A couple years ago, The Coexist? Comedy Tour was making the rounds — a collection of comedians from many religious (and non-religious) backgrounds told stories and jokes about their faith.
John Ross was the “Christian” in the group.
The key words there is “was”… Ross is a Christians no more.
It’s a surprising admission from a man known as the Christian in the Coexist? Comedy Tour, a troupe of stand-up comedians who tell jokes about religion. Halfway through his two-year stint with Coexist, Ross began asking tour co-founder [and atheist] Keith Lowell Jensen, “So, hypothetically speaking, say your Christian wasn’t a Christian anymore?”
Although Ross is no longer with the tour, or with Christianity, he insists Coexist is not the reason he lost faith. “I had issues with my faith way before I even did comedy,” he said. “Even in the midst of being a Christian, I still struggled.”
What caused the change? In part, it was the fact that he felt like he could never ask challenging questions in church.
“Coexist was a safe place to poke fun at my own religion,” he said. “There’s not really a place to do that in church. It’s always like you’re trying to destroy someone’s faith by asking a rational question. They think it’s loaded with an evil spirit.”
Ross still attends church with his family — probably out of habit if nothing else — but his faith is on the way out. It’s a far cry from the youth group leader who dons a Jesus tattoo on his neck.
He seems to be handling the change of faith well. It helps that he has a great support network around him.
(via Keith)