The other night one of the Bible study members shared some "good news" about her granddaughter. This is the woman that I've written about before, the dear, sweet grandmother who told this same granddaughter that if she wasn't good she was going to Hell. Well, I let that one slide. This one I did not. I am still waiting to hear back from her. I don't know what it will do to our friendship or even my relationships with others in that church, but I could not stand back and say nothing.
Grandma proudly announced that her eight-year-old granddaughter has now accepted Jesus and is going to be baptized as a result of watching a video on Hell. She did not say how her granddaughter came to be watching such a video but afterwards the child came up to her and said "Grandma, how can I avoid going to that awful place?" So she told her what to say and now the little girl is going around all happy. "Look, Grandma, I can feel something right here!" she said, pointing to her heart. "That must be Jesus!"
This is a little girl who has a naturally kind and compassionate heart. She prays for the hurt animals on her grandparents' farm. This is NOT a little girl who needs the s***t scared out of her!
When Grandma relayed this "happy news", everyone else responded with congratulations. They did not see my jaw drop open nor the expression on my face which I didn't even attempt to hide.
So I sat down and I wrote Grandma an e-mail in which I said that I had always had high respect for her but I was confused and concerned about what she had done to her granddaughter. I tried to be tactful. I said that I too had been introduced to the concept of Hell at that tender age with absolutely NO CONSIDERATiON given to whether I was able to handle it even though I was a sensitive and autistic child. I said that this has had negative effects on my relationship with God and I pulled no punches as to what they were. And that if this was the sort of thing that I was being asked to believe as a Christian then I was not and never would be a Christian.
I said that I have been coming to this church for over a year and I have sat in the small group Bible study and heard people's stories of how they were harmed as children in the name of Christ. I said that how do you know that in 20 years time or more your granddaughter will not be sitting in a similar group telling a similar tale?
I said "I am confused. What about the song we sing about a relationship with Jesus being more like falling in love than something to believe in?" In fact, we had just sung it that morning. I said "Jesus said to let the children come to him but nowhere did he say to frighten them into doing so. Yes, He spoke a lot about Hell but it was always to ADULTS. Never children." I said that there were not words enough to describe how I felt about this sort of thing. And the fact that it came from someone like her . . .
This has really upset me. I don't know if this is something she is doing on her own or the "official" position of this church. Maybe the others were just as disturbed as I was and have also said something privately. If so, they did not show it at the time. What I saw was approval.
I do know this: I will be monitoring the situation regarding the summer Bible Club at my trailer park. Before they come to my house again, I want not only to see the materials they are using but I am going to be asking some very hard questions. I am going to tell them right up that if they bring up Hell and damnation to these little ones then they will NOT be allowed to use my yard but will have to go elsewhere. Because I do not allow that kind of talk in my yard.
Grandma proudly announced that her eight-year-old granddaughter has now accepted Jesus and is going to be baptized as a result of watching a video on Hell. She did not say how her granddaughter came to be watching such a video but afterwards the child came up to her and said "Grandma, how can I avoid going to that awful place?" So she told her what to say and now the little girl is going around all happy. "Look, Grandma, I can feel something right here!" she said, pointing to her heart. "That must be Jesus!"
This is a little girl who has a naturally kind and compassionate heart. She prays for the hurt animals on her grandparents' farm. This is NOT a little girl who needs the s***t scared out of her!
When Grandma relayed this "happy news", everyone else responded with congratulations. They did not see my jaw drop open nor the expression on my face which I didn't even attempt to hide.
So I sat down and I wrote Grandma an e-mail in which I said that I had always had high respect for her but I was confused and concerned about what she had done to her granddaughter. I tried to be tactful. I said that I too had been introduced to the concept of Hell at that tender age with absolutely NO CONSIDERATiON given to whether I was able to handle it even though I was a sensitive and autistic child. I said that this has had negative effects on my relationship with God and I pulled no punches as to what they were. And that if this was the sort of thing that I was being asked to believe as a Christian then I was not and never would be a Christian.
I said that I have been coming to this church for over a year and I have sat in the small group Bible study and heard people's stories of how they were harmed as children in the name of Christ. I said that how do you know that in 20 years time or more your granddaughter will not be sitting in a similar group telling a similar tale?
I said "I am confused. What about the song we sing about a relationship with Jesus being more like falling in love than something to believe in?" In fact, we had just sung it that morning. I said "Jesus said to let the children come to him but nowhere did he say to frighten them into doing so. Yes, He spoke a lot about Hell but it was always to ADULTS. Never children." I said that there were not words enough to describe how I felt about this sort of thing. And the fact that it came from someone like her . . .
This has really upset me. I don't know if this is something she is doing on her own or the "official" position of this church. Maybe the others were just as disturbed as I was and have also said something privately. If so, they did not show it at the time. What I saw was approval.
I do know this: I will be monitoring the situation regarding the summer Bible Club at my trailer park. Before they come to my house again, I want not only to see the materials they are using but I am going to be asking some very hard questions. I am going to tell them right up that if they bring up Hell and damnation to these little ones then they will NOT be allowed to use my yard but will have to go elsewhere. Because I do not allow that kind of talk in my yard.
