A Hard Heresy is Good to Find

Dr. X posts this from the Department of Epistemological Uncertainty at the Center for Atheism:

"I assured the Laird Sunday that there is a compassionate God that cares for him - as evidenced by the fact that the Seattle 2nd quarter meltdown occurred while he was going to the bathroom.

"On the way to the game we discovered we had shared another religious experience this weekend - This American Life's re-run of their brilliant 2005 show, Heretics.

"If you listen to only one radio show this year, Heretics would be an excellent choice. I praise it thrice: 1) For wit. 2) For excellence in the art of radio documentary. 3) For its theological insights. Taking those in turn:

"The show is the story of Reverend Carlton Pearson, a black man who rose up through the ranks of the Oral Roberts system to found one of the most successful Pentecostal churches in Tulsa. And realized, one day, that he no longer believed in Hell. Hilarity ensued, along with mass defections, and excommunication. Ira Glass, in a very well-written script, gets in dozens of sly one liners. A few examples (quoted, alas, from memory):

• " 'If you say in your church that gay people aren't going to Hell, don't be surprised when a lot of gay people show up.'
• " 'In their minds, he had descended to the level of atheists, alcoholics, and Unitarians.'
• " 'The doubters were wrong about the long, slow slide into decadent universalism. Actually, it happened almost overnight.'

"Glass's light, precise patter punctuates and illuminates the interviews, but all through it he is giving you information - some of it startling, some of it interesting, and some of it just bizarre. For example:

• "Oral Roberts was one of the pioneers of integrated religious services, running mixed-race tent shows as early as the late 40s. He calls Pearson his 'black son', and supports him as he rises through the ranks.
• "The Oral Roberts preachers, or at least Pearson, intensively studied not only the English translation of the Bible but also the original Greek. This care attracted parishoners, but would ultimately undo Pearson's ministry.
• "Pearson was a singer for Oral Roberts back in the day, along with Kathie Lee Gifford (née Epstein, btw. What a country, where any Epstein can grow up to be a Lee-Gifford!
• Chandler: "I confess. I was...I was Abie the peddler."
• Ravelli: "Well, how did you get to be Roscoe W. Chandler?"
• Chandler: "Say! How did you get to be an Italian?")

"All most praiseworthy, and all the richer for the interaction between Glass and the born-again interviewees, most of whom are pretty sure he is going straight to Hell with the rest of the Israelites.

"And this goes back to the exclusivity claims of religion. Pentecostals see the world in black and white - you're either one of them, or you're in for eternal Hellfire. And this is what broke the back of Pearson's fundamentalist faith. Contemplating the horrors of Rwanda, he found himself in a conversation with God. The upshot of which was: no one is going to Hell. The world, horrific, corrupt, irredeemable, is already saved.

"From the show I cannot quite figure where Pearson landed as he fell on the road. I think he is basically now a Pure Land Buddhist. Pearson asks if a Tibetan monk, who spends his life praying and herding goats, is really condemned to eternal suffering. Of course not - the Christian idea of Hell falls apart under this scrutiny. Hell is what you use to scare people into loyalty - it has no metaphysical logic, unless you happen to think God is a sadist.

"But Pearson won't consider the awful theory of John Horgan in Rational Mysticism - that what we call God is an evil demon torturing us for its own entertainment. Occam's razor applies - who needs God when humans seem eminently capable of cruelty without divine assistance. As Carolyn Forche says, there is nothing one man will not do to another. In his confrontation with Pearson, the Supreme Being verifies this, saying 'you do it to yourselves.'

"One great thing about heresies - there are so many. You can choose just the right one for you. I tilt toward Catharism, myself. But to the Pentecostals all heretics are alike - they are to be brought back into the fold, or shunned. This is not really a spiritual issue. It has a lot more to do with the economics of religion. You give up the concept of Hell and you're in serious danger of losing the crowd. As one of Pearson's people says - 'Hellfire and good fried chicken - that's what packs 'em in around here.'

"Pearson's insight is a tough one, because it suggests most religious activity is pointless. You're already saved, so whether you believe or not is not that big a deal to God. But if you're going to believe, Pearson's insight suggests you should come to that belief from love, not fear. You should come to faith because your heart yearns for closeness with God, not because you want to stay out of some eternal torture chamber, or because being religious pays well.

"That's crazy talk of course, the sort of thing only saints and madmen really believe.

"I know nothing of the afterlife. Moshe Dayan said he didn't give a damn. When someone asked Orson Welles about it he said he'd 'leave that to the authorities,' and that seems like the right approach.

"But if there is a Heaven, my guess is Pearson gets a luxury box."