| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Jason Spaceman" |
| Date: |
09 Sep 2006 06:36:09 PM |
| Object: |
Florida: State's "Holy Land" Mixes Faith, Fun |
From the article:
---------------------------------------
There is no mouse in funny shoes, no fairy princess, but the Holy Land
Experience in Orlando is a theme park with a biblical focus.
BY ALEXANDRA ALTER
aalter@MiamiHerald.com
ORLANDO - The crucifixion was canceled.
The announcement came over loudspeakers as fat clouds formed above a replica of
Christ's garden tomb. Dozens of disappointed tourists and pilgrims who came to
witness the spectacle -- a daily event at the Holy Land Experience, a 15-acre,
$16 million biblical theme park tucked off Interstate 4 in Orlando -- trudged
toward the exit.
Park officials were apologetic but firm: None of their employees would hang on
the cross during a lightning storm.
The musical reenactment of Christ's death and resurrection, delivered daily by
one of the park's three Jesus impersonators, helps draw an average of 250,000
people a year to Holy Land.
So do its Roman sentinels, wearing swords, scowls and leather skirts; a
six-story replica of Herod's temple; a gift shop that sells Holy Land T-shirts,
plastic swords and shields and biblical cookbooks; and park actors like
85-year-old Herb Maynard, whose tangled white beard and wild eyebrows allow him
to play Moses with little makeup.
With its bizarre blend of entertainment, evangelism and free enterprise, Holy
Land Experience has stretched the boundaries of roadside religion. Confusion
over its purpose has even spawned a new state tax law tailored to its dual
roles as church and theme park.
Critics argue that a church shouldn't charge for parking and admission -- a
visit to Holy Land will set you back more than $30 -- but believers say Holy
Land and other spiritually themed parks provide an effective new medium for
spreading the gospel.
"This began as an experiment in Christian ministry," said Dan Hayden, the park's
executive director, who holds a master's degree in theology from Dallas
Theological Seminary and a doctoral degree in ministries from Baptist Bible
Seminary. "It's unique. We put flesh and blood on Bible stories."
Holy Land has been plagued with controversy since it opened in 2001. Jewish
leaders protested the park's message that Jews must convert to Christianity.
County officials sought to collect more than $1 million in back taxes from the
park, which calls itself a ministry, not a business.
------------------------------------------
Read it at http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15480349.htm
J. Spaceman
--
My email address (notreally@jspaceman.homelinux.org) is fake. Email sent to it
will only get caught in my spam tarpit.
.
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| User: "Hotel Charlie One" |
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| Title: Re: Florida: State's "Holy Land" Mixes Faith, Fun |
10 Sep 2006 07:38:40 AM |
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Jason Spaceman <notreally@jspaceman.homelinux.org> wrote in
news:edvj56$o1r$1@news.datemas.de:
Park officials were apologetic but firm: None of their employees
would hang on the cross during a lightning storm.
That's faith for you.
--
The actions of the disgraceful Clinton and Bush administrations
make it possible for me to say without shame that I deeply regret
the day I put the uniform of my country. The freedoms that I was
willing to protect with my life are being lost. The America of
our founders is dead. All we are waiting for now is rigor mortis.
HotelCharlieOne
.
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