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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm clergy, an interfaith Christian minister.   I do not agree with the PP's opinion that Satan is "targeting me".  I don't believe in a being called Satan at all.  It's ridiculous to assume, even if I believed in an evil being, that he would target me over anyone else. You don't get superpowers in seminary.  There is no magic associated with being ordained.  I'm just a very ordinary person who happens to feel called to ministry.  The "devil" has no reason to target me over anyone else.

I think there are many things that could cause a minister to lose faith and decide that there is no god.  Unless we spend our entire careers in a church, we are exposed to some really ugly stuff.  I've worked in churches but most of my work has been in prison ministry and in Hospice.  It's hard to see that stuff day in and day out and not feel conflicted.  I have a close friend who works with the homeless population.  He has seen child prostitution, sex slavery, drug use, violence, .... everything.   We also talk to people who are experiencing crisis' of faith almost every day.  And their reasons are often very valid.

Some ministers become atheist.  Some leave the faith and then later return.  Some decide they are called to a different spiritual path.  Some remain where they are and work through their feelings.  What we all have in common is a very human response to our experience with the concept of a God.  Not all of us are on the same path.  I believe regardless of detour, we all get to the same place. To suggest that clergy are somehow special in their spirituality does a disservice to everyone.  I am trained to lead a church.  I am trained to provide spiritual counseling.  I am trained to work with the dying and their families.  Those are things I learned in school.  I feel called to be of service to others.  I feel called to be of service to God.  I feel called to ministry.  Those are things that I feel.  None of that makes me spiritually better or worse than any other human.  I just happened to work in ministry.

Faith is highly personal.  I can't prove to anyone the existence of God. I know that my life experience has left me certain that a loving God not only exists, but is a part of me.  Just as I am a part of him/her.  In my quiet time of meditation and prayer, God is as real to me as my own hands.  There is no doubt in my mind at all.  [/quote]

I was about to post something like this after shaking my head at the crazy fundie Christians and the selectively-choosing-articles-to-bolster-his-confirmation-bias militant atheist. You, sir/ma'am, are a rare voice of reason, moderation and true spirituality on the Internet.[/quote]

And you, sir/madam, are a indiscriminate name caller.[/quote]

Why the hostility? 
[/quote]

Why the sensitivity? You guys insult Christians in much worse ways on an hourly basis. And whereas belief is hard to prove, PP's point about OP's confirmation bias is objectively true. Guess you can dish it out but you can't take it....[/quote]

Dish what out?

Between these comments and the Stalin post there are some hostility towards atheists here this week. Is that common? [/quote]

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