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Church of Euthanasia

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Church of Euthanasia
The official symbol of the Church of Euthanasia is a representation of a Greek temple with four pillars
AbbreviationCoE
HeadquartersBoston, Massachusetts, United States
FounderChris Korda, Robert Kimberk
Origin1992
Registered in the state of Delaware
Official websitechurchofeuthanasia.org

The Church of Euthanasia (CoE) is a religion and antinatalist activist organization founded by Chris Korda and Robert Kimberk (Pastor Kim) in Boston, Massachusetts in 1992.[1][2] As stated on its website, it is "a non-profit educational foundation devoted to restoring balance between Humans and the remaining species on Earth."[3] Its members affirm that this can only turn into a reality by a massive voluntary population reduction, which will depend on a leap in human consciousness to species-awareness.[4] According to Korda, it is likely that this church is the world's only anti-human religion.[5]

Its most popular slogan is "Save the Planet, Kill Yourself",[6] and its founding ideology is set in one commandment, "Thou Shalt not Procreate", and four main pillars: suicide ("optional but encouraged"), abortion ("may be required to avoid procreation"), cannibalism ("mandatory if you insist on eating flesh" but only if someone is already dead), and sodomy ("any sexual act not intended for procreation").[3][7] The church stresses population reduction by voluntary means only,[8] and rejects murder and eugenics as a means of achieving it.[9]

The church promotes its environmental views. They also utilize sermons, art performances, public demonstrations, culture jamming, music, publicity stunts, and direct action to promote their idea of Earth's unsustainable population. They consider their methods similar to those of the Dadaist movement,[10] finding the modern world so absurd that the means needed to spread their message to the public must be absurd themselves. The Church of Euthanasia is also notorious for its conflicts with anti-abortion Christian activists.[11] The group's slogans include "Save the Planet, Kill Yourself", "Six Billion Humans Can't Be Wrong", and "Eat a Queer Fetus for Jesus".[12]

In its heyday the CoE claimed hundreds of official members and thousands of subscribers.[13] Since 2015, the group has become idle but their website remains online as an archive.[14] Some founders of the group, including Korda, continue their antinatalist activism.[2]

History

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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".[15][16]

Following the September 11 attacks, the church posted on its website a four-minute music video titled I Like to Watch, combining hardcore pornography with footage of the September 11 attacks and the collapse of the World Trade Center including an electronic soundtrack recorded by Korda with the lyrics, "People dive into the street/ While I play with my meat." and also “my steel melted and my tower’s coming down.” also showed a man orgasming and then cleaning himself with an American flag. Korda described the project as reflecting her "contempt for and frustration with the profound ugliness of the modern industrial world."[17][18][7]

The church's instructions on "how to kill yourself" by asphyxiation with helium were removed from its website in 2003 after a 52-year-old woman used them and died by suicide in St. Louis County, Missouri, resulting in legal threats against the organization.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b Simon, Vincent (July 7, 2022). "Can Chris Korda Save the Planet?". Frieze (230). Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Church of Euthanasia FAQ.
  4. ^ Harrison, Ann. (1995) The Boston Phoenix, Virtually childless.
  5. ^ Wright, Chris. (2001) The Boston Phoenix, The Pornography of Terror. Archived 2006-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Grad, David. (1996) New York Press, Eat Me - Rev. Chris Korda Dines For Our Sins.
  7. ^ a b Davis, Simon (October 23, 2015). "'Save the Planet, Kill Yourself': The Contentious History of the Church of Euthanasia". Vice. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Dery, Mark. (1999) Getting It, Mark Dery Interviews Chris Korda.
  9. ^ MacCormack, Patricia (2020). The Ahuman Manifesto: Activism for the End of the Anthropocene. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 144. ISBN 978-1350081093.
  10. ^ Broder, Von; M, Henryk. (1996) Der Spiegel, Macht Liebe, nicht Babies, English translation.
  11. ^ Broder, Von; M, Henryk. (1996) Der Spiegel, Macht Liebe, nicht Babies, English translation.
  12. ^ Prongo, Jark. (2013) Vanishing Point, Chris Korda y la Iglesia de la Eutanasia: save the planet, kill yourself. Archived 2016-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Dery, Mark (2012). "Death to All Humans! The Church of Euthanasia's Modest Proposal". I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts: Drive-by Essays on American Dread, American Dreams. University of Minnesota Press. doi:10.5749/minnesota/9780816677733.003.0029. ISBN 978-0816677740.
  14. ^ "Church of Euthanasia". World Religions and Spirituality Project.
  15. ^ EnterTalkMent Archives, broadcast Aug 11, 1997.
  16. ^ I Want To Join A Suicide Cult! 1997 on Vimeo
  17. ^ Wright, Chris. (2001) The Boston Phoenix, The Pornography of Terror. Archived 2006-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Spaink, Karin (November 12, 2002). "Kip aan het kruis" [Chicken on the Cross]. spaink.net (in Dutch). Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  19. ^ Frankel, Todd C. (2003) St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Now even committing suicide has gone online.
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