I vaguely remember a few stories from the Bible, but when I was little I never cared, so I didn't listen.
But I do know about heaven and hell. My step mom is a devout Catholic and I am forced to attend church
with her when I'm with my dad, but even as I listen to the priest preaching about doing good deeds so you
can go to heaven, I am bewildered. The serious Christian's goal is to get to heaven. But what is heaven?
To me when you die, you die; you don't go anyplace. Christians teach of the soul ascending to heaven or
descending to hell, but is there proof of such a physical place? Some Christians may say you have to have
faith that there are such places.
I will point out that I am a hypocrite in one way. In the case of my Uncle Ron-the one who just passed
away-1 like to pretend he is in heaven, even though I don't know if I believe in it. But if there were such a
place, I know he would be there. When he died I wondered what would happen. His body would lie in its
crypt in the ground, but to many his "soul" would go to heaven to one day be joined by his family. To me
that's saying that heaven is a place where dead people hang out. But that's impossible.
In your letter you said that some Christians say brainless things. Well everyone says brainless things. If
you label one group you should label them all. I don't think Christians are any smarter than non-Christians;
therefore, /don't believe non-Christians are any smarter than believers. It's just a matter of genetics and
self-motivation.
I'm not pissed off at the phonies, they just annoy me. I get pissed off at people who try to force their
beliefs on me to try to "help" me. The only person who can help me is myself. Growing up without a
strong background in religion and faith is, I think, the main reason I question God and everything that deals
with him. I do plan on reading some philosophy and science to help me better understand everything, but
not as a service to God. I need to build concrete beliefs for myself before I can decide whether I want to
believe in God or not.
The conformist in me says, "Yes, believe in God; it's what's right." But the other part of me says,
"Question religion and don't believe anything you can't accept." I don't consider myself an atheist. Maybe
that's because I'm still only 17 and trying to figure out who and what I am. But deciphering my beliefs will
be like trying to read some incomprehensible language.
Sincerely,
Jenny
Dear Jenny:
I just got your note and haven't had time to read it carefully-I have two papers to grade and then must run
to class. I'll read it as soon as I get back to my office.
One thing I want you to know right now is that this afternoon I read your letter to Greg (without giving
away personal info about you) to my class of forty-six university students. I'm going to do the same thing
in my next class of twenty students. Your letter makes excellent points that Christians need to consider.
The class was supposed to talk about the First World War, but we ended up talking about your letter
instead. Thanks for making the class probably the best one we've had all semester. I think the next class I
have today will be even more interested-it's an honors class full of bright students.
God bless,