"The Devil" Doesn't Want You

I know that those interested in converting to another faith can have a excessively bad time coping with the sense of fear that comes when told of the "realities" of hell-- oh wait-- HELL! (DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!!!!) As a former Christian I had a terrible time with converting, feeling nervous and swallowing hard every time someone so much as spoke about the devil or hell and feeling outrightly scared of someone so much as talking about what my beliefs are. That time is long behind me, but for some it may have just begun or about to as the days and weeks progress. So how does one deal with such distracting thoughts? I mean, it can be hard to uproot and destroy a belief you have been told was valid since youthhood, always being told of the horrors of hell in church, school, and by parents.

The first step would be to consult with yourself of the beliefs you were taught for so long. What proof is there of the existence of hell? Think about it, you're being taught that there is a place somewhere in an alternate reality where people are burned for believing something that goes against biblical teachings. In some traditions, if you masturbate, have sex before marriage, date someone who isn't Christian or don't baptize your baby or baptized yourself you're going to hell. I call bs on this for the simple fact that the primary reason for these rules are for control. At the end of the day that's all it is, a group of people deciding that they want things to be a certain way for whatever personal reasons they have and trying to get others to follow it. Why would you need to have a place of punishment then turn around and speak that the Christian god is somehow loving and all caring? That's like saying an abusive husband who beats his wife on a daily basis somehow loves her; you show love through action and not saying one thing but acting in another. Even the very basis of hell is shady, "the devil", who wants to corrupt your soul and make you stray from Christianity is going to then punish you for doing what he is said to want? So you do something someone wants you to do and they in turn punish you instead of rewarding you...really?

Now for those who hold true to that belief then good for them, but for those who want to think objectively about why they shouldn't fear converting if they so choose, realize the illusion being set up here. This entire issue, these characters such as the devil are things set up to retain control so people fear leaving the faith, or doing things they wish to do. In my outlook it takes away the reasoning of, "I shouldn't do something because its wrong", to, "I shouldn't do this because I don't want to go to hell." Its nothing more than the boogeyman for adults, and once you are able to see the roots of why something is there you begin to identify that it's not a real threat after all. Plus, think of all the people who claim Christianity yet do these things anyway, people who lie, cheat, steal, murder, rape, beat, say the Christian gods name in vain, all that good stuff. If these so called rules hold true then a significant portion of the world is going to this imaginary place of tourture.

Question though, how would people even be able to know that "hell" exists if they didn't already die? Isn't the entire premise of hell founded upon what happens AFTER death? Unless they somehow came up with ways to resurrect the dead (a topic I'm not even going to touch in its entirety) then no one could no what happens when you die beyond going into the ground. The entire topic of the afterlife involves people choosing to belief what happens when you die. In the end no one has proof of what happens because they have no way of knowing, its just wishful thinking, and there's a difference between wishful thinking and hard reality. Reality is an unbendable thing that exists whether we choose to believe it or not. A madman may choose to believe that jumping off a building with balloons attached to him will let him fly, but at the end of the day we know the reality that he will hurt himself- its independent of mysticism and faith. So unless someone has video evidence or hard scientific evidence to prove the contrary, the entire heaven/hell concept remains something in the realm of wishful thinking and a product of pure myth. Because at the end of the day "the devil" doesn't want you because he doesn't exist.

**SIDENOTE**

Also consider the creation/destruction concept, the belief that to destroy one thing means that you create another. In simple terms you can't have pure creation with no destruction nor pure destruction without creation, one needs the other in order to be valid. For example, lets apply this to a pear. If there is nothing but destruction then already the theory of pure destruction is already invalid because were that the case then we wouldn't be here discussing it and the pear wouldn't be here in the first place. If there is nothing but pure creation then it too is already invalid because pears, like every other living thing requires energy. In this case the tree it grows on requires breaking down salts, minerals, and other simple molecules and the like to survive and make energy. Soil itself is nothing but a mass of dead, dying, and nonliving things.

Applying this to the theological realm, in Christianity the Christian God and devil are seen as noncomplimentary forces that are independent of each other. You can't say that they are a team of sorts, one creates and the other destroys, because they are seen in the Bible as spiritual forms that do not connect or relate to each other in any way beyond the savior, nemesis thought form. Now since both are not tied in any partnership format and represent pure creation and the other pure destruction then both heaven and hell, the Christian God and Devil can't exist in their preset forms and thus cannot logically exist. This already without taking into account the biblical belief that Satan, and death will one day be banished to never exist, which further strengthens the impossibility of pure creation.

