A friend said something to me last night that really made me start thinking. It left me literally at a loss for words. I have heard people talk about similar experiences but I was actually really surprised by my thought process as a result.
Last night we were watching a TV show about weddings and she made a comment about how if I ever got married again she would never let me wear a pink dress or a white one for that matter. As a result our conversation kind of shifted to whether I would be open to getting married again or not (the answer to that is a whole different post). She then made the comment that litterally left me speachless for a good time. She said "If you do get married again it will have to be to another Mormon, because in the eyes of any other Christian you are going to hell."
Even writing about this now is bringing tears to my eyes. Not so much tears of hurt (okay maybe a couple of those too), but mostly tears of sadness for all of the people out there who seem to think that this line of thinking is okay. Maybe it is because I was raised in a church where I was NEVER taught this principal, but it leaves me heart broken that someone would believe this. I can't imagine ever joining a church where it is taught that it doesn't matter how good a person is or what good deeds they do in life, they will still be sentensed to an eternity in hell just because they weren't able to filter through all of the religions out there and find the "one true church."
I just don't understand how someone can go through life and just unconditionally accept the idea that all of the good hearted people that they come into contact with will be thrown into a pit of hell, fire, and damnation just because they don't believe in one specific religion. I don't understand how anyone would be willing to just accept this and not question it.
2 comments:
Wow. I think most Christian religions (well, many of the ones with which I'm familiar) make a substantial distinction between whether another person's theology is correct and the fate of that person's soul. Obviously, everyone believes that if you have the right theology you have a better chance (that's kind of the point), but, well, yes, that's unreasonably harsh. And I think it presumes a lot about the mind of God. One of the early images in my mind that I always reach for in this kind of argument is from one of the Narnia books. It wasn't the first one (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), but I don't remember which it was. Anyway, there's Tash, the bad squid-deity, and there's Aslan, and Tash's followers are generally brutal (like him) and Aslan's gentle (like him), but there's one of each with the opposite tendencies, and Aslan explains how that falls out. I need to go back and read the Chronicles of Narnia again, I guess...it's been 20 years!
Yeah, you are right about each religion believing that they are the "one true church." I would be blatantly lying if I said mine didn't. I would also be lying if I didn't believe that people who belong to my church will receive blessings on the other side that others might not. But, with that being said, I also believe that God is a forgiving and merciful father. A father who would never turn his back on a child who was good, yet just didn't make ALL of the decisions he would have liked them to, up to and including the actual religion they associated themselves with. A father who, while it may be harder after death than during life, will still give his children a chance after death to make it right by him and earn their place by his side.
I guess ultimately my shock in the situation came from my personal knowledge of the Bible. I have read and heard many stories from both the New and Old Testaments. I can't think of one story where God or Christ turned someone away. Even when he knew that the person wouldn't follow him afterward, or even thank him, he still healed them and/or served them. That doesn't sound like someone who would completely condemn good people to a life in hell.
I'm not really trying to accuse anyone who DOES believe that he would. It is just an idea that is so foreign to me that I have a hard time wrapping my head around me. I can't help by ask myself, how true a friend can really be if they secretly (or not so secretly) harbor the idea that you are going to hell.
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