| Gattigap |
05-20-2004 03:36 PM |
Back on Track
Quote:
Originally posted by paigowprincess
I was lucky enough not to have been raised Catholic, so I dont know, but did they really hand out this type of propoganda? And did people really think God gave a shit if you masturbted, much less would wack a kitty in relatilation? not very benevolent.
|
In dredging up an old, overworked thread for which I'll likely be pummled (Hi, Pony!), I though I should point out that apparently this campaign is traceable to a religious group.
This article in Wired attributes this campaign to a couple of pastors whose marketing savvy is exceeded only by their knack for le mot juste.
Quote:
... xxxchurch, whose mission is to help people overcome the twin temptations of pornography and onanism and bring them to God.
Started by two young pastors from the porn capital of the world -- Southern California -- the ministry is aggressively fighting carnal sin on the porn medium of choice, the Internet. It's an uphill battle. There are millions of XXX sites, but only one XXXchurch.
"(We) saw the church really doing nothing about the issue of porn, so we decided to step up and do something," said Craig Gross, 28, who started the XXXchurch with Mike Foster, 32, in 2002. "We wanted to do it outside the context of a normal church so we could attract both secular and church people."
The site -- which advertises itself as the No. 1 Christian porn site -- features downloadable bible studies, a virtual prayer wall and free software that records sites visited by Internet users and sends the log to a third party. There is also plenty of practical advice. Here's what the pastors recommend instead of self-gratification:
"Remain calm and tell yourself, 'You don't own me, masturbation! I'm taking my life back!' (or something of that nature). If that doesn't work, you can pursue alternatives like chewing gum, blasting John Lennon's song 'Cold Turkey,' eating chocolate or whatever helps you best (not masturbation)."
The ministry is based on Matthew 5:27-30, which condemns lust and recommends amputating body parts that cause a believer to sin, "for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."
Much of the XXXchurch's traffic is generated by the pastors' savvy marketing strategies.
First there was the Save the Kittens campaign, which featured a video and e-mail featuring a photograph of a kitten being chased by two snarling red monsters and the phrase, "Every time you masturbate ... God kills a kitten." Gross said they came up with the euphemism "killing kittens" because people hated saying the word "masturbation." Although the e-mail was widely disseminated, some people were offended by the video, which shows a cat being thrown across a room.
|
Gattigap |
