A Letter to All Pastors, Youth Ministers, and SS Teachers

Dear Christian Leader:

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Daniel Brown. I was raised as a Southern Baptist and "saved" when I was five. Both of my grandfathers were preachers. My parents were active in the church, as well. I attended a private Baptist school in Memphis until fifth grade. I was active in my youth group and went on many mission trips at home and abroad. I enrolled at Union University to become a preacher and was a member of the Ministerial Association. Additionally, I worked as a youth minister for four years. Into my third year at Union, I decided to change my major to design communication and moved to middle TN to work for the Tennessee Baptist Convention. I was their graphic designer for almost four years. During this time, I finished up my degree at Belmont.

While working for the TBC, I met a couple of guys from the Cooperative Program Development division of the SBC Executive Committee in 1999 and went to work for them soon after. I was production manager for CP for almost four years. I traveled the country helping to promote CP and interacted with all state conventions and worked at all the annual meetings. All along I was attending church and teaching Sunday school.

From age fifteen, I felt this nagging feeling inside that persisted until I was 30. The Bible seemed ridiculous, but I MUST believe for fear of being disconnected from God and the afterlife. My pursuit of knowledge and desire to understand the origins of Scripture led me to the place where I am today. It is fact that the Bible is simply a hodge-podge of ramblings from a number of unverifiable sources. Because of this fact, the foundation of Judaism and Christianity is critically damaged. Additionally, the wild claims in the Bible, such as raising the dead, a talking donkey, a talking, burning bush, and walking on water are all ridiculous and simply are not true.

I’ve been on a two-year long quest to find preachers, evangelists, and church leaders to engage me in an on-going dialogue about their faith. As of late, I have found no one who can debate on an intellectual level and present solid evidence to support their position. Most of what is presented is cliché and trite. My desire is to appeal to the intellect and beg Christians to reconsider their delusional beliefs and join me in building lives based in reason and pursuit of knowledge rather than obsessing about pleasing a celestial dictator.

I would appreciate a dialogue with you to see the depth of your knowledge of Scripture and Christianity and to present a perspective from someone who has come from a place similar to where you are.

Sincerely,
Daniel Brown