G D..n it!

 

God Damn you!

It was something I was taught as a young boy to never say. It would get you sent from the table, sent to your room, and with repeated use, have your mouth washed out with soap.

Which of course because it was forbidden, it was one of my favorite phrases.

GD you! 

Ah . . .GD it!

It felt liberating to throw out this curse word as if I was playing God. 

Loose tongues however create a quagmire. As an adult when I stopped to reflect, it was a curse I wanted to remove from my swearing vocabulary.

God damn it! 

What are we saying here? We’re saying God has the power to convict and damn a situation, a person, people, or things. But what we’re really doing is we’re claiming a power that belongs to the divine prerogative. It’s like we’re playing God and sending a person, people, or thing to hell.  

Can we actually send someone to hell? Of course not. When we loosely toss of this curse, we play God, which the Holy One does not appreciate. 

Which gets at a bigger question, can and does God damn people to hell? 

Personally, I don’t believe in hell. I believe hell is a product of first century apocalypticism. When Jesus was talking about hell he was talking about the garbage dump outside of the walls of Jerusalem. So, if there’s a hell, it’s a hell on earth that people create. People, out of their own actions create and live in hell. So, if God is going to damn someone to hell, God is committing these people to the hellish situations they have created. 

But does God really abandon people to this living hell? I don’t believe so. I believe God is always luring, trying, begging people to make different decisions. God offers them every opportunity to take their lives out of their hell. I don’t believe God ever stops. I don’t believe God ever abandons them to these hellish conditions. And, when someone dies, I believe the love of God is all encompassing and overcomes any and all hellish decisions a person has made in their lifetime. 

But this doesn’t mean that God turns a blind eye to injustice. God abhors injustice. We can say that God damns injustice and those who perpetrate it. However, I believe this damning of injustice is also overcome by love in the end. 

People always ask, “What about Hitler? What about Stalin? What about any evil dictator you can imagine.” Does God damn these people? Yes, God damns their behavior, their actions, and the living hell they created for millions of people. In some divine way I believe they will be held accountable. But in the end, I believe even these hellish people are welcomed to heaven. 

Yes, I believe God’s grace is that profound. 

Instead of damning someone, we should be following the divine lead and bless them. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:14, “Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them.”

So let’s check our mouths. Instead of “God damn you,” let’s spread a little love instead and say, “God bless you.”

 

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