We really don’t know who is going to hell, if hell does indeed exist.
But among us are a few people appointed to tell us who will be damned. By speaking to representatives of the four largest religious groups in America, we can begin to get an idea of who will be sharing the fiery pits.
The American Religious Identification Survey 2004 estimates have 76.5 percent (224 million) of the country’s population as Christian. This is followed by 13.2 percent (40 million) who report themselves as non-religious or secular. 1.3 percent (4 million) follow the Jewish faith, and .5 percent (1.5 million) consider themselves Muslims.
Jeff Jones, University of Memphis Campus Minister for the Baptist Collegiate Ministries , sees this as a problem for all those outside of the first category.
“Those who are believers in Jesus Christ and those who commit their lives to follow him…those are the ones that make it into heaven,” he said. He also believes that the afterlife consists of just two destinations; heaven or hell. Process of elimination suggests that those who are not followers of Jesus Christ are going to hell.
If Jones’ is to be believed, at least 45.5 million Americans are damned. That’s just a bit more than the populations of Tennessee and all those states directly to the south (MS, GA, AL, SC, and FL). But, relatively speaking, losing the equivalent of six states is not so bad. 44 other states are destined for eternal bliss.
But the Baptist teaching is not quite that generous. Not all Christians are guaranteed a spot in heaven.
Jones sees some Christians as erroneously believing that just belonging to a church is enough. “That doesn’t mean that you’re a follower of Christ,” he said. He believes that one must feel a true commitment to Christ, regardless of church attendance or actions.
Baptists teach that one must be “born again” to access heaven. This is a procedure of dedicating oneself to Jesus Christ.
Jones describes the process of being born again as a communication with Christ where the believer asks the deity to take control of her/his life. If successful the result is an overwhelming sensation of inner peace.
It requires no ceremony. It also doesn’t seem to require a great deal of worldly experience.
Jones was born again at age 11. He had been raised in a Baptist family since birth #1 and had not explored any other religions. He was essentially born into the faith. Twice.
His daughter was born again at six years old, while in the back seat on a family road trip. She also had not been exposed to any other faiths in any real depth. She’d barely been exposed to the alphabet.
Both she and her father were confident that they had already discovered the only path to heaven. This may seem arrogant to some, but that does not mean that Jones, his daughter, and 48 million other American Baptists are wrong. Jones and his little girl may have just been lucky enough to hit the genetic lottery and be born (the first time) into the one faith with the key to a happy afterlife.
Then again, maybe they are gravely mistaken. Baptists are only 16 percent of the total U.S. population, and 21 percent of the total American Christian population. When Christ’s followers are broken down by denominations, the Catholics outweigh the Baptists by 24 million people. They are the largest single Christian denomination within the nation.
Father Thomas Stegman, the Jesuit priest, Ph.D., and assistant professor at Weston Jesuit School of Theology is an appropriate representative of the nation’s 72 million Catholics.
Father Stegman is a little less clear than Jones on the afterlife. When asked who is going below, Thomas simply replies, “Nobody knows.”
And that is basically the churches’ official stance. The only teaching the modern Catholic church offers on the subject is that the saints are with their god. Beyond that, there is only the implication that if one has been baptized and died in a state of grace (no serious unconfessed sins) she/he probably is bound for heaven. For some, there may be a brief layover in purgatory, where the soul is laundered prior to entry into the pearly gates.
Thomas isn’t even certain that the baptism and state of grace are necessary. In the Catholic platfom, only Jesus Christ decides who goes where. The church is not aware of what criteria he uses to make his decision.
Father Stegman faults mankind for our simplistic thinking. He sees humans as narrowly focused on “…who’s on the inside, who’s on the outside.”
He believes that we should concern ourselves more with “…manifesting (Jesus Christ’s) characteristics of love and compassion” than worrying about a future system of rewards and punishments.
If one doesn’t have to be Catholic to gain access to heaven, why would one subscribe to the faith (outside of culture and tradition)?
For Father Stegman, it simply is a good fit for him. Like Jones, Thomas was also born and raised in his current faith. But he does stress the importance for people to question their beliefs, their faith, and their place in the world. If Catholicism doesn’t work, he feels that it is absolutely okay for one to keep looking.
That is pretty fucking generous of Father Stegman and his Jesuit compadres.
It’s kind of a shame they all may be going to hell.
The Catholic faith says nothing about becoming “born again” or anything equivalent. They have a sacrament called Confirmation that might be loosely interpreted as a similar milestone. It is traditionally performed when a Catholic is between the ages of 7 and 17. During the ceremony the young person supposedly commits herself to the Christian faith.
Not quite like being born again, but it may be close enough for heaven. If not, Father Stegman and his 72 million fellow Catholics will be joining the 50 million secular, Jewish, Muslim, and assorted other citizens in hell.
122 million God damned Americans. That’s more than a third of all the people in the country. And this is a conservative estimate. We can’t measure how many of the remaining 178 million people have been born again and remain true followers of Christ.
For all we know Jeff Jones and his daughter might just enjoy heaven all by themselves.
But that figure only holds true if one buys into the Baptist philosophy. According to Father Stegman; Jeff Jones, his daughter, and 300 million other Americans might be going to heaven. Or maybe they are all going to hell. It’s all up to a god who Stegman describes as loving and compassionate.
That’s a little more hopeful than Jones’ projection.
But these two Christian voices are not the final word on heaven and hell. It would be embarrassingly ethnocentric to assume that our predominant religion is right merely because it is predominant.
Next week belongs to the minority voices. Their perspective is seldom heard, but their insight is nonetheless valuable.
If you need to revisit the opening chapter, it is here.
