Y'all Are Goin' Ta Hell

Something happened recently that reminded me how often this kind of thing has occurred in my life. I received a letter from a book reviewer offering to read The Land of the Wand, but stating "I must warn you, as a Christian my faith differs significantly from yours. I can't help but think that bias might cloud the review."A polite letter, one I had been expecting. The Wand is a somewhat controversial fantasy, and even though Sandra and I never mention specifics having to do with traditional religion, fundamentalist Christians, who see opponents under every bush, would definitely take offense at our ideas and theories. This was the first letter I received that addressed religion, of the five reviews we'd already gotten and the twenty-five reviewers reading the book, no one had taken the story to be anything but fantasy.

So this reviewer was the first, and since his letter was polite, I thanked him for warning me. And I told him that if he really wanted to know what I believed (some people are notorious for getting the facts wrong about others' beliefs) I told him to read my current column, my first.

He did read it, and pointed out that he agreed with a lot of what I said, including that God has male and female aspects. He stated that while he doesn't think I'm a Satanist, he knows why people do. Apparently it comes from Corinthians and states something about having no 'false' gods, since what is behind what people think of as 'false' gods are really demons. Interesting that I am labeled by a line in a book I believe to be, rather than the word of God, a mythological history of the Jewish people - akin to The Iliad and The Odyssey.

This is where, as far as I'm concerned, things started to get nasty. Mr. Book Reviewer took the same arrogant and offensive line that so many people have taken with me before; you certainly have a right to your own beliefs, but you're wrong and I'm right, and it gives me so much satisfaction to think of you suffering for eternity. What kind of twisted logic is this, that has taken the simple idea of how we conceive of a Creator and turned it around so that the Creator is a petty, spiteful, mean little being with too much power, like the adolescent Q character in the original Star Trek series?

Here is what Mr. Book Reviewer has to say; "I do think that without acceptance of JC (when did the lame concept of naming your god with letters get started, anyway?) That you'll be judged...i.e. you are going to Hell. Sorry - our fundamental belief is that being a good person may make you better, morally speaking, than another person, (but) it is not (and can never be) good enough to get into Heaven...it requires JC. I do agree that each should take their own path...I just think that the one leading to heaven is a better alternative!"

So...this is where I start to question the logic involved in this belief. If you live all your life in an African rain forest or a Tibetan village and never hear about 'JC', that means you can't go to Heaven? The Dali Lama can't go to Heaven? I know this argument has been investigated before, so why don't people listen?

Fifteen years ago I was already a veteran at being misunderstood for my beliefs. I had hit a plateau in my career as a writer, and for a couple of years taught sewing to children. One day I met a computer programmer doing work at the shop where I taught, and talked to him for awhile. The following day the shop manager, who happened to be his aunt, told me he asked her what church I attended. To say I thought this was strange would be a tremendous understatement - why did he want to know that??? Apparently because he was attracted to me, wanted to ask me out, and was hoping I would attend his church (and his aunt's) - they were both Fundamentalist Christians!

It turned out that David was an aspiring Investigative Reporter, and in addition to a physical attraction to me, he wanted to talk to me about writing. But I felt we had to get this religion thing straightened out first; once I told him I was a Neo-Pagan, his attraction came to a stuttering halt.

One of the new crop of religious conservatives in America, David believed that the last word in history, morality and everyday life should be the Christian bible. But David had some beliefs which don't exactly gel with what is written in the bible, a fact he dismissed as unimportant. For instance, David didn't believe women should be subservient to men, or that men are superior to women. At least, that's what he told me. He also believed that man (and of course, woman) is 'born in sin' due to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Who caused that fall, according to the bible? Why, Eve, of course. So, because it was Eve who caused the fall, she was also responsible for man being born in sin. Man is, therefore, superior to woman before he is even born.

Needless to say, I never saw David again.

Part II of "Y'all Are Goin' Ta Hell coming next month...