Discordianism

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Discordianism is a modern parody-ish religion worshipping Eris (also known as Discordia), the Greco-Roman Goddess of Chaos. It's a Ha Ha Only Serious "joke", using humor to subversively spread what its members regard as a valid philosophy: 1) Reality is Chaos, and 2) the distinctions between Order and Disorder, and any beliefs that one is superior to the other, are illusions. It might be best described as an intentionally illogical work of Zen/Dadaist art using religion as an artistic medium.

Contents

[edit] Principia Discordia

The primary Discordian sacred text is the Principia Discordia, Or: How I Found Goddess And What I Did To Her When I Found Her, Wherein is Explained Absolutely Everything Worth Knowing About Absolutely Anything; The Magnum Opiate of Malaclypse the Younger. It is a public-domain work of absurdist ergodic literature[wp], the 1965 equivalent of "LOL Random" humor: full of nonsensical parables and wacky illustrations. The eccentric mood set by the book is well in tune with the philosophy it conveys.

[edit] Tenets

The basic tenets of Discordianism (somewhat oversimplified) are:

  • Reality is composed mostly of Chaos, which humans falsely perceive as Order or Disorder through varying Reality Grids. Learning to change grids is the first step towards discarding them altogether and achieving Illumination.
  • Both Order and Disorder, however they are conceived, have the potential to be Positive or Negative.
  • Modern society tends to prioritize Order over Disorder, regardless of its Positivity or Negativity. Instead, Discordianism proposes prioritizing Positivity over Negativity.
  • All phenomena tend to occur in fives or be somehow related to the number 5. (This bit of Discordian philosophy could be interpreted as a satire on religious pareidolia.)
  • You must not eat Hot Dog Buns, except for including the first Friday of your Illuminated Discordianism, when the newly illuminated must Go Off Alone and Partake Joyously of a Hot Dog. This Devotive Ceremony is done in order to Remonstrate against the popular Paganisms of the Day: Roman Catholic Christendom (no meat on Friday), Judaism (no meat of pigs), Hinduism (no meat of cows), Buddhism (no meat), and Discordians (no Hot Dog Buns). Some episkoposes hold a literal interpretation of the commandment that "A Discordian shall Partake of No Hot Dog Buns", but, finding No Hot Dog Buns difficult to locate, accept regular hot dog buns as a substitute.
  • Don't believe anything you read.

[edit] Adherents

The worship of Eris proved quite popular with Hippies and other members of the counterculture, whose disrespect for authority figures meshed well with the Discordian vision of utopian anarchy.

The Discordian Society remains active to this day, opposing the Illuminati and other conspiracies, mostly by attempting to jam their plans with misinformation and loosen their grip on the collective brainstem of humanity via bizarre pranks, such as Operation Mindfuck and Project Jake.

Operation Mindfuck is the Discordians' name for their ongoing, insidious-yet-disorganized effort to tear down all existing social structures (here comes the scary part) without offering anything to replace them.

[edit] "Leadership"

Ironically, Discordian groups, or Cabals, tend to appear to be extremely hierarchical, with members having elaborate titles and degrees, similar to the Masons or the Catholic Church. Typical titles include things like "The Omnibenevolent Polyfather of Virginity in Gold", "Archbeacon of the Blind", or "Keeper of the Notary Sojak". The commonest rank among Discordians is Pope (there is also a feminine version, 'Mome'). Due to Project Pan-Pontification, there are now more than 2 million Discordian Popes, and they don't plan to stop until every last man, woman, child, and good-looking dog is a Pope. Everyone now reading this article is officially a Pope whether they want to be or not. Those who wish to become Card-Carrying Popes can get their card here. Archreverend nutsack of the disilluminated fluorescent tubes adds that, while Discordian groups may appear hierarchical to outsiders, the religion clearly authorizes popes and other members of the dis-clergy to perform all duties inappropriate of a pope or member of the dis-clergy. Therefore the validity of impressive titles is true in some sense, false in some sense, and true and false in some sense.

[edit] Do You Believe That?

A non-Discordian parable which may still help explain why Discordianism is popular amongst some types of computer geeks:

A doctor, an architect, and a computer scientist were arguing about whose profession was the oldest. In the course of their arguments, they got all the way back to the Garden of Eden, whereupon the doctor said, "The medical profession is clearly the oldest, because Eve was made from Adam's rib, as the story goes, and that was a simply incredible surgical feat." The architect did not agree. He said, "But if you look at the Garden itself, in the beginning there was chaos and void, and out of that, the Garden and the world were created. So God must have been an architect." The computer scientist, who had listened to all of this said, "Yes, but where do you think the chaos came from?"

[edit] Splinter sects

The Church of the SubGenius may be a successor. Or it may be a heresy. Or it may be a cheap knock-off. Or maybe even a not-so-cheap knock-off (when was the last time a Discordian asked you for five dollars?).

[edit] See Also

[edit] External links

The Principia Discordia, or How I Found Goddess And What I Did To Her When I Found Her

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