Christian Rock Prank Catches Fire
Walking a very, very fine line here, I just thought I’d point out a video from ‘Donnie Davies’ called “The Bible Says” that’s catching buzz. Why? Because the vast majority of people are going to find it either highly offensive or highly hilarious. But they’ll all watch it, and talk about it, and send links to their friends ad infinitum. (UPDATE: Well they did, anyway, until YouTube removed the video. Thankfully, Donnie has it on his MySpace page, too.)
After the jump I do my best to answer the question, “Is this a hoax?”
Yes, I’m about 99% certain that this is a hoax, meant to mock anti-homosexual zealots. But as hoaxes go, it’s very well done, with a number of sites having been built to lend credibility to the backstory. It’s traveled up the link chain from Good as You to Pandagon, then the Seattle Stranger’s Slog to Gawker (where I found it) — and at every stop, it’s forced people to ask, “Is it real?”
A little reasarch on my part found a closed circle of links between the background web sites, that the domains are anonymously registered at GoDaddy by proxy, and according to a friend familiar with the Christian music scene, the language is too far over the top to be believable. But the ambiguity is what makes it so genius, and may have worked to convince some gullible MySpace users at least.
Now the fun becomes watching the meme spread until, hopefully, there’s a big reveal at the end where the prankster comes clean. So shine on you crazy diamond, Donnie Davies!
Comments (9)
Linkbacks (3)
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OMG, how sad: Donnie Davies…
What happens when a “reformed” homosexual picks up a guitar? I know you’re not going to wait for me to tell you. Watching Mr. Donnie Davies sing in his pink polo shirt about how “Jesus is the only man for me” might make you laugh or want to lash …
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[…] Ein elaborierter Hoax? Eine Provokation? Eine subtile Parodie auf vernagelte Christen? Oder doch eine verirrte Seele mit einem prähistorischen Schnauzbart, der einfach mal wieder anständig durchgezogen werden müsste? […]
BatzLog - Noch etwas Salz? » Hoax or…
— 10:28 AM on January 26, 2007
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[...] see this all the time in our posts; as soon as something takes off, like the anti-gay Christian rock prank, or Brizezilla of “Wig Out” fame, or the recording of an insane skydive accident, the [...]
NewTeeVee » Where Embeds Go to Die
— 4:01 AM on February 28, 2007
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video is no longer available
too bad the video is removed by youtube, you may save any youtube videos to your desktop in fuure by using http://www.youtuba.com it’s a full-blown youtube clone where you can search and download the video!
sorry the link is YouTubia is http://www.youtubia.com
Good suggestion, askton. In the meantime, I switched the emdedded version to the clip available on MySpace.
I’m fairly confident “The Bible Says” is a parody:
1) Look at the list of “Gay Bands” on lovegodsway.org … some are clearly inside jokes for indie rock people. Arcade Fire? the Strokes? How gay is Motorhead, really?
2) Look at the list of “Safe Bands”. After all that research on gay
bands, you’d think they could name more than a dozen bands in their own genre. Cyndi Lauper? She had that song She-Bop, right .. another inside joke.
3) All the links on lovegodsway.org (the ministry) and
eveningservice.com (the band) point to eachother. If you read the text on both sites, one exists entirely to support the other. And they both exist to promote that video. There’s no larger record label the band is signed to and no larger denomination the ministry is affiliated with. Insular and self-referential. No history to refute. Hoax.
4) This “ministry” does not seem to be asking for any “money”
5) Check out the swipe at the republican party:
http://lovegodsway.org/WhyNow
the “corruption” link points to ted haggard on wikipedia.
Paging lonelygirl15!
-A
I’m voting for “highly hilarious.” … That made my day.
Yes, incredibly funny. Even many of my fellow gays seem genuinely upset by it, which is further testament to its genius. The real question is, what’s the point? Is it just a joke, or a political swipe at the ex-gay movement? Maybe it’s promoting something else or just promoting the kooky Donnie Davies character? I think the lonelygirl15 reference is quite apt… Can’t wait for more installments…
YouTube, Google Video, and Myspace all removed the video. It appears freedom of speech is alive and well in the United States then. It’s still available at my blog, and should that link go down I have the video ready to post on my own server. I just want to avoid doing that because guess who has to pay for the bandwidth :-)
donnie was my first
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