The Guardian – A new website run from Plano, Texas, has proved that the Old Testament promise of manna from Heaven has relevance in the digital age.
GodTube, an evangelical twist on YouTube, its secular video-sharing equivalent, has generated so many hits that a London-based hedge fund has poured money into it. GLG Partners, which has no known religious affiliation, has backed GodTube with an investment of $30m. With almost 80% of the American population – about 240 million – describing themselves as Christian, there is a thriving market for the site.
Since its launch last August, GodTube has uploaded more than 100,000 videos, all with an overt religious theme. Broadcast Him is its slogan, though the site’s executives also employ the catchphrase Jesus 2.0.
The echoes with YouTube are apparent, albeit sometimes unintentional. So while the most popular video on YouTube on Monday was a clip of David Cook, the American Idol heartthrob, returning home to Missouri, on GodTube the day’s top film concerned the homecoming of a different kind of heartthrob.
Jesus Back, as the video clip is called, was produced by a handful of strikingly good-looking Methodists from Texas. It parodies Justin Timberlake’s song Sexy Back: "I’m bringing Jesus back / All those sinners don’t know how to act."
Parodies dominate the site, but they are devoid of the profanities rife on YouTube. The management employs about 40 workers to vet each video before it is posted.
