Wednesday, February 2, 2001
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Wednesday, February 2, 2001 |
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So now Christian theme parks offend By AMY RILEY's Perspective I thought I had heard it all, every range of personal offense that could be taken by the behavior of others, every manner of charge of discrimination imaginable, but, alas, I had not, until now. A new theme park has opened in Orlando, Fla., which is the creative work of Christian evangelist Marvin Rosenthal. The attraction, "The Holy Land Experience," was developed by the Orlando-based evangelical ministry Zion's Hope. Zion's Hope is a "bible believing Christian ministry" which seeks to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with both believers and nonbelievers. Park-goers are admitted with a $17 passport and experience Biblical history spanning from 1450 B.C. to A.D. 66. Sightseers can experience replicas of Herod's temple, the gates of Jerusalem, the Wilderness Tabernacle, and Jesus' tomb. Visitors can walk the streets of 2000-year-old markets, where period costumed actors portray scriptural events. For both believers and the curious, the park seems to offer a real-life glimpse into one of the world's most read historical accounts, or so sayeth the Christians. The Los Angeles based Jewish Defense League blasted converted Jew Marvin Rosenthal for building a theme park that Irv Rubin, Jewish Defense League chairman, likened to a spiritual assault on Jewish people. The Jewish Defense League web site issued a call to action for JDL members to protest the theme park, accusing Marvin Rosenthal of attempting to convert Jews to Christianity. Local Jewish leaders in the Orlando area seemed more reticent to get involved, and pledged instead to keep a close eye on the content of the material depicted to ensure that Jewish law and history was not distorted. In what was promised to be a big media event, the demonstration only produced a handful of protesters. Zion's Hope president Marvin Rosenthal seemed to be comfortable with the promised protest, as long as protesters were lawful in their conduct. I suppose he must have appreciated all of the publicity the criticism produced. He would have been hard-pressed to pay for advertisement that good. Rosenthal stressed that no one was forced to attend the Holy Land Experience, nor would any proselytizing material be thrust on someone who didn't want it. So why all the fuss? Is the Jewish Defense League up in arms because monetary proceeds from the theme park will be used in the evangelistic Zion's Hope ministry, or are they simply angry that such a place could exist? They seem to take issue with the Zion's Hope message that Jews can come to believe in Jesus Christ as the messiah and still remain Jews. Others are critical of Rosenthal's theme park because it capitalizes the gospel. One writer logged on to the Orlando Sentinel web site to apologize to all Christians for the disgusting display, and signed their missive "Jesus." I disagree. Somehow a park admission of $17 doesn't sound like much of a capital venture, and I don't think Jesus would mind the enactment of His story. Why not have a theme park devoted to Christian beliefs? Why is it that virtually every other religious affiliation is politically acceptable today except Christianity? Why is that just about anybody can invoke the name of God or Jesus except a conservative Christian? Joe Lieberman spoke of God often on the campaign trail, and no one doubted his beliefs or the role his beliefs seemed to play in his political life. Al Gore said on the campaign trail that he often asked himself, "What would Jesus do?" when contemplating a difficult decision, and no one accused him of being unable to uphold the Constitution because of his religious beliefs. And yet, conservative John Ashcroft was the recipient of the single greatest multi-jurisdictional organized effort to derail a cabinet nominee that we have ever witnessed, accused of all manner of discriminatory behavior, despite the fact that he stated that his religious beliefs would not allow him to subvert the Constitution. His crime? He is a Christian. I think America is tripping over her own heritage. What makes us the most unique country on the face of the earth is that we are everybody. We are every religion, every nationality. People come here from all over the world to experience freedom like they have never known, opportunity the likes of which exists no where else. We are the greatest experiment in the blending of cultures, beliefs, and peoples, and the world is watching. But the blending of cultures and beliefs does not mean that individuals have to blur the lines of their own personal beliefs to conform to the beliefs of others. I abhor personally the burning of the American flag, but I revere the Constitutional right that allows a person to burn one. I abhor the worship of Gaia, but even God recognized that belief in Him had to be a choice, not a compulsion. We are free to believe or not to believe. If you take offense at the opening of a Christian theme park, then don't go there. [Your comments are welcome: ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]
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