Over the course of three summers I worked at the Enchanted Forest Theme Park just south of Salem, Oregon. I loved working there and had a great time. It's a great place for families, and it was also enjoyable seeing the look of joy and excitement on the faces of so many children.
This weekend, The Land of Enchantment was featured on a show called Ghost Adventures. I have not seen the show, and don't necessarily plan to. I simply don't have the desire to learn what they think they've found.
One of my current co-workers asked me whether I thought the place was haunted. My answer was simple, "no." To put it more plainly, I do not believe in ghosts, therefore it cannot be haunted by ghosts.
"For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten." - Ecclesiastes 9:5
That's right, if the dead don't know anything, it eliminates the possibility of ghosts. I do believe, thought, in a spirit world. The Bible, while not supporting the existence of ghosts, does indeed support the existence of angles and demons.
I told my co-worker that I never experienced anything of a "haunting" nature at Enchanted Forest. Continuing on, I explained that there has only been one time that I've truly felt an overwhelmingly evil presence.
During the summer of 1993, I spent six week in Israel with a group from college. We spent five weeks digging at Tel Hazor, and the final week was spent in and around Jerusalem. On August 4th, we went to Bethlehem and visited the Church of the Nativity.
The Church of the Nativity was established in 327 CE, but was formerly a site dedicated to a Greek god. While there, I entered the site with other members of our group, but after only a short time, I was compelled to get outside, and stay outside. I had a feeling that this was NOT a place that honored God in any manner. Although this site is heralded as the birth place of Christ, I am absolutely convinced that it definitely is NOT.
Of course, it doesn't matter where Christ was born. I believe that the evil one, Satan, uses such things to draw focus away from what really matters. The more you focus on a site, the less you focus on the significance of the event that is being claimed to have taken place there.
Two days later, we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This site is also quite old, and has some similarities to the Church of the Nativity. It is said to be the location of Christ's crucifixion and entombment. Whether or not it is, I really have no way of knowing, and neither does anyone else. What I do know is that it did not elicit the same feelings in me, or the same response to flee.
In 1998 I also was fortunate to make another visit to the Middle East. Again, the group that I was with visited both of these sites. When we visited the Church of the Nativity, I chose to wait on the bus. After my previous experience I wanted nothing to do with the place.
As for Enchanted Forest being haunted, I'm sure that like every other place on Earth, it is NOT haunted. Probably about the creepiest things I saw while working there are in the photos below.
