Fired Pastor Ryan Bell Receives Staggering Donations From Atheist Community

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/ryan-bell-donations-atheist_n_4551225.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Fired Pastor Ryan Bell Receives Staggering Donations From Atheist Community, Led By Blogger Hemant Mehta
Posted: 01/07/2014 9:32 am EST


Ryan J. Bell / Facebook

Former Seventh-day Adventist pastor Ryan Bell decided to critically examine his faith by embarking on a year-long journey to "try on" atheism, but his philosophical experiment has already led to some serious consequences. Since he began his year without God on January 1, 2014, he has been fired from his positions as adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary.

He wrote in a blog post:

So I find myself, on Day 4, without any employment. My savings will run out in about two weeks and I’m scrambling to find immediate work doing, well…anything—manual labor, waiting tables, other teaching and consulting, or whatever I can find.

Luckily, giving up his faith in God didn't mean that he had to give up his faith in humanity- and a generous initiative by atheist blogger Hemant Mehta has demonstrated the power of community.

Though Mehta initially criticized the methodology of Bells' approach, he set up a GoFundMe page to support him, writing that, "As an atheist, I want Bell to know that we appreciate what he's trying to do and that we'll support him even if his Christian community will not and (more importantly) even if he decides atheism isn't for him when the year is over."

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