Bruce Gerencser thinks Jesus owes him a refund.
For most of my life, I lived in poverty, rarely making enough money to provide for the needs of my family. You told me, Jesus, that I would never have to beg for food, so it was good that Food Stamps didn’t count, right? The Gerencser family never missed a meal, but I do wonder: which of our meals did you provide? I worked and my wages helped buy groceries. For a few years, we received Food Stamps and made ample use of government food stuffs. And on more than a few occasions, kindly church members gave us groceries. It seems, to me anyway, Jesus, that you didn’t have a hand in feeding us. I know that you take credit for the sunshine and rain that causes crops to grow, but everyone now knows, Jesus — thanks to science — that you have nothing to do with where food comes from.
It’s a good piece, and I encourage all of you to go read it.
Bruce was associated with Independent Fundamentalist Baptist and Southern Baptist churches, and I can imagine somebody thinking to himself, “Well, Yeah!, those denominations are crazy. But my church …”
No. The metaphysical claims are identical: You were born no damn good, you can never be any damn good, and the only way to escape the eternal punishment you were born deserving is to join our club. Further, our club gets first dibs, and your family and friends get the leftovers. Your goal should be the complete eradication of your self-interest and self-direction — self annihilation — because your self is irremediably evil.
The only difference between IFB/SBC churches and any other western Christian church is that the Baptists are louder and balder about the degradation that inheres in Christian teaching.