Is that really legal?

Imagine if you can, a cult of zealots who lure children into their homes, then psychologically torture them for several hours. They show them gruesome, bloody scenes of people just like themselves. At the end of the ordeal the kids are given a choice, "join our death-cult, or you will be tortured just like this" If they join, they are ushered down a hallway of smiling faces, reinforcing their decision; if they refuse, it becomes a gauntlet of derision instead. If you heard about this, you would call the police, or child protective services, right? What if you heard they worshipped the ghost of a man who lived in a small group of villages for his entire life, and demanded his followers abandon their families and livelihoods. Suppose they engaged in ritual cannibalism at their meetings. Suppose they venerate a tool of torture used to bring pain and miserable deaths to countless people. Now imagine they teach their cult to follow orders blindly, abandon all freewill, and never EVER question ANYTHING! Have enough red flags been raised?

I'm very sad to say, this murderous cult exists in your town, perhaps one of your neighbors, or even your family is a member. The name of the cult?

Christianity.

Preparations are beginning all across the country for the making of Hell Houses. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a Hell House is like a haunted house, those harmless things full of fake cobwebs and a bowl of spaghetti for brains. Unfortuantely, the Hell House's goal is a little different. It is designed to shock and horrify children, some barely ten years old, by showing them over the top images of "sins". In one room, a teenage girl with a vacuum cleaner up her skirt sits weeping in a puddle of fake blood and gobbets of meat, her sin, abortion. In another, a staged car crash shows the dangers of drinking (Good message, bad medium, folks!) A girl is raped by a group of men, then falls into a depression and kills herself, who goes to hell here? (I'll give you a hint, they don't have a cock.) In the penultimate room, all the "sinners" are writhing in hellfire and torment, screaming in agony, then a bearded guy in white steps in and 'saves" some of them. The kids are given the choice to convert/reannouce their faith if they so choose. regardless of their (public) decision, the only way out of the room lies down a gauntlet of Christ enthusiasts, and you can guess how they react if the kid chose wrong (or right in my book).

Were this not done under the umbrella of religion, you can be sure the jails would be a little fuller on Halloween night. Unfortunately, you can get away with anything if you claim religion.

So next month on Candy Night, play safe, don't drink and drive, have a pack of black and orange condoms, and stay the FUCK away from the religious folk.