Bible Amusement Park Now Twice As Amusing

from HuffPost:




Daniel Radosh
Bible Amusement Park Now Twice As Amusing
Posted May 6, 2008 | 10:22 AM (EST)




Not long ago, a team of entrepreneurs proposed building a Christian theme park outside of Nashville. If you were thinking of investing any money in the scheme, might I propose something less risky, like sub-prime mortgages.

According the web site, Bible Park USA will be "a one-of-a-kind, unlike-anywhere-else-in-the-world 'edutainment' experience offering guests of all ages a visualization experience of well-loved, familiar Bible stories and a taste of life in ancient Biblical times."

It sounds an awful lot like Orlando's Holy Land Experience or Eureka Springs' Great Passion Play, both of which I visited for my book, Rapture Ready!. The real difference is that unlike those and a few other Bible theme parks, which bill themselves as ministries, Bible Park USA is to be a for-profit venture, all the better to focus on delivering spectacular entertainment without the constraints of edification.

This, I believe, is a massive miscalculation of its audience. People who go to Christian theme parks don't want or trust unfettered entertainment in the name of the Bible. They are far more concerned with whether the venue is properly honoring God. (Many Christians, of course, would roll their eyes at the very idea that a Christian theme park could possibly honor God, but they're not the target demographic.) The "walk" of the park's owners (Christianese for their "walk with God" or spiritual condition) is more important than the quality of the park itself. Much pop culture in the Christian bubble is judged by the testimony of its creators rather than any intrinsic value or lack thereof.

And the creators of Bible Park USA are Israeli-American Jews. Now, if non-Christians could get away with this, it would be Israeli-American Jews, who are held in some reverence by American evangelicals, but they'd have to tread extremely carefully. One slip and....

Whoops! Turns out the one of the park's chief financial backers had a previous career as a photographer for Penthouse and Club. Amnon Bar-Tur is the father of Armon Bar-Tur, the park developer and project sponsor. When the Nashville media discovered his father's history, Armon issued a statement saying, "Surely what a young immigrant photographer did 35 years ago to make a living in his first job out of college as a fashion photographer has no relevance to the development of our world-class tourist attraction in Rutherford County in 2008."

If he believes that, he has completely misjudged his audience, and probably never stood a chance in the first place.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-radosh/bible-amusement-park-now_b_100342.html

...just who the FUCK are these simple-minded morons?

The mind boggles at this level of crass stupidity....or did I miss the part about the water-slides and cotton-candy in Jerusalem from the Bible?

:rofl:

These people are crazy like foxes. They're trying to tap into the demographic that would love to take the kiddies to Disney World but who are terrified the precious little tots will see some nasty old homosexuals there.

As sanitized as Disney made his reality, it's just not far enough for these people. They want the attending public to be equally sanitized. Expect a dress code to ban T-shirts advertising anything but Jesus and the theme park. Expect strict control at the ticket counter, with identification demanded of any same sex couples to make sure they're siblings.

That's what this park is all about, and its location is pure genius, lumped together with the kind of music many Jesus freaks prefer.

...

In between getting tossed about in the ark, and being covered with frogs, can you get a full frontal labotomy?

:rofl:

What would Jesus say?

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

... you'll enjoy this. The last picture will make your head ache.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/KYCAVgolgotha.html

What a shame it's closed. And what a shame the proprietors of the Bible amusement park apparently never heard of its demise. Would have saved them a whole lot of money.

Just sayin...

I SO hope you're right. This place needs to exist.

Precious Moments Inspirational Park
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/MOCARprecious.html

I love the line under this picture

Another dumbstruck busload tours the Chapel.

Elves and men in lederhosen? :rofl:

-Hoot

"Whoops! Turns out the one of the park's chief financial backers had a previous career as a photographer for Penthouse and Club. Amnon Bar-Tur is the father of Armon Bar-Tur, the park developer and project sponsor. When the Nashville media discovered his father's history, Armon issued a statement saying, "Surely what a young immigrant photographer did 35 years ago to make a living in his first job out of college as a fashion photographer has no relevance to the development of our world-class tourist attraction in Rutherford County in 2008."


I don't know which is funnier, the former penthouse photog. or the idea that the bible is now fodder for a "world-class tourist attraction". I bet the chorus line re-enactment of the crucifixion will be a show stopper! :rofl:

many years ago.

He sold the best weed around.

Why do you suppose? Maybe they can't seem to entice enough folks on the "word of god alone"? Me thinks they don't even believe in what they say they do.

I've been going through "The Skeptic's Bible" website--I read the bible on occasion, but I've never utilized that site to do it.

Well loved bible stories? Well if one is a fan of the inerrancy of the bible, you'd have to clean it up a lot for the kiddies. Fuck, you'd have to clean it up for the adults. Even the Jesus story isn't exactly theme park material. Instead of fireworks at dusk to they reenact human sacrifice?

Dumbasses

a far better service if they "invested" their cash in such things as alleviating hunger, disease and poverty..if I'm not mistaken, that is a good part of what Jesus was all about.

Once again, I see people trying to purchase their way into heaven, a sure-fire way on how {b]not to get there, (either here on earth, or in the spiritual realm).

I love the vanishing roadside attractions, I'd stop at the Holy Land experience. I saw it in the movie Nancy Pelosi's daughter made for HBO (Friends of God). The guy playing Jesus that day was cute, too.


But seriously, whether it's Dutch Village in Holland, MI, or one of those old Santa's workshops or fake dinosaurs that light up at night, I love all those old attractions, and there aren't that many yet. I know the Holy Land Experience is not an old attraction, but it is a throwback to the 50s, when americans bought cars and started driving to see stuff with their kids. They are tributes to the past.

I miss so many of the things from my childhood-HOJO's, Stuckey's, JL Hudson, little roadside prayer chapels, metal toys, Dawn dolls, dangerous playgrounds with the space capsule slides, and my Josef figurines of girls from different countries, just to name some of them.

rolling my eyes.

That was a very intelligently written article, by the way.

You know, an ecumenical theme park.

Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.