A little more than a month ago, I constructed an essay called “Christian Mingle.” The genesis for that essay had to do with the many television advertisements that I have heard whose title was Christian Mingle. Now that I know a bit more about Christian Mingle, it is time to do another essay called “Christian Mingle Revisited.”
When I wrote my essay about Christian Mingle, you may recall that I adopted a more or less cynical attitude toward the enterprise. I concluded that it was either a dating service or that it might be an enterprise bordering on prostitution. But now that I have had a chance to revisit Christian Mingle, I have come to the conclusion that my cynicism in the earlier essay was well warranted.
When the Christian Mingle advertisements were appearing, in the corner there was a small set of letters that identified the sponsoring organization as the Spark Enterprise. When my wife, who is a whiz with a computer, started to question the Spark operation, it turned out that there are more than 30 operations under Spark that are very much like Christian Mingle. Here is a list of them.
Listings of Spark Networks
AdventistSinglesConnetion.com
AsianSinglesConnection.com
BBWPersonalsPlus.com
Believe.com
BlackChristianSingles.com
BlackSingles.com
CanadianPersonals.net
ChristianCards.net
ChristianMingle.com
CollegeLuv.com
Cupid.co.il
DailyBibleVerse.com
DearSinglesConnection.com
GreekSinglesConnection.com
HurryDate.com
IndianMatrimonialNetwork.com
InterracialSingles.com
ItalianSinglesConnection.com
JDate.fr
JDate.co.il
JDate.co.uk
JDate.com
JewishMingle.com
JPocks.com
LatinSinglesConnection.com
LDSSinglesConnection.com
LDSMingle.com
Matchnet.com
MilitarySinglesConnection.com
SingleParentsMingle.com
SilverSingles.com
Spark.com
UKSinglesConnection.com
As you can see, in addition to Christian Mingle, there are at least two ventures having to do with the Jewish faith as well as two by the Mormons. In racetrack terms, this is called “playing God across the board.”
Now to get down to brass tacks. That cynicism in the earlier essay had to do with someone having to pay the bills from the television advertisers for all of these commercials. The television networks are not free institutions. They are bottom-line oriented, and if the network isn’t paid for running the commercial, it is stopped. But if you are to believe the Christian Mingle commercials, thousands of people are enrolling daily in this enterprise called Christian Mingle.
As you can see from the list we have provided, virtually every aspect of human endeavors is represented with a hint of mingling with others of the same persuasion. But now we come to the brass tacks, as my mother used to say. It is clear that one way or another the Christian Mingle enterprise and all of those associated with the Spark Network are aimed at causing you to part with some or all of your savings. The sponsors of these networks are not in it for the fun that it provides. It is a totally commercial operation.
And now let’s look at that commercial operation. I may be accused of cynicism. I believe that such cynicism is well founded. Let us suppose that the Christian Mingle organization has events where men and women are invited with the thought that they will “mingle with each other.” This late in my life, I am not sure how one would go about mingling with other participants. But my cynicism tells me that one of two factors will begin to assert itself.
While the Christians are mingling with each other, the organization is conspiring to figure out a way to make a profit from them. The other factor has to do with the desire to make love to other Christians. I am aware that it might be said that mingling with other Christians may increase the possibility of persuading some fellow Christians to become married. My guess is that marriage will come in a very poor third behind making a profit or lining up someone to spend the evening with in a hotel room.
When people are left alone to mingle with each other, whether they are Christian or not, the end result is that someone is going to try to figure out how to make a profit from this mingling and/or line up someone to sleep with that night. This is not a new phenomenon. These vices or natural reactions have been going on ever since there were people in this world. Christians or members of any other religion should not be expected to simply hang around mingling with each other without any thought of making money or sexual attraction occurring.
The list of all the mingling situations is impressive. Religions seem to be covered very thoroughly. There are Christians, Jews, and Mormons. I do not see an entry for mingling with Moslems. Nor do I see mingling with Buddhists either. In one way or another, they have left out mingling among the hearing impaired but most especially they have left out those with blindness and baldness, or those with blue eyes. I will speak to those in the Spark operation in an effort to make their mingling possibilities a bit more complete.
Well, there you have the story of “Christian Mingle Revisited.” Revisiting Christian Mingle did nothing to allay my sense of cynicism. To put the best possible face on Christian Mingle, it might be termed as a totally commercial opportunity. Other descriptions of this operation are not nearly so generous. Is it a dating service? The fact that only Christians are involved does nothing to relieve my cynicism. The fact that the Spark Network covers its tracks with a religion means nothing to those of us who are afflicted with a degree of cynicism.
In conclusion, it must be stated that I am not a Christian, nor do I ever plan to become one. Ipso facto, that would seem to eliminate me from becoming a member of Christian Mingle. On the other hand, this same fact would seem to say that I am a totally objective observer. But no matter how you slice it, the Christian Mingle operation strikes me as being a thoroughly dubious one. Or perhaps even a sham. At my advanced age, I try not to become involved with dubious propositions.
Now if the Spark Network people ever take up my suggestion on providing such a service for those who can’t see, there are hurdles to overcome. If we were left unattended, how could we find another blind person to mingle with? And after we had mingled a bit, there would come a time when a blind person would ask a female mingler for a milk shake. How could we find a parlor that sells milk shakes? But I am confident that before long, we will have a blind mingling such as we have for Christian mingles.
Be that as it may, my cynicism about the Christian Mingle and the Spark operation has only increased since I wrote the essay last month. I think you may conclude that your Uncle Ezra is not going to be involved with mingling, be it Christian or otherwise.
E. E. CARR
September 27, 2012
Essay 698
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Read the original essay on Christian Mingle here.
With regard to Pop’s last concern, I propose a blind-deaf mingling site. Perhaps it could be a double-date setup, where a blind couple and a deaf couple go out together such that all the senses are represented. I’ll write a letter to Spark.
Though so far as the other point about Spark being somehow uniquely nefarious or hypocritical, I’m not so sure. It is not like they are forcefully taking money from these people; they are providing a networking service and charging for it. Basically just captalism, yeah? Could be that sponsoring a Muslim site on the network would drive away more Christians from Spark than it would draw in Muslims, or that some pillar of Islam would make visiting such a site problematic for believers. Maybe their translating capabilities are low, and an English-language Buddhist-only site wouldn’t be profitable. All this to say, I’m not sure being a “totally commercial operation” is a bad thing if its users seem happy with it.