I just had a conversation with my mom. I usually avoid her because she always ends up hurting my feelings. Sometimes I feel guilty about it because, well, she’s my mom, you know? Anyway, we were having a random chat today, and of course, she had to bring up religion. Which is fine, because I’ve actually been trying to deepen my own spiritual practice lately. But to me, that stuff is personal, and it’s not for anyone else to control or dictate.
She started saying the usual things, like how I should always pray, like I don’t already do that sometimes. She talks to me like I’ve never once done anything religious in my life. Then, and this is what really got me, she said something like, “Well, I won’t be able to help you when I’m in heaven and you’re in hell because you don’t pray.” And I was just sitting there like… excuse me? How do you know you’re going to heaven and your children are going to hell? If anything, you’re coming to hell with us (kidding, kind of), because you’re our mom. It just made me so angry. We’re literally taught that it’s not our place to judge others or decide who’s going to heaven or hell. I’ve even heard stories about super religious people ending up in hell because of arrogance or little sins, and vice versa. It’s all in God’s hands. So who the hell does she think she is, talking to us like that?