithful, not the faithless.

Christianity has little to fear from the Clergy Project. Its website reveals it to be a toothless tiger that will attract media attention, and that is about all. The greater danger to the church is a reduction in doctrine that leaves atheism hard to distinguish from belief. And the real forces to fear are those who would counsel such a reduction."

 

Click here to read the full article.