This habit of condemnation

As an out lesbian from a Catholic country, the question I am most frequently asked is how I’m going to save myself from hell.

Never mind that “hell” is not a universal concept the way that the existence of “heaven” is a religious claim. Never mind that none of my friends and family subscribe to this idea that all humans will be judged against standards created and promoted by a select few.

I am still asked, regularly and without fail – will gay people be saved from eternal damnation? What will LGBT people do on Judgment Day?

So I guess since some are so relentless in their condemnation, the question we should ask at this point is this: What will we do in hell?

LGBT people and hell

Frankly, I think we should just party. After all, this destiny has already been prescribed to us by people we don’t know. I’ve already been condemned by all kinds of religions even if I don’t believe in any of them. People who have no clue about how I live have already decided that the only end for me is at the core of the earth, being licked my flames and drowning in magma. Even that concept is physically improbable but let me continue.

Suppose it is true that there is a hell. Suppose, out of all religions and ideas about the beginning and the end of the world, yours is the one that will actually occur. What if your Sunday school lesson, or your priest’s or minister’s words actually end up to be the end scenario for the whole entire world, even those who have never heard of your religion, even those who are unable to have a concept of morality?

Suppose, for the sake of discussion, I’m really going to hell along with my LGBT brothers and sisters. Let’s pretend I agree with you on that one thing. Indulge me in asking: If the apocalypse is supposed to occur in a hundred or a thousand or a million years, or if I am to face my judgment at the end of my life, say, 40 years from now – would there be any changes in how I live my life now?

I don’t think so. Because asking me to change my ways so I don’t go to hell is like threatening me with hell for being born with black hair. Yes, it sounds as ridiculous as that.

The lives you condemn

Like most of my LGBT brothers and sisters, we spend our days working for a living, bettering ourselves, and saving up for the future. We love our partners the way you do and have the same struggles in romance and relationships that you have.

Some of us have children, and we strive to bring them up in the best environment possible. Many of our lives revolve around supporting our families and making the most of every day.

We don’t spend our days condemning others for things we have no clue about. We don’t scour online articles about issues we don’t agree with just to add our “two cents” while quoting bible passages.

We don’t judge others based on rules in a book that also approves of slavery as a way of life. But I get it. It feels better to think yourself more holy and more worthy of the gates of heaven when you are stepping on others and telling them they won’t be allowed in.

If you spend your life condemning others, let me ask you then what you are doing between now and your own apocalypse and judgment day. Since you believe in this concept, it only makes sense that you are preparing for it much more than someone who doesn’t. 

Questions for your apocalypse

Let me ask you some questions your own judge should really be asking you:

Are you living the best way you can, being kind to others, and doing unto others what you would want done unto you?

Are you working your hardest and spending your days finding ways to support your family and ensuring your kids go to the top schools so they can have a good future?

Are you reflecting on your own values and following your own rules according to the same book that the people you judge don’t even follow? Are you running after the sinners that are actually in the Ten Commandments (adulterers and thieves, for example) the way you hunt down homosexuals?

Or are you simply pointing at other people and telling your god that you’re more worthy because you are better than those “sinners”?

Look in the mirror

Take a look at the people you judge as sinners and outcasts. All they are doing is what your god wants you to be busy with instead –  maintaining a sense of purpose, creating loving relationships, and building happy home lives.

I understand the necessity of your rage because it feels so good to judge others as evil and unworthy so you can distract yourself from your own life’s lack of luster or direction. 

Do me a favor though. The next time you’re in the heat of condemning people you don’t know according to rules only you believe in, take a look in the mirror. Ask yourself if keeping that face of hatred is the image and likeness of your god. Ask yourself if condemning others is how your god wants you to spend your life. – Rappler.com