Atheist clergy should remove masks It’s high time United Church stopped being so ni

Twila

Nanah Potato
Mar 26, 2003
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so incredibly strange.
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To most non-United Church of Canada members who have followed the peculiar case of the semi-famous Rev. Gretta Vosper, it’s a no-brainer.

Why on earth, outsiders ask, would a Christian church allow someone who has long been an outspoken atheist to remain in the clergy?

However, for many in the United Church, which is barely holding its status as the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the case of Vosper is something best not to discuss. After all, Vosper has until recently remained largely unchallenged because most United Church leaders wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, or be criticized as intolerant.

Sometimes United Church people seem so Canadian that way, which I’ll get to in a moment.

Given the openness of the United Church — to which more than 2.5 million Canadians still claim affiliation — it’s of note that a bit of pushback has finally arrived.

The church’s Toronto presbytery politely began asking in May whether Vosper is doing her religious duties. She leads a small congregation in Toronto, from where she often denounces her leaders (including national Moderator Rev. Gary Paterson, of Vancouver).

Even though Vosper has been proudly declaring for 14 years, on all media platforms, she is atheist, it looks as if her dubious employment will drag on, at least in the short term. The review of Vosper has bogged down in a bureaucratic “appeal.”

That shouldn’t stop the rest of us from musing on the strange case of Vosper.

She is the author of two best-selling books on atheism’s superiority, and a frequent go-to source for journalists at secular media outlets when they feel they need to find a new angle on Christianity.

Vosper’s website describes her as “minister/author/atheist.” Her first book was With or Without God. It is not a put-down to suggest if Vosper was not writing and speaking about her atheism from an ostensibly Christian pulpit she would be widely ignored.

for the rest of the story:

Douglas Todd: Atheist clergy should remove masks
 

Curious Cdn

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 22, 2015
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The United Church of Canada is the white bread, 1% milk version of Christianity.
Anyway, they are mostly harmless, too.
 

Twila

Nanah Potato
Mar 26, 2003
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How many of United Church's 2.5 million members are atheists?

Isn't that an oxymoron? Why would you go to a Protestant style church if you're atheist? Why would anyone be a minister, wear clergy robes if they were an out spoken atheist?

Large strangeness to this woman.
 

Walter

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 28, 2007
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She's often on 640 AM spouting her views. A real moron.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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May 28, 2007
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She is the definition of hypocrite. If the is an atheist what business does she have being a minister? If she is a minister, what business is she being an atheist?

Unfortunately the UCOC does try to tolerate everybody so she will probably continue her hypocritical presence for a considerable time to come.
 

Walter

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 28, 2007
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For decades we have called the United Church pulpits fruit stands.
 

Corduroy

Senate Member
Feb 9, 2011
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Isn't that an oxymoron? Why would you go to a Protestant style church if you're atheist? Why would anyone be a minister, wear clergy robes if they were an out spoken atheist?

Large strangeness to this woman.

There are probably a lot of people who identify both as atheists and a member of the United Church. For many, church association do not always equal belief. Seems weird to you and I but that's how people think.

There's the joke about the man being pulled over in Northern Ireland and being interrogated by a group of armed men:

"Are you a Catholic or a Protestant?"
"I'm an atheist actually."
"Well, are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?"