Christian living! Only $19.95! (Decadence and debauchery! Free!) I got spammed today by a company called Christian Living, and as everyone knows, the wages of spam is public castigation on the Internet. (Completely off-topic: will someone please explain to me why "The wages of sin is death" is grammatically correct?) From the email:

What is ChristianLiving.com? ChristianLiving.com is a Christ-centered, premium Internet Dial-up service provider with dial up service available all across America. Imagine a "Christian AOL"- only with faster connections, valuable Christian resources and an optional Smart Filter™ that allows your family to enjoy the positive benefits of the Internet without negative and immoral content.

A Christian AOL? Wow. That might be the *one* thing worse than the real AOL. Let me guess - if it crashes, it's God's will, and if it doesn't crash, it's also God's will. Christianliving.com comes complete with an endorsement from Pat Boone:

And because I believe so strongly in what they're doing. I hope you'll seriously consider praying for this awesome new program that's aiding and equipping so many people in their walks with Christ. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity: switch from your current provider to ChristianLiving.com's unlimited, filtered service today."

Even if I *were* religious, I don't think it would occur to me to pray for my ISP. The whole "pray for my moneymaking corporation" seems a little too Jim-and-Tammy-Faye-Bakker. (Granted, if I thought it would help, I'd probably pray To Whom It May Concern that the NASDAQ break 2000 again, but that's my utilitarian streak. I assume the people that sign up for the service are true believers.) Christianliving also has Christ-centered CRM!:

ABOUT US - As skilled Internet professionals and web enthusiasts, we're dedicated to giving you the best the World Wide Web has to offer. But as your brother and sisters in Christ, we're also committed to providing much more-a practical, user-friendly online environment that equips Christian believers to:

• Discover and receive Gods best in their relationships, family, life and work.
• Raise families according to Christ's principles.
• Leave an effective Christian legacy for future generations
• Enjoy meaningful and fruitful involvement in a local church
• Share experiences, resources, ideas, products, and services with fellow believers around the world

Looks like they're reselling a private-label version of Qwest's services. I wonder if the customer support teams are trained to proselytize...