Beefcake, Whine and Cheese
Orlando’s Holy Land Experience Theme Park through Pagan Eyes By Grace Victoria Swann
I first learned of the Holy Land Experience while watching Bill Maher’s 2008 film “Religulous.” According to imdb.com, the working title “A Spiritual Journey” was used in production so Mayer could obtain interviews with religious leaders and access to places that otherwise would have never let the comedian commentator through their doors otherwise. Press passes and permission to film interviews was granted without question. Only after Maher showed up and filming of interviews began did the people who actually knew who he was freak out. (Brilliant, Mr. Maher…absolutely brilliant!!!) In the film, the Holy Land Experience is portrayed as a place where only those who have drunk of conservative, white bread soaked Christian Kool-Aid would be welcome. This is cemented tightly during a scene in the film that features obviously upset park representatives (on camera) demanding that Mayer and crew leave immediately. In the few minutes of film dedicated to the park, it comes across as “so bad that it’s good”. It was less than three months after I enthusiastically uttered the words “OH…I have so GOT to go check out that place!!!” when serendipity led me down a strange, dramatic path to take me to Orlando, Florida. Advertised as giving Americans an opportunity to visit Jerusalem without a passport, the Holy Land Experience is a biblically themed tourist attraction owned by Trinity Broadcasting Network. TBN is the world’s largest Christian television empire, touting more than 12,500 television and cable outlets worldwide. The park is adorned with stucco-based architecture replicas of buildings from 2,000 years ago. It considers itself a “ministry” and features “musical dramas, uplifting presentations, and featured exhibits.” Reading between the lines, I was led to believe that I was going to be preached to. I assumed I would be accosted at the entrance gates – a Pagan undercover and on a magazine assignment in evangelism land. Fortunately, I was wrong. 3