Tammy Bruce: Why Some People Look Funny at Christians

Why Some People Look Funny at Christians

This sort of thing does not help. We I talk about saving our nation from extremists, here's a good example of how that manifests in the religious framework.

Visions Of Hell
Two Yale grads and a Colorado pastor team up to present a demonic version of a haunted house.

Worlds collided last month in Brooklyn. In a dark neighborhood of warehouses called DUMBO, in a theater usually reserved for edgy bands and performance artists, real actors performed, straight up and without irony, "Hell House," an evangelical Christian version of a haunted house. With a demon as their guide, visitors walked through a series of live tableaux, each one depicting a different way to stray from God. In one, a young woman commits suicide after being raped. In another, a gay man gets AIDS. At the end, audience members stand before Satan, who is horned and jubilant ("You think sin has no consequence!" he exults)—and finally before Jesus Christ himself, who calls on them to repent and be saved...

Reading "Harry Potter" turns a young boy into a school shooter. Going to a rave gets a young woman gang-raped. In its most graphic scene, "Hell House" depicts an abortion. Blood covers the walls, the woman screams in pain while her doctor smokes a cigarette. Tiny body parts are everywhere. Fifteen people fainted while watching that scene, says Lemon-Strauss. Even the diluted 2004 Hollywood version made Susan Thistlethwaite, president of the Chicago Theological Seminary, so irate that she wrote an editorial for the Chicago Tribune: "Don't justify exposing kids to horror ... and tell me that's religion."

Roberts defends the gore as a theatrical opportunity to save souls. "A lot of the people in the audience never go to church ... We've got 45 minutes to push the pedal to the metal to make the most indelible imprint we can, because the rest of the year we do it with a milk-and-cookies kind of approach."

Yeah, and that 'imprint' is not a good one. Is there anyone out there who thinks this message is normal and will persuade people? I mean, really, reading Harry Potter will make you a cold-blooded killer at school? Criminy. In a world that clearly would benefit from an expansion of Christian values (to say the least) this is the sort of thing that not only makes people look funny at Christians, but makes any argument about the importance and value of Christianity that much more difficult.

Posted by Tammy · October 31, 2006 06:52 PM · Permalink
Cultural Commentary | Religion

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I guess the creators of 'Hell House' can be looked upon as the hijackers of the Christian faith. Do they honestly think people who never attend church are going to look upon this as a serious look into Christianity? Are these not the very same people running around condemning violence in movies and music, yet it's ok for a kid to view their depictions of what a loving God will subject people to if they stray into the world of Harry Potter?

Sounds more like a 'convert or die' approach to me.

Posted by: artgal at November 1, 2006 05:19 AM

When God chose how to approach his people with a savior, he selected the birth of a baby on a cold quiet night. This along with that infant sacrificing his life to save me paints a picture of love that I don't see being portrayed in "Hell House"! Fundamentalists have hijacked the public view of Christianity and as a Christian, I am growing weary of these antics!

Posted by: SLABBOTT at November 1, 2006 07:02 AM

I wonder how many people come out of of these performances a changed person leaving their evil ways behind. People have change of hearts when they see the example of others who set the good example by the joy, happiness and love that radiate from them in their everyday lives. St.Francis taught that we preach God by the lives that we live and should only use words when absolutely necessary.
We are all called to be saints, which does not mean we must be perfect, but holy. We are all flawed in different ways but we have a merciful God who is willing to forgive and help us to work out these imperfections torwards our way to becoming holy, which is a tough and trying thing to do ! Happy All Saints Day :)

Posted by: Carpediem at November 1, 2006 10:01 AM

I read the web article. I think they are on the right track, but they weakened their message by including weak examples, such as the Harry Potter scene leading to shooting classmates. That is a weak chain of logical progression.

These folks are trying to reach kids who are NOT getting the normal Bible messages from church attendance, so the producers of this Hell House are trying a bait and switch, it LOOKS like the typical secular haunted house walkthrough, but it has a strong Biblical warning, which is too often censored out of EVERYTHING in the mainstream of social life and entertainment in the USA. This technique is very common in the "acceptable" Christian world, where Christianity means luxury in life instead of responsibility in life. They are still being entertained, like at any other haunted house in town, (but they are also getting a much stronger Christian message than they would at any other haunted house in town).

The abortion scene doesn't seem too way out, if you consider that they have only made the entire room look like what is happening to the baby victim, being tortured to death in the womb. It really IS a bloody nightmare inside the womb during an abortion. Surely nobody thinks that what happens to a baby being aborted is a peaceful event? It is HORRIFIC to the EXTREME! Those babies being aborted are ripped limb from limb, yet the anger falls on people who point out that horror, not against the people perpetrating that horror. Surely nobody can say what is happening to the baby victim is peaceful or right, during an abortion. Where are the rights for the baby who can be legally, brutally murdered in agony, in the womb, in the good old USA?

If you stick to teaching the Bible, you can't go wrong, the problems come when you try to outdo the Bible with your own examples. The Hell House people should have used Bible scenes, such as Jesus telling the story of Lazarus, on fire in Hell, for ignoring the needy while he basked in riches, for example. They messed up by using weak examples that are much more susceptible to ridicule. If you just teach the Bible, then you can still be ridiculed, but at least those opposed cannot take the imaginary high road and claim they accept the Bible while rejecting your modern examples. If you just teach the Bible, then the audience has to either accept or reject the Bible, and the messenger is no longer grounds for dismissing the Bible message.

The Bible really does teach that most people are going to Hell in the afterlife, because it is only the few who care enough about Jesus to get into Heaven. This reality is not created by contemporary Christians, or even ancient Christians. This teaching is in the Bible. If you reject that teaching, you are rejecting what the Bible says, and you are probably making up YOUR OWN belief of the afterlife, which will not be observed after you die. The Bible does not lie.

I say these Hell House people meant well, but are getting put down due to their own inferior storytelling which strayed too far from the Bible. Maybe next year they will do more Bible scenes and less contemporary non-Biblical scenes.

Posted by: Psalm_9:17 at November 1, 2006 01:15 PM

How sad.

Christianity, with its two key commandments to love God and our neighbor, is a religion of unconditional love and compassion.

However, it is also a religion of a just God who has made the penalty for choosing a life separate from Him very clear. The reality of Hell cannot be dismissed simply because it makes us uncomfortable, and herein lays the problem.

These men, out of their zealousness to "save souls", have ascribed to the logic of "the end justifies the means".

As a counter-point, I can offer that my church has also put on a walk-through drama the last three years. In it, you are introduced to a group of characters, some of whom die during the play (e.g., war, car accident, crime scene). You are then taken through Judgment, Hell and Heaven scenes. None of which are heavy-handed.

In fact, I directed the Hell scene and "play" Jesus in Heaven. I intentionally avoid any extreme haunted house type of effects, and instead focus on the despair of someone who did not choose God in life and therefore is without God in death. I contrast this with a loving, compassionate, smiling and affable Jesus in Heaven who speaks with each person and offers an encouraging word.

This, I believe, is a balanced approach. It presents the reality of an eternal soul, which is a cornerstone of the Christian faith, and how our choice to either reject or accept God in life ultimately chooses our final destination.

We had ~2500 folks come through this year and have received nothing but positive comments, including other churches begging us to do it again next year.

Posted by: FaronDean at November 1, 2006 01:38 PM

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