Last night I decided to grab a few of my cameras and drive to this church in Biloxi I shall refer to as the God Dome. Every Good Friday, without fail, they put on a gruesome reenactment of Jesus Christ on a cross being flogged by Centurions. I wanted to capture it on camera. Desperately. I pulled up to the God Dome and … the lights were off. I saw a truck parked at the side entrance, so I pulled up next to it and asked the man inside to roll down his window so I could talk to him. He apologized that there would be no Passion Play this year and even went so far as to call his relative (who is a pastor) to find out if any other churches were putting one on. Nope. I called the local Christian radio station to ask them, but I received no answer. I drove to the Pentecostal church and it was explained to me that they usually have a Passion Play but just ‘ran out of time’ this year. Huh. I drove to the Baptist Church and all the lights were off and there were no cars parked in their lot. I resorted to widening my search and called a friend in hopes he could search the internet and find one that way. There was one listing for the entire state (and what’s amusing about this is that it was being held at a public university), but it was too far away. The nearest listing was in Mobile, Alabama, and I was willing to make the journey but it had an admission fee and tickets were sold out.
What do I make of this? There are two possible explanations. 1) Religion really is on the decline (at least in my area). 2) The poor economy is a factor and Passion Plays were nixed to save money. This second guess becomes more interesting when the only listing within driving range was a paid event. So, in the end, I’m not sure. We have recent studies showing that the number of people who claim to be non-religious is on the rise. That same study shows that mega-churches of the evangelical type are growing in popularity. So why aren’t they putting on reenactments of Christ’s gruesome death? It’s an interesting question, and one I cannot answer.
So, I’m sorry. I have no photos for you today. I do, however, have a possible glimmer of hope.
Cuddles
It is odd that the local churches did not pool resources to make it happen. It could be a receding tide, economic conditions, apathy, or a mix of these.
Bummer about no photos. I think one of my Christian co-workers went to a passion play last night. She didn’t elaborate. Since I grew up Catholic, I’ve seen it a jillion times. It was always very disturbing.
Last night was my B-Day and I tried to get people to dress up as crucified Jesus or in their best stigmata costume for the party. It didn’t work out. I have too many christian friends. I bet if I would have had a passion play, more people would have shown up. lol.
Happy birthday, Mully! Bummer about the party. I’d have come as wailing Mary, if that helps.
@Kate: Thanks and LOL.
“It is odd that the local churches did not pool resources to make it happen. It could be a receding tide, economic conditions, apathy, or a mix of these.”
I would dearly love for it to be apathy.
Interesting about belief being on the decline and that evangelical mega-churches are on the rise. I would have thought that with uncertain times as these more people in general would find comfort in believing in a higher power. Who knows?
I was talking to my friend about these plays (particularly the one that happened at World Youth Day in Sydney) and how it was rather lame. We thought why would they need it as Catholicism already has rituals and things they perform that aren’t so naff.