Advice please

[seanom]

So I’m very interested in World War 2 and my friend told me about a club he’s involved in that does World War 2 reenactments so that this terrible war is never forgotten. I am interested in joining. U use real guns with blanks, as well as the uniforms of the different armies. Would it be okay to be in that club?? Like would it go against my Christian faith. It’s not trying to promote the War but remember what they went through. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[fred_conty]

As long as you don’t get into ballroom fights. There might be a limit to playing Gestapo.

I was out west one year and went to a place where they reenacted a street shootout.
I thought it was very fun to watch.

 

[TuAutem]

No! Just remember why you’re doing it and what your aims are. If it morphs into a fetishism for violence and torture, then obviously it’s bad, and you should stop it. But if your aim is to remember the past, to understand what those men went through and to help others to understand it, then it is a laudable past time and can bring many good fruits to modern people today.

 

[Auntie_A]

There might be a limit to playing Gestapo.

.

I agree here. You must be careful what you are representing and who gets influenced by it. I directed a production of “Sound of Music” over 30 years ago with young teens in the cast and I wanted to teach some of the frail, inexperienced young actors how to be frightening in the final chase scenes. We did some improvisations based on how frightened, and therefore frightening, the young Nazis were and then we added them to the final chase scenes.

Well, it created the appropriate effect but I have worried at times through the years about how this improvisation might have influenced these young men. Not all actors can slough off the immorality or amorality of their role. And there are neo-nazi and white supremacist influences in the world, not too far from where these guys lived, I’m sorry to say.

I realize this is just a worry but it reminds me that a re-enactment can influence someone for good or bad. Just make sure that the people behind the reenactments, as well as the participators, have their heads in the right place. If they come from an historical perspective with no weird agendas except to educate, and if they are aware of how a reenactment could be misconstrued, then this might be a peaceful group to work with. I have never seen a WWII enactment but the Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactments I have seen have been nothing but educational.

 

[cheezey]

No! Just remember why you’re doing it and what your aims are. If it morphs into a fetishism for violence and torture, then obviously it’s bad, and you should stop it. But if your aim ** (HA!)** is to remember the past, to understand what those men went through and to help others to understand it, then it is a laudable past time and can bring many good fruits to modern people today.

Actually all of the above =

Are you sure you’ll be using blanks? Just be careful, even with blanks. Shot at close range can cause grave injury.