Pastor Lamont Melrose #fundie

Pastor Lamont Melrose #fundie myfoxdc.com

A Texas mother said a haunted house she attended with her son for Halloween did not disclose it was operated by a church and featured images of abortion and suicide, KTRK-TV reported.

Linda Ybarra said she took her 14-year-old son to the "Hell House" attraction in Pasadena expecting to see "the usual Halloween things. You know, zombies and ghouls and goblins, that kind of thing."

Instead, she said, they were confronted with a graphic reenactment of an abortion being performed.

.......

Pastor Lamont Melrose of Potters House Christian Fellowship Church in Pasadena said patrons are not allowed to leave Hell House early due to safety concerns.

He said the attraction's aim is to convince people to accept Jesus Christ as their savior.
.......

Ybarra said her tickets did not specify that Hell House was religious in nature.

"You don't convert children like that -- tell them that they are going to hell and things like that," she said. "You just don't do that."

75 comments

old comment by Horsefeathers

"Instead, she said, they were confronted with a graphic reenactment of an abortion being performed."

In an entirely medically accurate manner, I'm sure.

"Pastor Lamont Melrose of Potters House Christian Fellowship Church in Pasadena said patrons are not allowed to leave Hell House early due to safety concerns."

Yeah, sure. Safety. That's it.

"He said the attraction's aim is to convince people to accept Jesus Christ as their savior."

I would have come out praising Satan as my Dark Lord. Then I would have shaken your hand heartily and thanked you for showing me the glory of His work so that I shall know what wonders await us when he overthrows your puny deity and rules the world for eternity.

Then I would have laughed my ass off as your brain melted since your little sham apparently had the opposite effect you were hoping for.

"Ybarra said her tickets did not specify that Hell House was religious in nature."

Yes, well, you can't exactly expect these people to be forthright, honest and upstanding people now can you?

""You don't convert children like that -- tell them that they are going to hell and things like that,' she said. 'You just don't do that.'"

Obviously. Unfortunately these jokers are a bit dense and just don't get that.

old comment by Giveitaday

A Texas mother said a haunted house she attended with her son for Halloween did not disclose it was operated by a church and featured images of abortion and suicide, KTRK-TV reported.

Linda Ybarra said she took her 14-year-old son to the "Hell House" attraction in Pasadena expecting to see "the usual Halloween things. You know, zombies and ghouls and goblins, that kind of thing."

Instead, she said, they were confronted with a graphic reenactment of an abortion being performed

I can't generate much sympathy for her, Hell Houses have been around for quite sometime and it's no stretch to find out what they are about, Hell, there's even a movie about it. I dunno, maybe it's just me and where and how I was raised... I thought everyone knew what hell houses were.

Pastor Lamont Melrose of Potters House Christian Fellowship Church in Pasadena said patrons are not allowed to leave Hell House early due to safety concerns.

There is this thing called "unlawful imprisonment" and another one called "kidnapping", I'd suggest the pastor might want to look them up, because "I wanna bring 'em to Jesus" isnt a valid legal argument.

He said the attraction's aim is to convince people to accept Jesus Christ as their savior.

And forcing someone to watch an over the top version of what you want them to think an abortion procedure looks like is going to acomplish that how? You can't scare someone into a belief and any "faith" based on fear is on shaky ground and will fall apart te secondthat fear is gone.

Ybarra said her tickets did not specify that Hell House was religious in nature.

Of course not, being a christian is so great that they have to trick people into it.

"You don't convert children like that -- tell them that they are going to hell and things like that," she said. "You just don't do that."

That's exactly what they do. They scare them and then tell them they havethe ony ting that will keep them safe... just so long as they think/act/believe exacty what they are told to and nothing else.

old comment by

I've got to ask... what the heck did she think a Hell house was going to be? I'd have thought they no more needed to advertise their religiosity than a church would. We don't even have them in this country (as far as I'm aware), and I know what they are.

