Just when I thought the rantings at Jocelyn Zichterman’s rampantly atheistic group “Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) Cult Survivors” couldn’t get any worse, someone sent us a link to this post which begins:
Finally made it through the new testament.The rice paper in the bible makes great rollin paper.
And of course, this Bible burning in using the Bible for rolling either cigarettes or marijuana gets tacit approval from the sister of Jocelyn Zichterman, and group administrator, Melissa Fletcher, who replies:
I always had “don’t destroy the Bible” guilt. Like the KJV, thrashed out book of my childhood would somehow make me wrong with God if I tossed it.
One poster who made it clear that he was not IFB, simply asked “what’s wrong with believing the Bible” and because of that statement, was called a “Bible thumper” to which Melissa replied, “Bible thumpers are not welcomed here”.
The group began as an attack against the IFB and it’s followers based on experiences that Jocelyn Zichterman had with her own father, Bart Janz, a Baptist preacher, and her brother Jason Janz, also a preacher. Jocelyn’s husband, Joseph Zichterman, was also once a highly recognized fundamentalist preacher and together along with his wife, had a website that encouraged belief in the scriptures when Joseph made an unexpected and abrupt change and left his Baptist pulpit.
Their flight away from the IFB also appears to have occurred after Jocelyn’z brother, Jeremy, passed away after spending 14 years in a coma caused by an automobile accident [1](although it appears from other articles I have seen that Jeremy, too, was included in the allegations of sexual abuse against Jocelyn although I am not aware to what extent. I have read where the allegations against Jason Janz involved him being on top of her fully clothed when they were in their early teens [2], but have not been advised or informed if there were allegations that exceeded those details, and considering the source of the above link #2, without separate corroboration can not rely solely on a single comment from a person who claims to know Jason).
Nevertheless, the group has evolved into an all-out attack against Christianity as a whole. The allegations against Bart, Jason, Jeremy, if true would certainly give Jocelyn validation for her anger, but why blame God? Unfortunately, many who suffer abuse at the hands of professing Christians throw the Bible out altogether (or burn it, as is the matter at issue in this article). It’s as though if God is all-powerful, and COULD have stopped abuse, then the conclusion is that He SHOULD have stopped it, and because it was permitted per se, according to the abused it is ultimately God’s fault.
This is a classic argument against Christianity in the problem of the existence of evil. If God is a loving God, why does He permit chaos? The short answer to that (and I say short because there have been entire volumes written on this subject) is that God gave man dominion over the earth, and man chose to use his choice to acquire knowledge of good and evil by disobeying God which produced a domino effect that has cursed all of humanity with sin. Although God provided a remedy from the penalty of sin in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the deliverance from the presence of sin and judgment upon unbelievers is yet future. God has not forced man to comply with His standards, and since He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance, in His patience He has allowed man the opportunity to come to Christ even during a time where it appears that evil has been the victor in world events.
The fact remains is that God HAS done something about evil, but man in his lust for vengeance seeks his own brand of justice, and wants that justice right now, and if God doesn’t judge immediately and prevent evil from occurring, He must not be a loving God. Yet those who are unsaved are already under judgment and are awaiting their sentence if they have not received the free pardon that is offered through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
These are all facts that were once known to Jocelyn, and she has allowed the crisis she has faced to shape her views against God, and is now encouraging and permitting an assault against the Bible, Christians, and God altogether.
What is also sad are the amount of members who at one time, professed to be Christians, now siding with Jocelyn. Two of the most noteworthy are Cynthia McClaskey and Nancy Bicknell. We’ve written a few words about Cynthia on here, but Nancy Bicknell has been the moderator in Jocelyn’s group for about six months according to Jocelyn. Nancy Bicknell poses as a Christian in groups like Profaned Pulpit (an anti-IFB group but with at least some emphasis on the Bible in that the group encourages belief in God and the Bible, but maintains many of the attitudes of the other anti-fundamentalist groups) and yet sings the praises of Jocelyn Zichterman in the following comment:
So proud of your accomplishment…what a great book and timing to open the eyes of the public to the IFB abuse.
Nancy Bicknell places humanism and psychiatry above God and the Bible, and if she is or ever was a Christian, it amazes me how any professing Christian deems it wise or appropriate to stand in agreement with those who attack God and the Bible. It is like the Pharisees and Sadducees who even though having fundamentally different views of Old Testament doctrine, came to agreement on the “problem” of Jesus Christ and ultimately set aside their differences for a common cause and conspired to crucify Him.
But God will not be mocked. The sad thing is that the Bible they are burning will be their judge one day. And the retributions that they accused God of neglecting will be a reality against them for their rejection of and mocking of Jesus Christ. Nobody will get away with their abuse or sin when this world eventually draws to a close.
Do Right Christians 