Witnesses of Hell
Two Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door, and being at a loose end I got chatting. There was a bonny woman in her thirties who did most of the talking, and a younger woman possibly learning the ropes. She could not come in that day, they wanted to get round all the houses in the area, to find leads worth pursuing. She asked me to consider Galatians 5:22-23 before they returned:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
A lovely verse. I told them I am Quaker, and agreed, yes, I had the Bible. I gave them a copy of Advices and Queries.
When she returned she was with an older woman, and this time they came in. They invited me to consider in my own Bible (in case I did not trust their translation) 1 Cor. 6 22-23:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
“And such were some of you,” said the older woman.
“I am transsexual,” I said. “Do you think that applies to me?”
I could not get an answer from her. It is not for her to judge, but for God alone. There are birth defects and genetic abnormalities and intersex conditions. What if I said I am a thief, and proud of it? Again, it is not for her to judge. I would be welcome at the Kingdom Hall, and they would address me by the name I chose. I said I worshipped at the Meeting House, so would not be able to come.
Perhaps I should have asked, why choose these verses? You do judge, really. But these are Christians whose Good News includes some very bad news: we are all sinners, and the Coming Wrath will get us unless we conform to their particular understanding of the Bible.
An Evangelical Christian deleted my comment from her blog when she looked at mine. I emailed and asked why. She did not want her children looking at my blog, she said.
I know we are all broken people, some more severely than others. And I know that the only One who can heal our brokenness is Jesus. He can take our messed up lives and turn them into His glory, our trash to treasure, beauty from ashes. And I know He loves you as much as He loves me.
So far, so winsome. Then she spoke about not judging, and then,
I think the Bible is very clear about sin, and sometimes people are offended by truth, because it speaks directly against their sin. We can take truth and learn and grow and be changed by it, or we can hear it and become offended. It’s a choice.
I don’t know, but I feel judged. I know that my transition is not a sin, and that the condemnation of homosexuality has caused deep anguish, whereas the relationships of consenting adults are no more sinful when homosexual than when heterosexual. I just do not know how to get that attractive and articulate evangelist to accept this. It does not help that probably both of us think ourselves more spiritually advanced than the other.
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Why would I want to? Millions of people around the World would think I am going to Hell or Jahannam or whatever if they thought about it. Why should I care? I could say that my concern was for Other People, and indeed the sooner Evangelicals stop telling untruths about the world, the happier gay and trans children will be. But really it is for me. I am unnerved, a little, looking at someone who thinks that without her teaching I risk damnation, and my old feeling that my transsexuality is sinful still has echoes in me. I would not have been angry, otherwise, merely dismissive. I know my world view is more accurate, but facing such certainty and opposition I am affected by it.
Don’t worry Clare, as my fave teacher said, “If I’m going to hell, most of my friends will be there too”.
I am re-reading the start of the books, “Conversations with God” presented by Neale Donald Walsh in which “God” says, “Godself cannot speak to godself by outward demonstration but by only inner experience. If outward demonstration of god is required, then no inner experience can be had. If inner experience is had, no outward demonstration is necessary. And such is as it should be.” and also,
“I speak to you – communicate with you all the time, through thoughts, emotions and…experience. The supreme irony is that, where your experience of god differs from the word of god, you discard your experience in favour of the word, when it should be the other way around. Words are the least reliable purveyor of truth, where god is concerned.” So, you may take it that you are perfectly entitled to discard the “word of god” (if that is what it is, which I doubt) in favour of your own experience of god. You may rest easy in your own experience of Divine.
I also take issue with the prior point made that Jesus is the only one who can “heal our broken-ness”. I contend that Jesus message is that we can heal our own broken-ness, with his help, and/or with the help of masters and sages who have been passing on the same messages for aeons. He doesn’t mind which road we go, because, the outcome is never in doubt. He came to earth to show us what we were capable of (“Have I not said, “Ye are Gods?”) and if we could not trust ourselves in our own power, then we could, if we wanted, put our faith in his example. But that does not mean that his is the only route. Grrr! That is a perversion of His message to us. And there are other grand masters we all know off who can teach us the message that life is eternal, and that Hell is only when we forget that we are never disconnected from God-Life.
Have a wonderful day. Sorry about the sermon. xxxx
Thank you for the sermon.
Actually, I think theirs is a lesser view of religion, because in the words of Paul they are taking milk, and not solid food. Definitely the experience is more important than the words, and yet with many things, not just God, I try to make the experience conform to the words. I am trying not to cling to the words quite so tightly.
Ah, but then you may also be gentle. You, perhaps more than others, have clung to words in a world where emotions were deeply untrustworthy….it gets easier.
xxx
When asked what was the greatest of the laws, Jesus’ answer was loving God and equal to it is loving our neighbor as ourselves. Sadly, I don’t think many people who call themselves Christians miss that bit about “as ourselves.” I want to be celebrated, so I celebrate you! I want to be loved, so I love you! I want to be in God’s Kingdom, so I invite you! Good news does not judge people to hell – Good News says God loves you exactly as you are right now. Thanks be to God! Otherwise my life would be much sadder.
Thank you so much, Clare, for your writings. My computer is being loaned out regularly and I am not able to be here as much as I’d like so let me take this opportunity to say I would LOVE to sit by you on an airplane, an express train, and a slow boat to China!
Blessings!
~Dawn
Thank you. It is a horrid God who would damn so many. Perfect love driveth out all fear.
With the letting go thing, though, I wish I did not have quite so much practice.