tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7640030144185444897.post7638639937316620164..comments2023-10-19T08:19:10.210-04:00Comments on The Winding Labyrinth: Has Anyone Ever Told You That You're Going to Hell?revlaurabarclayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07180037981858218328noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7640030144185444897.post-30466614699937308992013-08-14T13:42:58.754-04:002013-08-14T13:42:58.754-04:00This is just so horrible. I am so glad that you ar...This is just so horrible. I am so glad that you are very much in the church, very much living out your calling, and that you know you are a loved child of God. Those folks, at the end of the day, have to answer for how many people they drove away from the church and harmed mentally. Proud to have been in the div school community with you and to call you my friend!revlaurabarclayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07180037981858218328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7640030144185444897.post-7205058333295525092013-08-09T18:39:53.343-04:002013-08-09T18:39:53.343-04:00So, hey! Laura has encouraged me to share this st...So, hey! Laura has encouraged me to share this story as well. I'm a redhead, with VERY fair skin, freckles, and when I was younger, flaming red hair. I mean, there was no hope that when people saw me, they might say it was brownish. I loved my hair and reveled in the fact that I might be (hair-wise) related to both Wendy (of burger fame) and Ronald McDonald. I loved this! I also loved church- the services, the sermons, the liturgy, God, the whole shebang. I was raised SBC in a very large and well-known church in Dallas, Tx and some of the people I was around felt very set in their views. We were taught that it was kind to tell the truth, not that it could be kind to use your words for benefit instead of harm. And, along with a prevalent view that claimed yoga was evil and manipulated the spirit to embrace Satan, that view also said that red hair was a sign of an evil nature. Why? Because Judas had red hair and he and Satan were obviously BFF. And red was the color of the devil. I... don't really know, since this obviously was not a subject I spent much time reasoning out. But was I told, multiple times as a CHILD that I was going to hell because of my hair, which indicated that I had a sinful spirit and loved Satan? Yes. Yup. This church also told me I couldn't be a pastor because I was a woman and that had a rule that said that Sunday School classes over elementary aged kids couldn't be taught by women (alone, at least- a woman could teach as long as she was married and her husband taught with her). <br /><br />I was a kid. lkgundelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992742577381679740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7640030144185444897.post-15492993609101862122013-08-09T15:17:26.508-04:002013-08-09T15:17:26.508-04:00I would like to give you both a slow clap a la Ors...I would like to give you both a slow clap a la Orson Wells and a standing ovation for this story. I loved the twist ending! :)revlaurabarclayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07180037981858218328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7640030144185444897.post-77456922663969593882013-08-09T15:00:18.829-04:002013-08-09T15:00:18.829-04:00Let me rephrase- instead of "conservative,&qu...Let me rephrase- instead of "conservative," please read that as "extremely religiously fundamentalist." lkgundelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992742577381679740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7640030144185444897.post-48335701194034607752013-08-09T14:58:51.320-04:002013-08-09T14:58:51.320-04:00Out of the many times I was told I am going to hel...Out of the many times I was told I am going to hell was in 2003. At UNC, my undergrad, there is a large sunken bricked "pit" near the cafeteria where a man would preach about the end of the world and various conservative issues (women/sluts, immigrants/terrorists, LGBT/"bad F words," etc). As a religious person who majored in religious studies, I'd sit and debate with him whenever I was stressed about something. As UNC is a liberal campus, this was a popular pastime for... 90% of the campus, so he usually had a debating crowd. This time, however, we were talking about LGBT issues and I firmly stated that LGBT people are people and are perfectly fine and he said they were going to hell. I told him I enjoyed debating with him, was continually praying for my fellow persons, and was going to class. As I got up, he yelled out, scandalized, "AND SHE'S WEARING PANTS! WOMEN CANNOT WEAR PANTS! MADAM, YOU ARE ALSO GOING TO HELL." And my response? "No, sir. I'm going to Divinity School."<br /><br />Later, a friend followed him to his car and they chewed the fat for a few hours in a coffee shop and it turns out the UNC Pit Preacher had been hired by an anti-religious group to make religion seem noxious in a public place. Tadaaaaaa!lkgundelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992742577381679740noreply@blogger.com