Rhett had his reasons for suggesting this to Scarlett in GWTW, but Alec Baldwin had his reasons for asking “Am I in hell?” in “The Shadow,” and I have my own reasons for wondering the same thing. Not everyone is mourning the passing of William F. Buckley and some are quite willing to consign him to the fiery pit. I have never owned a yacht, but his writing of the marvels of yachting and adventures in seafaring for the wealthy as though all good Americans should share his enthusiasm for the things money and privilege bestow on those favored of the gods was his stamp of approval among the favored few. Face it, that circle would seem to be the only one unbroken if anyone is really looking for an answer to the question raised in the hymn.

However, love him or hate him Buckley did speak for a certain class, most of whom are not going to make it through the Pearly Gates in the opinion of some despite their circle remaining unbroken in this world and perhaps remaining unbroken in hell. The wealthy and privileged are generally held to be in the category of Jesus’ admonition about how difficult it is for rich people to make it into heaven, and the parable about the rich man and Lazarus being one of great foreboding for those living sumptuously while fellow human beings are suffering. The Epistle of James waxes positively lyrical on this theme.

Heaven and Hell? No one has ever come back to tell me about either one, but perhaps Jesus had inside information and spoke knowledgeably on the subject. Still, anything concerning an afterlife remains only speculation and a matter of beliefs including those of Jesus. For me, life on earth is enough of a living hell without the prospect of being plunged into the eternal flames of the “lake of fire” when I die. And no one sensitive to the amount of human suffering throughout the world can fail to understand my thought on the subject. Sure, I can hope this is only purgatory rather than hell; that the evil I have done will be purged here rather than being consigned to the fiery pit and I may yet rejoin loved ones and friends in a heavenly hereafter. But as I said, no one has come back from the other side to either assure or condemn me, and I consider religious people of whatever belief system pontificating on the subject to be delusional at best. I have my hopes, but they remain only hopes despite faith being “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Sinclair Lewis was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature, but in several ways he represented the assertion by Emerson about some admirable writers being a disappointment in person, and I’m sure many of the great writers I admire would fall into this category, Lewis no doubt among them. But then, like the legitimate criticism of Mozart there is no denying many a person of artistic genius has been lacking in the social graces, and the genuine lovers of ideas are not usually the best of company or people easy to like, and none would dispute Lewis and Buckley were thinkers, lovers of ideas despite their ideas being controversial and even hated by some. But few qualified to address the issue would dispute you come to the end of your life as a lover of ideas or not being able to count your real friends on the fingers of one hand, if you have any at all.

But Lewis endeared himself to me very early because he was so adept in pricking the balloons of pompous asses as well as admiring H. L. Mencken who was gifted in like manner. But in thinking about the death of Buckley and how Lewis might react, the first lines from “Elmer Gantry” came to mind: “Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk.”

Lewis was an alcoholic, he understood alcoholics, but he was also determined to mock those who mock alcoholics, much as Mencken mocked politicians. Buckley was not so adept as either Lewis or Mencken; he lacked the passion of either of them that would have removed him from his “celestial” world. I am not unaware of how easy it is to bite the hand that feeds you when you are born to a privileged class, much of such “biting” would not take place in the face of real want and ignorance. Still, a few do come from the privileged classes and are genuine in pronouncing on the venalities of the wealthy.

However, in his passion, his zeal to also mock religious hypocrites Lewis overreached into areas of belief where he lacked experience and in making Elmer too heroic, and in so doing his novel did not accomplish the avowed purpose despite it being reviled by many religious leaders of the time. But when the film came out in 1960 the hypocrisy of Hollywood was made palpable by the producers implying they were taking a risk in making the movie and hoping it wouldn’t offend anyone. I can well imagine how Lewis would have reacted to such hypocrisy. As an artist in his own right, the opinions of others did not dictate his art. The real artist is always their own harshest critic; which is one reason they are often poor company. But few people are as disgusting as the pretenders; those fancying themselves “artists” indulging in false modesty, false humility and disingenuous self-effacing hypocrisy.

It is not my place to pronounce either Buckley or Lewis approved or anathema, each hold a particular place unique to them as persons as we all do. If there is an afterlife they will be held accountable there; and if not, dead is dead. But so long as I remain among the living here on earth it is my place to say I don’t know if there is a heaven or hell and in my opinion neither does anyone else. While Billy Sunday could pronounce “Booze has its place, and its place is in hell!” I could easily say the same of politicians. The problem is that like Rhett’s attempt to comfort Scarlett I don’t know if there is a hell, and to tell God his business there is hell enough on earth for most of us to deal with, and in the end whether sinner or saint we all die.

My contentiousness on this subject is at several levels. It isn’t for anyone to tell anyone else whether they are going to heaven or hell. Dress it as you will, once the proposition wears clerical garb of any kind and pontificates on this subject they lose me as a listener. I believe myself to be a moral and honest person, and if that doesn’t cut it with God then so be it. I also believe I know the difference between good and evil, and will oppose evil wherever and whenever I can. Whether a heaven and hell or not, it is my belief those of us able to do so should fight the battle against the evil in this world rather than counting on some deity to fight the battle for us.

Emerson was quite clear on this point; that the hypocrisy of religion is an empty promise in the hereafter for beliefs that do not carry the weight of our actions in this life. Unlike those so quick to judge Buckley whether for good or ill, I frankly don’t know if there is a heaven or hell to which to consign him or anyone else. I know life is unjust, life is not fair, and for many life is a literal living hell on earth; and perhaps there is a need for deities to sort it out since there is no hope for justice or making sense of it otherwise. But for the most part, when it comes to professional religionists of any stripe I’m with Walt Kelly who said, “I don’t take off your god.”