Comments on: Sick and Twisted Belief: A Letter from Hell

By: Hannah

Hannah — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:22:28 +0000

I watched the whole thing, and I think this will be very unsuccessful and will actually backfire with anyone, especially teens, who watch it. Number one, it’s cheesy and corny as hell (no pun intended). That creepy music, the echoes and whispering, even the stupid Star Wars lettering… plus, I think teens catch on pretty quickly when someone is trying to emotionally manipulate them. Even the Christian ones will be making fun of this crap.

But more importantly, and maybe this is putting too much trust in people’s ability to use logic, but the video really makes god and angels and Jesus out to be the bad guy and reinforces the common criticism of modern-day Christianity: god loves you, but if you aren’t a Christian, he will make you burn in flames for eternity. This is just stupid, and I think kids who see this will pick up on that. Josh seems like this poor kid who just didn’t have the good fortune to be raised Christian, and god damns him to an eternity of fire and pain, dragged away kicking and screaming by angels. My dad actually began to question his fundamentalist faith when he was kid because his best friend was a Mormon, and he just couldn’t believe that god would torture his friend forever for that.

Bottom line: I think this is more likely to make kids turn away from their faith than to evangelize more, and that’s a good thing. Let them draw attention to how horrible and evil their god is if they want to.

By: Patrick Oden

Patrick Oden — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:44:23 +0000

“I died today.”

“The angel threw me in a cell where I’ve been thinking for a long, long time.”

Uh?

“I can feel my heart pounding in my chest” and “my heart is bursting with fear” and yet “After the accident, I could feel my spirit leaving my body.”

The whole thing is pretty lame.

Still, I think the free market of ideas does allow for this drivel. If this kind of thing doesn’t turn people off of evangelicalism, then rational and logical thought certainly won’t.

By: bronwynm23

bronwynm23 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:15:14 +0000

Dear Josh,

I’m in HELL! It’s so hot; my flesh is practically melting off my body! I’m being incessantly tormented by bugs! I’m praying for relief, but the bastards are charging $4 for a bottle of water and $20 for bug spray! $20!! There are scary looking demons everywhere wearing way to little clothing! My eyes!!

Wait, there’s the boat horn. I have to go; don’t want to miss the poolside show and happy hour.

Wish you were here,
Zach
Hell, Grand Cayman Island

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:34:29 +0000

Rick,

I liked your youtube video segment.

I’ll download your book and read it when I have time.

Jeff

By: Rick Lannoye

Rick Lannoye — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:18:05 +0000

I’ve actually written an entire book on this topic–”Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There’s No Such Place As Hell,” for anyone interested, you can get a free ecopy of my book at my website: http://www.ricklannoye.com. Feel free to borrow any or all of my arguments to help these people.

By: Sakura

Sakura — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:19:36 +0000

Hmm…I got a kick out of this…it was something that (minus the Christian connotations) I’d expect to see as I wait in line for a haunted house…or to see at some B rate horror movie fest.

Scary? Not really
Intimidating? Well…only if you’re Christian

By: Spurs Fan

Spurs Fan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:06:08 +0000

A holding cell? Apparently Hell is suffering from a lack of funding to provide enough space to have everyone burn at the same time.

And why not just send him directly there without all of the book-searching, angels wasting time to look his name up (even alphabetically, that must take some time), and then dragging him to Hell?

The afterlife is not very economically efficient.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:51:41 +0000

I too thought of the Castle Arrgghhh…how was he still writing as he plummeted into the lake of fire?

Perhaps he was dictating…

By: Fentwin

Fentwin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:46:00 +0000

Most arguments that begin with the phrase “what if” aren’t worth the breath it takes to utter them.

What if monkeys flew out of….well, you know.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:41:01 +0000

Oh man, did I get a laugh out of this. I too thought of the Castle Arrgghhh…how was he still writing as he plummeted into the lake of fire?
But then, ug…I used to fall for this emotional stuff too, and I know it’s very powerful.
Keep on fighting the good fight people!