Not letting people leave is a disgraceful way to behave. I don't buy the safety bullshit for a second; they just want more time to terrify young children. Surely the outside of a house is always going to be safer than inside, barring some very special circumstances. I know there's a long and noble tradition of being a douchebag in the church, but that's no excuse to continue it into the 21st century.

old comment by SpukiKitty

As far as preaching & proselytizing are concerned: The Gospel Of LOVE is always best...God the loving parent who wants to comfort, heal & give meaning & imbue the soul with the spirit of kindness & altruism...like Jesus, y'know...

But Fundies are inhuman slime & AntiChrist, the "Loving God" concept is alien to them. Ignore the Bible's nice teachings & hold fast to the bad ones.

That said, proselytizing is bogus...let people approach Deity on their own terms or not approach Deity at all. Deeds, not Creeds, define a person.

The only true Christians are Liberal & Moderate ones, who focus mainly on only the Bible's "Good Stuff". See, they cherrypick the RIGHT THINGS!

I still would like to see the Abrahamic Holy Books get re-written...it's mostly myth & folklore anyway! Subtract the "Bad Stuff" & keep the "Good Stuff". Teach about a Hell that's a TEMPORARY PURGATORIAL PUNISHMENT & declare as "Sin" stuff that deserves it: Murder, Rape, Robbery, Greed, anything genuinely malicious. Redefine the 10 Commandments (the first 3 mainly. Much of the Decalogue actually is pretty reasonable IMHO...Don't murder, lie, steal, cheat on your spouse, crave other folks stuff, etc.) & have that as the only Law Of Moses. Have God as an Androgyne. More woman-friendly, etc.

Likewise, the Koran would consist of all the stuff written in Mecca only. Mohammed lost his marbles once he went to Medina. In fact, I now wish to refer to Muslims as either "Meccans" or "Medinans". Normal, nice Muslims are "Meccan" while the crazy Fundie, Wahhabi, "honor-killing/blow stuff up" crowd are "Medinans". Since the holiest Muslim hotspot is in MECCA...that will cement the primacy of Meccan Islam more....and Allah shall be perceived as androgynous! Perhaps the Islamic Deity can be renamed Allah-Allat or "Allahallat".

old comment by checkmate

@SpukiKitty

The only true Christians are Liberal

That statement contradicts itself. "The only true Christians are ..." is a phrase patented by the fundies and other totalitarians or extremists. Monopolistic exclusion is not part of liberalism, it's its anti-thesis.

I still would like to see the Abrahamic Holy Books get re-written...it's mostly myth & folklore anyway! Subtract the "Bad Stuff" & keep the "Good Stuff" ... Redefine the 10 Commandments

The whole point is that scripture is supposed to come directly or indirectly from God. If humans re-write it to fit their contemporary whims, they might just as well chuck it completely, the latter being something I would embrace in a tight hug.

Once you decide to step in and correct what the pauperes spiritu believe is God's law and will, you have just written a civil code.

Civil code? Oh, wait, that's what we have already.

So, let's just obey our civil laws and put the Bible on the shelf with Mother Goose, The Brothers Grimm, and Aesop.

Re-writing the Bibel and then using it as a source of religion is tantamount to joining and believing in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

old comment by SpukiKitty

@RapturedbyBlondie & checkmate

I guess you have a point. In fact, it would be great if folks on this planet would just chuck that stuff. I, for one, am Wiccan but a bit of an Interfaith thinker. Unlike you, I believe that all scriptures have both Divinely inspired stuff with wholly worthless man-made, culture-based biased stuff mixed in. The perverted teachings of The Demiurge mixed with the teachings of The True Deity. Also, the Abrahamic faiths were descended from Pagan religions. Yahweh was a Pagan god who was paired with the Goddess Asherah. Allah was indeed a Lunar God who was paired with the Solar Goddess, Allat (Al-Uzza & Manat were part of that pantheon, as well).

As far as I'm concerned, scriptures are not totally written in stone....the actions of an oft-ignorant humanity "seeing through the glass darkly" at a vast Higher Cosmic Power & trying to figure it out. Being unable to truly understand, we get it wrong. You can't contain Deity in a book, it would be futile...but scriptures can serve as a guide.

