You know...

[silveradept]

...this may be a perfectly Discordian thing to say, but I'm beginning to believe that the children of Eris are less an in-joke posing as a religion as they are a religion posing as an in-joke. What may be more disturbing to my rational side is that it's all making sense to me... perhaps I've been attracting Her attention more than I think.

Comments

[sporklord.livejournal.com]

My suggestion would be to take your mind off of it with a nice hot dog.

[silveradept]

Without bun, considering that it is a Friday and all...

[sharkcowsheep.livejournal.com]

I already got mine. Problem is, I don't eat meat. Am I still orthodox?

[silveradept]

There are veggie dogs available these days that you can get, I belive, so that even vegan Discordians can enjoy No Hot Dog Buns on Fridays. Besides, as I recall, all Discordians are supposed to break the rules at some point, like every other religion....

[sharkcowsheep.livejournal.com]

Must suck to be a gluten-allergic vegetarian Discordian. Unless one wants to put a line of ketchup on a rice cake and CLAIM that it's a hot dog.

[silveradept]

That would work as a perfectly Discordian thing to do anyway, so I can't see why someone wouldn't.

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

That's perfectly all right. After all, the Principia only says "hot dog." It does not say "tube of indeterminate meat or something similarly shaped." It does not specify the essential nature of a hot dog, merely something called a "hot dog." I could just as well make up a mess of collard greens, or a pizza, point to it, and define that thing as a "hot dog," and promptly consume it in remembrance of the Original Snub. In fact, as silveradept says, it's an especially Discordian thing to do, as it fucks with the accepted definition of "hot dog," that symbol that represents a tube of indeterminate meat. Of course, it would be an equally Discordian thing to not do, in view of all that I have already said.

in-joke as religion as in-joke

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

You are perceiving a duality where none need exist. Like the worm Ouroborous, the snake eating its own tail, we are, if I may be recursive:

x posing as y

posing as:
if x is "a religion" then y is "an in-joke"
else if x is "an in-joke" then y is "a religion"
else FIVE TONS OF FLAX
x posing as y

on into infinity, or perhaps next Tuesday. E pluribus unum, caveat emptor, cacatne ursa en silva, E-I-E-I-O.

[sharkcowsheep.livejournal.com]

In light of that gracious and fancy wisdom, I'm dubbing my coffee a hot dog and calling it good.

Re: in-joke as religion as in-joke

[silveradept]

Fnord. Perhaps that is still the best way to describe a Discordian.

[rimspace.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the good thing about Discordianism compared to any "normal" religion is that, even if it can be classed as a religion rather than an in-joke, it does not fall prey to the Great Danger of normal religions: Organisation. Organised religions are incredibly dangerous and largely counterproductive on any significant scale. Discordianism, by definition, is the antithesis of organised religion and thus neatly sidesteps the issues that lead to organised religions sliding into exclusionary and confrontational behaviour.

[silveradept]

Yes. And the contradictory nature of it makes it very hard to pin down any sort of doctrinal (or dogmatic) statements... since everyone's a pope (or mome) and is capable of receiving direct messages from Her, it's nearly impossible to say what a Discordian realy believes (nothing might be the closest answer we've got...)