I never told my religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert nor wished to change another's creed. I have judged of others' religion by their lives, for it is from our lives and not from our words that our religion must be read. By the same test must the world judge me.
– Thomas Jefferson
I had the opportunity to become deeply involved for several years with a family that attended the Church of Christ. For those not familiar with America's churches, the Church of Christ is considered conservative even by the mainstream Southern Baptists. This is quite something, because the Southern Baptists are considered very conservative by almost all other churches.
The heads of this family, whom I will call Ruth and William (not their real names) were from a small town in the heart of America's "Bible Belt." I liked both Ruth and William, Ruth in particular, because unlike so many of the others in her church, she liked to talk about religion, and was willing to answer my questions.
Not long after I met Ruth, I couldn't resist prodding her a bit. "Ruth," I asked, "there's something I just don't understand. The Church of Christ says I'm going to Hell, to endure never ending torture and pain. But Ruth, I'm a good man. I go to work, I'm raising three children, I'm honest, and I serve my community. In short, I do everything the Church of Christ says I should do, except belong to the Church. How can it be that God can condemn a good man like me to such horrors, just because I don't accept your particular interpretation of the Bible?"
This really put Ruth on the spot. Like many Southern Baptists, Ruth was taught many things that just seemed wrong to her. But the Baptist culture has an almost irresistible force to conformity, and those who question the Church of Christ's interpretation of the Bible are immediately and severely chastised by the community. Yet ... here I was, someone she could talk to honestly without fear.
Ruth thought about this for a minute. Finally, she told me in a quiet voice, "Well, you'll be judged by your beliefs, and I'll be judged by mine."
I thought this was a remarkable opinion from a woman who was a born-and-bred Southern Baptist, went to church every Sunday of her life, and had never studied any religion or philosophy outside of the teachings of the Church of Christ.
But I was saddened a few year later when I discovered that Ruth and William thought they were going to Hell, in spite of living virtuous lives. The reason? Their adult children had rejected the Church of Christ, so according to the Southern Baptist Church, Christ considered Ruth and William to be mortal sinners, not deserving of God's glory. They, like me, are apparently headed for the eternal fires and cruel torture of Hell, for the sin of raising their children to be open-minded and inquisitive.