Dear Readers,
I will leave you with a some last remarks on this subject. At the funeral of a friend's grandmother who was an Independent Baptist, I was involved with Orthodox Mormonism at the time, I remember that the pastor largely implied that the "one, the only true and correct Christian denomination were the Independent Baptists", that you had to believe exactly as he did. I did not agree with that then. I still don't agree with it now as an atheist. I don't think any Christian group has the "truth" because none of them have proven the claims of which they speak. I cannot remember everything that he said, but I do know that he told the mourners that if they felt that the Bible was " just a book" that it wasn't. I have already mentioned this before. So basically, the "true Christians" are only the people who believe exactly what this Independent Baptist preacher believes in his eyes. Why, pastor, should anyone accept the stories or claims of the Bible as having actually happened or being literally "true" since there is no evidence to support these stories or claims? I don't think that accepting them on "faith" is a smart move. I don't think accepting them on "faith" because you want to see this wonderful woman in "heaven" again is anything more than wishful thinking.
I don't think it is "moral" to scare people who are in mourning by saying that "everyone goes somewhere after they die" and that those persons who do not accept the claims of the Bible as being literal "truth" and do not follow the rules laid down within the text. I don't agree with him by scaring people by saying that those who do not accept Jesus the Christ as their personal "Lord and Savior" will be sent to that place that is "hardly ever talked about anymore" called "Hell" where they are thrown into a pit of fire and brimstone where they will burn for all of eternity. The early Christians didn't believe in "hell", I am an atheist who is formerly religious and I never believed in "Hell" despite having always been liberal regardless of my involvement with fundamentalist religions. I still don't believe in "Hell".
To me, life is hell when we have to deal with fanatical authoritarian religious leaders like you over what may be false hope to grieving people after losing a loved one and making promises that you cannot prove by telling people that this woman is a "spirit" in some ethereal realm which is another thing that you have not demonstrated to be true and that they will see her again, but only if they accept the sacrifice of a 1st century Jewish rabbi from Palestine and that if they do not accept his sacrifice, then they will be burned in a pit of fire and brimstone forever. He isn't any better than the Jehovah's Witnesses who tell people that if they don't accept their specific denominational message, that they will be killed by Yahweh's heavenly army when Armageddon comes and that they shall remain dead for all eternity and miss out on living on an earthly paradise. Quoting passages from the Bible that sound comforting and not explaining the cultural or historical significance of them during the time that they were written to comfort people really isn't all that helpful either. He was practically quoting passages from the Book of Psalms in the Jewish Bible, the Book of the Corinthians and the Book of Revelations from the Christian Bible and didn't explain the historical and culture views of these passages at the time they were written, but what do expect from an Independent Baptist who takes the Bible literally as an authoritative guide of how to lead his life without question? That's what religious fundamentalists do. I don't think this pastor is an "evil" man, he was a good singer and a cutie pie but I do think that he is telling people some very wrong things. I don't accept the claims of any authoritarian religious leader just because they say so and out of fear of the consequences for what will happen if they don't. I think any god that is truly loving and compassionate would not want anyone to do that. I hope that at least, you will consider thinking about what I have written.
Sincerely,
B.W.
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