group in Denver, Colorado calling itself "Citizens for Peace and Respect" is demanding the cancellation of an appearance by shock-rocker Marilyn Manson slated for the upcoming Ozzfest at Mile High Stadium, and plans to stage protests outside the June 21 heavy metal extravaganza.

   CPR describes itself as "a group of concerned citizens in who (sic) have organized to protest the negative influence of Marilyn Manson on our community ... we are composed of citizens, churches, Columbine families, various organizations and political leaders."

   The coalition says that it opposes the lyrics and stage theatrics of Manson which, they insist, glorify hate and violence. The controversy has allegedly lead to death threats, and once again has placed Marilyn Manson at the locus of controversy. The issue has also touched upon the memory of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, with many pointing the finger of blame at everything from lack of religion in schools to the popularity of "Goth culture," violent video games and salacious lyrics in music.

   Two years ago, Manson canceled an appearance when Denver Mayor Wellington Webb pressured concert promoters "out of respect for the victims" of the Columbine killings. Representatives of Citizens for Peace and Respect say that Manson "glorifies death and human destruction," and should also withdraw from the 2001 Ozzfest.

   Since Manson's rise to pop glory beginning with the 1996 breakthrough release "Antichrist Superstar," the band's appearances continue to sell out, and have become the frequent targets of protests by fundamentalist Christian groups. Manson, who even some rock critics say has been "on a non-stop campaign of crassness," has not only relished the limelight, but reveled in baiting his opponents with Satanic imagery and his androgynous flair. The cover of his 2000 album "Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)" features the lanky Manson striking a crucifix pose, eyes rolled back and mutilated face. Some stores refused to carry the release, while others created their own toned-down artwork. None of this seems to have diminished the band's popularity, and Manson remains -- as evidenced by the simmering controversy in Denver -- a lighting rod for groups concerned about religious revival and moral probity.

   Worse yet for groups like CPR is Manson's promise that at Ozzfest 2001, he plans to read select passages from the Holy Bible. In a stunning interview recently with the beliefnet.com web site, Manson says that he will "balance my songs with a wholesome Bible reading," and hopes this will prompt fans to "examine the virtues of wonderful 'Christian' stories of disease, murder, adultery, suicide and child sacrifice."

   "Now that seems like 'entertainment' to me," Manson adds.

   The beliefnet.com interview gives insight into Manson's psychological makeup, beginning with his recollection of childhood nightmares, and being forced to attend religious services and revival meetings featuring the likes of evangelist Ernest Angely. In a special piece written for Rolling Stone magazine, though, Manson shows himself as far more than a clever rock promoter and talented outre musician. He takes on all comers who accuse him of promoting violence and death, and reveals himself as a formidable critics of religious history, as well as live-and-let-live libertarian.

   "Whether you interpret the Bible as literature or as the final word of whatever God may be, Christianity has given us an image of death and sexuality that we have based our culture around," Manson says. "A half-naked dead man hangs in most homes and around our necks, and we have just taken that for granted all of our lives.

    "Nowhere in the Gospels is intelligence praised as a virtue," adds Manson.

   Whatever one thinks of Manson's outrageous imagery and biting lyrics, his critics in Denver seem to mirror and even exploit the very horrors and theatrics they accuse the flamboyant rock god of spreading.

   The founder and head of CPR is Rev. Jason Janz, a "Youth Pastor" at the South Sheridan Baptist Church in Denver, CO. Janz is an associate of the parents of slain Columbine High School student Cassie Bernall, and according to the December 6, 1999 issue of Christianity Today magazine "worked out an endorsement agreement with Bernall's parents for a line of 'Yes, I believe' merchandise that includes bracelets, hats, T-shits, and a testimonial video."

"MANSON SAYS THAT HE WILL "BALANCE MY SONGS WITH A WHOLESOME BIBLE READING," AND HOPES THAT THIS WILL PROMPT FANS TO "EXAMINE THE VIRTUES OF WONDERFUL 'CHRISTIAN' STORIES OF DISEASE, MURDER, ADULTERY, SUICIDE AND CHILD SACRIFICE..."

