Parody religion

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Preach to the choir
Religion
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Crux of the matter
Speak of the devil
An act of faith

A parody religion is a modern religion thought up to mock or ape the principles, beliefs, and self-righteousness of "real" religions — those in which people seriously believe.

List of parody religions[edit]

In fiction[edit]

These examples were created by writers, often to make some kind of satirical point about religion.

  • Absolute Truth Ministries (ATM) - featured in season 3 of the TV comedy Weeds[1]
  • Bokononism (From the novel Cat's CradleWikipedia by Kurt Vonnegut) - in the book it was created as a fake religion to control indigenous people, and its scripture claims that all its claims are "foma" (harmless untruths).[2][3]
  • Truffidianism - from Jeff Vandermer's fantasy novel Finch, a parody of Roman Catholicism.[4]
  • Verdukianism - the "Secret Santa" episode of TV sitcom 30 Rock (s4e08), Dec. 10, 2009[5][6]

Inspired by fiction[edit]

Many fictions inspire a desire to be like a character or to take some characters as offering lessons to live by. These are examples where people have gone from mere fandom to trying to create some kind of actual religion.

Note that other fandoms e.g. Star Trek have produced fans inspired by an ideology, such as Star Trek's ideas about peace and world government, and other aspects of fandom can resemble a religion (icons and sacred objects, pilgrimage, saint-like figures).[7] However, if an attraction is primarily to rational principles, such as world/universal government and humanist values, then this might not be considered a true religion, although the boundaries are fuzzy.

Not connected with fictional works[edit]

Many of these are countercultural or hacker jokes; some were created explicitly to expose the benefits other religions, like Christianity, receive from the state.

Parody religions that can be taken seriously[edit]

Parody religions that are probably bad for your health[edit]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. Seriously. He started it for fun with some writer buddies.

References[edit]

  1. Majestic, Weeds at fandom.com
  2. Twenty Writers: Kurt Vonnegut’s Bokononism in Cat’s Cradle, Jim Nelson, 18 March 2018
  3. The Books of Bokonon, extracted from Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
  4. Crystal Dragon Jesus, TV Tropes
  5. The Office and 30 Rock – “Secret Santa”, Cultural Leanings, 10 Dec 2009
  6. Verdukians, 30 Rock at fandom.com
  7. Star Trek Fandom as a Religious Phenomenon, Michael Jindra, Sociology of Religion, Vol. 55, No. 1, Religious Experience (Spring, 1994), pp. 27-51 (25 pages)
  8. Why players around the world gobbled up Pac-man, Smithsonian Magazine, May 22, 2020
  9. Inglip, Inglipnomicon on fandom.com
  10. See the Wikipedia article on Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.
  11. The First Church of the Last Laugh (archived from January 13, 2020).
  12. Frisbeeterianism, Religion News Service, 24 June 2008
  13. Unmasking Lucien Greaves, Leader of the Satanic Temple, Vice, Jul 30, 2013
  14. Trolling Hell: Is the Satanic Temple a Prank, the Start of a New Religious Movement — or Both?, Village Voice, July 22, 2014
  15. Five Decades On, An Eclectic Church Preaches The Message Of John Coltrane
  16. The Church of St. John Coltrane: Jazz and German Tourists