Letters: Apr. 14, 1997

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DOES HEAVEN EXIST?

"Yes, there is a heaven. We create it every day when we protect a child, help an adult and revere our home, the earth." GEORGE A. ERICKSON New Brighton, Minnesota

I've come to accept heaven as an eternal gift for attempting to live my life with God, not man, as my mentor [RELIGION, March 24]. As with any gift, knowing what's under the wrappings before the designated time removes all the joy of the unwrapping intended by the giver. If heaven has no relationship to time, space or place, why waste human energy trying to put it in a box. Such are the matters of faith. ROBERT L. MINNER Broomfield, Colorado

Excellent topic! I truly enjoyed reading "Does Heaven Exist?" I am a devout Christian, and I don't give much thought to heaven. My spirituality isn't based on an anthropomorphic, kick-butt God who will throw four generations of children into eternal damnation because some distant forefather ticked him off. Heaven is the flip side of the absolutely barbaric notion of hell that evolved under that kick-butt mind-set.

Hell is just plain inconsistent with the tradition of mysticism that brought me into the faith in the first place. To me, God is a symbol for something unfathomable, an utter mystery that fills my heart with joy and my spirit with song. TRISH CARR Portland, Oregon

I find it comical that you chose to ask scholars about heaven when those truly educated on the subject are dead. CHRISTIN LEE, age 14 West Hills, California

Congratulations on your inspiring cover story. Yet nowhere did the story even hint at the millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics and atheists worldwide who may have had a glimpse of heaven--a near-death experience--and lived to tell about it if we had taken the time to listen. For thousands of years, these people have told us of meeting loved ones, of undergoing instantaneous, panoramic life reviews of every thought and deed, of the effects of such things on themselves and others, and encountering the Light, which has transformed their lives. BRUCE J. HORACEK Omaha, Nebraska

Surveys show Americans at times envision heaven as a place like home and, surprisingly often, as a place where baseball is played (even prior to the 1989 release of Field of Dreams). This U.S. concept brings us closer to the views of Polynesians and the Balinese, who envision a heaven much like their islands but without illness. JEANNETTE BELLIVEAU Baltimore, Maryland

HEAVEN IN SURVEYSPEAK

David Van Biema did a wonderful job of writing "Does Heaven Exist?" [RELIGION, March 24]. Yet the impact is lost when you include a chart of a telephone poll that purports to tell readers what America thinks. This is surveyspeak, polltalk at its most ridiculous. If there are 250 million people in the U.S., your polltakers reached 0.000407% of the population. To permit such balderdash when dealing with heaven and hell, you risk a lot. JOHN VAN DOORN New York City

So 43% expect to find harps when they arrive in heaven, while only 6% believe good deeds alone will get them there. Welcome to the new Dark Ages! MARC VISCHER Billings, Montana

PREACHING HEAVEN