Thursday, April 18, 2013

Cake "Sheep Go To Heaven"

While PJ is on vacation, he's writing about songs that taught him something . .

A friend posted this on his Facebook feed last week, and I laughed and shook my head.


Of course, my response to the thread was to write, "Sheep goes to Heaven, Goats go to Hell."  I always thought it was a clever song, with it's use of Carpenter and Pan and Las Vegas images.

I was curious enough about the pamphlet's origins to Google the phrase "Mr Gruff Atheist," and that is when I learned about Poe's Law.

From WikipediaWithout a blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of extremism or fundamentalism that someone won't mistake for the real thing.

Yes, the flyer is apparently the work of Objective Ministries, a parody site Fundamentalist beliefs, that really isn't any more kooky or offensive than many things I've seen in real life that were decidedly not parodies.

A "Poe" is now even used as a noun, to describe a story (like an Onion article that is mistaken for real news) or a person (like Stephen Colbert's parody of a conservative talk show host) that is taken at face value.

So take note . . . I think Cake is being ironic in this song.


Hear the song on Youtube.

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