tagged w/ Hell House
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http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religiousright/1976/jesus_goes_to_the_dark_carnival%3A_hell_house_gets_a_makeover
A demon guides you through the shadows. The bodies of teenagers are strewn about like broken dolls in the mangled remains of a car, bottles of Jim Beam tellingly scattered about the wreckage. A young woman sits steeped in her own blood, surrounded by what looks like modern medical equipment in a women’s clinic but dying from a “botched abortion” anyway. Finally, an angry voice from a glowing figure shrouded in white orders you off into hell, a basement room where scenes, the likes of which Clive Barker dared not dream, swirl out of the dry ice. Male S&M Demons whip teenage girls who cry out in pain and despair.
These are maybe not the kinds of things you’d expect to see on a crisp fall evening at your local evangelical church. Still, in the 1990s, tens of thousands witnessed these scenes at church sponsored attractions known as “Hell Houses.” Born out of anxiety over the allegedly satanic meanings of Halloween and the desire to convert souls, evangelical churches created these “Christian Haunted Houses” to convince children and adolescents of the reality of the last judgment and damnation. Instead of unquiet spirits, vampires, and chainsaw-wielding madmen, the vengeful ghosts of the culture wars haunted these Houses.
Abundant Life Christian Center in Colorado created one of the first, most successful, and most controversial Hell Houses. Attempting to be as edgy as possible, Abundant Life actually used animal intestines to represent an aborted fetus in the stock “women’s clinic” scene. Gruesome effects such as these proved successful enough to allow Abundant Life to package and franchise their effort, creating a 280-page guide explaining how other evangelical churches could create their own Christian horror show. Hell houses spread throughout the Southern and Western United States garnering lots of attention and claiming plenty of converts. In 2001, filmmaker George Ratliff took notice of the phenomenon in his wonderfully rendered documentary Hell House.
In the last decade, a new version of the Hell House, a softer and gentler version, has appeared known as “Judgement House” (yes, always judgement with two ‘e’s). Judgement House, which specifically presents itself as a remodeled Hell House, points out that Hell Houses tend to deal with “socially controversial issues such as homosexuality, date rape, and suicide.” In contrast, Judgement House claims to avoid such topics preferring, according to its FAQ section, to “show participants the consequences of choosing the gift of eternal salvation… as well as experiencing a small part of the separation from God in hell that is the consequence of rejecting that same gift.”
Although the Judgement House scripts do make a conscious effort to avoid the language of the culture wars, the symbols are still present and powerful. One of their scripts entitled “Home of the Brave, Land of the Free” tells a story of conversion against the backdrop of the Iraq War. An online preview of the script suggests that the narrative marries jingoism with true piety, portraying the heroes of the script, Corey and Kevin, as “living their dream of defending the country they love,” having gone to Iraq to “love and serve Jesus Christ, the Hero of all mankind.”http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religiousright/1976/jesus_goes_to_the_dark_ca... more
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The interview with pastor Ortiz in Hell House screams the major problem I have with "Christism": your way is not the only way, accepting your Jesus is not the only way to God. God is real. Apparently infinite intelligence is inherent in our universe. Who are you Trinity to be telling me that your way is the only way? Who are you to be telling me that heaven or hell are the only options - your version of heaven, your version of hell? The collective ego of what passes for christianity may feel good to those who belong and I submit that this is largely nothing more than another ego delusion that must pass away as each individual soul journeys to the infinite. "The map is not the territory" - words, language are only labels - they do not come close to capturing the reality of you or me or any of the great masters who've walked this earth - yes we all need to reconnect with source, the source that is part of our souls, our spirits, our cells, our atoms, our bodies and the path pointed at by hell house is not the one that works for all - christians, get over your arrogance, everyone, find and follow your true heart. (the six second bit as presented in the video is a cheap manipulative trick that in my judgment undermines all the talk of love)
WOW! Evangelical Christians really piss me off! Still!The interview with pastor Ortiz in Hell House screams the major problem I have with... more
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This is just a force tactic no matter what anyone says. Hell house might dissagree that it is not but when do u get 6 seconds to choose ur fate? For me personally I see God as the better person the accepting one. Me personally, I do believe in judgement day but I believe God judges you on the person you are, how you lived your life. For me God accepts you even if you didn't choose him in life but chose to do actions that helped others. The one thing that makes me grind my teeth is people not accepting others. We're all the same, yet we keep labeling ourselves and making assumptions. We keep seperating ourself from each other. It makes me want to scream, I can't and won't understand why people can't accpet others. For some it is their "belief" that this God doesn't exist and that is THEIR belief. They should be able to believe in what they want to. Forcing someone into believing is just plain wrong. After watching the response with this year's hell house operator my jaw dropped. He says he does not want to create sterotypes yet he is creating one for himself. For christians in general. And when he stuttered when he said and do we discriminated him absoultly....absolultly not I was just like woooow. I do understand that people should have the right to "teach" people about their beliefs but this to me is pressure. If i was in that room I would feel the pressure to walk through the door. I know I wouldn't but I would feel the pressure, but then again it's what I believe and people have the right to believe in what they want. I just have a hard time understand how this is not a way of bullying. This isjust over dramatized and sterotypical...
[i apologize for my bad speeling and grammer]This is just a force tactic no matter what anyone says. Hell house might dissagree... more
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If we who belive that we are in the image of God> what truly happens when we are separated from his love?If we who are human and think in human terms want to lable what is evil and what isn't evil then we choose to be blind to his love of mercy and forgiveness?I'm not saying that it's ok to be evil but that the letter of the law can be followed (the ten commandments ) and yet you could still end up in hell?Too deep for the ones without true knowledge of God>Hell house shows fear from evil and that hell is the last stop?!>yes we should stay away from that which is evil but it's the Holy Spirit that takes the fear out of us to do good not evil?All thru the bible it was Jesus that used the word of God to rebuke the Devil?God chose you before you were born?Fear has been used thru out the ages and the ones who are fighting against God knows this so you give them a reason not to believe in this all loving God>they see the power of the Devil and come to realize that to hate is more powerful than to love but in God's terms Love is stronger than hate>this will be true when we rise on the last day like Jesus did after his death! I would like your comments because everbody has different views on fear>I also believe that halloween is losing luster because it's like old news>fear can be used to motivate good and bad people alike but it's what behind it that we don't see until it's to late?!bye markIf we who belive that we are in the image of God> what truly happens when we are... more
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I'll tell you what I'm a Christian and if Christ came back today I wouldn't want to be in that Hell House. I don't think that my lord would want any part of that sick twisted place.
I mean I've partied and I've also read the bible front to back twice and I know that he forgives. At least that what I thought.
These people are to me on the fringes of Christianity and most normal Christians would say these people have a twisted out look on things.
They are messing these kids heads up, and whats scary is these are the people that will someday be running the world!
Great More right wing conservative nuts to add to the Bush world.
It hardly matters because before 4 years are up this world will not be the same place we know today. Go to my site listed above and see for yourself.
Eric EyesI'll tell you what I'm a Christian and if Christ came back today I... more
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Speaking in tongues is probably the silliest things crazy Christians do. You don't need the power of God to compel you to speak gibberish. See?Speaking in tongues is probably the silliest things crazy Christians do. You... more
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