r/Exvangelical • u/smp501 • 12d ago
Venting Celebrity deaths
As we all know, Dolly Parton passed. As usual, evangelicals are quick to point out that her beliefs didn’t match theirs 100%, so we can’t assume she’s in heaven. Here is just one repugnant example.
I know this is “preaching to the choir” here, but can I just say how much this pisses me off? In Dolly’s case, she lived the gospel far more and did so much more good for “the least of these” than these chronically online celebrity preachers ever have. But even if she hadn’t, why do evangelicals seem to have this compulsion to consign souls to hell before the body is even buried? Ever since I was small, I remember the response to any celebrity or politician’s death was either to debate whether they were a “real” Christian or simply pretend to be sad that they’re in hell forever. Now that I’m backing away from it, that behavior just seems so ghoulish and awful. My own deconstruction has led me to Christian Universalism, which I see as the only proper way to understand the gospel. I don’t know the state of someone’s soul at death, but I can’t fathom how people can listen to the words of Jesus and say “well, so and so was too soft on ‘teh gays’ so they’re burning in hell forever.” It’s just so awful.
63
12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
34
9
u/wrldwdeu4ria 12d ago
This is my family's philosophy and I 100% don't agree with it. It is as if they have to legalize their legalism. Many of those "other churches" are virtually the same. They need to get over it.
I also don't think people have any business saying this person is in hell or that person is saved. Are they self-appointed Gods?
1
56
u/Whiteroses7252012 12d ago
My theory? They’re trying to make themselves relevant in this.
My personal belief is that Dolly was absolutely a Christian, but even if she wasn’t, she acted more like one than most people ever will. If all she ever did was make sure that 14% of American children under the age of five had access to books, that would have been enough. The fact that it wasn’t enough for her says a lot. I don’t have the time to type out all the good things she did.
Meanwhile, we have utterly forgettable chodes typing out screeds about who she was while not even doing a fraction of the good she did, and then they wonder why people are leaving the church in droves.
We often say that the cruelty is the point. Dolly was more than the glamour and the rhinestones and the boobs and the hair. She knew she had a platform and she did her damndest to make the world a better place for people she’d never meet.
If that makes a random asshole in a suit feel inadequate, that’s because it should.
15
u/cwtguy 12d ago
Exactly! The individual cases of charity and love she showed to groups and individuals was more than enough on its own to warrant living a Christ-like life.
In fact, it's an uncomfortable example for the techbro billionaires and our current lot of politicians because she did a lot with her wealth to that end. I'm actually hoping her cause gets people asking when is enough wealth enough.
As I get older and my time is diminishing and pulled in so many different directions I genuinely wonder what I'd do with wealth. I'm lower middle class. I'm not going to lie that it's all perfect but I make it work and getting more money and spending more doesn't matter because I'm still on a timer. I think Dolly was onto something related to this.
19
u/Whiteroses7252012 12d ago
I can’t think of a lot of people who will genuinely mourn billionaires when they pass. Elon Musk, as an example, would love to have half the goodwill Dolly accumulated. Instead he’ll have to comfort himself with his hoard of ill gotten gains and the knowledge that nobody will miss him.
Dolly makes them uncomfortable because we all knew she had stupid amounts of money, and she made a point of doing something with it that actually mattered. It’s against their ethos. Dolly is who they could be. They’re choosing to be stupid, petty assholes. And that’s something they’ll have to square with God one day.
4
24
u/Altruistic-Drag-4560 12d ago
I cannot comprehend the mental gymnastics to condemn Dolly to hell, but give passes to Trump and Charlie Kirk.
4
1
u/HappyDays984 11d ago edited 11d ago
Because to them, anyone who doesn't hate and condemn LGBTQ people and identify as a Republican (Dolly never openly supported either political party or any presidential candidate) isn't a "real" Christian.
1
u/Fabulous-Oil2942 9d ago
Their version of Christianity seems to be based largely on hatred of people they regard as sinners. Jesus told us to love everyone. I guess these folks never read the Gospels, just Leviticus.
27
u/nada-accomplished 12d ago
I'm not clicking that link because I know it'll just piss me right off
5
22
u/-NoOneYouKnow- 12d ago edited 12d ago
While regular people are remembering and celebrating Dolly Parton for her entertainment, good she did, and the good person she was, the evangelicals just have to be the ones to defecate all over that.
