The Sacredness of the Internet, the Flying Pasta Monster, and Epicureanism… What else do people believe in?
“I am the Flying Pasta Monster. Let you have no other monsters before Me. The only monster that deserves to be capitalized is Me!” reads one of the commandments of the Holy Book of Pastafarianism. And then there are the people who worship the Fool, believe in the Dude, and consider free file sharing sacred.
PASTAFARIANISM
Or the Church of the Flying Pasta Monster, as they lovingly call their deity. The founder of the religion is the American physicist Bobby Henderson, who invented it in 2005 in protest when the state of Kansas decided to introduce the concept of intelligent design into the school curriculum as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
The name of the religion comes from the words “Rastafarianism” (a religious doctrine whose representatives are called Rasta) and “pasta”, which means simply pasta. Henderson’s Pasta Monster is a lump of spaghetti with two meatballs instead of cheeks, which, according to the founder, also deserves to be taught in school, as it is no less illusory than the theory of intelligent design. The religion’s adherents believe that the universe was created by LMM “after a strong intoxication” and that the first Pastafarians were pirates. According to their supporters, global warming is occurring on the planet because of their declining number.
The essence of the religion is not a parody of Christianity as such, but rather a mockery of creationism, which, instead of remaining a faith, tries to get into science
The essence of the religion is not a parody of Christianity as such, but rather a mockery of creationism, which, instead of remaining a faith, tries to get into science. Although many aspects of pastafarianism can, of course, be interpreted differently. For example, the eight “Thou shalt not do this” are analogous to the Old Testament Ten Commandments, which spell out how a Pastafarian should live: from sexual behavior to nutrition.
LMM’s teachings have the same rights as other religions and have official status.
CHURCH OF THE FOOL
Another parody religion, also from the United States. In the 1970s, it was founded by writer, director, and TV presenter Ivan Stang. The main figure of the religion is a certain J. “Bob” Dobbs (for some reason, his name is usually written with quotation marks), who was supposedly a peaceful drilling equipment salesman in the 1950s. That is, until he had a vision of a “god” who inspired him to write his “holy book.”
The god’s name was Jehovah 1, and today he is surrounded by a retinue of characters drawn from both ancient myths and modern literature. The followers of the Foolish Man believe that there is a Great Conspiracy in the world that brainwashes people and oppresses the followers of the “salesman.” Despite the profession of a “prophet,” adherents declare to avoid the “huckster spirit” that prevails everywhere, as well as belief in “absolute truths.”
THE MISSIONARY CHURCH OF COPYCATS
Copyism – from copy me – is a very young religion founded in 2010 by Swedish philosophy student Isaac Gerson. If this community can be called a religion at all, its adherents advocate free file sharing, which is literally sacred to them. According to the laws of the Viking Country, this community is recognized as a religion. Although the copymists themselves do not believe in gods or any supernatural forces.
Copying information is moral, as well as its distribution, program codes are legal, and the Internet is sacred
However, they have their own “commandments” – or rather, canons: copying information is moral, as is its distribution, program codes are legal, and the Internet is sacred. Moreover, copying itself is a religious rite. It goes like this: the main symbol of the religion, the Holy Copyramid (a pyramid with the letter “K” inside), is placed at the Internet access point, and then the words are spoken: “I declare this place a point of information exchange. Copy and distribute!” This is nothing new – they say that four years ago, the first wedding in Belgrade took place according to the same scheme.
It’s not clear why the religion was created, but probably to counteract the copyright laws in place in many countries. So if a copymaster is accused of something like this, he can refer to his faith and file a counterclaim for religious intolerance. It is very convenient.
DUDEISM
The word dude means “dude”. It’s simple: the doctrine is based on the life principles of the protagonist of the Coen brothers’ comedy The Big Lebowski, a man out of this world nicknamed Dude. The community is called the Church of the New Dude. The alpha and omega of the religion are the opposition to greed and aggression, a frivolous attitude to life, and the “unbearable lightness of being.” The main value is not success and career, but human life itself and simple pleasures: from scrambled eggs for breakfast to socializing with friends. Something very similar to Taoism, which borrows many of its principles from Dudeism.
In 2009, there were at least 60,000 Dudeist priests with the necessary certificates.
Lao Tzu, Heraclitus, Buddha, Epicurus, and especially Jesus Christ are considered role models. Prophets, among others, are humanists Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain.
The church operates on the Internet, but it has its own bible, The Dude De Ching, which retells the story of The Big Lebowski from the perspective of the Tao Te Ching, the main source of Taoist teachings. They also have their own newspaper, The Dudespaper, and many fans around the world. In 2009, there were at least 60,000 Dudeist priests with the necessary certificates alone.
CHURCH OF ALL WORLDS
Another religion based on literary works, namely the fantastic philosophical novel “Stranger in a Strange Land” by the American writer Robert Heinlein. The doctrine was created by a certain Oberon Zell-Ravenhart in 1962, almost immediately after the book’s publication, and has the same structure as described in the novel. That is, it is divided into nests (local communities), assembled into a system of nine circles, which are named after the nine planets of the solar system. It doesn’t end there – the circles are divided into rings: seekers (ordinary members of the teachings), heirs (active sisters and brothers), and priests and priestesses (those who have undergone a formal ordination ceremony).
Despite the fact that the members of the church worship the goddess Gaia (analogous to Mother Earth in ancient Greek mythology) and a certain father God, they call themselves the Brotherhood of Water. In fact, they profess paganism-the main idols are surrounded by a host of other deities from Greek and other mythologies. In general, the doctrine follows the traditions of modern witchcraft and the New Age movement (the general name for mystical, occult, and esoteric movements).
