Moving Dudeism Forwards

[Hominid]

Sorry if it seems I was pissin on the rug earlier. I was a bit crabit there.
Think there's a karma thing runnIng in tbl I need to get in tune with.

Nuthin' I noticed... take it easy dude!

[Reverend Al]

Hominid, Rev. Ed C, Andrea Fa Fino, and Milnie, I'd like to take a moment to thank you for making my day by sharing what you've all posted in this thread!  In the unlikely event that we should ever meet face-to-face, the oat sodas and Caucasians are on me!

Since I have nothing of worth to add to the historical part of the discussion, I'll simply respond to a couple of comments I found to be particularly relevant to Dudeism.

I get what you're saying there, Hominid, about you can't pick and choose when it comes to your religion, but I ain't any of those religions, so I can pick and choose what I like

A well-expressed sentiment if ever I heard one.  And an important distinction that attracts me to Dudeism:  "I can pick and choose what I like."  I have long believed that once a person reaches "the age of reason" (at whatever age that might occur; some people never seem to get there) they are responsible for the direction their lives take.  Regardless of the various influences that impact their lives, each person must decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong, what works and what doesn't, and accept responsibility for the consequences.  And the truly cool thing about Dudeism is that we're not trying to tell anyone "This is right, that is wrong,", we're simply saying "Decide for yourself" free from the nonsense, rituals, and restrictions of most religions.

how can this thought and life concept move forward? well, what does dudeism and being a dude mean to its members. is it to get a laugh from friends? is it to fill a void that other religions cant fill? is it an excuse to be lazy buggers? for me, coming in from being a tbl fan, it represents a lifestyle concept i aspire to: taking it easy, having good times, good friends, living in the now and going with the flow.

Absolutely!  Enjoy and appreciate your life by being true to yourself and to others, minimize the bullshit as much as possible, and don't worry about the rat race; let the rats win!

[Andrea Da Fino]

The only answer to the question "How do we explain Dudeism" is to tell them to watch TBL 10 times.  If they don't get it, they won't get us.  ;-)

Dude this is great!

And for all other dudes here, mark it 8.

[Rev. Ed C]

to move dudeism forward, then as Ed C's original review appears to indicate the need for form or hierachical structure. is the community not too large now for consentual motions as there are so many different opinions vying for authority? can dudeism ever become more than it is now without structure? imdo by the way

I seek not in structure, but in philosophy.

My main point is, we need to focus on Dudeism, not Lebowskiism.

Dudeism is a way of life for all and is best represented by the myriad philosophies we've all helped throw out there, and by great Dudes in history and the great dudely spiritual messages of our compeer faiths and thought-pools.  It is not best expressed through an americano-centric movie that speaks only to one type of person (of which I am not).

I love Coens movies, but as movies.  LA culture and heritage is not mine

The most common sentiment amongst a lot of the more prominent Brits around here (such as myself, meekon5, Rev. Dog and Pirate) is:  "I am A Dude, not THE Dude".  And I stick by that.

Beyond Lebowskiism is Dudeism.  The former speaks to people who love that film and its limited scope, the latter can speak to all.

I don't want a structured church, and nor do I call Dudeism "Church of the Latterday Dude", because I don't consider us a church.  We're a loose collective of devout philosophical holyguys.  Men and women who stick to a vague ideal of how to live our lives and the way the world works.  We're nice, laidback, nonjudgmental, charitable, lighthearted, individualistic and... lots of other stuff besides   We're certainly not into deference, structure and formality.

[meekon5]

...BUT, after all is said and done, new shit has come to light: it turns out that the bible is just a regurgitation of earlier "sacred" texts that came out of ancient Egypt anyways; there is no historical Jesus; all the stories are just a repetition of ones written eons before, i.e. the virgin birth, John the Baptists, the 3 wise men, etc etc etc - all come from earlier writings - same characters, different names. Jesus is based on the Egyptian god named Horus. Look it up.

Yes the resurrection can be paralleled with the Orpheus tradition (Orpheus enters the under world , or dies, to retrieve his girlfriend, and is then re-born , or rises from the dead), the wine and eating flesh comes from Mithras.

The very celebrations of the christians, xmas, but for the Gregorian Council adding four days to the year (or more correctly adjusting the year by four days) to correct Julius' mistake (year is 365.25 days long not 365 as in the Julian calender) would lie on the 21st (the winter solstice). "Easter" a poor substitution for Ostera. Brigit or Brighid becomes Saint Brigit. This is a theme I can play for some time.

http://yeyeolade.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/black-people-wrote-the-bible/

Because of  the obvious "white" washing of history it is often not realised that there are three periods to the Egyptian Pharaohs. Either from conquering, or being conquered, by outside forces. The first is the Nubian (which in itself leads to the possibility that Cleopatra was black), the Greek (after Alexander the great invaded), and the Roman (after Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony).

So no it's not a surprise that some of the origins of the bible may have been written by Black (Nubian) people.

My own theory is that the jews acquired monotheism from Akhenaten, which then was perpetuated into christianity, which in turn perpetrated into islam.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm

Though I love the "Religious Tolerance" site. They are not renowned for their academic excellence. though they do try. It is widely accepted (as far as I know) that the bible is an amalgam of differing sources re-aligned by the jewish process of continual revision and correction over thousands of years. A common practice due to the degradation of hand copying manuscripts and long term handling of them.

It's all hogwash people...  

This is not a point of view I can agree with. Just because the bible and christianity is based in Pre-christian Paganism does not undermine it's essential message, just the idea that it is the direct and unadulterated word of a single all powerful god.

