Could the Pastor of Your Church Be an Atheist?

[MineralMan]

https://owlcation.com/misc/Atheists-in-the-Pulpit-Non-Believers-in-the-Clergy

From the interesting article at the link above. Apparently, it's not as rare as you might thing. This was written a year ago, but I don't think it has been posted here. There's more to read at the link. The Clergy Project is mentioned in the article a couple of times. Here's a link to that:

http://clergyproject.org/

How Many Atheist Clergy Are There?

Nobody knows for sure how many atheist clergy members there are, but the answer is probably a lot more than you think. (Note: I use the term "atheist clergy" for convenience--some may feel that they are agnostics or just “having doubts.”)

A survey conducted by the Free University of Amsterdam in 2006 found that one in six (17%) Protestant priests in Holland were either atheist or agnostic. Another survey found that as many as 16 percent of the Church of England’s licensed ministers have doubts about God.

Membership in The Clergy Project has increased ten-fold in just a few years. This indicates that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of atheist clergy.

[dchill]

1. In my opinion people who don't have doubts...

are not quite sane.

[MineralMan]

2. Being an atheist is more than "having doubts."

It's a real inability to believe.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Wait......what?

It's a real inability to believe.

Being an Atheist is a real inability to believe?!?

Are you speaking for yourself, or what?

"A real inability to believe"

That is an astounding sentence.

I don't post in here very much at all, as I am sure you can tell, but I am somewhat aware of your position.

Having said that, it always amazes me when people, Atheist or otherwise, make blanket statements about how or what or why other Atheists hold a particular position.

As Matt Dillahunty has said numerous times, knowledge is a SUBSET of belief.

I am Atheist because I follow the distinct definition of the term, to wit: "Without god"

I have no gods. I have no need for them. That isn't to say I suggest none exist, because I have no way of knowing for sure. Do I "believe" it is possible for one to exist? Yes. Yes I do. But if it or they are anything like the one described in the bible, then I want absolutely nothing to do with it or them, and I consider the plausibility of them on the same level as Bertrand Russel's celestial teapot.

I don't have "an inability to believe". I just understand and realize that the burden of proof has not been met. Again, as Dillahunty has said, I find the concept of god "Not Guilty" of being valid. I also find it intellectually primitive thinking.

"Being an atheist is more than "having doubts."
It's a real inability to believe."

Nonsense. Perhaps a rewording is in order.

[Mariana]

8. I can't believe deities exist, either

exactly because the burden of proof has not been met. It's not a choice I made. I can't will myself into believing something I don't believe. Can you? Could you decide to believe this or that god is real, and do so?

If some compelling evidence should come to light in favor of the existence of any one of the thousands of gods that have been proposed, my inability to believe they exist will vanish.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Bill Maher said;

(paraphrasing)


"If Jesus Christ were to appear and descend to the 50 yard line at the super bowl, I would say "huh...look at that...I was wrong'. Until then, I consider the story bullshit"

[Mariana]

10. Exactly. I would do the same.

In the meantime, I have a real inability to believe that bullshit story, and all the other bullshit stories about gods as well. Just like MineralMan said.

[MineralMan]

11. Of course I am describing my own atheism.

I could not describe anyone else's. For me, it is an inability to believe that deities exist. I cannot. That is why I'm an atheist. It isn't a "lack of proof," or anything else. I simply cannot believe.

Not being sure about it is agnosticism, not atheism, in my opinion.

If you ever have a question about whether something I write is my opinion, simply look down at my signature line.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. The "A" in both words means "without"

Do with the rest as you will.

[MineralMan]

13. OK, then...

[AtheistCrusader]

14. Theism is about belief. Gnosticism is about knowledge.

I am an agnostic atheist.

I don't believe, but I do not profess to know for sure.

A Deist may be a agnostic theist.
A Catholic is a gnostic theist.
Some anti-theism atheists fall in the gnostic atheist camp.


Agnosticism and Atheism aren't separate camps, they describe different issues.

[MineralMan]

15. Of course. I'm just describing my own atheism.

I cannot believe. I cannot imagine a situation where I could believe. I'm not an agnostic. I do know the difference.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. If one of the many claimed gods that humanity has worshipped over the millenia showed up

and demonstrated itself, uncontrovertibly to be, if not the actual god humanity professed to exist, at least capable of doing all the things humanity had assigned to that god, I think you might change your mind.

I have a number of tests and criteria that I would accept as proof of supernatural existence.

The bar is high though, and the outcome looks unlikely....

[MineralMan]

17. Well, I sort of went through that stage at one point,

but finally realized that the probability of that happening approached zero very, very closely, so I gave up on the possibility.

I am also unable to believe that any such thing could occur, with a very, very high degree of confidence, approaching 100% as closely as the probability of it happening approaches zero.

I think it's much more likely that we'll discover sentient life elsewhere in the universe, frankly, and that also appears to be very, very unlikely.

[NeoGreen]

18. The non-god...

...defeated by its asymptote.

[Mariana]

19. Christians have asked me what it would take for me to believe

Jesus existed and did all the things the Bible said he did. I say Jesus can come back and do those same things again, under controlled conditions and scientific observation, for all to see. I don't think this is an outrageous request. In fact, I would prefer he skip those miracles that involve the deliberate infliction of pain and suffering and death. There's no need for that.

[safeinOhio]

3. About half, if not more of the Clergy in my Church, along with

about half of the members are Atheist.

Seems the ones on the East Coast are a little more Christ oriented and as you move West, less so.

Any questions, visit you local Unitarian Universalist Church or Fellowship.

[MineralMan]

4. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Thanks!

[eppur_se_muova]

5. ...

https://books.google.com/books?id=0P3RBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT253&lpg=PT253&dq=yes+minister++theologians&source=bl&ots=Qj7q9FsGeX&sig=jronXzt90mXrsE2tcWbBhHd84zo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwir9_z6yeLZAhUCzFMKHSmMAbAQ6AEIdDAN#v=onepage&q=yes%20minister%20%20theologians&f=false

Wish I could find the clip from the show.

[handmade34]

6. yup

I learned that when I went to Seminary... yes, there are Atheist Clergy out there... and if I had continued I would be one of them