Dealing With Fundies

Ah fundies, my favorite type of 'Christian', what all can I say about them? Bigot? Militant false prophets of their faith? People who claim to be of their Lord yet betray his teachings of love and compassion for all? All these adjectives and more can be used to describe their ignorance and seeming hatred of other faiths. Missionaries are just as bad, even worse considering that they outrightly try to get others to change their faith in place of Christianity. Though I detest them with a passion, I must admit that sometimes its hard to help my delight when one decides to come to me. Though it doesn't happen on a daily basis, I'm certain that it will now with me donning my pentagram in full public view.

First, let me discuss fundies in the public sphere then I'll get serious by talking about how to deal with them when they're in your own family. But let's have some fun first!

What puts the fun in fundies? Well, the nonabbreviated form is fundamentalists, which are Christians that hold to the very roots of Christianity. The fun part for me are their worthless attempts to get me to convert. Like, after FIVE years of being Pagan you honestly believe that you can get me to change my faith with a snap of your fingers?? I laugh at that, and every attempt they actually make...how sad.

In any case, it hasn't always been fun, I recall several attmepts I made to try and get some facebook Christian groups to understand who we were and to try and foster peace. This was back when I thought it could actually work, now I just leave it alone, but it ended terribly. Horrible arguments and outrageous claims of me being of 'satan' and trying to spread his teachings were shouted from the rooftops. Eventually and reluctantly I left, understanding that perhaps my efforts of understanding were as fruitless as their hopes to convert me. I've even had a special ex-best friend try to convert me, it was a long argument, but in the end we stopped talking. This is why I say to others to not show their faith publically unless they know they can take the issues that will inevitably arise because of it. It can get tiring, but over time your skin thickens and your resolve to be at peace with yourself becomes impenetrable.

So let's say that your in a mall shopping with friends, you're all wearing your various pagan symbols when a fundies dares to come to you guys talking about his God's disapproval of your actions. The usual response is to just pass him off, which works for the most part unless you have one of those persistent types. Now if all else fails get help, but if the situation isn't that dire and you don't feel threatened, it can be tempting to start having fun with him. I'm no authority to Paganism in any respect except when it comes to my own spirituality and actions, but its not always good to be condescending to the butt. Think about it, you're in a public sphere with dozens of people watching the interaction. Do you really want to be an ass to him and risk the surrounding crowd to have a negative impression of Pagans? Its your choice in the end, but at least think about the negative impact your actions can have when they see another Pagan somewhere down the road.

Unfortunately people generalize that way, taking the actions of one to be the actions of all. Think about how Muslims are treated in This country by a lot of citizens just because they are grouped With the false Muslims who perpetrated 9/11. The same is true when talking about a faith such as paganism, fundies especially looking at our beliefs and practices and deeming them the work of the devil. They are blinded by their own biases and ignorance and let it determine how they interact with others. This same ignorance is apparent in secular society when you have a faith that is generally misunderstood and misrepresented in America. So while it may be tempting not to, try to be as positive as you can maintain, that way you and others around you get a positive impression of you in a secular and religious sense. Hard it is, bit try you must.

It can be especially hard if you have people in your family who are fundies, while I haven't gone through that experience, I can only imagine how hurtful it can be. Felling as if you have to hide your identity, be faced with isolation or outrightly being disowned by them. I can only guess if this is the prime reason why some within our ranks have a searing hate for Christians and the faith itself. You can't blame them, even if it isn't conducive to bring the better men and women of the bunch. My own experience revolves around the aftermath of my own mother discovering that I 'secretly' left Christianity for atheism, then agnosticism, then into Wicca. Having to deal with the constant room searches, confiscation of religious materials, and near endless insults to my faith and gods led to me outrightly hating Christianity and her specifically.

As with everything I've been forced into, I dealt with it, though my knives against Christianity are still there, hidden. The best thing you can do is have hope in yourself as well as in your family. Mine eventually calmed down, partly due to constantly being reminded of it when they see me and me not caring what was thought of me when I started wearing my spiritually themed necklaces. Other parent(s) may not require this degree of I-don't-give-a-fuckedness, but it depends on your degree of bravery and how you know your parents to be. Sometimes love is the best option, to always kill then with kindness in the face of their cruelty. In my case I didn't give a damn what she (my mother) thought about me since we have a near nonexistent relationship.

Fundies can be fun, sometimes they can be very destructive to your own self confidence, but in the end do what makes you happy. Always have a positive outlook and always be true to yourself no matter who may be on the other end trying to push you to leave your faith.