   Janz also is the author of a play and "Bible study" based on Cassie Bernall's life. Misty Bernall, Cassie's mother, authored a best-seller, "She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall." In addition, there has been a virtual blizzard of pop-culture products generated by the Columbine tragedy, including key chains, mugs, books, and even a CD emblazoned with the phrase, "Yes, I Believe In God." Proceeds from all of this funds a ministry known as the Cassie Bernall Foundation.

   Columbine also became an issue in the year 2000 election campaign, with candidates from both major parties rushing to exploit the issue. Republicans and Democrats cited the murders as evidence of serious moral decline, and proposed a battery of legislative remedies ranging from gun control and more police to psychological monitoring of students and prayer in the classroom. Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) said that the presence of a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds at Columbine High School might have prevented the shooting spree. Others took to the floor of Congress, blaming the bloodshed on the Supreme Court and "kicking God out of our schools."

   In George Bush's home state of Texas, the Crime Prevention Resource Center, a spin off of the Ft. Worth Chamber of Commerce's "Code Blue Crime Prevention project," declared that school officials should closely surveill any students who were fans of Marilyn Manson or were attracted to "Gothic" fashions. The group suggested that student lockers be searched, and that officials even examine their art work, and track which books they were checking out of the library.

   Many evangelical religious groups saw Columbine as both a signal and an opportunity to rekindle dormant "youth outreach" programs and resurrect the traditional cultural bug-a-boos of sex, drugs and rock music -- and even smuggle an authoritarian and theocratic political agenda in the process. Pastor Janz was one of the earlier capitalizers in the wake of the Columbine shooting, and his expertise in working with young people is showcased by his participation in the "Youth Ministry Block Classes" at Bob Jones University.

THE "MARTYRDOM" OF CASSIE BERNALL, WHILE POPULAR THROUGHOUT AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL CULTURE AND BEYOND, MAY WELL BE BASED ON A GLORIFIED AND MISLEADING MYTH CONCERNING THE UNFORTUNATE EVENTS AT COLUMBINE...

   The "martyrdom" of Cassie Bernall, while popular throughout America's Christian evangelical culture and beyond, may well be based on a glorified and misleading myth concerning the unfortunate events at Columbine, which resulted in the deaths of twelve students and a teacher. There was considerable media speculation -- and a good deal of initial misinformation -- about the two gunmen, Eric Harris, 18 and Dylan Klebold, 17, including the alleged influence of certain kinds of music and video games resulting in their bloody rampage. In the resultant fallout over the Columbine killings, though, the "martyrdom" of Cassie Bernall is perhaps the most pronounced and questionable.

   Once considered a willful and rebellious youngster who had supposedly flirted with the occult, Bernall was sent by her parents to a Christian disciplinary camp and returned home a religiously devout girl. At Columbine, she was known for conspicuously carrying a Bible and wearing the popular "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets in vogue with religious students. On April 20, 1999, Bernall was reading Shakespeare in the school library when Harris and Klebold burst into the room and began shooting. One account soon gripped the national attention. It claimed that one of the gunmen asked for "those who believe in God" to stand up, and then pointed his weapon at Bernall. He asked, "Do you believe in Jesus?" and Bernall responded, "Yes, I love Jesus." The gunman then asked her "Why?" and pulled the trigger.

   While variations of the story quickly spread in churches, religious news groups and internet web sites, serious questions arose concerning the accuracy of this account. On May 18, 1999, we cautioned that the story, "widely reported in the press, could be apocryphal." Indeed, during the official probe by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, investigators informed Cassie Bernall's parents that the encounter with one of the gunmen -- likely Klebold -- may not have occurred. Even so, Misty Bernall proceed with publication of her book, "She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall." Subsequently, it was revealed that at least one witness who was the source for the apocryphal encounter "did not actually see the individuals involved." The final report did not substantiate the "martyrdom" scenario, or other accounts that had the gunmen "targeting Christians," or athletes.