Scriptures are ultimately unneccessary. Someday, humanity will discard it. Until then, it's best to edit out the "Bad Stuff". Better yet, Gnosticism & the concept of The Demiurge is a better idea. Keep the Bible/Koran/Hadith/etc. AS IS but tinker with it to state what's of the Demiurge & what's of the True Deity....Any teaching or action portrayed that depicts racism, sexism, homophobia, genocide, etc. as a good thing is The Demiurge. Any that emphasizes peace, love, charity, etc. is of the True Deity.

The world won't drop Organized Religion overnight, so the next best thing is to change how people practice Organized Religion. It would be great if the Earth was made up of NeoPagans, Atheists, Agnostics, Deists & Aboriginal Spiritualities...Based on Nature, Earth, Monism, Pantheism, Reason, etc.

You may not agree with everything I say, but that's okay. You're cool. I agree that my going "Full Reverse Schafly" with scriptures is ridiculous.

old comment by Extraintrovert

Not... REALLY fundie. It's stupid and disgusting, hence my selection of the "WTF?" option, but people have been swaying others to their side by fear and coercion for the entirety of human history, even this specific argument being nothing new or noteworthy, and unless they're doing something especially underhanded like making it part of a school curriculum or hiding the true nature of what they are attempting, I don't think it's fundie. Deplorable, but not fundie.

@SpukiKitty
"I believe that..."

That's understandable, but unfortunately your beliefs have the exact same supporting evidence and validity as any other religious or spiritual belief system (i.e. none) and thus using them in an argument is bound to encounter a few problems when reality disagrees with them. You're welcome to have those beliefs, but facts are more important than opinions, and actions and decision making should be guided by reason and evidence more than unfounded beliefs. Yes, organised religion needs some big changes, but WHAT a person believes is less important than HOW a person follows those beliefs, and while you seem to advocate changing the former most people here advocate changing the latter (e.g. believe whatever you want, just keep it away from everyone else).

old comment by Steven Mading

The liar has it backward, and he damned well knows it. There's no legitimate safety concern that would make it wrong to let someone leave the haunted house when they want to, but there are plenty of safety concerns that come up when you *can't* leave.

I'm pretty damned sure there's a fire code violation going on if people can only get in and out at the start and end of the tour.

No, the liar knows that the real reason for not letting kids leave is that they want the indoctrination story to play out to the end.

ANY haunted house run by decend caring human beings, as upposed to the assholes that set up these odious Hell Houses, has an "out" for kids who are too scared and frightened to continue. They're not forced to keep going. But at a Hell House, scaring the shit out of the kids so they'll swallow any bullshit you throw at them is the whole intended point.

When the assholes running a Hell House find that a child is frightened, and not in that good clean fun halloween sort of way, but in a genuine real terror sort of way, they consider that a *success*. A decent human being would NOT consider it a success. They'd go "oops I think we went too far there", or "oops this child probably wasn't ready for this, lets escort him out."

old comment by Leigha

I find it kind of funny how many people here are saying "Oh come on, who HASN'T heard of hell houses?"

I'm a former fundamentalist (now agnostic and slightly afraid of fundamentalists haha) who just heard of them for the first time THIS YEAR. I read a book where they had them, and I thought for SURE the author made it up to be overdramatic. It wasn't until last week when I found the (already mentioned many times) comic about it, via TV Tropes, that I learned they were real.

Heck, where I come from (northeastern US), the churches just have alternative Harvest Parties. It's EXACTLY THE SAME as Halloween, except no "dark" costume (like witches and dead people and such) and at church. There's still costumes and candy.

I like ours better. (Also, yes, I'm almost POSITIVE it was a highly medically inaccurate portrayal of abortion.)

(Oh, and given the venue, I feel the need to clarify...I was basically fundamentalist in BELIEFS, but I also kept my mouth shut about it and didn't push it on anyone else. At all. Ever. I doubt most people even knew how religious I was. I suppose that actually made me a "bad Christian," since I wasn't out proselytizing. Whatever. I'm far more vocal being on the more liberal side now, which is kind of funny.)

Pastor Lamont Melrose #fundie myfoxdc.com

75 comments

Confused?