“You’re Going to Hell Because You’re a Jew.”

“You’re going to hell because you’re a Jew,” were words which a devout Christian said to my husband over 40 years ago.

These words were uttered by a man who truly believed that if a person was not a Christian they were going to this place called hell.

This man also fervently believed that if one did not revere a man named Jesus –  who had been dead almost 2,000 years – his fate was surely sealed.  He also was righteous in his belief that anyone who was not a Christian, but was totally devout in their own faith, were still doomed to this place called hell.

The conversation went like this:

Clint to Mitch: “You’re going to hell because you are a Jew.”

Me:  “You mean to say that  ~anyone~ who isn’t Christian is going to hell?”

Clint: “Yes.  If you do not accept Jesus as your Savior.”

Me: “Let me get this straight.  You say that your loving, forgiving God is going to send millions and millions of people to this place called hell just because they are not Christian?”

Clint:  “That’s right.”

Me: “Even those who are monks, nuns, priests, rabbis or whatever and they are totally devout, following their religion to the letter – every single day   – they are still going to hell, too ?”

He paused.  He didn’t have an answer.

I was beyond furious!  Not only had this man verbally attacked my husband but he had taken the position of religious superiority that many so-called devout Christians have.

He had taken the stance of religious superiority akin to fanaticism.

You see, I have a terrible problem with some Christians whom I call Bible Thumpers.  They believe that their religion comes directly from God – their version of God.  They’ve been told so in their Bible, which some of them take literally word for word.  This is a text which has been passed down for centuries, written, rewritten, edited, translated from the original language of Jesus, into many different versions.  Despite the potential for mistranslations, along with purposeful omissions & additions by subsequent rulers, they’ll accept this verbatim.   “It’s right there…, and there and there,” they’ll say, while pointing to scripture.

It’s all subject to interpretation.

For centuries they’ve been on this quest to convert the planet to their beliefs. Missionaries have traveled the world “saving” people. Wars have been fought by these supposed devout Christians. Millions have been killed in the name of  their God.

Their Christian version and interpretation of God told them to do this.

It doesn’t make it right.

Now I suppose to be fair I’ll have to say that other religions have done the same thing.  There – I said it. Back to my missive.

Another problem that I have is that at every function, there seems to be a prayer to Jesus.  “In Jesus’ name” or “Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

I take umbrage to that.  It makes me grit my teeth. Why?

This assumes that every single person in attendance is a Christian and believes that they are going to be “saved” by this dead person named Jesus.

I don’t.

What I do believe is that Jesus did exist.  He was one of many enlightened ones who walked this planet just like Buddha & Mohammed. He was like other souls who taught what all religions ascribe to and those who have walked among us recently such as Mother Teresa and  Gandhi.

One can name every saint or holy person from any religious tradition and there they walked – with God.

To quote the Dalai Lama: “Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people’s suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal.”

Personally I cannot believe in a God who is either like an angry parent or Santa Claus.  If you screw up, watch out for the lightning bolt or some other form of wrath to make you pay for it.

I’ve done a lot of reading on religion during my life.  I don’t go with the guilt trip thing or the fear thing or with the belief that it is someone’s right to jam their religion down the throats of everyone else.  If you need to believe in the devil to keep you in line, go right ahead.  I don’t believe that there’s some entity making or tempting people to be evil, lurking around every corner.  That’s the Christian fear thing invented by the church a long time ago. On the  other hand, if you’re good and do everything you’re supposed to, you get special dispensation, a reward or you get to go to the happy place!

McDonald’s?

Many today say we should put prayer back in schools.  This is clearly a violation of church and state as prohibited in the constitution.  I suspect that most of these people are Christians with the ridiculous belief that if our children pray to God in school it will make them better.   It will make them less likely to bring daddy’s gun to school and kill their classmates.  No, it won’t.  It will be just another tact to get the Christian version of God back into schools.  This is wrong!

Has anybody noticed that our children are not all white and Christian in schools now? Has anybody noticed that our nation is not all white and Christian?  We’re back to the shoving of a belief down someone’s throat who may not have been raised that way.

I guess if Mitch is going to hell, I am too, as are a lot of my family and friends.  At least I’ll have good company!

RELATED:

Seeking  The Truth I found Many Truths (Religious Tolerance.org)

Many Versions of the Bible (Truth Net)

5 Mistakes of Bible translations  (Dr. Joel Hoffman, Huff Post Religion)

Translation Errors & Forgeries in the Bible (Religious Tolerance.org)