Terene, please don't think I'm being unkind- but this does seem to be a case of nitpicking.
Hon, are you saying that you believe EVERY single thing that is not 100% total and utter truth is wrong? In which case you DO believe that acting is wrong, and so on?
Where do you draw the line?
Should we then refuse to read novels (no matter how well written or how pure the subject matter) because the events in them are fictitious?
One could argue that Jesus himself did wrong and was dishonest. After all, he told stories- the parables. Nowhere in my Bible can I find Jesus giving a disclaimer that what he was about to say was fictional- he simply spoke. 'A man went up from Jericho.... A man had two sons....' and so on. Yet everyone understood that they were stories meant to illustrate a point.
OK Jesus wasn't portraying the characters by acting the story out- but you could say he was narrating an event that never happened in reality, therefore he was lying.
I don't really see a huge difference between narrating a story and physically portraying one. Everyone knows it isn't real.
As for role play- thank God for it, quite literally!
I've worked with children with learning difficulties, challenging behaviours, conditions and from some horrible backgrounds. In my job, we made frequent use of role play.
Having to act the part of another character or type of person enabled those children to work through how someone might feel. One boy who bullied others took part in role play sessions where my colleague and I would act out the part of a bully and and the one being picked on- and he would then roleplay the part of a third person who would talk to the 'bully' and explain why the actions were wrong and what was more appropriate behaviour. Over a few sessions, he began to make the transition from telling someone in a fictional situation why bullying was wrong, to recognising it in his own behaviour and to apply his own advice to himself. It was so much more effective than simply saying 'What you're doing is wrong because it's mean and hurtful'
Difficult situations can be worked through and possible reactions explored in a safe setting through roleplay, enabling the child to take the solutions and confidence gained in to real life. It also helped take the pressure of a child lacking in confidence, because it was just pretend.
It's also used in the same way for adults, of course, not just children.
We also made use of roleplay during staff training sessions. Often very difficult situations could be worked out and scenarios we hadn't thought of brought to light. Often professional course tutors would take us through these.
I remember a particularly helpful session when we had to act the part of a troublesome, disruptive and angry child in the classroom. Not only did it bring out many coping strategies for us as staff to take into the classroom with us but it was a real eye opener to see things from the perspective of the child and helped us to understand that sort of situation from a child's point of view far better than just being told about it.
Roleplay was one of our best, most effective tools.
Many jobs now have roleplay scenarios as part of the interview, too. It helps the employer to get an idea of the sort of person you are by how you would react if you held that position or if you were a manager eventually or whatever. It shows them whether or not you can think on your feet, if you stay calm, even if you're playing the part of someone else.
Just as a thought, would you also say that things such as Nativity plays are wrong? I mean the children pretending to be Mary and Joseph and Shepherds and so on aren't really those people- so are they sinning by being dishonest?
I promise you I'm not trying to be facetious- I'm genuinely interested to see where you draw the line.
