Note: there is a NON-SPOILER reference to the TV show “The Good Place” in this article. If you prefer to know NOTHING about the show, then proceed with caution (I promise that what I reveal does not spoil anything of major import). If you comment about the show, please do so in a NON-SPOILER way.
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As of this writing, I’m currently halfway through season 3 of the 4-season story arc of “The Good Place.” As a fan of pop culture film and television, I can say with all confidence it is by far one of the most creative and funny television shows I’ve seen in my half-century of existence on this planet. It’s witty, hilarious, and surprisingly touching. After nearly 30+ episodes, there has not been a bad one among them.
Without giving too much away, the premise of the show is an exploration of what it takes to get into “The Good Place,” i.e. “heaven.” The show makes it clear from the get-go that this philosophical exercise is not based on any pre-determined religious notions. In other words, it’s not a modern-day “Dante’s Inferno” or some creative look at what Nirvana would be like. It is, instead, an entirely conceived thought-experiment set within the context of a hilarious sitcom.
What’s my point (total)
I don’t believe it’s too much of a spoiler to mention one small aspect of the show and how it approaches the afterlife. Suffice to say, in the world of the show, a point total is used to determine one’s eternal destiny. And it was this aspect of the show that gave me a revelation; an answer to a question I’ve been pondering for years (particularly the past four years). That question is:
“Why are so many right-wing conservative Christians (RWCCs) assholes?”
I should preface the remainder of this exploration with the fact that as of this writing, I consider myself a “follower of Christ.” No doubt my progressive and liberal ideologies would be deemed heresy by many of my fellow Christians on the right. Just as I believe many of their actions are empirically antithetical to how Jesus actually taught us to treat people. I’m speaking largely of the 85% of white evangelicals who support our current president, Donald J. Trump.
But let me get back to this point total issue. I had this revelation because it occurred to me: how would these RWCCs act if they knew that every time they did or said something that genuinely, selfishly, and knowingly hurt someone else, they’d be docked a point? How would they act if they knew that when they face God in the afterlife, He/She/It/They would give judgment based on their actions on earth?
Oh, wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. If you’re not educated about the core tenets of the Christian faith, you may be asking yourself, “Is that not how you get into ‘heaven’ anyway?” In Christianity, no, it’s not. As Ricky Ricardo would say, “Let me ‘splain.”
Belief vs. Action
One of the foundational tenets of Christianity is that no one can “earn” their way into heaven. It’s a grace, a gift, that God gives. He gave this gift when He took on the mantle of a human in the form of a baby boy on that first Christmas night in a manger. He then lived a perfect life and died a martyr, an ultimate sacrifice for all the sins of mankind. He then rose on the third day (Easter), defeated death, and eventually ascended into heaven. He did this so that whoever shall believe in Christ and his resurrection, would not perish, but have everlasting life with God in heaven.
You see, it is your belief in Jesus Christ as the “son of God” and his resurrection that “saves” you. The apostle Paul says that one of the reasons God did this was so that no one could boast on their “goodness” (I have to believe that verse was on the mind of the writers of “The Good Place” because there’s a character on that show who is constantly boasting.)
You are not saved because you did a bunch of good deeds. Biblically speaking, only God can be truly “good.” Your salvation is by “the blood of the Lamb” (Jesus) who shed that blood for you on Calvary nearly 2,000 years ago.
And this, my friends, is the beautiful aspect of Christianity that I believe makes it so easy for so many RWCCs to be raging assholes. If your confidence of eternal life is based on a prayer you made (i.e. “the Sinner’s Prayer”) where you accepted Jesus into your heart, and based on that prayer, your salvation can never be denied, what incentive do you have to take inventory of how you actually treat people? (To be fair, there are a number of splinter denominations of Christianity that do in fact believe you can lose your salvation, but those are a small percentage of the whole. And my understanding of Calvinism, yet another branch of Christianity, is that God has already determined who’s getting into heaven, so some of you are damned no matter what you do. So, there’s that.)
In fact, you could be a raging asshole, murderer, thief, rapist, you name it, and if on your deathbed you say that prayer and authentically accept Jesus, you would go to heaven. It’s where we get the term “Deathbed confession.” There is even biblical proof of this.
When Jesus is crucified, he is executed alongside two thieves. The Bible never gives us details on their lives, but it’s safe to assume that if they’re being crucified, whatever life they lived was pretty bad. Well, one of those thieves mocks Jesus, but the other accepts the fate of his actions and acknowledges who Jesus is. From the cross, Jesus tells that second thief that he will be with him in paradise that very day.
Christians love this story. It’s a beautiful declaration of hope for any man or woman who’s lived a horrible life. No matter how bad that life, merely saying that prayer (and believing it), would grant you eternal life with God and the angels in heaven.
