I am a member of The Clergy Project (TCP). This is a fairly unique organization...in order to become a member, you must A) have been in a position of religious leadership at some point in your life, and B) must now be an atheist. Not someone who's struggling, or has doubts, but someone who as absolutely and unequivocally rejected all belief in any kind of supernatural entities.
The reason for establishing TCP was simple. While losing your religious beliefs can be difficult or painful for anyone, people in positions of religious leadership can face unique challenges.
Consider a 45-year old Anglican minister. He was a Christian all his life. His only education was a religious education, attending seminary and getting ordained. Since being ordained, his only job has been as a religious leader in his church.
His church provides his housing for him. Virtually all the people he knows -- friends and parishioners -- are Christians like him. His family is Christian.
So...what does it mean to him if he reveals he no longer believes?
First, obviously, he loses his job. The church isn't going to keep a minister who has rejected God and Christianity, who considers the Bible a work of complete fiction. But when he loses his job, he also loses his home.
Not only has he lost his home, but he's virtually unemployable. All of his education and experience are in the religious field, and have little if any application to jobs outside of that sphere.
Then there's the fact that most churches, when they discover their priest/pastor/minister has lost their faith, turn on them with hatred and animosity. They are treated as a pariah, they are shunned, they are condemned. And those who don't react that way generally are trying to convert them back to Christianity.
On top of all of that, they may also have to face the loss of their family. If their wife is still religious, it could mean divorce, and fighting over the kids.
TCP has over 1000 members (think about that for a minute -- one thousand people who were religious leaders, generally very well educated/indoctrinated in their beliefs, and certainly far more knowledgeable than the average believer, who nevertheless concluded that there is no god, and that religion is bunk). Of those 1000 members, approximately one quarter to one third are still in positions of religious leadership! Not because they want to be, but because they feel trapped (for the very reasons I listed above). Most of these would be people who are older, for whom the prospects of finding new jobs and building new lives will be far more difficult.
There are a few who are there because they want to be. These are generally people in much more liberal churches, where God and the Bible are treated more as valuable concepts than as literal truths. A great example would be Greta Vosper, a minister in the United Church of Canada, who lives in Toronto. She gained international attention when she openly declared herself an atheist (and had the support of the people in her church), and the United Church leadership tried to oust her. After a long, public battle, the United Church finally accepted her as an openly atheist minister.
I am not only a member (my own credentials for acceptance are that I served as a missionary, evangelist, and church planter in China from 1993-1998, before finally rejecting it all and becoming a passionate Secular Humanist), but also serve on the Board of Directors, and am the head of a committee that focuses on international outreach (to provide support to members who live outside of North America).
I'd encourage anyone who's interested to check out the organization's website. It's a truly fascinating group of people, and in my opinion, a very worthwhile project.
The reason for establishing TCP was simple. While losing your religious beliefs can be difficult or painful for anyone, people in positions of religious leadership can face unique challenges.
Consider a 45-year old Anglican minister. He was a Christian all his life. His only education was a religious education, attending seminary and getting ordained. Since being ordained, his only job has been as a religious leader in his church.
His church provides his housing for him. Virtually all the people he knows -- friends and parishioners -- are Christians like him. His family is Christian.
So...what does it mean to him if he reveals he no longer believes?
First, obviously, he loses his job. The church isn't going to keep a minister who has rejected God and Christianity, who considers the Bible a work of complete fiction. But when he loses his job, he also loses his home.
Not only has he lost his home, but he's virtually unemployable. All of his education and experience are in the religious field, and have little if any application to jobs outside of that sphere.
Then there's the fact that most churches, when they discover their priest/pastor/minister has lost their faith, turn on them with hatred and animosity. They are treated as a pariah, they are shunned, they are condemned. And those who don't react that way generally are trying to convert them back to Christianity.
On top of all of that, they may also have to face the loss of their family. If their wife is still religious, it could mean divorce, and fighting over the kids.
TCP has over 1000 members (think about that for a minute -- one thousand people who were religious leaders, generally very well educated/indoctrinated in their beliefs, and certainly far more knowledgeable than the average believer, who nevertheless concluded that there is no god, and that religion is bunk). Of those 1000 members, approximately one quarter to one third are still in positions of religious leadership! Not because they want to be, but because they feel trapped (for the very reasons I listed above). Most of these would be people who are older, for whom the prospects of finding new jobs and building new lives will be far more difficult.
There are a few who are there because they want to be. These are generally people in much more liberal churches, where God and the Bible are treated more as valuable concepts than as literal truths. A great example would be Greta Vosper, a minister in the United Church of Canada, who lives in Toronto. She gained international attention when she openly declared herself an atheist (and had the support of the people in her church), and the United Church leadership tried to oust her. After a long, public battle, the United Church finally accepted her as an openly atheist minister.
I am not only a member (my own credentials for acceptance are that I served as a missionary, evangelist, and church planter in China from 1993-1998, before finally rejecting it all and becoming a passionate Secular Humanist), but also serve on the Board of Directors, and am the head of a committee that focuses on international outreach (to provide support to members who live outside of North America).
I'd encourage anyone who's interested to check out the organization's website. It's a truly fascinating group of people, and in my opinion, a very worthwhile project.
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2SgzOUc
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