Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Welcome to Hell

*Ever heard of Hell's Bells?*

The link is by way of Balderdash and it talks about the creation of something called a hell house whose sole purpose is to scare kids into converting into Christianity. So why I hate Fundamentalists? This just chalks up yet another reason. This IS NOT Christianity, this IS more like Fire and Brimestone religion, it is insipid, shallow and appeals more to a person's baser fears than the nobility of Man's spirit (okay admittedly in Christianity you have the fallen nature of Man to deal with bit in Genesis though). It's akin to saying, worship the volcano god or he will bring doom and destruction on you, and yeah, while you're at it, he wants a virgin sacrifice as well.

It's no different from that stupid show I was forced to watch back in ACS(I) and the concept was the same. To portray the world as some huge evil place at odds with them, the sole shining beacon of truth and light. More accurately I think of it as that of misinformation and lies (or oops 'sin of omission').

Amongst the choicier scenes they used are:
"We've seen a teenage girl punished for entertaining a single brief thought about meeting a guy on spring break - a thought that leads directly to her being viciously gang-raped."

And my 'favourite'...
"In the show's most overwrought scene, an alcoholic, adulterous, porn-addicted litigation lawyer who has just secured freedom for a known paedophile stabs his wife rather than have her discover he has been molesting their daughter. The daughter then shoots her father, retreats to her room and slits her wrists, spilling fake blood over the floor, next to her bible."

And here is how the show ends,

"Thoroughly shaken, we were taken to one last room where a pastor called Larry invited us to choose between two doors - one plain one marked "Exit" leading straight to the night-time air, and another leading into a "prayer room" where Hell Housers could sign up for the church and talk, if they wished, with a counsellor.

"The question is, if you were to die tonight, where are you going to go?" Larry asked. At least three of the teenagers trembled visibly. "The devil is trying to stop you going through the prayer door," he asserted. And, he told us, calling yourself a Christian was not enough protection from eternal hellfire. "Who does the devil want most? Those close to him, or those who got away?" he asked. The teenagers murmured: "Those who got away." Larry thundered back: "And what are those who got away called? That's right, Christians!" Every single member of my party went through the prayer door. Some of them rushed through."

Not in a state of religious estacy but simply base mortal fear. No appeals to the religion of Love and sacrifice (Cruxifiction) for them but simply like a bad hard sell salesman or time-share scam artist. This simply makes me sick.

3 Comments:

At 8:29 AM, Blogger Chypre et Chocolat said...

If at the heart of Christianity is a personal relationship with God, why is a relationship built on fear considered an appropriate foundation for something that is meant to be life-affirming?

One'd think that the pastor's salvation was based on the number of warm bodies filling the pew.

Go to religioustolerance and search for Hell Houses, btw, more analysis of differing viewpoints.

What I'd like to know is this: out of the percentage that one manages to convert, how many remain active in the church (attending services, cell groups, organising camps and such) after a year? after five?

 
At 8:47 AM, Blogger Shaun Lee said...

Thanks.

If they are fed a steady dose of fear and sin and notion of 'salvation', possibly for a very very long time. I would argue that it is not much different from the sort of conditioning that happens in cults. And unless the person leaves voluntarily, cult deprogramming can take a very very long time.

I forgot to mention that it was very Jack Chickqueus. His brand of anti everything else his sadistic form of fundamentalism has gotten him the dubious honour of being one of the 100 sites the SBA has banned. And consider that 98 of them are pornographic in nature.

 
At 8:53 AM, Blogger Shaun Lee said...

Oh yes and one more thing. It's because of such garbage that they put out, I automatically discount every single thing they say until proven right (and no, this does not count their supposed 'scientific studies').

Anyone with half a brain who finds out the more nuanced truth or simply how much of their stuff is pure bunk is just going to turn away.

 

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