A Special Place in Hell

As I sit down to write this entry I am amused that some days it is an effort to dredge an idea from the depths of my mind while on others like today an idea simply smacks you so hard aside the head that you can barely sit still long enough to type it out. It is not often that my muse is so brutal in her appearance so I will do my best to do her justice.

Today as I sat pondering my lunchtime repast some of the most offensive words ever to find their way into my comprehension greeted me without warning from across the room:

"You know, there’s a special place in hell for queers."

Before I go on to describe exactly WHY this is so offensive let me begin by telling you where I stand on the issues at subject here. Firstly, I am not a homosexual and like most of the population, the mechanics of homosexuality are frankly disturbing to me. While I would not encourage homosexual behavior in my children or my friends I also see no reason to censure those who do engage in it. In many species of animals that have a fixed gender throughout their lives we can see many examples of homosexuality, so clearly this trait is a natural phenomenon and not a ‘choice’ as many people on the religious right would have you believe. As long as they do not begin promulgating their beliefs and activities on my doorstep I say let them do as they like and we can all live happily ever after.

Amusingly, this is much the same attitude I have towards those who practice a religion.

Since I live in a primarily Christian area of the world I have some passing familiarity with the Christian belief system and would say that the religious figure of Jesus as depicted in the bible is a remarkable example of optimal human behavior. Jesus’ message of forgiveness and acceptance is a remarkable one that would make a wonderful example for all of us. Jesus even forgave those who betrayed him to his death just as the Pope forgave his would-be assassin. Surely the death of a savior is more of a crime than that of homosexuality? Amazingly, the same people who claim to follow Jesus and his teachings cannot forgive but instead hurl hateful epithets about those who disagree with them in terms of lifestyle.

Religious leaders will respond that homosexuals are openly living in sin and are in violation of God’s law. But did Judas not know what he was doing? Did Jesus say, “Judas, there’s a special place in hell for you!”? No, Jesus forgave. Jesus forgave the man who brought about his death but the followers of Jesus can’t tolerate a group of people who live differently from themselves. Whether they’re different because of choice, biology, fashion or fad is irrelevant. It is not man’s place to judge his fellow man:

7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

So before you condemn anyone to hell for any reason, you’d better be damned sure your own affairs are in order or you’ll find yourself living next door to them for all eternity.