A question for Christian parents: If you go to heaven but your children go to hell...will you be happy in heaven? Will it be paradise still?

@Scribbles if you guys pay indulgences, you may be redeemed from your sins. 😇

@EarthlingWise Nah. My mother is Lutheran. And not the liberal kind.

No such things as Indulgences for lutherans. Lutherans fundamentally believe in being saved by the grace of God, but also seem to think if you're not a cookie cutter Christian you're fucking up your salvation somehow and God will tie a millstone around your neck and send you to hell kind of thing.

@Scribbles Tsk-tsk, can't you just whip yourself to make up for your laziness? You'll have to convert to Catholicism.

🙄 you've never met a conservative Lutheran have you?

@Scribbles

Yeah i've heard that kind of sentiment a lot especially from people who have left the faith. Their families are just devastated because they know their child is going to burn in hell.
But i can't understand how they can reconcile that visceral anguish with the notion that in heaven they just won't be upset about their child's suffering or death anymore.

@Pikachu I don't think they can, that's why they get freaked out at the idea. they constantly cycle through the grief process. Denial, acceptance, anger, etc.

@Scribbles

And fair enough. I can't imagine being ok with that.

@Scribbles No, well maybe I have met a couple but never stayed long. Coming from a historically Catholic place, I know about their culture . But irony aside, I can imagine what other Christian sects may be like.

@EarthlingWise What do you imagine lutherans to be like?

@Scribbles community-centered, bound by a book, that is supposed to contain everything you have to know, obsessed with sin and how much you can pay for it by being denied redemption? Am I anywhere near?

@EarthlingWise That's pretty spot on. I would include, "Very judgemental, but sometimes very kind." And also very patriarcal.

When problems arise in Lutheran churches or schools or daycares they often resort to "God will take care of it' and allow problems to fester and grow.

I would say the obsessed with sin is because at one point they would heavily imply that any unrepentant sin may doom someone to hell. That was a big thing in the 90's and early 2000's. Not as much anymore. I haven't heard that be a part of sermons in the last 8 years though. But then my attendence is pretty spotty. Also a lot of Lutheran schools got in trouble with the media around 15-20 years ago for being anti-gay and expelling pregnant unmarried students. So they eased on that a little. They've become more welcoming but to some people probably wouldn't be friendly or be welcoming to them or let them have any role of leadership or fellowship but they'd be accepted to come to church or a Lutheran school or to Bible class without much fuss.