Actually, Hell IS real

 

It's laughable when Evangelicals tell me that I'm going to Hell, and I counter that I'm not afraid of imaginary places, and they respond earnestly that it is real.


But I already know Hell is real.


Hell, by the definition theologians use, isn't about fire and sulfur. It's about eternal separation from (whichever god the religion says the damned have offended); and therefore it's about the final and irrevocable loss of all hope, joy, and love.


And I have seen Hell.


I have seen it in children who were traumatized by parents who were supposed to take care of them.

I have seen it in adults suffering from incurable terminal diseases.

I have tasted it myself in unexplained pain that wouldn't stop, in depression, in anxiety.


But most of all, I have heard it rhapsodized by Evangelical preachers when they talk about the kind of country they want this to be, the kind of country they work tirelessly to build here.

It's a place where the poor get no help but a few crumbs from rich people who happen to want to feel virtuous for a moment.

It's a place where LGBTQ people are not allowed to even be spoken of.

It's a place where women are subservient to men, no matter how brilliant the woman or how mediocre the man.

It's a place where mental illness is treated by prayer instead of by things that actually work, and anyone who doesn't get better from that must not be trying hard enough.

It's a place where non-Christian children are required by law to start each school day with a prayer to the Christian god.

It's a place where everyone must instantly obey any order given by any police officer, even if the order is unwarranted or illegal, on pain of death.

It's a place where children must love and obey their parents, even if their parents do not deserve love or obedience.

It's a place where those who suffer deserve to suffer and therefore are unworthy of help or compassion.

It's a place where the will of their tyrannical god (as interpreted by conservative Evangelicals) is imposed on everyone by law, and failure to obey will result in imprisonment or death.


Evangelical utopia IS Hell, and they are even now working tirelessly to bring Hell to earth.


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