Jerry DeWitt - "Hope After Faith"
Вставка
- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- Recorded at Reason at the Rock November 2012.
A former Pentecostal minister of over 25 years, Jerry DeWitt left faith behind in 2011 with the realization that his personal doctrine was much kinder than that of the god he'd worshipped and served. Jerry became the first graduate of The Clergy Project, created by Richard Dawkins and Dan Barker as a safe, private community for former and current clergy members who no longer held supernatural beliefs. Jerry was soon after brought on board as Executive Director of Recovering From Religion, where he can also help laypersons ease into the transition away from faith.
Thanks for the support everyone! It really means a lot to all of us at The Clergy Project.
It's not easy to leave religion behind. It takes guts and intelligence. Not everyone is capable.
I have so much respect for guys like Jerry who have the "nads" to leave all they know because they can't live a lie. Heroic is a word that gets tossed around a lot....but to pursue what you know to be true regardless of the consequences, that takes some heroic determination. I was never in that world so I can only imagine (not too hard because my brother is a pastor), all that he gave up. I'd like to have a beer with Jerry....
Jerry brother don't forget that we can still move one another with out God you are okay an we salute you
I love the 4 horsemen, that said they tend to talk over most believers heads. Jerry is someone who can reach the masses.
I know Jerry is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, I think his is a voice that was missing in the American atheist community. As someone who grew up in the South I understand his presentation style. People who might be put off at first by a Dawkins or a Hitchens will relate to Jerry right away. And I love that he is so warm and fuzzy. Atheists can come across as too intellectual or cold sometimes. Jerry shows religious people that they don’t have to give up their “heart” and that atheists have no lack of meaning and purpose and love in their lives.
Jerry is also a lesson for atheists who don’t understand what it’s like to grow up in a community where everyone is extremely religious. Religious people are not all crazy, stupid, or hateful- they’re just very well indoctrinated. I love it when Jerry says “I was kinder and more moral than my doctrine.” In my experience most Christians in America are kinder and more moral than their doctrine. We need to provide a safe, soft landing for Christians recovering from religion - people like Jerry, Dr. Darrell Ray, and Seth Andrews provide that.
Dear Prudence A well thought-out comment, and very well said! :)
+Dear Prudence I've come to understand that Jerry is the future of the atheist movement... the new atheist is a humanist. Angry atheism is not the way.
He has a living soul. It consists of mind,will, emotions and 5 pysical senses. That is what makes us different from any animal on earth. They function by instinct. And they dont reason. It astounds me when people think when they die it is over. It really just begins. Your spirit which is your life that god has given you goes back to him.
Great talk, needs more views.
he is so right, especially that faith is acting as if you know
I was brought up in a devout catholic home. My dearly beloved mother believed very deeply and this is odd for me to say, but, I thought she was a saint. But in my religious home there was a lot of fear. All of my life life I just knew I was going to hell. However, when she transitioned something lifted and I increasingly became filled with doubt about all I was taught. I now consider myself agnostic because I do believe there is something greater than you and I. But it isn't heaven and hell.
Jerry makes a good point about to reach/connect with believers-- who are not sociopaths/psychopaths-- through their innate humanism... aka gods do not show you the way to being human, and humans are more important than gods.
In fact, whenever a believer ask me "did you become an atheist because some religion hurt/failed you?"-- I always ask them back "did you become a believer because some humans hurt/failed you? "
awesome video, thank you
Good job Jerry DeWitt and high five.
Paradisecityxo: he isn't trying to take away your faith. Your path and your beliefs are just that...yours. He's only sharing his evolution after years of religion. Its about being free of judgment. I love stories about people in their final minutes realize that we made life a lot more difficult than it really is. That moment of divine clarity.
Love it.. But he still has his sermon type delivery.. :)
Great video
Jerry, like the rest of us will have to meet Jesus someday.That day will come as a blessing for many and for others - well.....
thanks, keep spreading the irrational fear of hell.
Hoansbuckler Your disagreement isn't with me but with the biblical writers, especially with Jesus. I would read the bible to get a better understanding on the topic at hand.
Randy Pacchioli no thanks 16 years of church and christian schooling was enough for me
Randy Pacchioli If you think Jesus wrote one single word in the bible, you are terrible mistaken.
devils dont exist .. and prayer does not work ...just chew on those for a while.
"I do believe there is something greater than you and I. But it isn't heaven and hell.", any proof for that assertion?
Please enlighten me if you may on my semi-rhetorical question I just posted. Thank you, sir. It will be much appreciated & I'll be looking forward to it since nobody else will be able to appropriately, honestly, & humbly reply....
lucky gut he met Mr. Hitchens !....rip
Paradisecityxo: I don't need proof. It is just a sense that I have had. There are moments that feel so divine it is impossible to put into words. If I added those moments over a lifetime, it would be less than 5 minutes in total. It is unexplainable and frankly I am not interested in explaining them. It is just a glow that feels so heavenly. I really am not interested in justifying it to anyone either.
