The Art of Telling People They Are Going to Fry in Hell: Getting the Tone Right

I’ve been to a lot of funerals this year.  Too many of them have included a sales pitch for the religious choice of the deceased.

This strikes me as an odd choice. The religious affiliation (or lack thereof) of the people attending could be all over the map.

Yet, like clockwork, the kindly person running the memorial service starts explaining that we can all breathe easier because the person who died backed the right horse in the religion sweepstakes. They have gone to heaven because they chose (insert name of deity or prophet here).

It goes without saying that anyone in attendance who has not chosen that deity will burn in hell, or suffer a similar unpleasant fate, depending on the religion and sect.

Think about a Mac users group, and you’ve got the idea.

This sort of self-congratulation is great for internally reinforcing what makes you different. But as a way of reaching out across cultural boundaries, it sucks.

How many assumptions do you make about your audience? That’s where the danger lies.