Dear Readers, These columns began on my area of America Online, called:  Judaism Today:  Where Do I Fit?   People anonymously sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many Jewish papers and websites.  I hope you find they help you as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood components of the Jewish way of Life.  I welcome your comments... see the end of the column. Gil PS  Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward them or use them as you see fit.  Please see the friendly copyright notice at the end.

Will Jews Burn in Hell?

Dear Gil:

How do you answer fundamentalists (especially Christians) who maintain that if you do not believe in their theology bad things will happen to you after you die (i.e., if you don't accept "Jesus" you will burn in "hell"). The same goes for fundamentalist Muslims -- if you don't accept "Allah" the way fundamentalist Muslims do -- bad things will happen to you after you die. Many cults are very similar to this ideology.

I have a difficult time "respecting" individuals who believe this way. This form of having "the Truth" is a form of religious racism, and is VERY close to the Nazi ideology of superiority. These fundamentalists (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc.) are no more than "religious Nazis..." with a heavy "superiority" complex. It is the fringes of those fundamentalists that commit acts of violence. E.g.: Christians who murder doctors just because of the kind of surgeries they do, Jews who murder Arabs just because of who they are, Muslims who murder Americans just because of their nationality, etc. Nazis that murdered Jews just because of who we were. Do you see the similarity in "superiority" belief and the action that can and has followed.

I don't have a problem with being a devout religious person. I have a problem when that leads to feelings of superiority, intolerance, and ultimately violence!

In peace,

E

Dear E:

My answers to your question are twofold. First, I usually don't respond to fundamentalists and I don't worry about their line of reasoning because if they are right, I and a few other billion of God's children are in big trouble. I just don't buy the argument. Rather than waste energy on it, I try to be a good person.

On rare occasion, I have replied by asking how could God forsake so many billion of his/her children? The one time I remember actually asking this, I had a very fruitful and interesting discussion. Maybe because the other person -- a very religious Christian -- was a great lover of Jews and Judaism and was not pushing his beliefs on me. These are also reasons I was willing to ask him in the first place.

While I was at it, I also asked him how a decent person who lives a life of goodness, kindness and generosity, but did not believe in God [or accept Jesus] could be destined to Hell. His answer was that in his opinion, this person was walking in God's ways whether they realized it or not and would have a positive fate in the next world. His answers gave me insight into his faith and world view and I am glad I posed my questions to him.

Now switching to the realm of violent fringe religious extremists, I have a second response that is completely different. These are not people to be ignored with a shrug of a shoulder nor would I engage in a theological debate with them. These people are dangerous and must be watched carefully--by appropriate law enforcement and watch dog organizations. If you encounter such folks, you immediately should contact your local police, FBI and ADL or Federation.

I also want to comment quickly about 2 more points in your Email. First, as you noted, all religions including Jews have fundamentalist who take their beliefs to the point of violence (Remember Baruch Goldstein and the 29 Muslims he gunned down?) What perhaps distinguishes us is how quickly, completely and resoundingly Jewish leadership condemns such extremism when it occurs.

I also wanted to respond to your use of the term Nazi. While I see your point, I think the words "Nazi" and "Holocaust" are thrown around much too easily including your reference to violent religious extremists. As you noted, they tend to be a fringe groups small in number and members.

As for the nonviolent vast majority, if you really feel you must respond to a fundamentalist, I suggest you do so with respectful questioning. This will increase the odds that that both of you will walk away from your encounter minus feelings of superiority and intolerance.

Thanks for writing!

Gil

A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE © Copyright Gil Mann These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org.  Not only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email columns...I HOPE YOU WILL and that you share them with others!  All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you also include this little copyright notice.  Thank You!

Thanks,
Gil