I just want to start this off by saying I'm going to be blathering a lot and people might not understand what I'm saying or may not like it.

Anyway, why does it seem like there is a majority who rather than be individuals simply try to conform to The Dude in both style and lifestyle, etc.?

I understand that TBL is part of the ethos or what-have-you, but it seems like individuality sort of goes on the back burner a bit. Like photos of guys all wearing Lebowski-esque Pendleton sweaters, goatees, shorts, jellies.

Sure, The Dude is a bit of a guru figure and some bits and pieces have their time and place in who we are and what we do.

Am I going crazy? Or is Dudeism sort of like an excuse for some to play out this fantasy role of being a slacker and wearing a robe to the walmart while the genuine philisophical underpinnings are swept aside or ignored completely?

I love our community. I would never say a harsh word against any of your characters and, hell, might even hug ya. I'm just getting into the whole Dudeist community after a bout a year of priesthood so, I need some clarifying.

Quote from: Busmum on August 27, 2011, 08:27:46 PM

several things have been chasing themselves around my head this last week, in regards to where this is all going. i knew that dudeism was a philosophy and a lifestyle, but i hadn't really grasped the "religion" aspect... or maybe i had just ignored it, i don't know. what i have realized though, with all the fuss that ensued this week, is that coining this movement as a "religion", for me, presents some problems.

GOOS, I was thinking over your comment in the quote above and in particular where you say "i knew that dudeism was a philosophy and a lifestyle, but i hadn't really grasped the "religion" aspect..." and it sparked me to offer a few comments and a few things that are just like my opinion, man..........

If Dudeism was a religion I would bail on it faster than lightening; dead religion, or religion that is stiff, rigid and stinking with rules and regulations is not my bag either. All that type of religion does is create slaves to other people's control. We certainly have enough of that in the world to last for millennial!

Dudeism, on the other hand, strikes me as a possible foundation in a person's life to help them develop their own path with perhaps the aid of some concepts, perhaps some guidance, maybe some dude like experiences of others (the dudely group mind) and what is becoming a wealth of material available for a person to use while walking their own path.

Dudeism, IMHO, could be seen as providing quality and worthy building materials for a person to avail themselves of used to construct a unique reality, life style and path, etc. different from others who embrace dudeism. By doing so they add to the ever growing body of people who are molding and creating a dynamic fluid philosophy of life. If you think about it, how could it be any other way? We are all unique and no matter how hard we try, we will end up being unique dudeists.

I think that dudeism's job (one job at least) is to help each person be what they can be, help each person find their own path as a dude and by doing so enrich the ever growing reality of dudeism. In other words, dudeism is a work in progress being built by everyone who joins in and adds their uniqueness.

Each time a new person jumps in the dudeism hot tub the celebration is enhanced and changed. As dudeists, we definitely need to embrace change or dudeism will soon be just another dead religion unable to relate to the needs of people and the world around it.

If you will notice, when the major religions of the world began (most of them) they were alive, growing, dealing with birth pains and the reality of the world around them. But, as soon as they became stiff, rigid, authoritarian AND GOD FORBID "complete," that is to say no new concepts permitted, they began to solidify into a set code of beliefs, creeds and rules and in some cases religious battles between sects; they died and retreated behind walls barricading themselves and their captives behind those walls for safety.

Dudeism, on the other hand, should help people grow, not force them into a set of ideas that just don't fit their own personal path.

If every dude is the same, then we are boring, dead and just another mindless religion. But, if dudeism embraces all of its people and all that they are, then we will be wiser, stronger (strong in the sense of really having something to offer the world, not strength as seen in money rich religious organizations), infinitely more creative and much much deeper! Not to mention, enjoyable!

I think that dudeism should merely provide a solid but ever growing basic foundation for each person to build on. If that is done, dudeism will remain relative, energetic and alive to people who embrace it, and capable of offering help in living the life!

All, of course, IMHO.

I'm afraid of running into a lot of fanboys who want to throw out quotes rather than expound on a person philisophy crafted from, or in relation to, Dudeism.

Yeah, we get fan boys and girls here, and then we get the real serious Taoist corner trying to claim some Dudeist territory as well...And proud we are of all of them.
You may find a bit of or a lot of either here at any time. Like most discussion boards we run in cycles...but it's all good dude if you just abide and not let whatever is running it's course bother you.
Me?....I'll be 66 in July and mostly hang out in the "Fuck It" corner of Dudeism....Life goes on dude...can't be worried about that shit.

Quote

The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity

Never argue with a drunk, and idiot, or a crazy person.

Never argue with an idiot.
He will drag you down to his level,
then beat you with experience.

...I'm afraid I may have misrepresented myself or been taken the wrong way. I'm not saying that acting in a dudely manner is bad, I guess it's more that I'm afraid of running into a lot of fanboys who want to throw out quotes rather than expound on a person philisophy crafted from, or in relation to, Dudeism.

If there is any basic principle of Dudeism, or a "tenet of Dudeism," it would be "to thy own self, be true."  ...at least it's an ethos.

BikerDude nice post. A few bits I will have to research (Stepin Fetchit for instance)

There's Danger! Terror! Mystery! With a Killer on the Loose!

Julie Weston and her aunt, Hattie, own and operate a candy-store in Harlem. A wealthy business man, Albert Marshall, and his wayward son, Jim Marshall, swindle the women out of the store. Later, Albert Marshall is found murdered, and there are several suspects, including Marshall's secretary and a blackmailer. (from IMDb)