Religious organisation takes it too far. Again.

[Guardian85]

This is just plain fucking insane.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/church-stages-fake-kidnapping-youth-group-students/story?id=16012844#.T3NCSDEgdo1

Once again, the american evangelical churches give good reason for people to declare them insane.

[Ali]

Living out your persecution fantasies in real life.  Nice.

[Crocoduck]

I think the DA needs start filing some charges.

Church Stages Kidnapping of Youth Group Members

LEEN CURRY
March 27, 2012

A church pastor in Pennsylvania could face felony charges for staging a fake kidnapping of youth group students in order to teach them about religious persecution.

Teenagers at the Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church in Middletown, Pa., were surprised when they attended a youth group meeting at the church on March 21 and were ambushed by what seemed to be real kidnappers.

Adults, including an off-duty cop, brandished weapons and put bags over the heads of the children, ages 13 through 18, and forced them into a church van. The group was driven to the home of an assistant pastor, who was presented before the group with a seemingly bloodied and bruised face, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo.

One of the adults used a real AK-47, though the gun was unloaded, Chardo said.

ABC News
Members of a youth group were tied up and... View Full Size

Teen Accused of Faking Own Kidnapping Watch Video

Cops: Couple Faked Their Kidnapping Watch Video

Carjacking Hoax: Daughter Tells Her Story Watch Video

The church leaders who organized the fake hostage situation later told law enforcement that the event was meant to be a lesson to the children on how Christians are persecuted in places around the world, but the "educational" event may actually constitute a crime, Chardo said.

[Ali]

Our resident Ninja beat you to this.  Sneaky ninjas.

[Asmodean]

You know what would be quite incredibly funny? If one or two of them kids were packing heat and decided to defend themselves with lethal force.

What would those wannabe-kidnappers do then with their unloaded AK? Use it as a club?

[Asmodean]

Tank! Apparently, we need a thread merge.

[Traveler]

I hope these morons are locked up for a good long time. If I were the parent of a traumatized child (I understand that some of the kids might have known what was going on but the girl on the video was a guest and did not?) I'd be out for blood. Post traumatic stress syndrome is nothing to sneeze at, and if it had been me, I'd probably be a basket case, especially at that age.

[Guardian85]

Our resident Ninja beat you to this.  Sneaky ninjas.

Yes we are.

[Crocoduck]

Our resident Ninja beat you to this.  Sneaky ninjas.

Doh....I didn't think to look for it there. He was first to post but I was first to post it in this section.

[Crocoduck]

You know what would be quite incredibly funny? If one or two of them kids were packing heat and decided to defend themselves with lethal force.

What would those wannabe-kidnappers do then with their unloaded AK? Use it as a club?

I think their suffering enough trauma. I can't imagine how one would feel if they had shot a member of their church.

[Asmodean]

Oh, I forgot to make my point beyond how that story could have been made more interesting.

My point is this: When staging a kidnapping of one or several unsuspecting victims, use real weapons loaded with real ammo - if the shit goes sour, it could save your ass from getting holes shot through it.

That said, the title of Ninjathread is not descriptive enough to indicate the same story, so this double-threading is quite understandable.

EDIT:

I think their suffering enough trauma. I can't imagine how one would feel if they had shot a member of their church.

I don't know... There is probably a fair point in that, but personally, I think I would be very pleased with myself if I managed to take down what I percieved to be an immediate threat to my life and health, even if that threat was later shown to be fake.

[Harmonie]

Unless that was to teach them that they aren't being persecuted here and need to shut up about that false persecution, that's a bad lesson. Well, it's a bad lesson either way, but I'm sick of hearing about the false persecution of Christians.

Seriously, though, I've heard that churches can actually get away with doing some pretty inhumane things like this. 

[Crocoduck]

My point is this: When staging a kidnapping of one or several unsuspecting victims, use real weapons loaded with real ammo - if the shit goes sour, it could save your ass from getting holes shot through it.

I see your point now. I wonder if the off duty cop at least had some ammo in his pocket. Most cops I've know where pretty uptight about being unarmed.

[Sweetdeath]

Please tell me this isn't legal...

How sickening.

[DeterminedJuliet]

It kind of reminds me, on a larger more psycho-scale, of when I was in a youth group and the adult running it described in excruciating detail the process of crucifixion. I'm talking rusty-spikes piercing arms and feet with a hammer, the process of bleeding to death (dehydration, hallucination, etc.), the excruciation of bearing your weight as you hang there for hours and hours - getting stabbed with a spear, thorns tearing up your scalp and eyes, having your legs broken to make sure you're dead. All of it. With the sole intent of horrifying us and (I guess?) making us feel, generally, like shit. We had an entire "class" dedicated to this bullshit.

I was probably 9, I think? I'm pretty sure some people cried. And at the end the adult was all satisfied and like "yes, now you understand what Jesus went through. For YOU."

People who consider these "lessons" valuable to children really shouldn't be given access to them.