Humans judge. It's just something we do, and I accept that fact. Maybe it's even part of our evolved instincts. I'm not up on my soap box today about normal day-to-day judging. I'm here to clarify a few things about The Pearly Gates.
Prince Phillip died the same day as rapper DMX. Actress Kerry Washington said something on her social media about the two of them meeting at the Pearly Gates and caught (no pun intended) Holy Hell for it. Apparently, Phillip would not be there because he was a racist. DMX would be there because he was a Good Christian.
RANT 1:
Even when I was a Good Little Christian Girl, I did not believe it was my place to decide who was and wasn't going to Heaven. I believed that was God's job. I believed that if you sinned, it was between you and God to sort out. So... a mighty presumption on the part of all these people.
DMX had more than a dozen children, only four of which were born to his wife. That makes him a fornicator and possibly an adulterer. Adultery is one of the Top Ten Sins. Fornication is mentioned often in The Bible as a sin. We could also talk about his addiction issues vs that whole body-as-a-temple thing, but I'm not going to attack a fellow mental health patient.
Phillip was a racist, at least by modern standards. There's no denying that. Many Biblical passages have been interpreted to support the notion of racism. The first that comes to mind is the Curse Of Ham. Many sects of Christianity used Ham's Curse to justify slavery and opposition to racial intermarriage. By that thinking, Phillip's bigger sin would have been welcoming his grandson's mixed-race bride into the family (as she has gone on record he did).
But as I said, that's between them and God. Not my call.
RANT TWO:
The Pearly Gates are often seen in popular culture as a death metaphor. One of my favorite comics is three clerics, one from each major world religion, standing before a pagan goddess at the Pearly Gates. It makes me giggle every time.
Popular culture tells us that the dead stand before St Peter (not God) at the Pearly Gates. It makes sense that Phillip and DMX would meet there. Them meeting there just means they died about the same time. It doesn't mean that either one is going to get wings. Peter still has to check the list, like a bouncer at an exclusive nightclub. Peter. Not you, not me, not even God.
RANT THREE:
Both these men had faults. They were human beings, after all. Both these men leave families who should be allowed to grieve without the entire world sitting in judgement.
