Physicians And Nurses Against Tobacco Announces ''The Nude Evangelization''

September 23, 2015 (MMD Newswire) — Physicians and Nurses Against Tobacco (PANAT) announces the release of our most recent anti-tobacco effort: “The Nude Evangelization”. The release of this video coincides with the upcoming U.S. visit of Pope Francis on September 22, 2015. “The Nude Evangelization” video is another attempt by PANAT to awaken religion into reacting concretely to the tobacco problem. Obviously we are lampooning “The New Evangelization”, the catechetical and theological program of Pope John Paul II. The continued silence of religious authorities, “shepherds”, on the tobacco problem is indefensible. With millions and millions of tobacco-related deaths every year their persistent neglect of this issue borders on passive-aggressive behavior. Othervideos on our UnHolySmoke.org website employ images and documents taken directly from Papal Encyclicals and speeches. PANAT is just holding up a mirror to the silence of the shepherds.

Religious institutions own hospitals that treat tobacco-caused illnesses, they have a front-row seat to the chaos and death caused by the tobacco industry. Our video also references the 2006 Rabbinical Council of America condemnation of the use of tobacco, a theological precedent for this discussion.

In “The Nude Evangelization ” we explain that tobacco addiction is complicated; it’s not just about nicotine. Most tobacco addicts are unaware that they can be addicted to other chemicals in tobacco beside nicotine. Tobacco is most often the gateway drug that leads to other addictions.

PANAT knows that any crusade against tobacco is an uphill battle. The media genuflect at the altars of their benefactors and tobacco advertising revenue is a consistent source of their income, particularly outside of the U.S.. In 1992 Edward L. Bernays, the first to use the mass media in concerted tobacco marketing efforts, warned several PANAT founders that any effective campaign against tobacco would require enormous resources.

Religious leaders have the resources and capability to reach and influence their followers. They have a moral and social obligation to act as agents for the common good.

There is also a Portuguese version of “The Nude Evangelization”, entitled ” A Nua Evangelização”.

Contact: Claude A. Curran MD unholysmokeorg@aol.com