Or one can substitute ‘Paradise’ for ‘Heaven’. Or “get saved’ instead of ‘go to Heaven.’ Or … whatever.
The point is that believers in several religions are required to believe that they are part of a select and chosen few, and that the fate in the afterlife / afterworld of those who do not conform with these beliefs is unenviable.
There are ‘religions’ that don’t think this way. Confucianism, Daoism and so forth are often referred to as philosophies rather than religions for this reason.
So this is a question for believers in several religions, not just Christianity.
I don’t claim to be wise enough to provide a good answer for all religions. My limited understanding of Islam is that the answer is basically - yes. However, I’m hoping someone more knowledgeable will contribute a wiser response than that.
I can give an answer for Christianity though.
Heaven is most usefully defined as “Wherever God’s Will is perfectly done.”
For the record Hell is simply the opposite.
Any Christian who loves God wants to do His Will.
At various times a little piece of Heaven is in my heart. I wish it were more of my heart more of the time, but I’m Human and I fail a lot.
So when a Christian dies the idea is that he / she gets to dwell with God in God’s place where His Will is perfectly done.
If you don’t love God and don’t want to do His Will, no one will make you. You can choose to go elsewhere. God doesn’t make you, but … there is no reason why you should be allowed to, and no way that you can, live in God’s perfect house while not loving Him and not doing His Will.
That’s Christian mythos and so Christian’s believe it. (Incidentally it’s not confined to Christianity either. This view of Heaven / Paradise / God’s Dwelling can be usefully applied to several religions).
As for Christianity, CK finds very little Biblical support for the whole afterlife, resurrection, Heaven thing. Some yes. It’s somewhat interpretable. Saints sleeping under the altar and all that stuff. Purgatory? Whatever.
However, here are my wisdoms for Christians who are concerned with these questions of bigotry.
First; Do not spend time worrying about the afterlife of yourself or others. Focus on the journey. Live your life fully now. You’ll find out about the afterlife when you get there. Meantime what you do, and how you live has far more influence on others than what you tell them.
Second; Pray. Pray for those you can’t otherwise help. Pray for those already dead if you want to. Prayer is a great consolation when you can’t do anything else. That’s a large part of what it is there for. You can’t tell God anything He doesn’t already know.
Third; When you pray, listen. Prayer isn’t about saying lots of things to God, it’s about communicating with Him. The most important part of that is listening.
Fourth; Learn to pray like you breath - constantly, without significant effort. You breath constantly as a natural part of life. Pray that way too.
Fifth; What happens to people / souls after they die is not your business and NOT your problem. You do NOT judge. God can judge because He knows all the facts. You don’t. You are required to witness by the way you live your life. You do NOT convert anyone or lead anyone to the truth. That is the work of the Holy Spirit, not you.
Bigotry - is about what you do. Believe as the Creed indicates. Love your neighbour as yourself. So - love yourself. Love everyone else too. Act accordingly. Then see if anyone can accuse you of bigotry.
Of course if you are not behaving that way, then you may indeed be bigoted. And that is NOT Christian.
It may be that non-Christians also find some wisdom in these five advices too.
In any case - I offer them in the hope that they may help.