Faith is hope. You are right. Hope that you are right, and that the years and years you have put into it will finally pay off. All those parties you never attended, all those love affairs you resisted, all those experiences you denied yourself will pay off in the end. You'll be floating on a cloud in front of your gold mansion with a big smile on your face.
The fact that you interpret his talk about his own personal experience as an "attack" tells me a lot. America needs a mass deprogramming.
Jerry DeWitt is certainly an intellectual & eloquent with his words- however, I'll offer an observation: He opens with a CLEAR indication that the The Church/Christianity/God has hurt him- which begs the question: is he a true atheist? And Because of THiS??
Analogy: if I go 2 a football game (Even play on 1) & they lose or MY "team" commits errors & we lose....it's actually Not a wise or honest belief to hold that "Football is not real"...Isn't it much more prudent to say, "THAT team sucks"...?
"You see in religion only good stuff and you ignore all that bad and sick parts.", when did I ever say that? I could very well assume you see only the bad and ignore the good. You have to accept ALL of it, or NONE of it. The good overshadows the bad; yo'd know this if you don't read it black & white or judge by your merits alone, that's not how the Bible works, hun.
Tracy, atheism is not a religion or a "worldview".
It is simply a response to a single claim; "A/My god exists".
The response is "I'm not convinced".
That's it. There really is nothing else involved.
It's a fact that no one has any control over what they believe or don't believe. I can even demonstrate that fact.
Believing something without genuine evidence is a problem no matter how good it makes you feel.
I dont call it luck it is a sad story to me how a man in stage four of cancer still holds on to his false beliefs.
Jerry, with all due respect, you seem like a great guy and I'm glad you gave up mythical beliefs. But I can't stand the preaching style of talk. It's authoritarian, one way, full of too many terms that suggest absolute commands like "you must" and you have to". Especially the "Can I get a Darwin?" call with the expectation that everyone respond like obedient zombies is very irritating. Please stop preaching and work on a more conversational, collaborative, and interactive communication style.
What kind of evidence do you want.
"Make up answers...." Interesting ministry. No wonder why he lefts the clergy.
the dalai lama uses a metaphor that ethics and basic compassion are like water, and religion is like tea. Tea is nothing but water plus some extra herbs, a bit of honey, etc. If you have one kind of tea vs. another or no tea at all, you're fine, but without water, you die. Just so, religion can be a fine delivery system for ethics and basic compassion, but it's those things that sustain us--not religion per se.
OK, I'm going to try to explain this one more time. I am not convinced gods exist. Convince me. I am completely open to any evidence you want to present and any argument you care to make. There may actually be something that would qualify as a god out there.
As I said before, I have no control over what I do or don't believe, just like you. Somewhere along the line, you were convinced. That's fine. What convinced you and should it convince me?
I trust my mind to do whatever it is going to do.
i almost mistook him for Ryan Connor (ua-cam.com/video/GcpUN6dC840/v-deo.htmlhd=1), I was gonna say, "he was just preaching against atheism the other day"
yes he did he was a athiest He truthfully had a belief that there is no god. You can use sematics but that is basically what his life evolved around. You have to first believe before you can accept it. But right now no disrespect intended he now nows the truth. He too has a eternal soul and by all reports even in stage four cancer he held on to his belief. Hell is horrable but to fall to await judgement and then to receive it is worse. I should of said Hades hell is the lake of fire.
"Want"?
Evidence has nothing to do with what people want.
As far as the "kind" of evidence, how about the convincing kind? If you are looking for a specific data point that will convince me, I have no idea what that might be.
I'm fairly certain that my epistemological standards are going to be higher than yours. How much higher? Let's find out. I asked you before, what convinced you? Could you have predicted what would convince you before you experienced it?
I don't see the point in all this; what do you gain out of trying to deprive people's faith? Faith is hope. I'm sure you remember Hebrews 11:1. Hundred-thousands of broken lives are restored when they find Christ (mine, among them). What exactly made you betray your faith anyway, and why attack the very faith you once held dear?
Jerry I am a Christian first and a pentecostal second. Have you really found the truth. As you really know there is no truth outside of Christ. I believe you are called and his gifts are without repentence, but you cant be a pastor to the athiest community. Water and oil dont mix. Your crusade will bring no fruit. You must know being a christian is not a religion. Tell them the truth it is a relationship. God help you.
Your putting your trust in something arent you. Your trusting that their is not enough evidence that their is a God. You have made your mind up. And I believe that I can not sway you. And you can not sway me because you have no evidence to the contrary. So we are at an impass. are we not.
When you become grammitically correct;we will communicate
Atheism is a belief system. It has some very unorthedox views.It is a view that is all. Henery ford created the auto that you know drive. The wright brother created the airpain that you now fly. God created the heavens and the earth that I now marvel.
Then how about asking Jesus into your life. I will go threw the routine but if you are just playing me then for get it. I hate people taking behind my back.
He was preaching humanism/atheism. not the bible.
Rapturous
Darwin.
Lol people are preaching in the comments.... What a waste.... Haha