Hell Houses (AKA: Hallelujah Houses, Heaven or Hell, Christian Haunted House, etc.)
December 3, 2014 at 11:36 am
Ah, Hell Houses. These are among the most gruesome, vile, and morally deplorable conversion tools at Christianity's disposal. I am interested in knowing if any members here have had experiences with one of these places. Unfortunately, I have.
Just in case someone doesn't know (our European brethren perhaps), a Hell House is basically a Christian haunted house. The visitors are exposed to scenes depicting "sins" such as talking back to your parents, doubting the existence of god, and so forth involving a teenager (typically). The visitor is then treated to a horrific death scene of the teen, usually caused by a vehicle accident but this varies. Next, you take a walk through a simulated hell, which is where the teen went. Now, if all of this isn't disturbing and repugnant enough, there are a tables set up at the conclusion of the tour with friendly people ready and waiting to guide your soul to Christ after you've been sufficiently terrified of what he will do to you if you don't follow him blindly.
I have a couple of questions: Have any members here experienced one of these horror shows? If you are Christian, do you defend these detestable events when the conversion process is borne out of fear and terror experienced by teens and children?
As I said, I've been to one. I was a teenager and, for all intents and purposes, a non-believer, but I still went to church because my girlfriend did. That's a stupid reason, but, hey, people do stupid things. Anyway, the church organized a field trip of sorts to one of these hell houses. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I'd never been to one so I assumed it was a Christian-themed haunted house. I was wrong.
The first scene we were treated to was a teenager arguing with his parents. It was extremely uncomfortable and very intense. It sure did not seem fun, and it had only started. I don't remember the reason for the argument, but I do recall he was scoffing at his mother quoting scripture (a big no, no!). Well, the group then walks outside to a full scene involving a mangled car, firefighters and firetrucks, and a body lying on the ground beneath a white sheet, completely drenched in blood. I realized there was something terribly wrong at play here. I should have just walked away and took the kids of the group with me. I was disgusted, and I could already see the implications and what was coming next. For whatever reason, I marched on into hell. Hell consisted of walking down a corridor with black fabric on either side, hands reaching out to grab and snatch at you, with an unending cacophony of screaming and wailing. Horrific doesn't do it justice. The kids in the group were visibly upset, and I was getting more and more angry. After hell, I got to see heaven (what a treat). We were then told that the only way to avoid the awful things we had just seen and experienced was to "accept Jesus Christ, etc., etc.". We were ushered into another room where the tables were set up and were admonished to stand in line to wait our turn to speak to one of the people at the table.
If I were the same person then as I am now, I would have channeled my fury onto one of these evil dolts who had been subjecting children to one of the most malicious, immoral, and twisted things I'd ever been party to with the single warped notion of manipulating them into conversion. But, I wasn't the same then. I was 15, meek, and submissive to adults and authority. I responded tersely to the wheedling questions of the guy at the table: "No." "No thanks." "No." And the affair was done. Nobody said much on the way back home. We were all too shocked I think.
Anyway, that's my one and only experience with a "Hell House". Do you have an experience with one? If so, let's hear it.
Just in case someone doesn't know (our European brethren perhaps), a Hell House is basically a Christian haunted house. The visitors are exposed to scenes depicting "sins" such as talking back to your parents, doubting the existence of god, and so forth involving a teenager (typically). The visitor is then treated to a horrific death scene of the teen, usually caused by a vehicle accident but this varies. Next, you take a walk through a simulated hell, which is where the teen went. Now, if all of this isn't disturbing and repugnant enough, there are a tables set up at the conclusion of the tour with friendly people ready and waiting to guide your soul to Christ after you've been sufficiently terrified of what he will do to you if you don't follow him blindly.
I have a couple of questions: Have any members here experienced one of these horror shows? If you are Christian, do you defend these detestable events when the conversion process is borne out of fear and terror experienced by teens and children?
As I said, I've been to one. I was a teenager and, for all intents and purposes, a non-believer, but I still went to church because my girlfriend did. That's a stupid reason, but, hey, people do stupid things. Anyway, the church organized a field trip of sorts to one of these hell houses. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I'd never been to one so I assumed it was a Christian-themed haunted house. I was wrong.
The first scene we were treated to was a teenager arguing with his parents. It was extremely uncomfortable and very intense. It sure did not seem fun, and it had only started. I don't remember the reason for the argument, but I do recall he was scoffing at his mother quoting scripture (a big no, no!). Well, the group then walks outside to a full scene involving a mangled car, firefighters and firetrucks, and a body lying on the ground beneath a white sheet, completely drenched in blood. I realized there was something terribly wrong at play here. I should have just walked away and took the kids of the group with me. I was disgusted, and I could already see the implications and what was coming next. For whatever reason, I marched on into hell. Hell consisted of walking down a corridor with black fabric on either side, hands reaching out to grab and snatch at you, with an unending cacophony of screaming and wailing. Horrific doesn't do it justice. The kids in the group were visibly upset, and I was getting more and more angry. After hell, I got to see heaven (what a treat). We were then told that the only way to avoid the awful things we had just seen and experienced was to "accept Jesus Christ, etc., etc.". We were ushered into another room where the tables were set up and were admonished to stand in line to wait our turn to speak to one of the people at the table.
If I were the same person then as I am now, I would have channeled my fury onto one of these evil dolts who had been subjecting children to one of the most malicious, immoral, and twisted things I'd ever been party to with the single warped notion of manipulating them into conversion. But, I wasn't the same then. I was 15, meek, and submissive to adults and authority. I responded tersely to the wheedling questions of the guy at the table: "No." "No thanks." "No." And the affair was done. Nobody said much on the way back home. We were all too shocked I think.
Anyway, that's my one and only experience with a "Hell House". Do you have an experience with one? If so, let's hear it.
