megasamurai Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Did any of you ever have a play in church similair to the Book of Life. It was a play I saw in my childhood that scarred the shit out of me and traumatized me, but my parents didn't take my fear seriously. Here's a summary: It begins with the appearance of death, a guy in a black cloak carrying a sythe. He says he can strike at any time and you can never be prepared for him. The stage is not lit at all. Act 1) A complete psychpathic gangster gets into an argument with the leader of the gang. The gang leader shoots the gangster. Death hacks the gangster with his sythe. The gangster goes to heaven to be judged. God sends him to hell and demons carry him there. A red spotlight shines on the gangster as scary music plays. Act 2) A cute female character dies of a heart attack. Death hacks her. She's judged in heaven. She defends herself by showing herself to be a loving and compassionate person. God sends her to hell despite this because she didn't believe in God. She screams in agony as the demons send her to hell. Act 3) A Christian witnesses to the gang leader. The gang leader doesn't care for his preaching and shoots him. Death hacks him. He is sent to heaven to be judged. The devil himself comes and claims that the Christian deserves to go to hell because he said a naughty word that begins with "d" and ends with "amn". God says he is innocent of his crimes because belief in Jesus makes God forget that the Christian said a word you can't say on the Disney Channel. Death tells the audience that what happened to the three people can happen to you. So believe in God before he comes or else. What are your thoughts on this play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riddick Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Sounds like a Hell House, i think that's what they call them, scare the shit out of people and they will accept anything out of fear. I don't think i've ever seen a Christian try to witness to a gangster, i guess out of fear of dying, i've heard stories, but most stories Christians tell, are just plain full of shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExCBooster Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Wow, that sounds awful. (Morally and artistically. Hat trick!). Nothing pisses me off like strong-arm tactics applied to kids. ... so, let me get this straight... even Ol' Scratch himself can't use the word "damn"? The Christian can't use it? But it's specifically a Christian term... WTF?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raoul Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 What do you think would be the thoughts of NORMAL/RATIONAL people regarding what you just described? It made me want to cough up the coffee I was consumming while reading your description of the incredible child abuse that church was doing showing that kind of garbage to kids. Is it any wonder so many of us call their cult a mental disorder? Stories like yours just reinforce the premise over and over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ crazyguy123 ◊ Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 The church I went to had a Book of Life Drama but it wasn't as disturbing as what you described and probably less traumatizing. In the drama I saw, two of the men from the church acted in the roles of two golf players who got struck by lightning during their game and then they were both suddenly standing in front of an angel. One of the players was a Christian and the other was not. The one who was not was told that his name was not in the book of life and then someone dressed up as the Grim Reaper walks up to the non-Christian who said, "I didn't know! I didn't know that God was real!" or at least something similar to that, I don't fully remember exactly what he said, but he was grabbed by the Grim Reaper and then pulled outside of the church through a side door and the Christian got let into Heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megasamurai Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 I guess the genre is rarer than I thought. Maybe it's just an Assembly of God thing. Fire and brimstone are things my church had a hard on for. Of course, for those who did see a Book of Life play, they probably know how horrible they are. Tvtropes mentions it. I guess it's noteriety is mainly with just the unlucky few to see it. Still, I wish I had a video of my church's version of it to show how awful it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest r3alchild Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Yeah I agree its hell house or a real bad make of scary movie. If god is so loving why does he need to teach people to put the fear in people first and not love first. It smacks of bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Act 1) A complete psychpathic gangster gets into an argument with the leader of the gang. The gang leader shoots the gangster. ... [snip] Act 3) A Christian witnesses to the gang leader. The gang leader doesn't care for his preaching and shoots him totally accepts Jesus and gets whacked by the gangsters boys on his way home. Death hacks him. He is sent to heaven to be judged. ... God says he is innocent of his crimes because belief in Jesus makes God forget that the Christian said a word you can't say on the Disney Channel gang leader shot a guy among other things. Death tells the audience that what happened to the three people can happen to you. So believe in God before he comes or else and maybe you can get away with murder. Fixed it. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen652 Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I saw at my baptist church when i was little Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobbler Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 I participated in this drama back in 1993 I believe at my AOG church. Bruce Thum and his wife, Ruth were the originators of the drama Heaven's Gate, Hell's Flames along with their group, the Sunshine Party. They were the ones who actually came to our church and had us put it on. Here is a link on the history of the group and the Drama. Very interesting fact is that when they first started this drama, it wasn't accepted very readily and viewed by many Christians as sacrilege. Many of you may remember their daughter Pam Thum was a popular CCM artist back in the 90's. http://www.mze.com/sunshineparty/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megasamurai Posted April 6, 2013 Author Share Posted April 6, 2013 I've thought of an idea. I thought of a Rocky Horror Picture Show style musical that points out the ridiculousness of the story. It could be a spiratual successor to the Book of Mormon musical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConureDelSol Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 I've never seen that play. The church I went to did a hell house of sorts for halloween in 2011 though. http://www.examiner.com/article/azrael-s-asylum-may-mean-life-or-death-this-halloween Those "real-life situations" involved things like getting an abortion (a gory, unrealistic one) or having sex before marriage and going to Hell as a result. Oh, and of course, they were given the choice to receive Christ as their savior at the end. You'll be pleased to hear that not only did they get in trouble for not having the proper permits,, it was also a total financial flop and received terrible reviews. The website no longer exists. So all in all, I think they learned how effective fear-mongering is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen652 Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I've thought of an idea. I thought of a Rocky Horror Picture Show style musical that points out the ridiculousness of the story. It could be a spiratual successor to the Book of Mormon musical. *cough* shamless self-promotion *cough* http://authonomy.com/books/21688/like-hell/read-book/?chapterid=206412#chapter I am ashamed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RachelSkates Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Psychological abuse. Pure and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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