# What percentage of religious leaders don't believe their own stuff anymore **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 27, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192 "2005-02-27T22:17:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/1 "2005-02-27T22:17:52Z")
I don’t know if this is verifiable so i’m putting it here instead of GQ. What percentage of religious leaders no longer believe the stuff they preach or if they do believe it do not care anymore (like if Bin Ladin didn’t give a damn about the US or Israel anymore but had to keep up the image because he has nothing else going for him)? Is there anyway to measure it or any educated guesses on this? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/2 "2005-02-27T22:19:34Z")
And yes I consider Bin Ladin a religious leader since his whole life revolves around his religious views and he is considered an inspiration for some other religious people (like it or not). ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/3 "2005-02-28T06:46:50Z")
It depends on what you mean. I’ve seen studies indicating what percentage of Christian pastors in various denominations deny believing in the virgin birth, the bodily resurection of Jesus, etc. But that doesn’t mean those people are frauds. Most of these pastors believe what they preach; they simply don’t preach those ideas. Many are quite open about their positions. They may not be at odds with the doctrinal standards of their own churches, and may be entirely consistant with what they believe is the correct understanding of the traditional creeds. Probably all pastors go through periods of doubt, and they may handle it in different ways. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in such a period, was once given the advice that he should “preach the Gospel until you believe, then preach the Gospel because you believe.” This is, of course a form of faith. One continues preaching in a time of doubt because one hopes and believes that faith will return. It is an entirely different thing from loosing faith altogether and simply preaching in order to keep up appearances. I don’t think there are many people who do that. Pastors who lose faith don’t last very long. There is very little reason to continue in a job you don’t really want in today’s society. I’m in my last year (hopefully) of seminary (not leading to ordination, however), and I’ve met and spoken with dozens of seminarians, pastors, lay church leaders, members of religious communities, and denominational leaders about issues of faith and loss of faith. I’ve actually been surprised at the high degree of sincerity and honesty I’ve encountered far more than at the lack thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/4 "2005-02-28T12:45:50Z")
I can’t seem to find the link to the Pope’s newest rant. The one where he said that the last 500+ years have been a mistake. My theory (that I stole from someone else) is that he has turned atheist, realized he doesn’t have much time to live, so he is trying to discredit him organization. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/5 "2005-02-28T14:30:52Z")
> [@Alan Smithee](#): > > Pastors who lose faith don’t last very long. There is very little reason to continue in a job you don’t really want in today’s society. There is if it’s lucrative, which it can be – not for your local pastor, but for star televangelists. I find myself wondering whether Robert Tilton **ever** believed in God. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/6 "2005-02-28T14:55:47Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > I can’t seem to find the link to the Pope’s newest rant. The one where he said that the last 500+ years have been a mistake. My theory (that I stole from someone else) is that he has turned atheist, realized he doesn’t have much time to live, so he is trying to discredit him organization. So they shut him up by giving him a tracheotomy? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/7 "2005-02-28T14:59:51Z")
But seriously, anyone have a link to the thread? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/8 "2005-02-28T15:46:29Z")
Many people believe that if they can find an obvious major contradiction in a religious leader’s statement, then they have proof that said religious leader is a fraud, pushing a philosophy that they don’t really believe in. Not so. The human mind carries with it an total ability to rationalize away _anything_ that doesn’t fit with what it wants to believe. In his 1970 book _The Late Great Planet Earth_, Hal Lindsey predicted that the world would end in 1988. Today he believes that all his previous predictions have come true. Make sense to you? It makes perfect sense to Lindsey. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/9 "2005-02-28T17:06:25Z")
I agree, but the OP asked about percentages, and televangelists make up an insignificant percentage of religious leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-of-religious-leaders-dont-believe-their-own-stuff-anymore/292192/10 "2005-02-28T17:08:52Z")
D’oh! Stupid Quick Reply box and it’s stupid not automatically quoting previous posters! That was a response to **BrainGlutton** saying: > [@](#): > > There is if it’s lucrative, which it can be – not for your local pastor, but for star televangelists. I find myself wondering whether Robert Tilton ever believed in God.