The Airplane Activity: It kills you but won’t die.

Well, it came up again on our Seminary Teacher’s Facebook group–The Activity That Won’t Die: the Flight 227 airplane crash activity.

I was astonished to see it appear on the page, actually.  I thought I had squelched it years ago with my forum posts regarding the First Presidency letter warning members not to wear all white at activities.  But no dice….

If you’re looking for a fun LDS activity, please don’t do the plane crash.  There are much better activities that don’t

1. Mimic temple patterns, like passing “through the veil”, or moving from room to room where lights and other symbols represent degrees of glory
2. Potentially alienate struggling members or those with family members who aren’t making wise decisions right now
3. End with an arbitrary “judgment” — not based on merit or actions — but based on random assignments
4. Make entertainment — mockery — of the deaths of those who have actually died in plane crashes
5. Perpetuate doctrinal errors

Leave the teaching of the degrees of glory to the temple or D&C 76, and please don’t crash any planes in the name of teaching or entertainment in your unit.