Why We Need the Language of Hell

I mentioned a few months ago that last fall I got to sit down with Kevin Miller for an interview for his upcoming documentary Hellbound? Keep an eye out as Hellbound? is coming out in a few weeks. Check here for viewings in your area.

Kevin has a post up over at the Huffington Post entitled "Why We Need the Language of Hell." In the piece Kevin wrestles with the religious language of hell and how, even in our modern age, it might be doing important work for us in describing cases of horrific evil and catastrophic suffering. The start of Kevin's essay:

James Eagan Holmes allegedly slaughters 12 people at a movie theater in Colorado. Survivor Stephanie Davies describes the event: "We were laying there, literally in the mouth of hell."

Anders Behring Breivik kills 69 people at a summer camp in Norway. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg seeks to capture his grief: "It was a paradise of my youth that has now been turned into hell."

A tsunami devastates the Tōhoku region of Japan, killing thousands. Daily Mail reporter Alex Thompson describes the scene as "Hell on Earth."

Two planes hit the World Trade Center in New York City. Brian Williams describes the event 10 years later: "It was a day when hell rained down on earth from the skies and changed all of our lives forever..."

As these and numerous other examples demonstrate, when seeking to describe a natural disaster or manmade tragedy, hell is often the first word that springs to mind. And we don't just use "hell" to describe the event. We also demand it as punishment when human perpetrators are involved.

As a part of Kevin's essay there is some footage from our interview together:



Just a head's up that my footage will be showing up on the DVD in special features video. I'll let you know when the DVD comes out. For now, check out Kevin's article at HuffPost and look for Hellbound? coming to a theater near you.