American Right Wing Christianity

[dawbs]

Some of it was opened and operated by other groups afterwards...and the upper room is supposed to be being restored to be a prayer center.

But I think (no evidence to support this hypothesis :) that American culture got a *little* bit less OK w/ shady theme parks at some point in the 80's.

I could be way off base, but, in the 80's, I went to innumerable sketchy little 'theme parks', all over the place. When I've tried to google to see if some of them still exist, almost universally, they are closed.

Some of it is probably liability (I'm guessing liability insurance wasn't on people's radar the same way when Heritage USA and their ilk were operating).

some of it is airfare and travel being affordable (realistically, Disney isn't much more expensive, all told, if done on a budget, than the cost of spending a few days at a crappier park).

Some of it is probably the 'fear mongering'--Not that kidnappers can't happen at Disney, but it seems a lott less likely at 'the happiest place on earth' than it does at "storybook gardens' that is run by a guy and his family who may not background check the guys who operate rides.

But it seems the little parks are disappearing and the big corporate ones are becoming more popular.

[hoipolloi]

Interestingly enough, I have a cousin who is fundie. As a birthday present several years ago, one of his brothers (not fundie) took him to the AIG Creation theme park/museum that's a couple of hours from where they live.

I recently asked the fundie cousin what he thought about the Creation museum and was pleasantly surprised to hear him say that it's essentially a money-making scam. Mind you, this cousin never misses a chance to harangue the rest of us about the evils & lies of evolution, so he definitely buys into that whack job world view. Even he, though, complained about being nickeled & dined by the museum and said that it seemed to him the museum cared more about money than the people/believers visiting it. He said that he wouldn't be going back to it.

[kpmom]

Speaking of cheesy theme parks, I was in Orlando this past weekend and drove past the Holy Land theme park. Are there really enough fundy and and fundy lites around to keep that place afloat?

[RosyDaisy]

Speaking of snake handling, I know of a few churches that do it. They are mainly Pentecostal, Holiness, or Signs Following churches. I will never step foot in one. Nope. No way. Ain't gonna happen. I am TERRIFIED of snakes. In my opinion the only good snake is a dead snake. Besides it's against the law in some states to take reptiles out of their natural habitat and keep them as pets.

[HoneyBunny]

I'd still love the tour if I come to NC--although I think I'd want to start in SC, at Heritage USA (where Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were)--I have memories of that place :lol:

I wish I could have gone to Heritage USA when it was still open, but my parents weren't big fans of Jim and Tammy Faye. :( Even abandoned the park looks amazing.

http://www.tommyandjames.net/heritageusa.html

You just brought back a memory...

In March 1987, my husband and I were flown to Charlotte NC to meet with a potential employer (I was just finishing up grad school). We had a weekend to see the city after a Friday spent in interviews. We just HAD to see that place (I guess my fascination with these things goes back that far, though I just now realized it). Heritage USA was just over the border in SC, so we drove down there and checked it out. What I remember most is how fake it all was...it was like a movie set, all "store fronts". Fancy looking from the front, but it was literally fancy fronts held up by 2x4s behind them. The funniest thing to see was Tammy Faye's makeup store. Really. All these ladies were in there shopping for HER makeup. What a hoot.

We returned home and within a couple of weeks (possibly days), I was hospitalized with meningitis (unrelated to the Heritage USA visit, I'm sure). DH came rushing into my room one morning all excited about this story on CNN. The whole thing was crumbling like a house of cards (which it pretty much was). It was interesting to have just been there before it happened.

On a not-unrelated note, we were also at the mega church in Colorado Springs (New Life?) just before Ted Haggard went down...well, perhaps that's not the best choice of words. Not for anything worship-ing, mind you. It was the start of a major Harley ride, and we went in to use the restrooms before we started out. Not at all fake-ish, like Heritage USA was, but definitely a "WTF is this?" kind of moment. Religion for sale. These are the two best examples I've witnessed.

[formergothardite]

I remember people used to wear these shirts and as a child I never did get what they were supposed to mean:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/93205885/vi ... aye-at-the

[dawbs]

I remember people used to wear these shirts and as a child I never did get what they were supposed to mean:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/93205885/vi ... aye-at-the

I don't remember those and I giggled.

It's probably not going to be funny when I explain it...It's kinda like this joke:

http://armedlaughing.files.wordpress.co ... 04/bar.jpg

and, if you literally 'ran into' Tammy Faye, her over-use of make-up would leave behind a ginormous cosmetic smudge.

[formergothardite]

As an adult I understand it, but as a child, even after my parents tried to explain, it went way over my head. I didn't get Amelia Bedelia books either. :lol:

[dawbs]

Oh good, I probably shouldn't have explained :D

I tried explaining why Amelia Bedelia was funny to my daughter recently. I gave up and went back to SkippyJon Jones (who she ALSO doesn't understand is funny--but she likes him better)

[naatashamaru]

I have definitely dealt with Right Wing Christianity in the South. Im a rare breed a Black Episcopalian in Georgia. I went to a religiously affiliated college and was active in a religious group that required bible study weekly. (tbh it was for the scholarship money). I remember one time during Bible Study group (i was the only one who wasn't Baptist or Methodist) one of the girls saying i was basically going to hell because I wasn't a true Christian (cuz apparently only Methodists and more Protestant denominations were a-ok) and that i needed to get away from being so close to being a dirty Catholic. Trust me it went downhill when I had to politely (still in Bible Study group) cuss the child out bcuz she made me so mad. Also the entire year I realized how little emphasis my denomination has on the Book of Revelation and how much reliance other denominations have. Besides the Prosperity Gospel. The wonderful Bible Belt that im living in is a Right Wing Christianity utopia and i am stuck in it.