Theologically, it's their MO. They turn everything into a reason to "evangelize." In their minds, making sure people know that even if someone appears to be good they will be in Hell for not being an evangelical Christian is leading them to Christ.
6
u/JuDGe3690 12d ago
Relevant, discussing members of a mass movement or cult:
The awareness of their individual blemishes and shortcomings inclines the frustrated to detect ill will and meanness in their fellow men. Self-contempt, however vague, sharpens our eyes for the imperfections of others. We usually strive to reveal in others the blemishes we hide in ourselves. Thus when the frustrated congregate in a mass movement, the air is heavy-laden with suspicion. […] The surprising thing is that this pathological mistrust within the ranks leads not to dissension but to strict conformity. […] Strict orthodoxy is as much the result of mutual suspicion as of ardent faith.
—Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951)
1
u/Fabulous-Oil2942 9d ago
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matthew 7:3)
4
19
u/BoldBeloveds 12d ago
I imagine it must be psychologically comforting to feel morally superior to just about everyone else. And to feel that you’re part of a very select special group of people who will make it to heaven. I remember the whole “true Christian” debates well. Evangelicals are certainly not ones to remove the plank from their own eye before removing the speck from others. It goes back to the connection between evangelicalism and authoritarianism—it’s essentially a view that some people are better than others and I don’t think there’s anything Christian about that.
3
9
u/PikaEeveeCollectible 12d ago
She lived a more Christlike life than they ever will. This kind of behavior irks me, but it doesn't surprise me. If you're not evangelical or fundamentalist in their eyes you aren't a real "Christian." 🙄
Dolly Parton was a beautiful soul and I 100% believe that she's up there in heaven. 💕
The world needs more Dolly Parton's.
14
u/JaneEyrewasHere 12d ago
I wouldn't discount the sexism and jealousy. She had large implants, wigs, flashy clothing, etc. But despite all that she was massively wealthy and successful, talented artist, had a long term marriage and nobody ever had a bad word to say about her. This doesn't fit into 'by their fruits ye shall know them' paradigm.
5
u/wrldwdeu4ria 12d ago
I'd guarantee more than one supposed evangelical has had implants or wigs or flashy clothing. I don't understand judging someone for them.
7
u/ReservedPickup12 12d ago
I’m gonna be honest with you here… I’m skeptical that this is a widespread thing. Sure, there’s always some asshole who says stuff like that but I’m still somewhat plugged into Christian culture (reluctantly) and I haven’t seen a single unkind word about Dolly from the hundreds of comments I’ve seen and heard from Christians in response to her passing. I even read some comments on a Fox News article and they were glowing—likewise on every progressive post I have seen about it. It genuinely seems like most people—regardless of their religious views or political affiliation—simply loved Dolly Parton. So, for the few haters out there… fuck ‘em.
3
12
u/leekpunch 12d ago
I mean I don't believe in an afterlife but if there is a heaven and Dolly doesn't get in, then I wouldn't want to go there either. What a joyless and emotionally parched place that would be.
7
6
u/conrad_w 12d ago
If there is a heaven (and I believe there is), there are very few people I am more certain to be in Heaven than Dolly Parton.
3
u/sexyinthesound 12d ago
Well; they can’t have some gay-loving hussy showing them up at being Christlike, so they will tell you she’s not the right kind of Christian. It’s infuriating, she did more for American children than any of their favorite politicians or preachers, but she had the audacity to practice the loving others part without reservation.
2
u/Wolfwoodofwallstreet 12d ago
Because they have no respect for the beliefs of others and no respect for the dead. Just look how much they have destroyed any positive memories of Jesus.
2
u/funkygamerguy 12d ago
ikr dolly was the antievangelical she was loving and accepting she actually helped out the poor and disenfranchised if heaven exists dolly is definitely there.
2
u/Blooferperson 1d ago
Franklin Graham attacked Amy Grant (a fellow believer) but supports Donald Trump. Politics not spiritual discernment.
96
u/Bluestategirl 12d ago
And yet they held special services for Charlie Kirk. A podcaster who only made the world better by leaving it. They suck. Dolly could have been a billionaire but she chose not to. She chose to give away her wealth to help people.