It was Christmas eve and I was visiting with in-laws. The in-laws had also invited their friends, I wish I had some of my friends in attendance that night but at any rate we soon discovered that "the in laws' friends" was a born again, fire & brimstone, conversion missionary. These are a specific kind of missionary that believes it is their mission to save the souls of all non-believers. Typically this is done (IMHO) with a nice mix of guilt and fear. First the guilt is applied by explaining that someone died so that "you" could live, and then the fear is applied by mentioning that the only...I should say ONLY, no exception...only way to heaven is to accept jesus as your savior or burn in hell, after you die. It's one thing to threaten the living but to threaten ones soul is a whole different level of mindfuck that no loving god would approve of.. In my opinion. I have divorced parents who have both remarried and all four are from different religious back grounds, so I like to think I have a very well rounded view of spirituality, not to mention a slightly non-conventional belief system of my own.
This person, we'll call "P"...which is short for Pizarro the Spanish conqueror who waged war in the name of god.
So "P" opens the set by asking names, interests, jobs, and such. It comes out that my mother had done missionary work and they seemed to instantly bond. Many of his statements and beliefs seemed to be acceptable, and bible supported until "P" mentions the part where any one not accepting Jesus goes to hell. I must admit, a slightly guilty pleasure in picking apart those who believe that there is only one "way", instead of nodding with approval, I mentioned that the world is several billion years old and that there were at least 5 known spiritual teachers before Jesus time on different continents and that I believe there are many "ways" to "heaven". As you can image, the guilt and fear techniques were applied to me, and I quickly pointed this out, meanwhile I could feel the tension in the room as I slowly but steadily challenged every biblical "fact" with an approach of simple common sense and love. Yep that's right...I proposed that the single most important lesson that came forth from jesus teachings was that we..."the children" should love one another and that I'd we all treated each other with love there would be no problem, oddly enough this did not sit well. Basically "P" was not budging from his belief that there was one way and one way only to heaven. I decided to point out that just because I love rainbow ice cream and think its the best doesn't mean that all other ice cream is wrong and if you don't choose to only eat rainbow ice cream you will be doomed and damned.
I was once forced to attend more church than than a human being should legally be allowed to be exposed to. I have experienced countless debates for and against any imaginable bible topic out there, I'm not bragging, it's the truth. I have logged years of time unwillingly in various Christian oriented discussions and have read through the entire bible at least 7 times. It's been years since I've had the pleasure of calmly disagreeing with the "my way or the highway" religious mentality but for some reason I really really enjoyed it. The best part was that when "P" would attack my credibility my mother would chime in and reassure him that I wasn't some soft minded simple lost sheep that was controlled by lucifer, I'd put in my time, I'd done my studying, I'd read my chapters and decided I'd make my own way, I formed my own beliefs and had significant experience and knowledge go back it up. The best part was that despite that my mom and I had different beliefs we love and accepted each other because that's what "turn the other cheek" love is. We ran out of time before we ran out of breath and sufficiently frightened the mere mortals in the room but it was the most fun I've had in a very long time.
This person, we'll call "P"...which is short for Pizarro the Spanish conqueror who waged war in the name of god.
So "P" opens the set by asking names, interests, jobs, and such. It comes out that my mother had done missionary work and they seemed to instantly bond. Many of his statements and beliefs seemed to be acceptable, and bible supported until "P" mentions the part where any one not accepting Jesus goes to hell. I must admit, a slightly guilty pleasure in picking apart those who believe that there is only one "way", instead of nodding with approval, I mentioned that the world is several billion years old and that there were at least 5 known spiritual teachers before Jesus time on different continents and that I believe there are many "ways" to "heaven". As you can image, the guilt and fear techniques were applied to me, and I quickly pointed this out, meanwhile I could feel the tension in the room as I slowly but steadily challenged every biblical "fact" with an approach of simple common sense and love. Yep that's right...I proposed that the single most important lesson that came forth from jesus teachings was that we..."the children" should love one another and that I'd we all treated each other with love there would be no problem, oddly enough this did not sit well. Basically "P" was not budging from his belief that there was one way and one way only to heaven. I decided to point out that just because I love rainbow ice cream and think its the best doesn't mean that all other ice cream is wrong and if you don't choose to only eat rainbow ice cream you will be doomed and damned.
I was once forced to attend more church than than a human being should legally be allowed to be exposed to. I have experienced countless debates for and against any imaginable bible topic out there, I'm not bragging, it's the truth. I have logged years of time unwillingly in various Christian oriented discussions and have read through the entire bible at least 7 times. It's been years since I've had the pleasure of calmly disagreeing with the "my way or the highway" religious mentality but for some reason I really really enjoyed it. The best part was that when "P" would attack my credibility my mother would chime in and reassure him that I wasn't some soft minded simple lost sheep that was controlled by lucifer, I'd put in my time, I'd done my studying, I'd read my chapters and decided I'd make my own way, I formed my own beliefs and had significant experience and knowledge go back it up. The best part was that despite that my mom and I had different beliefs we love and accepted each other because that's what "turn the other cheek" love is. We ran out of time before we ran out of breath and sufficiently frightened the mere mortals in the room but it was the most fun I've had in a very long time.
