Church of Euthanasia 326609 225091152 2008-07-11T20:55:31Z Jakes18 151038 There is no basis for the "Rev." title, and indeed the page descirbiing him does not use "Rev" '''The Church of Euthanasia''' (CoE) is a [[dada]]ist political organization started by [[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."<ref>[http://churchofeuthanasia.org/coefaq.html Church of Euthanasia FAQ]</ref> The CoE uses sermons, music, [[culture jamming]], [[publicity stunt]]s and [[direct action]] combined with an underlying sense of [[satire]] and [[Black comedy|black humor]] to highlight Earth's [[Overpopulation|unsustainable population]]. The CoE is notorious for its conflicts with [[Pro-life]] [[Christian]] activists. According to the church's website, the one commandment is "Thou shalt not [[Biological reproduction|procreate]]". The CoE further asserts four principal pillars: [[suicide]], [[abortion]], [[cannibalism]] ("strictly limited to consumption of the ''already dead''"), and [[sodomy]] ("any sexual act not intended for procreation").<ref>[http://churchofeuthanasia.org/coefaq.html Church of Euthanasia FAQ]</ref> The church stresses population reduction by ''voluntary'' means only. Therefore murder and involuntary sterilization are strictly forbidden by church doctrine. [[Slogan]]s 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 ''[http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/catalog/video.html 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."<ref>Wright, Chris. (2001) ''The Pornography of Terror''. [http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/02063812.htm]</ref> 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.<ref>''[http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/press/st_louis_suicide.html Now even committing suicide has gone online]''</ref> ==Criticism== {{Citations missing|section|date=November 2007}} The often intentionally offensive tactics of the Church of Euthanasia have been condemned by many groups, notably Christians. Following their appearance on ''[[The Jerry Springer Show]]'', the [[Creativity Movement]], a fringe anti-abortion group stated that, "The Church of Euthanasia embodies the spirit that mocks the God of the Bible, that mocks the Lord Jesus Christ who died for the sins of the world."<ref>[http://www.christiangallery.com/springer.html JUDGMENT DAY]</ref> Even those who are sympathetic to the concerns of the CoE are sometimes uneasy with the church's [[Malthusianism]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Journalist [[Mark Dery]] notes that, "the [[misanthropy]] that lies just beneath the surface of the Church's baby-loathing and [[breeder]]-bashing aligns it with unhappy bedfellows like [[Randall Phillip]] and [[Jim Goad|Jim]] and [[Debbie Goad]]..."<ref>''[http://www.gettingit.com/article/583 Death to All Humans!]''</ref> Some individuals{{Who|date=October 2007}} have also suggested that CoE is a [[marketing]] scheme for Rev. Chris Korda's [[electronic music]] (available for free [http://churchofeuthanasia.org/catalog/music.html download] on the CoH site). However, the listing of Korda's live gigs indicates that he began performing publicly in [[1997]], by which time the church had already been started. ==See also== *[[Voluntary Human Extinction Movement]] *[[Deep ecology]] *[[Negative Population Growth]] ==References== * Potts, Grant. (2005) "Church of Euthanasia". In ''The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature'', ed. by Bron Taylor, pp. 384-85. London & New York: Continuum International [http://www.religionandnature.com/ern/index.htm] * Paley, Nina. (2006) ''Indecent Exposure''. Stay Free Magazine. [http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/25/index.html] <references /> ==External links== *[http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/ Church of Euthanasia] **''[http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/catalog/video.html I Like to Watch]'', controversial music video response to [[September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]]. ''(Note: Contains explicit sexual content)'' *[http://web.archive.org/web/20030207140136/http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/resources/howtodie.html How to Kill Yourself], archived by web.archive.org [[Category:Environmental organizations based in the United States]] [[Category:Culture jamming]] [[Category:Religious parodies and satires]] [[uz:Evtanaziya Cherkovi]] [[ru:Церковь Эвтаназии]]