Freethought & Rationalism Archive

cheetah · 09-12-2002, 12:30 PM

In the Media and Popular Culture Forum there is a thread about evangelical punk groups and one posters frustration at what appears to be a lame attempt by fundies to trick more people into the Dark Side by being faux cool.

I was just walking at lunch...I work downtown, and people are always handing flyers out or asking for money or whatever. So, this guy says, "Here you go, free tickets for you." to me, as I was about to cross the street. So, I just took it and kept walking. What are the free tickets for? Why, for a special movie orientation to Scientology at my local church of scientology! Not that I expected the tickets to be for some cool new movie, but that was just such a fake trick. I can just picture them deciding on this tactic and how excited they would be to think how people would take the tickets because they think they are movie tickets or something, and designing the to look just like movie tickets. Yuck. It just seems soooo fake to me, although I guess fundies have a right to try to do things they think are cool, just like I have a right to think it is extra gross.

Anyway, that was me venting. If anyone else wants to vent or talk about things they have seen churches do to try to be modern and cool and have their outdated doctrines appear to keep up with modern times, that would be cool...

simian · 09-12-2002, 12:42 PM

Hell houses. Standard "scare the fear of GAWD into them" tactics, hidden in the guise of a Halloween haunted house.

Simian

sakrilege · 09-12-2002, 01:07 PM

I had xtian friends who were always inviting me to events described as some type of entertainment that turned out to always end with church services. I learned quickly to distrust them as I felt they lied to me. Must be okay to lie for jesus.

christ-on-a-stick · 09-12-2002, 01:09 PM

Whenever I go into the Religion section of the Borders (bookstore) in my neighborhood, I am nauseated by the "Xtreme Teen"-theme Bibles - be radical for Jebus! Dude, it's gnarly! I think they actually have one for surfers specifically... gag!!!

simian · 09-12-2002, 01:18 PM

Heck, how about the "ID" creationism trying to pretend it is science?

Along those lines, I frequently find pro-creationism books in the science and nature area of bookstores.

Simian

braces_for_impact · 09-12-2002, 01:31 PM

When I was a kid we always had this church bus come around and gather the little kids up to go to "Sunday School". This was a summer thing, and beforehand every year they would knock on the kids doors and hand them a "Sunday School schedule". This was basically a list of the Sundays, including which particular "gift" would be given to all the kids that attended on that day. Every Sunday was something different. Candy one day, special "events" tickets (as described above). The one gift that really got me was every so often they would offer LIVE animals. Baby chicks on easter, things like that. The poor chicks, you should have seen half the things these kids did to their new pets when they got them home! Disgusting really, and a lot of dead animals in the end.

fando · 09-12-2002, 05:32 PM

cheetah,

Was that movie called Orientation? Sounds so. It's a very funny and disturbing flick. I recommend watching it if you can avoid paying for anything. You'll see such gems as Christie Alley and John Travolta offering testimonials, the host insulting and threatening the audience and so on. Come prepared with a fake bio as they will ask for your personal info and probably attempt to get you to purchase a book or two.

09-12-2002, 12:30 PM	#1
cheetah Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,118	other religious tricks In the Media and Popular Culture Forum there is a thread about evangelical punk groups and one posters frustration at what appears to be a lame attempt by fundies to trick more people into the Dark Side by being faux cool. I was just walking at lunch...I work downtown, and people are always handing flyers out or asking for money or whatever. So, this guy says, "Here you go, free tickets for you." to me, as I was about to cross the street. So, I just took it and kept walking. What are the free tickets for? Why, for a special movie orientation to Scientology at my local church of scientology! Not that I expected the tickets to be for some cool new movie, but that was just such a fake trick. I can just picture them deciding on this tactic and how excited they would be to think how people would take the tickets because they think they are movie tickets or something, and designing the to look just like movie tickets. Yuck. It just seems soooo fake to me, although I guess fundies have a right to try to do things they think are cool, just like I have a right to think it is extra gross. Anyway, that was me venting. If anyone else wants to vent or talk about things they have seen churches do to try to be modern and cool and have their outdated doctrines appear to keep up with modern times, that would be cool...

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09-12-2002, 12:42 PM	#2
simian Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO area Posts: 1,924	Hell houses. Standard "scare the fear of GAWD into them" tactics, hidden in the guise of a Halloween haunted house. Simian

09-12-2002, 01:07 PM	#3
sakrilege Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Cleveland, OH, USA Folding@Home Godless Team Posts: 6,211	I had xtian friends who were always inviting me to events described as some type of entertainment that turned out to always end with church services. I learned quickly to distrust them as I felt they lied to me. Must be okay to lie for jesus.

09-12-2002, 01:09 PM	#4
christ-on-a-stick Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Durango, Colorado Posts: 7,116	Whenever I go into the Religion section of the Borders (bookstore) in my neighborhood, I am nauseated by the "Xtreme Teen"-theme Bibles - be radical for Jebus! Dude, it's gnarly! I think they actually have one for surfers specifically... gag!!!

09-12-2002, 01:18 PM	#5
simian Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO area Posts: 1,924	Heck, how about the "ID" creationism trying to pretend it is science? Along those lines, I frequently find pro-creationism books in the science and nature area of bookstores. Simian

09-12-2002, 01:31 PM	#6
braces_for_impact Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: In a nondescript, black helicopter. Posts: 6,637	When I was a kid we always had this church bus come around and gather the little kids up to go to "Sunday School". This was a summer thing, and beforehand every year they would knock on the kids doors and hand them a "Sunday School schedule". This was basically a list of the Sundays, including which particular "gift" would be given to all the kids that attended on that day. Every Sunday was something different. Candy one day, special "events" tickets (as described above). The one gift that really got me was every so often they would offer LIVE animals. Baby chicks on easter, things like that. The poor chicks, you should have seen half the things these kids did to their new pets when they got them home! Disgusting really, and a lot of dead animals in the end.

09-12-2002, 05:32 PM	#7
fando Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Los Angeles Area Posts: 1,372	cheetah, Was that movie called Orientation? Sounds so. It's a very funny and disturbing flick. I recommend watching it if you can avoid paying for anything. You'll see such gems as Christie Alley and John Travolta offering testimonials, the host insulting and threatening the audience and so on. Come prepared with a fake bio as they will ask for your personal info and probably attempt to get you to purchase a book or two.

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