"Christianity Is Stupid" is a song from

Negativland Negativland is an American experimental music band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! track, while their record label (Seeland Records) is named after another Neu! track. The core ...

's 1987 concept album, ''

Escape from Noise ''Escape from Noise'' is the fourth studio album by Negativland. It marked the band's first release on an established independent record label, SST Records. On the album, they continued to develop their experimental style, as well as incorporatin ...

''.

Background

In the song, Negativland rearranges words and phrases to form a different meaning. They sampled phrases from a sermon by

Estus Pirkle Estus Washington Pirkle (March 12, 1930 – March 3, 2005) was an American Baptist minister, evangelist, and filmmaker. Early life Estus Washington Pirkle was born in Vienna, Georgia on March 12, 1930. He was one of ten children to Grover Wa ...

(from his 1968 LP, ''

If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? ''If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?'' is a 1971 American Christian exploitation film directed by Ron Ormond, featuring Southern Baptist minister Estus Pirkle. Background The film is based on a sermon by Estus W. Pirkle held on January ...

'', itself later adapted into a film of the same name). Pirkle's narrative included an imagined visit to the US under

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

where public loudspeakers constantly proclaim "Christianity is stupid! Communism is good! Give up!" These phrases were altered and mixed with appropriately march-like

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

and various other sound effects. In 2004, the song was made into a video entitled "The Mashin' of the Christ" that sampled many

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

-topic films and footage from Marxist-Leninist countries.

Fake press release

Negativland issued a fake

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

saying that the song "Christianity Is Stupid" had played a role in the

David Brom David Francis Brom (born October 3, 1971) is an American mass murderer. He killed his parents, brother and sister with an axe in February 1988 in Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of O ...

murders. The press release implied that Brom had listened to Negativland's song "Christianity Is Stupid" before the fatal quarrel with his religious parents.PRANKS! – Pullout – Music Quarterly – The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper
/ref> The group claimed they were "advised by Federal Official Dick Jordan not to leave town pending an investigation into the Brom murders". Brom, 16 at the time, had killed his family with an axe. Negativland's press release was picked up by San Francisco Bay Area media, including CBS News. Negativland recorded much of the news about their supposed influence on Brom, and in 1989 worked this material into another album called ''

Helter Stupid ''Helter Stupid'' is Negativland's fifth studio album, released in 1989. It is a concept album that focuses on a hoax that the band started, which claimed that the Negativland song "Christianity Is Stupid" inspired a teenager to murder his fami ...

''. In reality, there was no official named "Dick Jordan", and Brom did not possess any Negativland music. Nevertheless, pundits and journalists took the press release at face value, and the hoax received widespread media coverage. Negativland encouraged the spread of the story by steadfastly refusing further comment, supposedly on the advice of their attorney "Hal Stakke", another fictional person invented by the band. Much of this media coverage was negative. The resulting media craze, stemming from journalists neglecting to fact-check, is lampooned in the title track of their 1989 album, ''

'', whose insert also includes background information behind the band's prank.Guerrilla culture-jam (Metro Times Detroit)
/ref>

References

External links

The single on Negativland's official YouTube channelOfficial YouTube video for Part 2 of "Christianity Is Stupid"
{{authority control 1987 songs Christianity in music Criticism of Christianity Negativland songs Religious controversies in music

Background

Fake press release

See also

References

External links