History Main / TheMoralSubstitute

* ''Guitar Praise'', from the same company as ''Dance Praise'', is a ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' clone which includes music from a lot of Christian rock, hard rock and metal groups (and one song from an AmbiguouslyChristian group, Music/{{Flyleaf}}), and even got a Music/{{Stryper}}-centric spinoff in the same vein as ''GH'' and ''VideoGame/RockBand'''s band-based games. The game did gain some [[IncrediblyLamePun praise]] from both Christian and secular reviewers, though they did note the relative lack of polish and certain functionality such as animated band members (whom Digital Praise purposely omitted as the likes of Johnny Napalm in ''Guitar Hero'' were seen as negative role models for its intended audience; reviewers simply chalked up the absence of characters in ''Guitar Praise'' as due to budgetary constraints), missing hammer-ons and pull-offs in songs and, bizarrely enough, incompatibility with existing guitar controllers.

* [[https://treechangedolls.tumblr.com/ Tree Change Dolls]] take secondhand fashion dolls -- particularly Toys/{{Bratz}} -- and remove the extreme eye size and makeup and redress them in generally casual clothing to make a more "natural, relatable" style of appearance that is more like a early tween look. While it's just one artist who does this on her own (who has directly stated that she is not making any social statements on her "make-unders"), a lot of parents and adults comment in discussions and comments that the "make-unders" on these styles of doll are an improvment that make the dolls much less "sexualized" as the original ones are "inapproriate."

* ''Guitar Praise'', from the same company as ''Dance Praise'', is a ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' clone which includes music from a lot of Christian rock, hard rock and metal groups (and one song from an AmbiguouslyChristian group, Music/{{Flyleaf}}), and even got a Music/{{Stryper}}-centric spinoff in the same vein as ''GH'' and ''VideoGame/RockBand'''s band-based games.

* The controversial ''VideoGame/EthnicCleansing''. You play as a Nazi skinhead or a Klansman who goes on a rampage through the ghetto and the subway, murdering black GangBangers (who [[RefugeInAudacity make monkey and ape noises]]), Latinos (who are dressed like {{bandito}}s and say "I need to take a siesta" when shot), and Jews (who are dressed like Hasidim incarnate and shout "oy vey!" when shot). As you can probably guess, it was made by a white supremacist/neo-Nazi group.

* Alt-tech is seen by some as a counter to traditional social network sites, hosting providers and domain registrars. Alt-tech started when groups related to the FLOSS philosophy started to be concerned that traditional social networks were harvesting their users' information for commercial purposes and to collaborate with the US government. This made that alternatives to traditional social networks such as [=GNUSocial=], Quitter and Diaspora made available. Although they focused on decentralization and privacy, they were not as successful and are only being used by free software and FLOSS enthusiasts. However, it was during the UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump administration that alt-tech companies started to be much more known, after both mainstream media and traditional social networks began to establish editorial policies focused on the left side of the political spectrum and social justice. As a result, many hate groups, neo-Nazi associations, and people with controversial or contrary opinions found themselves with their social network accounts, bank accounts, websites, and web domains closed.[[note]]This movement is known as deplatforming.[[/note]] While it's understandable that these social networks strive to keep these groups off their servers, they also affected people with conservative policies and news sites that are not aligned with mainstream media, who accused these companies of censorship. As a result, new alternatives emerged in order to spread their message. Around the same time on the opposite part of the political spectrum, LGBT, feminist and left-wing internet users sought an alternative to social media like Facebook and Twitter due to both aforementioned privacy concerns and poor moderation practices (most common claims involve Twitter's bad handling of online harassment or lack of moderation and Facebook's algorithms promoting right-wing content), leading to the creation and growth of decentralized services such as Mastodon.

** Another company similar to Epik that accepts sites like 8kun on a free basis is [[http://www.vanwatech.com Vanwatech]]. Created by former 8chan users, they offer much more freedom of speech solution than Epik does. This company has been controversial in hosting Qanon-related sites.

** Conservapedia later spawned its own secularist substitute in the form of Rational Wiki, which was founded after some of Conservapedia's more scientifically-literate editors got fed up with Schlafly's attempts to push a fundamentalist Christian viewpoint in their articles on evolution and other scientific subjects. Initially focused on debunking pseudoscience and religious fundamentalism, and mocking Conservapedia's use of such in their articles, it has since expanded its mission to ripping political extremism and conspiracy theories as well, while dropping many of its associations with Conservapedia (though it still mocks them from time to time). Rational Wiki is also vocally supportive of the pro-feminist, politically liberal Atheism Plus movement, which is itself the moral substitute to the more right-libertarian atheism popularized by "rationalists" and evolutionary psychologists on sites such as [=LessWrong=].

