YMCA

{{christianity}}
{{cquote|This is it, the YMCA. Or Young Men's Christian Association. Although it's mostly old dudes, and a lot of un-Christian things go on in the showers.|||Freight Train, ''The Cleveland Show''}}
[[image:Ymca.gif]]

The '''Young Men's Christian Association''' was first founded in [[London]] in 1844 so young men who had come to the city to work in factories could have a place to go other than [[alcohol|taverns]] or [[prostitution|brothels]] where they would fall into [[sin]].  The YMCA's mission is to promote a healthy "spirit, mind, and body" and they came about during a [[clean living movement]], a form of [[moral panic]] over perceived unhealthy living.

Today, YMCAs are found around the world.  They have exercise facilities, swimming pools, and other wholesome activities where good [[Christian]] men can get into shape, build their muscles ({{wpl|muscular Christianity}}), and practice their [[Larry Craig|wide stance]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV1BGh6XYUU Larry Craig does the YMCA] (Nov 2, 2007) ''YouTube''.</ref> Without the presence of liquor and loose women there is obviously no temptation to sin at the "Y".  Many of them used to rent rooms although they have been phasing this out because the "Y" wants a middle-class family image and has shed the reputation they had a few decades ago as a near-flophouse<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jSoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=ymca+flophouse&source=bl&ots=XBf7VZv8uJ&sig=SFFXaaeDaLjtxd_N4m_m-EMg6IQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi28OXwperKAhUD_WMKHQi9AWcQ6AEITjAH#v=onepage&q=ymca%20flophouse&f=false The Dallas YMCA has shed its flophouse image and toned itself up] ''Texas Monthly'' Aug 1983, Page 92.</ref> and a place where a [[homosexuality|young man could go]]. Or have they?

==Satanism==
As with any Christian organisation trying to make [[Christianity]] something as immoral as ''fun'', the "Y" has been accused of [[Satanism]] because of… a T-shirt.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMdsZU2bYq0 It's actually pretty amusing.</ref>

==The gesture version of the name==
\o/&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;^o^&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(o_&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/o\

==In modern culture==
[[File:VillagePeople1978.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The good Y]]
[[File:Judge Roy Moore.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The bad Y]]
The {{wpl|Village People}} famously brought the YMCA to the disco floor with their 1978 eponymous hit song, which outed the previously covert homoerotic aspects of the organization. Also, it was a song that [[Donald Trump]] played quite a bit in the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]], and was his parting song on Inauguration Day.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcKW2xDcxLM&list=RDCcKW2xDcxLM Mix - Village People - YMCA] ''YouTube''</ref><ref>[https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/amp/Why-Trump-loves-with-YMCA-15707551.php Why Trump is so obsessed with 'Y.M.C.A.'] by Peter-Astrid Kane (December 15, 2020) ''SFGate''.</ref>

In 2017, it was revealed during [[Roy Moore]]'s failed campaign for US Senate that he had been banned from the local YMCA for soliciting sex from underage girls.<ref>[https://www.newamericanjournal.net/2017/11/politics-makes-strange-bedfellows-but-jesus-not-this/ Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows, but Jesus. Not this.] by Glynn Wilson (November 12, 2017) ''New American Journal''.</ref><ref>[https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/locals-were-troubled-by-roy-moores-interactions-with-teen-girls-at-the-gadsden-mall Locals Were Troubled by Roy Moore's Interactions with Teen Girls at the Gadsden Mall] by Charles Bethea (November 13, 2017) ''The New Yorker''.</ref>
{{clear}}

==See also==
*[[Anthony Comstock]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{stub|Christianity|Christianity}}
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Organizations]]

Categories: Christianity, Organizations