The Internet Made Me Do It

"-FsA14 - Freiheit statt Angst 017" by Markus Winkler, Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Well, according to CNN. In a “Belief” article on CNN, “Atheists open up: What they want you to know,” we hear about an avowed atheist:

"Stan Bennett" is a minister in a small town, but he no longer believes in God. He's actively searching for other employment so he can leave behind the job he's known for more than 30 years. He knows he's going to come out as an atheist one day, but he's not ready yet. (He is a closeted atheist, so CNN concealed his identity).

Can you now understand why the non-believers know there are hypocrites in church? While searching for “other employment,” he continues leading a congregation, unable to fulfill the basic principles of the Bible:

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)

I left the hyperlink to his pseudonym to show that he is now relieved (but not enough to leave his position) by:

It felt good to be able to say the words with my mouth, “I don’t believe in God.” For the first time in months, I felt the muscles relax in my stomach and shoulders.

It reminded me so much of the first verses in Luke 17, where one commentary describes Jesus’ teaching as:

The offences, then, especially alluded to were no doubt the worldliness and selfishness of professors of godliness. The sight of these, professedly serving God and all the while serving mammon more earnestly, would bring the very name of God's service into evil odour with some; while with others such conduct would serve as an example to be imitated.

The result – for the offending professors of godliness – is given:

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. (Luke 17:1-2 KJV) 

Why is this man – and other clergymen – atheists? Let me return to the article:

Bennett: Little by little, we are growing up. It's more difficult for people to stay in their religious cocoons away from the rest of the world. Higher education, travel and the Internet all contribute to our awareness of a bigger world with bigger concepts than the cultural superstitions in which we were raised.

Jerry DeWitt – previously a Pentecostal minister, now has a congregation of atheists:

DeWitt: One word: Google. The questions have always been at hand, but now the answers are within our grasp.

David Silverman, proud to be an “in your face” atheist:

Silverman: Religion is factually wrong. As a result, religion lives on ignorance of facts. The reason people are giving up on mythology is the Internet, and the access to information it represents.

Really? I can find dozens of cures for cancer on the internet (excuse me, but they don’t work.) I can find thousands of causes for cancer on the internet, too. Some of them do work on some people. I can find people who agree that fighting for ISIS the the best thing, while just as many will tell me that not fighting for anything will save the world.

I tell people (a very small number but also on the internet) that Jesus is the Christ, but I back it up with quotations from a book these three men reject out of hand. My citing scriptures will have no bearing for them because they accept only facts – and biblical facts do not fit in their world view.

The question will not be decided here on earth in our lifetimes. It remains a matter of faith. Only at our death will we know for certain which faith is correct:  that the majority of mankind has been wrong since the beginning of time and that there is no creator. Or, there is and He rewards.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)