Online Preacher for the Deaf, Justin Vollmar, Comes Out as Atheist; 'God is an Illusion…It Is All Nonsense' He Says

BY LEONARDO BLAIR , CP REPORTER

Pastor of the Virtual Deaf Church, Justin Vollmar, says he is now an atheist.

Justin Vollmar, a pastor who has been running the Virtual Deaf Church online for the last four years, made a shocking announcement to his followers Friday declaring he has become an atheist because there is "NO GOD" and Christianity is "all nonsense."

Vollmar explained his decision in a blunt and blasphemous YouTube video Friday during which he renounced Christian teachings of the existence of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the Son of God and that His mother was a virgin at the time of His birth.

"This may shock you completely," signed Vollmar in the run-up to his revelation made through subtitles. "Yes, I have become an atheist."

"Atheism mean[s] I believe that there is no God. Yes, God is just an illusion or theological concept. Jesus is not the Son of God, He did not rise from the dead. Nor is He born of virgin mother. I completely deny those," he continued in the video.

"There is no such thing as Holy Spirit. Word of God is NOT inspired God-breathed book. Church is completely men's invention. All I believe previously as a Christian have been…has been turned upside," he said in complete renunciation of his faith.

He said the decision came "after a long and mighty struggle" during which he sought clarity by enrolling in a Master of Arts program of study in theology.

The clarity, he explained, resulted in the "profound wonderful change" in his life.

"My mind just completely shifted to the other side. So my integrity did not permit me to continue," he said of his "de-conversion."

He has since joined forces with the Clergy Project, a confidential community of 556 preachers who no longer believe in God, some of whom are still leaders of Christian congregations, according to the website.

There is "NO GOD," reiterated Vollmar to his followers near the end of the video. "It is all nonsense."

Since his declaration, Vollmar has been receiving much praise from atheists for his bravery, honesty and enlightenment online, where his decision has sparked a mostly cordial discussion.

"The Bible is the reason for my atheism too," wrote one commenter on the YouTube video identified as AlwaysThinkForYourself.

"A Christian for 32 years! Then decided to devote the past two years to studying the Bible in extreme depth. Then realized it was all fake and the prophecies for Jesus go against the Tanakh. And the god in the Tanakh contradicts itself. And the science and math in the Bible is totally contradictory to reality. In the end, my little Christian family, we're all atheists now," the former Christian added.

"You can't hear a thing but I have a feeling the music will sound a lot clearer than it used to. The only sad thing is the countless others who have disabilities that religion takes advantage of to feed them false hopes in preparation of an early death where they will never self-actualize. I hope you become 10x more evangelical about your atheism than you were about your Christianity. The world needs people like you," wrote Liliy White in a message to Vollar. 

Deaf Pastor Who Turned Atheist Is 'Vengeful, Pathological Liar' Who Needs to 'Repent;' CNN Article Is 'Full of Lies,' Says Old Church

BY LEONARDO BLAIR , CP REPORTER

Pastor of the Virtual Deaf Church, Justin Vollmar, says he is now an atheist.

After claiming in an explosive CNN article Monday that he began losing his faith in God after being overworked and underpaid at a church run by a tyrannical, golf-loving pastor who made $80,000 a year, deaf pastor turned atheist, Justin Vollmar, is being dismissed as a "vengeful, pathological liar," who needs to "repent" of his sins by his old church.

"The word that he is spreading about myself and the church is not good and we are going to have to shun him until he is ready to apologize to us. But apparently he is choosing a worse road. I believe the devil is winning him," said Terry Michael Buchholz, senior pastor of the Hampshire View Baptist Deaf Church in Silver Springs, Md., where Vollmar worked for seven years.

Vollmar ran the Virtual Deaf Church online for four years before proclaiming in a YouTube video Friday that he is now an atheist, renouncing the virgin birth and the belief that Jesus is the Son of God who was raised from the dead, as well as the Bible being the word of God.

"There is no such thing as Holy Spirit. Word of God is NOT inspired God-breathed book. Church is completely men's invention. All I believe previously as a Christian have been…has been turned upside," he said in complete renunciation of his faith.

On Monday, he detailed his descent into atheism in a first-person account published by CNN. He charged that he began losing his faith in Christianity after an experience with an unnamed Christian senior pastor at a church in Silver Spring, Md.

Vollmar said he was made to work "for little pay" for seven years while the senior pastor pulled down a salary of $80,000 a year and lived a life of leisure.

"I was a pastor in Silver Spring, Maryland, working 60 hours a week for little pay. My senior pastor was a harsh taskmaster, scolding me and always pushing me to work harder. Meanwhile, he earned $80,000 a year and played golf two times a week. I lived in poverty and did not see my children much. I got burned out," wrote Vollmar.

"I resigned my position and was shunned by the church. My faith in God was severely shaken. I started to have doubts about the Bible's claims. I questioned whether God's love, which is supposed to reside inside Christians, was real," he said.

In Vollmar's work history on his Linkedin profile, he lists himself as a vlogger and community leader shows that he worked as an associate pastor at Hampshire View Baptist Deaf Church in Silver Spring, Md.

The Christian Post contacted the church on Wednesday, and church worker Dan Nemeth as well as pastor Buchholz disputed several of the claims Vollmar makes in the article, and called him a liar.

"First of all the article is full of several lies. We have some proof for that. He did not work 60 hours a week. He worked around 45 hours a week. He was not overworked," said Nemeth.

Nemeth said Vollmar was also making "good money" at the church, which only had between 94 and 96 members attending on a weekly basis while he was there. When pressed to explain what he meant by good money, Nemeth explained that Vollmar was earning close to $37,000 a year.

"Poverty in the family? That's not true as well. His time cards, his pay stubs, he earned some good money while he was here," said Nemeth.