There's a local church here in town called "Guts". Cheesy name. Cheesy speakers. They're all "in your face" and "relevant" and everything... so much so that it's really stinking annoying sometimes.

They have this thing they do every October called "Nightmare". It's a derivation on the "Hell House" of the '90s, where they show you real-life scary situations designed to scare you about dying or getting in trouble so bad that you decide, at the end of the show, to become a Christian. They even have counselors stationed outside to catch people and sell Jesus to them.

I don't like the concept. I think it betrays a wrong-headed sense of what it means to be saved, thinking that you can manipulate someone into being so afraid of gangs or AIDS or abortion or drunk driving that they decide they want to become a Christian.

But the thing that annoys me the most is that they keep their friggin' advertisement for it up all year. It's this grotesque pair of eyes painted in black and green, very large, very up close, very distressing. A twelve-month advertisement for an event that lasts one month. They also have a big face of what looks like Marilyn Manson on another side of the building. I can't wait to have this conversation with my daughter as we drive by the building when she's older.

"Daddy, what's that building with the scary picture on it?"
"That's a church, sweetheart. At least, it's someone's idea of one."

Please, Guts church, take your advertisement down for at least 10 of the years months.

My wife and I passed by a guy protesting the "Nightmare". His sign said this:
Fear
Horror
Nightmares

Not Christian

You know, maybe Liquidthinking should start our own campaign. We could call it the "No more 'Nightmares'" campaign. Or the "Sweet dreams to Nightmares" campaign. Wouldn't that be clever of us?
posted by Stephen at 11:23 PM | |