A new Internet fad—wherein people record themselves drinking copious amounts of alcohol often mixed with other substances—is being blamed for the death of two men in Ireland. The game, called Neknomination, is growing in popularity.

The game is predicated on online dares: A person drinks an alcoholic beverage that might include something extra-nasty, such as motor oil, and posts a recording of doing the deed on YouTube or elsewhere. The drinker then dares two people to top whatever he or she just did.

“It’s pretty stupid,” says Stanley Goldstein, author and clinical psychologist from Middletown, New York “When you have kids who don’t have a clear sense of who they are, they are more likely to be easily led by others who have the same kind of difficulties. Teens think they are immortal and don’t understand the dangers. They likely get pushed into this sort of nonsense.” (ABC News)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.