Thorn
Tue, 20th November 2007, 20:34:07
The Church of Euthanasia
"Save the Planet, Kill Yourself"
The Church of Euthanasia (CoE) is a dadaist organization started by Rev. Chris Korda in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. According to the church's website, it is "a non-profit educational foundation devoted to restoring balance between Humans and the remaining species on Earth." The CoE uses sermons, music, culture jamming, publicity stunts and direct action combined with an underlying sense of satire and black humor to highlight Earth's unsustainable population. The CoE is notorious for its conflicts with anti-abortion Christian activists.
According to the church's website, the one commandment is "Thou shalt not procreate". The CoE further asserts four principle pillars: suicide, abortion, cannibalism ("strictly limited to consumption of the already dead"), and sodomy ("any sexual act not intended for procreation"). The church stresses population reduction by voluntary means only. Therefore murder, rape and involuntary sterilization are strictly forbidden by church doctrine.
Slogans employed by the group include "Save the Planet, Kill Yourself", "Six Billion Humans Can't Be Wrong", and "Eat a Queer Fetus for Jesus", all of which are intended to mix inflammatory issues to unnerve those who oppose abortion and homosexuality.
The Church gained early attention in 1995 because of its affiliation with paranoia.com which hosted many sites that were controversial or skirted illegality. Members later appeared on an episode of The Jerry Springer Show titled "I Want to Join a Suicide Cult".
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the CoE posted to its website a four-minute music video titled I Like to Watch, combining hardcore pornographic video with footage of the World Trade Center collapse. The montage featured an electronic soundtrack recorded by Korda and the lyrics, "People dive into the street/ While I play with my meat." Korda described the project as reflecting his "contempt for and frustration with the profound ugliness of the modern industrial world."
The church's website previously had instructions on "how to kill yourself" by asphyxiation using helium. These pages were removed in 2003 after a 52-year-old woman used them to commit suicide in St. Louis County, Missouri, resulting in legal threats against the church.
http://www.oddee.com/_media/imgs/articles/a117_Euthanasia.jpg
Nation of Yahweh:
"Black people are the true Jews"
Nation of Yahweh is a predominately African American religious group that is an offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites line of thought. They were formed in the late 1970s in Miami-Dade county. While the Nation of Yahweh falls under the umbrella of Black Hebrew Israelites, their beliefs are unique and distinct from that of other known Black Hebrew Israelite groups. The founder and creator of the religion is Yahweh ben Yahweh. The group has engendered controversy due to legal issues of its founder. It also faced accusations of being a black supremacist cult by the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Miami Herald.
The SPLC criticized the beliefs of the Nation of Yahweh as racist for the following reason. They state the group believed blacks are "the true Jews" and that whites were "white devils." In addition to this they claim the group believed Yahweh ben Yahweh had a Messianic mission to vanquish whites and that they held views similar to the Christian Identity movement. They quote Tom Metzger of White Aryan Resistance as saying groups like theirs are "the black counterpart of us."
Despite the recent death of their leader (see Yahweh ben Yahweh), the Nation of Yahweh is still active. Its members also claim to have abandoned their past racism; the leader's daughter has apparently stated that all people are children of God. An attorney and member of the group, Wendelyn Rush, insists their current war with the U.S. government is a non-violent verbal battle. The group is currently spread throughout the US and is no longer concentrated in one location (formerly Miami-Dade county). Their present literature downplays and has nearly erased all past racism.
Despite some of these present changes, much of the same rhetoric and codes of behavior have remained essentially the same as when the group began. Most still insist that Yahweh ben Yahweh is "Grand Master of All, the God of the Universe, the Grand Potentate, the Everlasting Father and the persecuted Messiah." A few elderly members consider 9-11 to have been a punishment from God for his imprisonment. Pledges of devotion to him and war against infidels allegedly still exist.
http://www.oddee.com/_media/imgs/articles/a117_nation.jpg
"Save the Planet, Kill Yourself"
The Church of Euthanasia (CoE) is a dadaist organization started by Rev. Chris Korda in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. According to the church's website, it is "a non-profit educational foundation devoted to restoring balance between Humans and the remaining species on Earth." The CoE uses sermons, music, culture jamming, publicity stunts and direct action combined with an underlying sense of satire and black humor to highlight Earth's unsustainable population. The CoE is notorious for its conflicts with anti-abortion Christian activists.
According to the church's website, the one commandment is "Thou shalt not procreate". The CoE further asserts four principle pillars: suicide, abortion, cannibalism ("strictly limited to consumption of the already dead"), and sodomy ("any sexual act not intended for procreation"). The church stresses population reduction by voluntary means only. Therefore murder, rape and involuntary sterilization are strictly forbidden by church doctrine.
Slogans employed by the group include "Save the Planet, Kill Yourself", "Six Billion Humans Can't Be Wrong", and "Eat a Queer Fetus for Jesus", all of which are intended to mix inflammatory issues to unnerve those who oppose abortion and homosexuality.
The Church gained early attention in 1995 because of its affiliation with paranoia.com which hosted many sites that were controversial or skirted illegality. Members later appeared on an episode of The Jerry Springer Show titled "I Want to Join a Suicide Cult".
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the CoE posted to its website a four-minute music video titled I Like to Watch, combining hardcore pornographic video with footage of the World Trade Center collapse. The montage featured an electronic soundtrack recorded by Korda and the lyrics, "People dive into the street/ While I play with my meat." Korda described the project as reflecting his "contempt for and frustration with the profound ugliness of the modern industrial world."
The church's website previously had instructions on "how to kill yourself" by asphyxiation using helium. These pages were removed in 2003 after a 52-year-old woman used them to commit suicide in St. Louis County, Missouri, resulting in legal threats against the church.
http://www.oddee.com/_media/imgs/articles/a117_Euthanasia.jpg
Nation of Yahweh:
"Black people are the true Jews"
Nation of Yahweh is a predominately African American religious group that is an offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites line of thought. They were formed in the late 1970s in Miami-Dade county. While the Nation of Yahweh falls under the umbrella of Black Hebrew Israelites, their beliefs are unique and distinct from that of other known Black Hebrew Israelite groups. The founder and creator of the religion is Yahweh ben Yahweh. The group has engendered controversy due to legal issues of its founder. It also faced accusations of being a black supremacist cult by the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Miami Herald.
The SPLC criticized the beliefs of the Nation of Yahweh as racist for the following reason. They state the group believed blacks are "the true Jews" and that whites were "white devils." In addition to this they claim the group believed Yahweh ben Yahweh had a Messianic mission to vanquish whites and that they held views similar to the Christian Identity movement. They quote Tom Metzger of White Aryan Resistance as saying groups like theirs are "the black counterpart of us."
Despite the recent death of their leader (see Yahweh ben Yahweh), the Nation of Yahweh is still active. Its members also claim to have abandoned their past racism; the leader's daughter has apparently stated that all people are children of God. An attorney and member of the group, Wendelyn Rush, insists their current war with the U.S. government is a non-violent verbal battle. The group is currently spread throughout the US and is no longer concentrated in one location (formerly Miami-Dade county). Their present literature downplays and has nearly erased all past racism.
Despite some of these present changes, much of the same rhetoric and codes of behavior have remained essentially the same as when the group began. Most still insist that Yahweh ben Yahweh is "Grand Master of All, the God of the Universe, the Grand Potentate, the Everlasting Father and the persecuted Messiah." A few elderly members consider 9-11 to have been a punishment from God for his imprisonment. Pledges of devotion to him and war against infidels allegedly still exist.
http://www.oddee.com/_media/imgs/articles/a117_nation.jpg