Door to Heaven - 1941

Weirdo Video Exclusive This bizarre, low-budget film was produced to propagate "the gospel of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," at least the one according to the members of this religious sect based in Wheaton, Illinois. Setting itself up as an instruction manual on how to get your soul through those pearly gates, the film really stretches the door metaphor thin. Some quick tips for those who want to get to Heaven – - Door to heaven is identifiable by a stencil that reads “Door to Heaven” above it - The door will permit toddler sinners only if accompanied by a parent or guardian - Like an am/pm market or 7-11, it’s open all night; we recommend the sweat dogs - Like a museum, admission is free after 5pm on the third Tuesday of each month - There is no alarm system so it’s possible to slip through the window at night - Sometimes those jokers inside will lock you out and turn on the fire sprinkler system - No large boxes admitted; baggage must be stowed away in overhead compartments - Anyone conveying poorly-conceived symbolic props will be barred from entry - Suspected socialists or communists behind the door since you cannot bring in money - No other material possessions will be admitted except double-breasted business suits - Certain times of the year there may be a line to get in; please be patient with the bouncer - Selling magazine subscriptions or six-packs of Kool Aid can get you on the guest list - You may also just “Come” – yeah, that gets you through that door to heaven - Door may be locked indefinitely at an undetermined future date It also appears that the Door to Heaven, at least in this case, would not fit anyone taller than 6’2” or heavier than 320lbs. Sorry big and tall types- No Heaven for you! In religion, Heaven is the English name for a transcendental realm in which it is believed that people who have died continue to exist in an afterlife. The term "heaven" may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond, the traditional literal meaning of the term in English. The term in English has also typically been used to refer to the plane of existence of an afterlife (often held to exist in another realm) in various religions and spiritual philosophies, often described as the holiest possible place, accessible by people according to various standards of divinity, goodness, piety, faith or other virtues. The modern English word Heaven derives from the word heven around 1159, which developed from the Old English heofon around 1000 referring to the Christianized "place where God dwells" but earlier meaning "sky, firmament" (attested from around 725 in Beowulf);this is cognate with other Germanic languages - Old Saxon heƀan "sky, heaven", Middle Low German heven "sky", Old Icelandic himinn "sky, heaven", Gothic himins, and existed in variation with a related word having an -l suffix: Old Frisian himel, himul "sky, heaven", Old Saxon/Old High German himil, Dutch hemel, and modern German Himmel, all of which derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic *Hemina-. Religions that speak about heaven differ on how (and if) one gets into it, typically in the afterlife. In most, entrance to Heaven is conditional on having lived a "good life" (within the terms of the spiritual system). A notable exception to this is the 'sola fide' belief of many mainstream Protestants, which teaches that one does not have to live a perfectly "good life," but that one must accept Jesus Christ as one's saviour, and then Jesus Christ will assume the guilt of one's sins; believers are believed to be forgiven regardless of any good or bad "works" one has participated in. Many religions state that those who do not go to heaven will go to a place "without the presence of God", Hell, which is eternal. Some religions believe that other afterlives exist in addition to Heaven and Hell, such as Purgatory. One belief, universalism, believes that everyone will go to Heaven eventually, no matter what they have done or believed on earth. Some forms of Christianity believe Hell to be the termination of the soul. Many people who come close to death and have near death experiences report meeting relatives or entering "the Light" in an otherworldly dimension, which share similarities with the religious concept of Heaven. Even though there are also reports of distressing experiences and negative life-reviews, which share some similarities with the concept of Hell, the positive experiences of meeting or entering 'the Light' is reported as an immensely intense feeling state of love, peace and joy beyond human comprehension. Together with this intensely positive feeling state, people who have near death experiences also report that consciousness or a heightened state of awareness seems as if it is at the heart of experiencing a taste of 'Heaven'.