Imagine if you were a convicted criminal who had done horrible things. You spend years reflecting on the evil you’ve done in the world and fear that face-to-face meeting with God you will have once you die. But then you meet a priest, pastor, nun, whomever, who tells you “Fear not. For if you repent of your old ways and accept Jesus, you will be with God in paradise.”
Imagine the joy that would fill your heart. That is why I believe so many of the most genuinely “Christ-like” people you’ll meet, are people who once lived horrible lives. The feeling of gratitude they have from the redemption God has granted them so permeates their lives, it spills out into their actions for the rest of their days.
But what if you grew up believing in Jesus? What if you said the Sinner’s Prayer like me, when you were 7 or 8 years old? You’ve never known a life where you ever doubted your salvation. It’s like walking around the world every day with a permanent “Get out of jail free card” (making a reference to the famed card in the game Monopoly). No matter what you do or what you say, you are going to heaven because Jesus is in your heart. If you accidentally slip up, just say you’re sorry to God, repent, (or throw out a couple of “Hail Marry’s” if you’re Catholic), and you are right with God, still bearing your one-way ticked to Hallelujah.
Imagine living 30, 40, 50, or 60 years like this; set in your ways and your belief. But, you’re still human. And as a human, you tend to have vices like pride and arrogance. So if you have a strong political bent whereby you despise things like universal healthcare, homosexuality, Black Lives Matter, etc., you have no problem calling people names like “Snowflake” and “Libtard.” You have no problem telling a black man you’d gladly pay $3,000 per night to tear-gas him if he shows up at a Black Lives Matter protest. You have no problem showing zero empathy for the plight of Black men and women, families at the border, a trans woman who is beaten to death, or a black man who died when a cop sat on his neck for nearly 9 minutes because according to Candace Owens he probably deserved it. (Take note of the way Jesus actually treated the “George Floyds” of his day, vs. the sanctimonious. Just sayin’!)
To so many people, don’t all of these things seem empirically, um, evil? Or at least, asshole-ish? Right? Am I being unreasonable in that assessment? Yet, that is precisely what SO many RWCCs do every day on social media, in their retirement complexes on their golf carts, and even from the steps of government buildings.
These people are so steeped in their belief — belief in their version of Christianity and their ultimate salvation — there is literally ZERO incentive to take a pause at how they treat people. Or to even be concerned about the fact many of them support a man who is a narcissistic, racist, misogynistic sociopath who sews hatred and dissection with every tweet of his thumb and every word that escapes from that grotesque mouth of his.
For the record, I’m an asshole too
Let me be absolutely clear about something. I am in no way “casting stones.” Well, I guess technically, I am. But, I am fully self-aware that I, too, am an asshole. I can see the proverbial log in my eye. I say bad things about Trump supporters. I will sometimes hop on a Trump-supporting social media thread to do my equivalent of an ideological “hit and run.” I have hatred in my heart for that man. And I often look down with a prideful and elitist superiority over his followers. I can’t say that Jesus is proud of the way even I have acted.
I guess the difference is that 1) I’m at least doing it to fight for justice and the rights of others, 2) I’m only an asshole to other assholes, and 3) I can admit it about myself. Being self-aware gives me the hope to change and be a better person. To be the kind of man Jesus even calls me to be. To love my enemy, turn the cheek, etc.
“The Good Place”
As of this writing, I do not know how “The Good Place” will end its 4-season story arc. But I have been impressed with its rather deep dives into philosophical questions like determinism vs. free will. It’s a show that makes me laugh hysterically, but also makes me grapple with serious existential questions that cause me to look at how I treat people and my motivations in that treatment. It’s caused me to look at my faith in a way that deserves deep introspection.
I have always loved that aspect of Christianity that says, no matter how bad you’ve been, there is hope and redemption for you. But I cannot ignore this “bug” in the program that gives so many RWCCs carte blanche to be raging assholes — despite the fact that Jesus himself is very explicit about how to treat the poor and the foreigner, yet says nothing about things like same-sex marriage (it’s the Apostle Paul who has verses that could be interpreted as criticisms of homosexuality).
At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to get through life on this planet. Given the fact that there are thousands of religions — and even within Christianity itself there are hundreds of denominations — who the hell is right about all of this? How hilarious would it be if the real secret to the afterlife was found in a relatively short-lived sitcom? If that’s the case, I’m hoping this article can get me at least 3 points.
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As a reminder, please do not write any spoilers if you respond to this Medium post (doing so will most definitely give you like negative 20 points!) I will most likely have a spoiler review once I’m done. Save your spoiler commentary for that. But, in the meantime, I would love to know what you think about my theory. Why do you think so many RWCCs are assholes despite what Jesus says?
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This post was previously published on Medium.com.
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Photo credit: Ahmed Zid on Unsplash