Page 9 - Jerry Dewitt News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The first people to come out were very angry, and very militant. >> it would be nice to have it set up -- >> but the people who are coming out now tend to be be calmer. they want to genuinely have discussion, and exchange ideas. >> can you give me a short summary of why you don't think that you would -- >> go ahead. ♪ i can see clearly now that the rain is gone sfoet ♪ >> sing it. you know this song. >> like atheist minister jerry dewitt who is already doing that in the south preaching peacefully and hoping for more ma normalcy. >> the place was not firebombed and we didn't have protesters...

I slept at bed just in case. >> dewitt said his 20-year-old son called who converted to atheism just two years before he did saved his life. >> i can say without any doubt whatsoever that had he not been in my life during this time, i don't think i would have made it. i know i wouldn't have made it. it really upsets me. it irritates me. i know how much dad has tried to help people in the community. >> so why stay here in louisiana? why not go somewhere more progressive, open minded? >> if we're going to make things better, we've got to make things better where things need to be made better. >>...

>> brothers and sisters, this is how valuable you are. i think the universe will hide you in its pockets so that you would never be scratched and never receive ardents. >> you're born to praech. this is natural for me. you're valuable to the universe. sunday, you truly are the king of the world. >> for 25 years, he was a pent kos tal preacher in the evangelical south. but listen to this sermon a little closer. >> i'm just like i would have in the old days. just minus a few characters. >> there's no mention of god or jesus. >> can i get a darwin? >> three years ago, jerry dewitt lost his faith....

>> the community chapel, where everything that a good church is, minus the jesus. that's it. >> shake the hand of the person next to you. >> is it hard to find a place to hold a service because you are considered running with the devil? >> atheist and satanist is the same thing down here and that's all we're asking for. someone to give us a chance. >> we have limited time. have a seat. >> for now, a rented home an hour away in lake charles, louisiana, will have to do. >> the world is actually getting better. >> dewitt saved his marriage, his house, and is cautiously optimistic about what's nex...

Prayer doesn't work. >> for dewitt, as religion became more troubling, atheism looked much closer to the truth. eventually in 2011, dewitt quit preaching altogether. he took a job as a building inspector and hoped to live a quiet life. >> that's when your aunt comes. >> 85-year-old aunt on facebook. >> yes, aunt grace spotted a facebook photo of dewitt at a gathering of skeptics standing right next to the father of atheism, richard dawkins. >> bob posted this picture of me and my son with professor richard dawkins. >> the news that dewitt had become an atheist sent shock waves through the comm...