I find no contradiction being a Pagan (Animist, Discordian, Bachanalian) with my Taoist/Dudeist/Zen philosophy. After all if all the world is illusion why not have fun with it?

Finally if you follow Richard Bach's point of view from Illusions, religion is personal and where you find it.

If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.

[Andrea Da Fino]

Actually I don't use the term Church of the Latter-Day Dude just because it's exhausting writing down all those words.  But, you know, I'm some kind of fucking zealot.    

[Reverend Al]

I love Coens movies, but as movies.

I concur.  To be honest, I don't like every movie they've made, but I like more of them than I dislike.

I often wonder how the Coen brothers honestly feel about all the fuss made over TBL and what they really think of Dudeism.  I mean, they respond positively and diplomatically when being interviewed because they don't want to alienate any fans, but I can just as easily see them getting a big laugh over the whole thing.

LA culture and heritage is not mine

L.A. has heritage, to be sure, but culture?  I've lived here (in the Los Angeles area, that is) for 50 years, and I haven't found that to be the case. 

I'm kidding, of course.  Except for the expense, I rather like living in southern California.  But I do get a chuckle when tourists come here expecting it all to be glamorous and "Hooray for Hollywood".

[Hominid]

I often wonder how the Coen brothers honestly feel about all the fuss made over TBL and what they really think of Dudeism.  I mean, they respond positively and diplomatically when being interviewed because they don't want to alienate any fans, but I can just as easily see them getting a big laugh over the whole thing.

Agreed... I sometimes chuckle over how some people take Dudeism so bloody seriously... not to insult anyone, but that's, like my opinion man!

[meekon5]

I often wonder how the Coen brothers honestly feel about all the fuss made over TBL and what they really think of Dudeism.  I mean, they respond positively and diplomatically when being interviewed because they don't want to alienate any fans, but I can just as easily see them getting a big laugh over the whole thing.

Agreed... I sometimes chuckle over how some people take Dudeism so bloody seriously... not to insult anyone, but that's, like my opinion man!

I have seen interviews with them where they are asked and they don't really comment just look a little perplexed.

[Hominid]

I often wonder how the Coen brothers honestly feel about all the fuss made over TBL and what they really think of Dudeism.  I mean, they respond positively and diplomatically when being interviewed because they don't want to alienate any fans, but I can just as easily see them getting a big laugh over the whole thing.

Agreed... I sometimes chuckle over how some people take Dudeism so bloody seriously... not to insult anyone, but that's, like my opinion man!

I have seen interviews with them where they are asked and they don't really comment just look a little perplexed.

Like most successful - and productive - people, they do their shit and move on. They don't dwell on past accomplishments, whether other people do or not.

[meekon5]

Like most successful - and productive - people, they do their shit and move on. They don't dwell on past accomplishments, whether other people do or not.

I'm sure if the writers of the Bible were similarly interviewed they'd be as perplexed as the Coen brothers are about people making religions out of their writings.

[Andrea Da Fino]

 

Far out meekon. I guess JCD would be perplexed and stupefied too.  And Duddha too.

[cookiemeat]

This thread is why I finally registered here after being ordained since 09. After much reading I see this way of life headed in a good general direction as a group. I would like to see it removed a bit further from TBL but not separated as the movie did bind us all and allow us to unite loosely, freely and somewhat together in thought.

Some points about the reduction in mocking others with the latter day dude being removed would be nice as it really is not needed. It can make it look bad just like the followers of the FSM's parodies cause them to be a joke in circles. Dudeism when used as a form of taoism is far from a joke. I do like the pastafarians and am friends with more of them IRL then dudes I even dabbled in Pastafarianism myself.

I was raised in a somewhat religious family and do miss the community type feel around it but am happy to be removed away from the low boiling hate to others that are different that seeps from it. If there where to be dudeist lodges or facilities I image a moose lodge or VFW type atmosphere would be nice. Maybe some aquaponic gardening and other crafts could be produced and sold to cover rent keeping oat soda prices next to nothing. I don't think any sort of tithing or leaning on people for ridiculous donations should be expected however it being able to produce something to self sustain might be a good option.

[DigitalBuddha]

This thread is why I finally registered here after being ordained since 09. After much reading I see this way of life headed in a good general direction as a group. I would like to see it removed a bit further from TBL but not separated as the movie did bind us all and allow us to unite loosely, freely and somewhat together in thought.

Some points about the reduction in mocking others with the latter day dude being removed would be nice as it really is not needed. It can make it look bad just like the followers of the FSM's parodies cause them to be a joke in circles. Dudeism when used as a form of taoism is far from a joke. I do like the pastafarians and am friends with more of them IRL then dudes I even dabbled in Pastafarianism myself.

I was raised in a somewhat religious family and do miss the community type feel around it but am happy to be removed away from the low boiling hate to others that are different that seeps from it. If there where to be dudeist lodges or facilities I image a moose lodge or VFW type atmosphere would be nice. Maybe some aquaponic gardening and other crafts could be produced and sold to cover rent keeping oat soda prices next to nothing. I don't think any sort of tithing or leaning on people for ridiculous donations should be expected however it being able to produce something to self sustain might be a good option.

Good words, dude, welcome to the party! Grab a rug and abide.

[Andrea Da Fino]

The acquaponic gardening is a great idea, you can grow many vegetables and you can go fishing too. Far out!

What I like of Dudeism is that it focuses more on similarities with other religions or philosophies and less on differences, which is one of the reasons why it's the coolest religion on the planet.