ROSEVILLE, Calif. — In big news for the online version of what many call “MSNBC for Adventists”, Spectrum Magazine has won a prestigious Netty web excellence award for Angriest Comment Section on the Internet. Â It is the first time that any Adventist publication has even been nominated for a category at the annual ceremony.
“In recognition of their significant contribution to online vitriol, we honor Spectrum Magazine tonight with this new award,” said Netty President Vishnu Patel.
It is reportedly impossible to match the intensity with which Spectrum readers spar over issues pertaining to the fast-growing denomination.
“Comment sections have turned into open warfare several hundred comments deep,” said one of the competition judges asked to explain the selection.
Described by fans and critics alike as a place equally open to angry exes and committed zealots, Spectrum has carved out a distinctly outspoken idea marketplace unmatched by the officially sanctioned publications of the denomination.
The site has a strong, determined tribe of readers that has taken the publication’s stated mission of “Community through Conversation” to new heights. Some commenters have been accused of obsessive tendencies.
“I enjoy nothing more than curling up with my laptop, setting the electric blanket to medium and spending my Saturday night responding to deluded wannabe-theologians on Spectrum,” said Sally Bridges, a self-styled spiritual warrior who attended the award ceremony in an over-sized sweatshirt printed with the words “Righteous Wrath.”
“It’s seriously addictive,” chimed in Brad Jameson, one of the throng of ex-pastors that comprise 25% of the site’s commenters. “I call it Adventist crack.”
