Christians who hope their political enemies will literally burn in hell
A short thing about theology.
What’s the most famous Bible verse?
If you’re a Christian — heck, if you’re an American who has seen a football game in the last 50 years — there’s probably one answer on the tip of your tongue:
John 3:16. You can probably recite it.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
It’s a nice verse. It tells the story of a deity that makes a sacrifice that any parent would be loathe to consider themselves — sending a beloved child to die so that other people might live.
Or at least not suffer.
The verse is not all of Christian theology in a nutshell, but it’s pretty important! And — though, again, I remain fallen away from the Church — it seems to me that the people who claim to follow that God maybe ought to try to embody that attitude.
Not everybody agrees. Here’s Joel Berry, the managing editor of The Babylon Bee — think The Onion, but Christian — after Tuesday’s election losses by conservatives:
Dude seems pretty eager to see his political enemies literally burn in hell!
And I doubt he’s the only one.
I’m not saying that Berry has to be happy or accept continuing anti-abortion losses at the ballot box. He doesn’t have to like gay marriage or transgender people or the rest. If he believes his religion directs him in a different direction, I’m not going to try to argue him out of it. If you think the Creator of the Universe wants you to do something a certain way, I’m probably going to look puny by comparison.
But.
Assuming he’s reading the same — or even similar — Bible as the one I grew up, the Creator of the Universe also wants Berry to love his enemies and pray for those who persecute him.
That — not seeing one’s enemies burn in hell — is where the comfort is supposed to come from.
I’m not a praying man, much. But maybe I’ll try to pray for Joel Berry tonight. Sounds like he needs it. 1
This is all complicated of course by the fact that the God who wants you to pray for your enemies also created the Hell that he’s trying to keep you out of. Seems like he could make different choices! Maybe skip the middle part! But this is probably why I’m not in church anymore. What’s Berry’s excuse?
This is supposed to be one of the facets of Christianity that differentiated it from its pagan competitors - universal love and forgiveness. Always depressing to see someone who thinks they know the mind of God and that said mind is bent on hellfire.
Rather ironic that the image Mr. Berry uses of the chasm and desiring the drop of water to ease the torment is from the parable where the person calling our for the water is the rich man who would not assist the poor man at his gate when he was alive. It seems to me if you want to quote that parable in terms of public policy, it should be aimed at much of the Republican Party.
As for whether God “created” hell, its nature, and whether or not it actually exists as an eternal reality is a theological discussion for another day and another forum.
But, Joel, you are absolutely right to call out Berry. So much of American Christianity has been misshapen into a cult of resentment and revenge.