Faithful Flocks Lead by Greedy, Lying, Atheist Ministers

The Captain's knowledge of theology is full of more holes than a slice of Emmentaler cheese, so he can't help but wonder what kind of afterlife implications are at stake for parishioners who follow the teachings of non-believing, hell-bound liars. They can't be good, right? And why doesn't Baby Jesus send a lightning bolt down from the heavens to burn these churches of deceit to the ground?

"I am an atheist," says "Jack," a Southern Baptist with more than 20 years in ministry.

"I live out my life as if there is no God," says "Adam," who is part of the pastoral staff of a small evangelical church in the Bible Belt.

The two, who asked that their real identities be protected, are pastors who have lost their faith. And these two men, who have built their careers and lives around faith, say they now feel trapped, living a lie.

[...]

Jack said that 10 years ago, he started to feel his faith slipping away. He grew bothered by inconsistencies regarding the last days of Jesus' life, what he described as the improbability of stories like "Noah's Ark" and by attitudes expressed in the Bible regarding women and their place in the world.

"Reading the Bible is what led me not to believe in God," he said. (Captain's note: surprising this hasn't had the same effect on more people over the millennia, no?)

[...]

Adam said his initial doubts about God came as he read the work of the so-called New Atheists -- popular authors like the prominent scientist Richard Dawkins. He said the research was intended to help him defend his faith.

"My thinking was that God is big enough to handle any questions that I can come up with," he said but that did not happen.

"I realized that everything I'd been taught to believe was sort of sheltered," Adam said, "and never really looked at secular teaching or other philosophies. ... I thought, 'Oh my gosh. Am I believing the wrong things? Have I spent my entire life and my career promoting something that is not true?'"

[...]

Adam said he now considers himself an "atheistic agnostic." "I don't think we can prove that there is not a God or that there is a God," he said. "I live out my life as if there is no God."

He and Jack said that when speaking to parishioners, they tried to stick to the sections of the Bible that they still believed in -- the parts about being a good person. Both said that they would like to leave their jobs though they can't afford to.

"I want to get out of the position that I'm in as quickly as I can because I try to be a person of integrity and character," Adam said. "With the economy the way it is, with my lack of marketable skills other than a seminary education, it has me in a tough spot."

[ABC News]