As if the Creation Museum didn’t do enough to brand America’s South as a religion-infested fundie haven, the proposed Bible Park USA near Murfreesboro, Tennessee will certainly sway those who have not taken sides.
This fun-filled attraction is currently pending approval by the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners. I can only hope the fun-loving gents and ladies of the board find it within themselves to deny the developer from moving forward with this travesty.
I sometimes question the need for such an attraction. With church camps and vacation bible schools to keep the kiddies in touch with Jeebus, would such a park even be relevant? Do parents realize that they are actively engaging their children in brainwashing activities? How many times must one hear about the parted waters, the pillar of fire, and the burning bush before they internalize it as steadfast truth?
Fundies oppose the presentation of evolution in a classroom because, if the children aren’t shown alternatives, they might accept it as absolute truth. Isn’t that what these people are doing by cramming the Christian belief system down their children’s throats from the earliest possible age?
As reported in the Murfreesboro Post, one of the county commissioners of Rutherford County who lives across from the proposed site said he’d rather have the theme park than 240 houses. Seriously? Think of the added traffic, noise, and local pollution said traffic will produce in your neighborhood. Balance that with the prospect of increased sales tax revenue, and see if you like the location now.
Either way, it’s not the location that bothers me, it’s the very existence of the park. Christians have more than enough things available to brainwash their kids without further muddying the reputation of the Bible Belt.
You’re a bit late. The rezoning required to permit this park to be built was voted down, about a week and a half ago, by the county’s board of commissioners. Thanks to a zoning law that permits immediately adjacent residents to petition for a requirement of a super-majority vote, the petition was a success and the Bible Park failed to win over a super majority of commissioners. Chalk one up for the citizens!
That’s good to hear! I started this post before the vote was held, and I only did a cursory follow up search before I published it.
I wouldn’t put it past this asshole to bring his Jesus Park to Alabama or Georgia though.
Nobody noticed the lack of black people in the illustration?
You do realize that the south is a large expanse of land, just like the north. To use the general term ‘the south’ is gross generalization of a part of the country. For instance, to group New York and Boston as being intrinsctly the same place would be, how did you so elequently put it, reason #45 to be ashamed of ‘the south’. Don’t you see the double standard? Tennessee, Virginia, The Carolina’s and the northern parts of Alabama and Mississippi are considered the bible belt of the south. It’s also the place where snake charmers impart their own brand of christianity. But, if one were to travel to the Gulf Coast ie. Southeastern Louisiana, lower mississippi, lower alabama, and florida you would find a culture completly different from that of the above mentioned bible belt. Even this is a gross generalization of what the south is. So next time you want to take jab at ‘the south’ know that all it does is present you as someone who comes to his/her conclusions by means of assumptions and hearsay. And i don’t think i have to tell you what happens when one assumes….
Having lived in many of the places you referenced as being so patently different, I have to say that one common thread between all of them is a sickening level of evangelical nonsense coupled with a fierce intolerance to anyone that doesn’t believe in God.
Know that I wasn’t trying to make statements on each geographic regions culture as a whole, their cuisine, their mode of dress. I can, however, state factually from my experience on the religious similarities throughout the United States Southeast.
Is it beyond reason to think that someone can be religous and evangelical as well as tolerant? Why do these have to be exclusive groups?
Religious people believe that because of their beliefs, they will go to heaven. Anyone who has ever said something to the tune of, “Jesus Christ is the only way to achieve eternal life” must believe that anyone who doesn’t accept Jesus as their personal savior is doomed to eternity in Hell.
Thinking that someone will burn in a pit of fire because they do not believe in the same god as you or in any god at all, is not how I define “tolerant”.
That’s just Christianity though. Islam is a whole different can of worms. There is truly no room for tolerance in Islam. Non-believers are infidels and should either be converted, subjugated, or killed.
Why not just go to Israel?
I’ve been to Israel. It’s a wonderful country. My favorite part was the amazing amount of secularism that actually existed in the “holy land”.