When I was going through my fall from grace, I wondered about the various ministers I have known. I mean, I’m a smart guy, but it’s not like I’m Johnny McBrilliant here, and these are people whose whole job is to look at this book and understand it. If I was having questions, how could they not? How did they manage to wrap their heads around a book that begs out for dispute and accepts none? What did they get that I was somehow missing?

Later, I got jaded. I figured that some of those ministers probably didn’t question anything, or were content with the cognitive dissonance required by the Bible. I figured that others lost their faith and their livelihoods. And I figured that there was a segment of the population that just didn’t care about the fact they had come to believe that there was no God. They had a trade, and they were making their way in the world. It really seemed that black and white to me, which probably reflects more on how angry I was at the time than anything else.

The reality is that there are preachers of all stripes out there who are losing or have lost their faiths. What might that be like? Now that my head is more clear on the subject of my own fall from grace, I cannot help but feel embarrassed about my initial reaction. I had a hard time accepting my loss of faith, but these are people who made their career and their life’s work around something they have now seen through. That must be an awful experience, and a lonely one.

And that’s where The Clergy Project steps in. I had heard of the project in the past, and I know that fellow Meddling Kid Boy Infidel is a huge supporter of the project, but I was glad today to read The Clergy Project: Do Atheist Clergy Change The Religion Game? by Greta Christina to get a better understanding of the project.

I mention all of this because I hope that groups like this can find their footing and be there to help people. I would ask that, if you are so inclined, you might help out by promoting The Clergy Project in your own way, whatever that looks like. From a strictly human perspective, I cannot only begin to imagine how difficult it must be to be in that position, and my heart, jaded and bitter though it is, goes out to them.

Jim