A sickening example of religious vampirism

expatbrit

The link below leads to a webpage for a play entitled It's Not Too Late: A Christian Drama/Musical Inspired By The Columbine Tragedy.

Here is the synopsis of the play:

The story takes place during one day at a high school.
Mr. Brooks is the custodian of the high school. He collects trash. Sometimes what he finds in the trash reminds him of things that happened in school. This day is no different. What he finds tells both the happy and tragic events that transpired. He recounts what happened.
Judy Jones is a student in school. She has a sour outlook on life. She hates any discussions that include mention of God. She is annoyed by Lisa Caldwell, a committed Christian who is not reluctant to share her faith.
Katie Smith is a new student at school. She is awkward and a little bit lost. She's worried about fitting in and wants to make friends. She also wants to learn how others deal with life in general - what works and what doesn't.
As Katie travels from class to class, she discovers man's answers to some of her questions. In History, she hears that studying history can help her master the world she lives in. In Biology, she observes an experiment that illustrates the belief that life originated from a primordial pool as the result of a 'cosmic accident'. And in Philosophy, she listens as students debate options for making moral decisions.
In the process of going from class to class, Katie meets Jason Holmes, an arrogant, rebellious, angry student who has his own answer for life, "Follow your own path". Jason is an irritant to many of the students and is harassed by some of them. He also has rejected God and hates those who believe in Him. Nevertheless, Katie
is curious about Jason's independent nature and philosophy of life.
But Katie also meets Lisa Caldwell. Lisa shares God's truths inside and outside the classroom. Lisa is able to impress Katie with the truth about God and the answers the Bible gives for her questions. She also shares what made her decide to commit her life to God.
Katie must choose which path to follow - Jason's or Lisa's. Though curious about Jason, she ultimately decides the best way to go is God's way - the path that Lisa has chosen.
Mr. Brooks returns to the stage. It seems that the story will end here with a happy ending. But Mr. Brooks reminds the audience that real life is not like a story. Real life sometimes ends in tragedy.
Jason, acting upon his hatred for God and for others, kills several students in the school library including Katie and Lisa. He then kills himself.
Mr. Brooks finds the students in the library. But he is no ordinary janitor. In reality, He is Jesus. He has been with Katie and the other students all the time, guiding them and trying to keep them pointed in the right direction. Mr. Brooks 'awakens' all the dead students except Jason and takes them to spend Eternity with Him.
Left on an empty stage is Jason. He awakens and finds that he is alone. He discovers too late that he made the wrong choice in life by rejecting God. In sorrow, he sings, "It's too late for me". He is then led off the stage by a stranger dressed in black.
Judy returns to the stage. She is heartbroken about what has happened and how she treated Lisa. Mr. Brooks finds and comforts her. Judy wants to know if it is too late for her to make a different choice in life. Mr. Brooks reassures her that it
isn't. He then gives her Lisa's bible.
Mr. Brooks then turns to the audience and reminds them that everyone has a choice to make about God. The choice they make affects their lives now. It also affects where they will spend Eternity. It's too late for some to take a different path in life. But for the rest of us.....it's not too late.
He leaves the audience with the question, "What choice will you make?"

The emotional vampirism here makes me want to puke. Using such a tragedy to push a religious agenda is disgraceful. Playing upon people's fears, feeding on them like emotional vimpires in order to turn people into yet more fearful religious puppets is simply sick.

The stereotyping of believers in god as good people, while those who do not believe in god are angry, rebellious, arrogant and evil, is so blatant as to be laughable, until one remembers that people really do think this way.

Oh, and nice job Jesus. Shame that while you were "with them" and "guiding them" you couldn't have told them not to go in the library.

Bah! This is on the same level as stealing a person's wallet when they've been run down by a car!

