Christians Claim Atheist Gene
Wilder Is In Hell
August 30,
2016 by Michael
Stone Patheos
Many Christians believe Wilder is now in hell because he was an
atheist.
Gene Wilder
is spending an eternity in the fires of hell according to
some Christians.
Gene
Wilder, born Jerome Silberman, died yesterday (August 29) at the
age 83. Actor, screenwriter, director, and author, Wilder was
beloved by many for for his roles in “Willy Wonka
& the Chocolate Factory,”
“Blazing Saddles,” and “Young Frankenstein,” to name but a few.
However,
Wilder was also an atheist. In Stars of
David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being
Jewish, published in 2005, Wilder made it
clear that he was an atheist, saying:
I’m going
to tell you what my religion is. Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. Period. Terminato. Finito. I have no other
religion. I feel very Jewish and I feel very grateful to be Jewish.
But I don’t believe in God or anything to do with the Jewish
religion.
And:
I’m a
Jewish-Buddhist-Atheist.
However,
because Wilder identified as an atheist, many Christians and other
religious people believe that he will be punished in the
afterlife.
Indeed, one
Christian blogger devoted a
lengthy blog post to
explain why Wilder would spend an eternity in Hell. Christian
blogger David J Stewart writes:
Sadly Gene
Wilder is a professed atheist. This just goes to prove that there
are many moral people, good and decent souls, who are still unsaved
in their sins and bound for the Lake of Fire for all eternity
without Jesus Christ…
Stewart
continues with the usual fire and brimstone propaganda:
The Holy
Bible is God’s inspired Word. Mr Wilder denies Jesus as His Savior.
The Bible warns in 1st John 2:22-23, “Who is a liar but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath
not the Father: (but) he that acknowledges the Son hath the Father
also.”
In a moment
of profound absurdity, Stewart argues that Wilder will be consumed
by the flames of hell, and will be missing out on God’s Great
Chocolate Factory in the sky:
Heaven is a
real place far greater than Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. The
Bible’s description of Heaven in Revelation 21 far exceeds the
fictitious movie … Heaven has gates of pearl and streets of
gold (Revelation 21:21). Do you really think that God doesn’t have
chocolate in Heaven? … I know that there will be edible things all
around us, if that’s what you want, just as in the Willie Wonka
factory.
No doubt
there are many such absurd declarations being made across social
media platforms as theists exploit the death of Wilder to promote
their religious superstition. And whether they declare that Wilder
is in heaven, or in hell, the mistake is the same.
In a blog
post meant to combat the widespread belief that Wilder is now in
Hell, the Naked
Pastor reports:
I’ve been
coming across posts of Christians doing their best to convince
everybody that even though Wilder was a good man that brought joy
to many people, he was nevertheless a Jewish-Buddhist-Atheist, and
because of that won’t be in Heaven.
To be
clear, Wilder is not in heaven, nor is he in hell. He is dead. Full
stop.
Wilder died
Monday at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, due to complications
from Alzheimer’s disease. According to
a statement from
Wilder’s nephew, Wilder died as a recording of Ella Fitzgerald
singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” – one of his favorite songs –
played in the background.
Bottom
line: Wilder was right to be an atheist. In the end, of course,
there is no heaven, and there is no hell. Death is final, and that
is tragedy enough. There is no afterlife. All we can do now is
mourn the loss, and celebrate the life.