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In today's blog, I discuss Anne Frank's fate in the world of a fundamentalist with a Baptist doctrine, and look at how a person is responsible for the beliefs they hold.

The fundamentalist believes Anne Frank is going to hell. This is a logical consequence of their doctrine:

• Only Christians go to heaven
• Anne Frank is not a Christian
• Therefore, Anne Frank will be tortured for ever and ever in ways Hitler could only dream of being able to do.

Of course, the logical thing to do is to tell the fundamentalist that they are a morally depraved person for believing in such a twisted God (as one Rabbi put it, "I reject this as a perverse doctrine, one that is an affront to what I understand to be moral and true").

The fundamentalist, when confronted that they believe Anne Frank and Gandhi are in hell, uses the Bible as their defense. They proclaim "I must believe Anne Frank and Gandhi are in hell because I can not deny the Bible!"

To this I say "Bollocks! To believe the earth is not flat and doesn't have corners is unbiblical (Rev. 7:1). To believe that the return of Jesus in glory did not happen 2000 years ago is unbiblical (Luke 9:26-27, I John 2:18, etc.)"

A person is responsible for choosing which Biblical verses they take literally, and which verses they take metaphorically. One can read John 3:18 and choose to say that it means Anne Frank is now being tormented far worse than she was tormented in the German concentration camps. Or one can read John 3:18 and say that it is a metaphor, and that it is people who do not believe and do not follow a good and loving God, people who choose to remain in their evil who are condemned.

If you are so depraved as to believe in the damnation of Anne Frank and of Gandhi, just come out and be honest: You simply are so narrow-minded, bigoted, and full of hate that you want these people to be tortured for having a belief different than your own. Don't blame the Bible for your choice to believe something that is morally reprehensible.

See also: On rationalization - On fundamentalist reasoning - On my faith in God - Everyone has a soapbox - The Rapture - Final 2010 post; NIV update

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