The link: http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/dickelentz/myhomepage/business.html?mtbrand=AOL_US

Expatbrit

Moxy

i just looked briefly thru this but im guessing its based on or inspired by cassie bernal, the girl who was famous for having been asked by the shooter, eric harris, if she believed in god, to which she answered 'yes,' and was then shot. an inspiring tale that has galvanized the atheist-christian divide. it has risen to mythic proportions with cassie actually volunteering herself as a believer when the question was directed at a crowd. she died for her faith. read her incredible story at a website devoted to her: http://www.yesibelieve.com

the problem is, unfortunately, it didnt happen. it is a fascinating urban legend made right in front of her eyes, by media too eager to use a good story to risk spoiling it, and by a community desperately searching for meaning from the tragedy.

mox

Bodhisattva

So much of Christianity seems to involve turning the few nice parts of the Bible around. In 1 John 4:19 it says "We love Him because He first loved us." But obviously "Jason" was not loved by "Mr. Brooks," and was judged for not loving him! And the implication seems to be that "Katie" would not be loved enough to be saved from eternal torment had she not, during a very stressful period (new in school, and just plain being a teenager) abandoned any concept of self-determination in favor of a narrowly-defined belief pattern. What was she doing in the library? Obviously she didn't want the knowledge available by understanding how others have approached lifes great questions through science, philosophy, or historical study.

Bodhisattva

nowaytess

It is a great story.

BTW, I met Cassie classmate who came to our Church. She was with Cassie when the shooting began, I am sorry to say her story is true, not just an urban legand.

Even though the story is in the extreme, we all have to make a choice to accept Christ or not. The decsion if you accept Jesus will effect you eternal future, and is one to consdier and choose wisely.

I studied other relgions and other way came back to only answer: Jesus. It is not religion which saves you but your faith in Jesus.

detective

I'm definitely not in the "it's a great story" camp. In my opinion it's a disturbing emotional manipulation of a horrible tragedy.

Believing in jesus was not a prerequisite to being shot at Columbine. The killers did not pose that question to each and every victim prior to opening fire. Cassie was not killed because she took a stand for Jesus- at least, it's highly unlikely that that was the cause because it's not consistent with the other thirteen(?) killings that took place that day. Sadly, Cassie may have drawn attention to herself due to her proclamation that resulted in her death- maybe, maybe she would have been killed either way. We don't really know.

I love how people justify exploiting a tragedy to further their own cause. Very nice.

ashitaka

Christ or not, huh?

I choose my family, and love. Christ preached those two things, and if I don't happen to believe in his life as a reality, I don't think he'll be angry if I'm leading my life correctly, rather than just talking about how much I love and accept him.

ashi

plmkrzy

I don't know how I want to feel about the story that followed that tradgity but I do think a lot of people eagerly put them selves as close to tradgity's as they can after the fact in order to get into some type of lime-lite. Be a part of history. It's horrible. All of those kid's that died that day were loved by their families and they are as important as anyone else. The thing about the shooter saying to cassie "Do you believe in Jesus" prior to killing her was the sick humor of the shooter and nothing more IMO. He could have very well followed that up with "Well your gonna meet him".
Thes kids who did the masacure did without concious. So the Jesus remark was a sarcastic joke. A sick joke but a joke. IMO

Moxy

BTW, I met Cassie classmate who came to our Church. She was with Cassie when the shooting began, I am sorry to say her story is true, not just an urban legand.

i find that unlikely.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/09/30/bernall/print.html

mox

rem

This story is sick! I resent the false dichotomy presented - The good Christian vs. the Bad Atheist - as if there are only two paths. Ignorance is a sad thing.

rem

"We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking." - Mark Twain

dedalus

Lisa is able to impress Katie with the truth about God and the answers the Bible gives for her questions. She also shares what made her decide to commit her life to God.

What is this "truth," anyway? By what methods is this "truth" verified?

As Katie travels from class to class, she discovers man's answers to some of her questions. In History, she hears that studying history can help her master the world she lives in. In Biology, she observes an experiment that illustrates the belief that life originated from a primordial pool as the result of a 'cosmic accident'. And in Philosophy, she listens as students debate options for making moral decisions.

Well, whatever "truth" is, we evidently should not look to the past for examples of it, or attempt to measure and qualify it objectively, or contextualize it according to the world in which it supposedly exists. Evidently "truth" is just a warm and fuzzy feeling you get by blindly following the people who claim to have it.

Nice.

Dedalus

A sickening example of religious vampirism

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