Smithstianity tolerates all faiths

I’d like to begin by saying that Andy Smith is my personal God. However, before I was a practicing Smithstian, I was raised in the Lutheran tradition — one of the many Protestant Christian faiths. As in all Christian religions, the Lutheran doctrine states that Jesus Christ is the savior of the human race, having died for our sins, and that the only way into heaven is through Jesus. Therefore, without a belief in Jesus, a person’s sins are not washed away and she must spend eternity paying for her earthly sins. This implies that people of all other faiths that do not believe in Jesus will go to hell.

Obviously this seems kind of “whack,” but this idea is an important part of the Christian faith and has been preached to me personally every Sunday from birth till confirmation at 17. And while I wholeheartedly agree with Michelle Consiglio’s stance on the afterlife, that anyone from “any religion has a chance at a future in heaven as long as they stay true to their beliefs and live a life of love, respect and work for the common good of all,” you are not representing the beliefs of your own religion, Catholicism (“Christianity tolerates all faiths,” Dec. 3, pg. 6). Maybe you should further examine your own religion before speaking on behalf of it.

As for Andy Smith, my personal Saviour, he was merely representing the traditional, by-the-book Christian stance on other religions (” How can all those people be destined for eternal damnation?” Dec. 2, pg. 11). Although it is

quite an absurd notion, it is very true that the Christian faith damns all non-Jesus believing people to hell. Why do you think some radical Christians are so adamant about handing out those Jesus fliers all the time? They don’t want non-Jesus believers to burn in their hell and are attempting to get the word out.

Lord Andy Smith was simply discussing this Christian absurdity. In His article, He was not attempting to be the source on who gets into heaven, but merely stating the Christian stance and His opinion on it. While you, Michelle Consiglio, seem to have a very enlightened and noble idea of religion, where “as long as people continue to live for the good of all, they will be welcome in heaven no matter what … religion they worship and practice,” you are not accurately representing Catholicism nor Christianity as a whole. In fact, the beliefs you express seem much more like Smithstian than Christian, so I enthusiastically invite you to explore other religions and faiths — perhaps I’ll be seeing you kneeling before Andy Smith in His Golden Chair of Judgment in heaven after all.