* Creator/FrankPeretti is essentially the Christian counterpart to Creator/StephenKing, with his emphasis on horror-related tropes. For the most part it's a bit [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]], as his books can come across as DarkerAndEdgier compared to most Christian fiction. In a more played-straight sense, his ''Cooper Kids'' series is essentially a Christian counterpart to Franchise/IndianaJones. However, unlike many other attempts to tell a Christian version of Indiana Jones, Peretti remembers to keep the stories fun. It helps that they started out as campfire stories.

If everything works out, sure. However, almost by definition, creating the Moral Substitute means directly competing with what [[FollowTheLeader it is the substitute of]], while explicitly targeting a more specific demographic. Imagine creating a competitor to Coke and Pepsi but targeting only middle-aged mothers at the expense of appeal to the general population. If that sounds like a troubling investment to you, then you see why production values tend to be lower with many of them having NoBudget. Adding to the complications of course is the need to produce ''absolutely nothing'' even ''mildly'' offensive to the specific demographic you are targeting. Put it all together and the Moral Substitute suffers from a reputation of at best being an [[SoOkayItsAverage overly bland]] case of FollowTheLeader with very obvious BlackAndWhiteMorality, as moral substitutes don't allow room for any moral ambiguity. And those that weren't offended by the original are very unlikely to embrace this product (even if they are technically part of the target demographic). At worst, many of these Moral Substitutes enter the DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible territory, in which [[DontShootTheMessagfe even its target demographic does not like the work despite agreeing with the message]].

If everything works out, sure. However, almost by definition, creating the Moral Substitute means directly competing with what [[FollowTheLeader it is the substitute of]], while explicitly targeting a more specific demographic. Imagine creating a competitor to Coke and Pepsi but targeting only middle-aged mothers at the expense of appeal to the general population. If that sounds like a troubling investment to you, then you see why production values tend to be lower with many of them having NoBudget. Adding to the complications of course is the need to produce ''absolutely nothing'' even ''mildly'' offensive to the specific demographic you are targeting. Put it all together and the Moral Substitute suffers from a reputation of at best being an [[SoOkayItsAverage overly bland]] case of FollowTheLeader with very obvious BlackAndWhiteMorality, as moral substitutes don't allow room for any moral ambiguity. And those that weren't offended by the original are very unlikely to embrace this product (even if they are technically part of the target demographic). At worst, many of these Moral Substitutes enter the DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible territory, regardless if its target demographic likes it or not.

* The Soviet Union promoted the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartakiad "Spartakiads"]] from 1928 to 1937 as an alternative to the "bourgeois" UsefulNotes/OlympicGames until UsefulNotes/WorldWarII forced them to put the event on the back burner. After the war, they finally broke down and sent a team to the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, though they continued to hold Spartakiads within the Soviet Union all the way until 1991. They also organized the one-off [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship_Games Friendship Games]] in 1984 after their boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics that year.

* The creation of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_Athletic_Association Gaelic Athletic Association]] in Ireland was tied in with Irish nationalism, with the idea of promoting traditionally Irish sports. In particular, though, Gaelic football was codified and organized in the late 19th century specifically as an Irish alternative to [[UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion rugby]], which had quickly become a popular sport, but, of course, originated in England. While it was descended from centuries-old games, Gaelic football only had its first formal rules drawn up in 1887, [[NewerThanTheyThink making it younger]] than UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball or UsefulNotes/AustralianRulesFootball. And the GAA was serious about Gaelic football as the only acceptable form of the game for the Irish to play. Until 1971, a player could be banished from the GAA if they were discovered to have played rugby, UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball or UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}}.

* With the success of "ComicBook/MonicasGang", Brazilian parents became concerned over the constant slapstick and slightly adult themes (such as constant appearances for Hell and the Devil as an antagonist), so in the 90's, a priest created "Dudão", a comic about a boy trying to teach his friends about Christianity and morality. Needless to say, it was full of AuthorFilibuster and [[BrokenAesop poorly constructed lessons]], and was cancelled after 20 issues. Despite this, it has gotten a cult following in the 2010's because of its SoBadItsGood aspects, to the point Dudão's comics became a [[MemeticMutation meme fountain]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ChipChilla'' is essentially ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' with more conservative / right-leaning values.
* ''WesternAnimation/MrBirchum'' is this to adult oriented cartoons like The Simpsons and Family Guy, only it directly panders to a right wing conservative audience instead of tackling both sides.