   Another CPR official is Keenan Roberts, an associate pastor of the Abundant Life Christian Center in Arvada, Colorado. While Manson is criticized for horrifying youngsters and imitating the devil, Rev. Roberts seems to be a coincidental understudy as the creator of the Halloween "Hell House" spectacle which is staged annually by a growing number of fundamentalist and Pentecostal groups across the country. Visitors to "Hell House" are taken on a tour which depicts graphic, and, say some, inappropriate scenes of teenage suicide, AIDS, gay marriage, drunk driving, school violence and abortion.

   Critics of the "Hell House" and imitations like "Judgment House" which have opened throughout the country say the dramatic presentations often "ambush" youngsters and unsuspecting parents in order to convey a stern theological and political message. Evangelist Jerry Falwell put on the first such presentation in the 1970s, and the idea was then embellished by Roberts who whipped together a "Hell House Kit" including a 263-page how-to manual and soundtrack. When Roberts appeared on the "Phil Donahue Show" in 1995 paired off against another evangelical pastor, a lesbian cleric and a Planned Parenthood spokesperson, the "Hell House" theatrics at his church received nation wide publicity. By 1998, up to 450 "Hell House" dramas were being staged by religious groups, most presenting grisly presentations around themes such as AIDS, drinking, drugs, premarital sex and abortion. Parents complained that "Hell House" and its imitators often hoodwinked young people into attending, since they masqueraded as the commercial "Haunted House" tours that have become popular during the Halloween season. Other critics warned that the "ambush" format gives young people a malevolent and skewed view of the world, and amounts to preaching heavy-handed religion by the use of fear.

   "The haunted house's message is ignorant and judgmental and implies that all gay people get AIDS and are automatically going to hell," said James Taylor of the Colorado AIDS project, and a critic of the Roberts "Hell House" show.

   For Pastors Roberts, Janz and other religious groups, issues like the Columbine shootings or the stage antics of Marilyn Manson are a veritable gold mine in promoting not only the ideological merchandise associated with the April 20, 1999 tragedy, but vehicles for a broader theological message which paints a wide range of behaviors as destructive and leading to eternal damnation. The Citizens for Peace and Respect web site (www.nomanson.com) warns visitors, "HATE is coming to town ... What are YOU going to do about it?" and goes on to accuse Manson of promoting a laundry-list of evils, including violence, death, drugs and suicides.

   "He promotes the attitudes and actions of the Columbine High School killers," adds the CPR page, but then points to a vague passage in Manson's "The Nobodies" cut which declares, "We are the nobodies, we wanna be somebodies/ When we're dead, they'll know just who we are..."

   Manson denounced the killings at Columbine, and denied responsibility for the actions of Klebold and Harris. Unlike his religious opposition, Manson was reticent over capitalizing on the shootings, and after Columbine turned down countless requests for radio and TV news show appearances, issuing only a simple statement: "It's tragic and disgusting anytime young people's lives are taken in an act of senseless violence. My condolences go out the students and families." Ironically, when political and religious organizations were rushing to cash in on the media fall-out from Columbine, it was Manson who backed away from the limelight, canceling the last five appearances in his "Rock Is Dead" tour.

   "Perhaps no figure in modern culture is as famous or reviled for his use of religious imagery as Marilyn Manson," adds beliefnet writer Anthony DeCurtis. The results has been regular protest demonstrations, prayer meetings, revivals and demands that Manson appearances be boycotted and banned as he crisscrosses the country. His concerts remain high profile,controversial and spectacular productions, and usually sell out. Manson also remains a theatrical and even unlikely ideological critic of organized religion. "I chose not to jump into the media frenzy and defend myself, though I was begged to be on every single TV show in existence," he told reporters months after the Columbine incident. "They want to blame entertainment? Isn't religion the first real entertainment? People dress up in costumes, sing songs and dedicate themselves in eternal fandom..."

   As for the ambiguously-named Citizens for Peace and Respect, Pastors Jenz, Roberts and other ecclesiastical "youth leaders" say they will continue circulating their on-line petition against Marilyn Manson, and will stage a rally the night before Ozzfest. Will they succeed in one-upping Manson when it comes to violent, gory and malevolent imagery? Possibly, but even in this cultural sack race, it will be the Christians who give Manson the attention and sold-out crowd he so relishes.

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