UPDATE::Ex-Seventh-day Adventist pastor takes a yearlong timeout from God - LA Times

No matter what "side of the coin" Ryan chooses, I believe the world will be better because of it. A man of great compassion who will soon discover that the journey never really ends.
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"Not so long ago I was pastoring a church, and here I am, surrounded by all these atheists singing for shock value about how terrible God is," he said. "It doesn't feel like these are my people. Then again, most of this year, it's been hard to say who exactly my people are."

[,,,]
This new version of Pastor Bell focused less on individual salvation than social justice. It wasn't long before he was speaking out against Bank of America for what he considered predatory lending practices. Or demonstrating during the Occupy takeover of the lawns at City Hall. Or advocating for gay rights and marriage equality.

All along, his doubts grew. The more he prayed, the more prayer felt useless. The more he tried to reconcile the Bible with science, the more it seemed he was putting together a puzzle with parts that didn't fit. The more he thought about the unceasing suffering in the world, the more he doubted God's existence.

[,,,]
Without a church, living alone, Bell felt dazed.

Recalled Randall Frederick, a close friend and theology student at Fuller Seminary: "He'd just lost so much faith, he did not know what to believe in."

On a rain-swept afternoon at a Pasadena restaurant, Bell and Frederick met for lunch. They joked about a popular book by an evangelical author who had vowed to live biblically for 12 months. An idea came. Maybe, to give his life focus again, Bell should take his doubts to their full conclusion, at least for a while.

Ex-Seventh-day Adventist pastor takes a yearlong timeout from God - LA Times

035 Pastor Ryan Bell - Dave Foda 02/03 by Atheists On Air | Religion Podcasts

Tonight at 7PM, this is where I'll be. I am looking forward to what Ryan has to say as I find what he is "attempting" intriguing. I briefly commented on his story when it was initially hit the news and have been "following" him since,,,


035 Pastor Ryan Bell - Dave Foda 02/03 by Atheists On Air | Religion Podcasts

Top 12 Pastor Stunts: Living as an Atheist Is Just the Latest Ministry Gimmick - David Gibson | God's Politics Blog | Sojourners

A different view of Bell's "stunt." Which I don't think I would go quite so far to call this a "stunt" or "gimmick." One does not give up their career and means of income for a stunt. None of the others listed lost anything,,,

A California pastor made headlines this month when he announced that he will live like an atheist for a year to see what it’s like on the other side of belief. But Ryan Bell is actually just the latest “stunt pastor” to use unorthodox means to draw attention to his message.

In recent years, other church leaders have challenged congregants to have sex (with their spouse) for 30 days straight or have dressed like homeless people or lived in a tiny box or on a spacious roof in order to gin up attention, attendance, or funds.

This kind of reality-show piety has a history, of sorts, especially in Christianity: A fifth-century ascetic, Simeon Stylites, achieved great fame by living — subsisting, really – atop a pillar for some 37 years.

But the rise of the entertainment industry, combined with a focus on marketing techniques to preach the faith or build up a church, have sparked a penchant for ministry gimmicks that go well beyond the old dunk tank,,,

Top 12 Pastor Stunts: Living as an Atheist Is Just the Latest Ministry Gimmick - David Gibson | God's Politics Blog | Sojourners

Remember the Pastor Trying Out Atheism for a Year? He Just Got Fired by His Christian Employers. Let’s Help Him Out

I find this "experiment" intriguing, and it is stirring up a shit storm as Bell is already being apologetic in regards to his former employers; justifying their actions. You see what he will find at the end of the road, if he is honest with himself, there is no God, religion is cruel, and voicing those views will cause backlash as he will be seen as "not normal." People he thought that were his friends will disappear one-by-one; even his own family will step back from him. His apostasy will be viewed as "just too much to bear," or "you're being influenced by the debil." He will hear "I'll pray for," at least once a day if not more. The fact he has gone public, good luck getting a job, hiding who you really are sucks.

Bell is in for a long journey, what many forget and he will soon discover, religious belief (or non) is ingrained in us since birth. Doesn't matter if you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu or whatever, those views inform every decision, every thought, that we make/have whether we like it or not. In order for him to embrace non-belief he will need to examine every part of himself. He will not come out of this unscathed, to discover that the very foundation of your life was a myth, well it just hurts. And yes I'm speaking from personal experience.

Last week, I posted about Ryan J. Bell, an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary and a former pastor of a Seventh-day Adventist church. Bell decided to run an experiment where he would live like an atheist for a year while documenting his journey.

I criticized the methodology — I don’t think you can even pretend to be an atheist simply by reading books by atheist authors and attending atheist gatherings when your religious beliefs are still somewhere in the back of your mind — but I still applauded the fact that he was exploring atheism and wanted to learn more about it.

Unfortunately, exploring faith with a critical eye, as Bell was attempting to do, was a little too much for his employers. Just days after he made his announcement, they fired him until he rededicates himself to Jesus:

Remember the Pastor Trying Out Atheism for a Year? He Just Got Fired by His Christian Employers. Let’s Help Him Out