Niilo Paasivirta
Encyclopedia
Niilo Paasivirta is a Finnish
Internet personality, who has become known for the Internet writings that parody fundamentalist Christian views. In Finland, he's best known for the essays called "Oikeat Mielipiteet" ("Correct Opinions"), and elsewhere for the "Love Thy Neighbor" and Game of Satan pages, that parody role-playing game moral panic. The pages were written at the time when the moral panic was being discussed, and first in mid-1990s, and the humorous approach was both disapproved of, and later, as the moral panic waned, approved of.
In several occasions, Paasivirta has said his date of birth is September 3, 1956, which is debatable, as the same interview also had wild claims about his "roots in nobility" and "special skills".
s are anti-Christian, sinful, make the players worship Satan, practice (among other things) occultism, religions other than Christianity, paraphilia
s, turn them into members of sexual minorities, commit crimes and go to Hell. Paasivirta himself described the page as follows:
The Game of Satan pages have gained some cult following. Many people have understood the joke, and supported the page for that reason, but some have thought the page was a real opinion of a "conservative Christian" and mocked people who had the same kind of views. It has been seen as one of the examples of Poe's law
.
and Paasivirta's own home page, the essays have been published on a web page called Bittivuoto.net, and a computer magazine called Enter.
s for the material published on his web page in the end of 1998. The prosecutor noted Paasivirta had posted blasphemous material and publicly agitated others to commit such crimes, but charges were not filed because the blasphemy was no longer treated as a criminal matter.
In the material, Paasivirta briefly and without any elaboration called God
a "bull calf drone", "ectoplasm", "pickle being roasted in pig lard", "pedophile", "drug addict" and "career criminal". The page also had a phone number for police tip line and admitted to violating blasphemy laws. Later, he claimed he was referring to the invisible pink unicorn
rather than the Christian God. The material is no longer available on Paasivirta's home page.
This article contains material from corresponding Finnish Wikipedia article Niilo Paasivirta, as of November 15, 2010, 13.46.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Internet personality, who has become known for the Internet writings that parody fundamentalist Christian views. In Finland, he's best known for the essays called "Oikeat Mielipiteet" ("Correct Opinions"), and elsewhere for the "Love Thy Neighbor" and Game of Satan pages, that parody role-playing game moral panic. The pages were written at the time when the moral panic was being discussed, and first in mid-1990s, and the humorous approach was both disapproved of, and later, as the moral panic waned, approved of.
In several occasions, Paasivirta has said his date of birth is September 3, 1956, which is debatable, as the same interview also had wild claims about his "roots in nobility" and "special skills".
Game of Satan
Game of Satan pages parody the anti-role-playing game movement. According to the pages, the role-playing gameRole-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s are anti-Christian, sinful, make the players worship Satan, practice (among other things) occultism, religions other than Christianity, paraphilia
Paraphilia
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
s, turn them into members of sexual minorities, commit crimes and go to Hell. Paasivirta himself described the page as follows:
- "I didn't think anyone would take it seriously...Thousands of people...read the page, and a few percent of them apparently took it seriously. They started to e-mail me, and I started collecting the e-mails. I have over 5 megabytes archive...I "enhanced" the page by adding the most outrageous and ridiculous claims I could think of, I added deliberate typos, many contradictions, and silly links, hoping that even the most ignorant person would immediately realize that the page is a joke. It didn't help...More hate mail kept coming no matter what."
The Game of Satan pages have gained some cult following. Many people have understood the joke, and supported the page for that reason, but some have thought the page was a real opinion of a "conservative Christian" and mocked people who had the same kind of views. It has been seen as one of the examples of Poe's law
Poe's law
Poe's law, named after its author Nathan Poe, is an Internet adage reflecting the fact that without a clear indication of the author's intent, it is difficult or impossible to tell the difference between sincere extremism and an exaggerated parody of extremism....
.
Correct Opinions
Paasivirta writes essays called "Oikeat Mielipiteet", or "Correct Opinions", to mock conservative views. Their length varies, they're typically related to current matters, and take point of view which is exaggerately conservative, right-wing, pro-military, patriotic and racist, in vein of the similar conservative groups in United States. In addition to the UsenetUsenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
and Paasivirta's own home page, the essays have been published on a web page called Bittivuoto.net, and a computer magazine called Enter.
Blasphemy accusations
In 1999, Paasivirta was investigated by police for allegedly violating Finnish blasphemy lawBlasphemy law
Blasphemy law is law relating to blasphemy, or irreverence toward supposed holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs.In some countries, blasphemy is not a crime. In the United States of America, for example, a prosecution for blasphemy would violate the Constitution according to...
s for the material published on his web page in the end of 1998. The prosecutor noted Paasivirta had posted blasphemous material and publicly agitated others to commit such crimes, but charges were not filed because the blasphemy was no longer treated as a criminal matter.
In the material, Paasivirta briefly and without any elaboration called God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
a "bull calf drone", "ectoplasm", "pickle being roasted in pig lard", "pedophile", "drug addict" and "career criminal". The page also had a phone number for police tip line and admitted to violating blasphemy laws. Later, he claimed he was referring to the invisible pink unicorn
Invisible Pink Unicorn
The Invisible Pink Unicorn is the goddess of a parody religion used to satirize theistic beliefs, taking the form of a unicorn that is paradoxically both invisible and pink...
rather than the Christian God. The material is no longer available on Paasivirta's home page.
External links
- Home Page of Niilo Paasivirta
- [news:finet.fan.niilo.paasivirta Newsgroup] (Googlen Groups)
- Guestbook of np
- Valtiotorni, "The Only True Blog"
- Niilopedia. The True Encyclopedia.
- Bittivuoto.net, Petri Muhonen 07.01.2004, Interview
- Blasphemy case
- KeskisuomalainenKeskisuomalainenKeskisuomalainen is a daily Finnish newspaper published in Jyväskylä, serving central Finland . It was founded in 1871, and is the oldest Finnish-language newspaper, with the fifth-highest circulation of daily Finnish papers...
, 25.1.1999, Internet-Jumalanpilkasta ei nosteta syytettä - Päätös syyttämättä jättämisestä jumalanpilkasta 15.1.1999
- Discussion in Usenet
- Keskisuomalainen
This article contains material from corresponding Finnish Wikipedia article Niilo Paasivirta, as of November 15, 2010, 13.46.