Church of Euthanasia

The Church of Euthanasia (CoE), is a political organization started by the Reverend 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."^[1] The CoE uses sermons, music, culture jamming, publicity stunts and direct action to highlight Earth's unsustainable population. The CoE is notorious for its conflicts with Pro-life Christian activists.^{[citation needed]}

According to the church's website, the one commandment is "Thou shalt not 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").^[1] The church stresses population reduction by voluntary means only. Therefore murder 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.^{[citation needed]}

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".^{[citation needed]}

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."^[2]

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.^[3]

Criticism

The often intentionally offensive tactics of the Church of Euthanasia have been condemned by many groups, notably Christians.

Even those who are sympathetic to the concerns of the CoE are sometimes uneasy with the church's Malthusianism.^{[citation needed]} 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 and Debbie Goad..."^[4]

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 [1]

• Paley, Nina. (2006) Indecent Exposure. Stay Free Magazine. [2]

1. ^ ^{a b} Church of Euthanasia FAQ
2. ^ Wright, Chris. (2001) The Pornography of Terror
3. ^ Now even committing suicide has gone online
4. ^ Death to All Humans!

External links

• Church of Euthanasia