So you think Grandma's going to Hell?

Today's Guardian (yes the paper that is obsessed with religion) reports, Dr Eric Stoddart of St Andrew's University is doing a fascinating piece of academic research on the implications of belief in Hell. Here's an extract:

Dr Stoddart is interested in how belief in hell affects everyday life and is keen to hear from ordinary Christians as well. He said: "I'm interested in how people handle their belief in hell. If you believe (or are told you should believe) your grandmother is going to hell because she is not a Christian, how do you deal with that? Do you dehumanise her or psychologically distance yourself in order to accept her fate? How is it possible to go about daily life while believing that a loved-one has entered eternal suffering? When most hell-believing Christians are likely to encounter the death of 'non-Christian' loved-ones it is striking that it is a subject rarely tackled. No one talks about this aspect. There is something of a conspiracy of silence."

It's a good question. I've often wondered if Christians really believe this stuff. Do the Christians that I know well (yep, we've got serious religious folks in the family) really think that I'm going to suffer in Hell for all eternity? If so why aren't they doing more to save me and the other atheists in the family? Surely social etiquette wouldn't be reason enough to stop them if they really believed. I can only conclude that in their heart of hearts they don't.

Comments

[Sportin' Life]

If so why aren't they doing more to save me and the other atheists in the family?

LOL, careful what you wish for!

[BruceH]

Yeah, right? I live in fear that my mother may one day find out that I am an avowed athiest. She would be heart broken over this because she would have to conclude that I will be spending eternity in agony instead of bliss beside her in Heaven.

While I am not afraid of condemnation, I would not want to see her in such distress.

[R. D. Brock]

While Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the conventional hell of eternal punishment (they believe "hell" is synonymous with the grave, i.e., nonexistence), I can tell you with absolute certainty how they act when their own flesh and blood rejects and leaves the faith, and therefore is no longer "saved." The individual is formally "disfellowshipped" from the religion, and a policy of "shunning" is instituted. The rationale being that "if a parent truly loves their child, they will shun them, and thus provide an incentive for them to return to the faith."

I know a Jehovah's Witness whose mother said "she is now Satan's daughter" when her daughter was disfellowshipped. She and her daughter have had no contact for over 14 years. This kind of behavior is encouraged and sanctioned by the JW organization, all the way to the top of its headquarters in Brooklyn NY.

Obviously this is an extreme behavior, indulged in by a sectarian movement (some would say "cult"), but I would not be surprised if similar, although not necessarily "formalized," shunning behaviors sometimes occur in "conventional" Christianity, towards those who are "damned to the fire."

Yet, how could anyone know that another was damned, if the admonition is "judge not, lest ye be judged?"

Isn't religion fun?

Best,
RDB

[Alex]

Or they just don't care that "in the afterlife, you'll be heading for some serious strife"