Some time during AP Stats I started reading From Bible-Belt Pastor to Atheist Leader and read as inconspicuously could I manage. When I finally finished the article during Etymology, I had to take a few moments to process.
I, too, have "come out" as an atheist in recent years, so I was intrigued by how his spiritual journey was both similar and different to my own. Jerry DeWitt discovered his passion for religion, in his case evangelical Christianity, during a church retreat. DeWitt became entrenched in his religion, forgoing college to become a travelling preacher throughout the Bible Belt. One day he found he just could not pray. I wouldn't say I was ever deeply religious, but I was raised in Sunday School to believe in G-d, obey the Ten Commandments, etc. I attended religious summer camp where I met some of my best friends in the world (I say in the world because they span time zones and borders). One of the tenants of Reform Judaism is the freedom to ask questions. I had always been taught that it was okay to question G-d and the Torah, though I'm sure my non-belief was not the intended effect.
Turns out DeWitt and I are among millions of other freethinkers who have become disillusioned by religion.
Alas, his lack of faith had some extreme negative effects on his personal relationships. DeWitt lost his job, became written off as a "Satanist" by his beloved community, and divorced by his wife. Unlike DeWitt, I was not alone. My father, sister, and brother expressed that they shared my beliefs-- or rather, non-beliefs. During a discussion about the concept of miracles, I learned that over half of my Sunday School class was comprised of atheists. Even during philosophical conversations at my Jewish summer camp, my atheism was embraced and my questions encouraged.
Of course, one can find anything on the internet. Through various atheism-related tumblrs and r/atheism on Reddit, I was able to find like-minded individuals with whom to discuss, just like DeWitt. There are scores of people out there unhindered by religion. Perhaps my views are controversial and taboo, but that's how you know they're important enough to care about. Albeit unfortunate that DeWitt has lost so much, he has been liberated. There were some great quotes in this articles, but one especially stood out to me.
"Religion does a lot of good, especially the loving kind, like at Grace Church," he said. "I know people who went to a more liberal kind of Christianity and were happy with that. The problem is, for me, there was a process involved in moving from Pentecostalism to a more liberal theology, like Grace Church. What makes me different is that process didn't stop, and it took me all the way. In the end, I couldn't help feeling that all religion, even the most loving kind, is just a speed bump in the progress of the human race."
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