Dudeism

[Rev. Ed C]

The cream rises to the top - take Mother Teresa for example, or Ghandi. I don't think these people cared all that much about dogma and rules, but more about changing the world around them for the better.  Love is love is love is love...

Indeed!  Great Dudely rolemodels.  Take the principals of goodness and turn them to the benefit of all.  I bet Ghandi never paid the rent on time, but I bet he always turned up to his landlord's dance recital

[Caesar dude]

take Mother Teresa for example

Not an example I would use! Don't believe the hype dude....she was duped by the CC and used by them as a PR exercise. Not as holy or devout as you might think....nasty piece of work in some eyes, mine included!

She was a staunch advocate of any Papal decree especially contraception which in India of course leads to more poverty and deprivation. She was an advocate not for the poor but believed in the Churches word (God's word in her case) that the poor had to suffer in order to redeem themselves! And that what they reaped so they would sow.

Yep she was there to "pick up the pieces" bUt trust me this lady was harsh and far, far from the ideals of Christianity that one might expect.

A worse person you could not have quoted.

Ghandi on the other hand. Well that man was a good and thorough guy..upstanding in HIS community.

Peace

[ManRalf]

So its possible to say that dudeism as a whole is an exemple of the proverbial rising of the cream?

I know that its all about diffrent oppionions but curious about what kind of views there are about Dudeism as a religion and why there is a at times such a harsh dismissal of the term.

How do you explain Dudeism to people that havent heard of it before?

To be crass i think there is a lot of truth in Jonathan Z Smith's words when he says that Religion isnt anything other then a scientific construct, just a way to put labels on human behaviour. But is that really the whole story? Is that really all that a religion is?
Labels are a big part of western society so why not let it stand for as Rev Ed puts it "Take the principals of goodness and turn them to the benefit of all". Which i think it is pure wisdom.

[Hominid]

There are so many varying opinions and perspectives on the entire subject of religion, that birds of a feather tend to flock together, including Dudeism.  But, answering some of the more persistent questions will always spark debate, even amongst us ...  the agreed-upon common core beliefs are there, yet others seem to still be up to some discussion. Which is why I don't see Dudeism so much of a serious religion, as more of a cool place to hang out with like-minded dudes.

I think the duality in Dudeism is that 1) we call Dudeism a religion, and yet 2) it can be argued that it's really more of a state of mind; a philosophy that lies outside the boundaries of rules and regulations that characterize typical religions.

And of course, that's like - my opinion man...

[ManRalf]

But would you go as far as some people and call Dudeism a mock religion?

[Hominid]

I do.  And in doing so have drawn the ire of some of the members here. And explaining it here will draw even more. To me, it's playing house.. make believe. Imagine exclaiming to a group of people (say, in a bar, or at the office) that you're an ardent follower of a religion based on a movie character played by Jeff Bridges.  

Look at all the terms and descriptions... they're a parody of other religions... "Church of the Latter Day Dude" for example. "The Dude de Ching".  The "Dudely Lama"  ... who himself says:

Down through the ages, this "rebel shrug" has fortified many successful creeds ? Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism, John Lennonism and Fo?-Shizzle-my-Nizzlism.

It is my opinion that Oliver had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he wrote that. Perhaps you see it that way as well - ?

To avoid getting flames up my ass, I *will* qualify this post with:  This is my opinion.  

Others should chime in here...

[ManRalf]

Im tryin to be objective to be honest. I'm writing my bachelor degree on religons sprung out of popculture, and my focus is on Dudeism. Trying among other things to get a handle on how Dudeism is perceived within the dudely ranks.

I'm also writing about Jediism for instance which in its way shares a common birthing place in popculture. Jediism has abit of a diffrent aproach when it comes to the term religion from what ive read so far..

[Hominid]

There definitely is some inertia behind this pop culture religious movement... consequently, you'll read in these forums a wide variety of opinions.  As society slowly rejects the mainstream Adamic religions, I think people look for something to label themselves, and to be part of something bigger.  As much as I dislike religion per se, it has provided a vital function in our evolving society.  There's no real evidence, but it is postulated by anthropologists and scientists (such as Denton) that religion and language evolved around the same time. Interesting stuff.

But truly, if I ever met a real-life Jedi follower that claimed they could levitate spaceships out of swamps, I'd be looking around for a way to exit the room... sooner than later... 

[ManRalf]

You talk about religion in past tense? Isnt it possible that religion has countiuned role to play in society? Isnt society and language in a constant state of change? So is this postmodern take on religion just a step in the prolonged development of the term?

[Hominid]

Oh, no doubt old-school religion still plays a major role in certain societies - but  I see it taking more of a back seat compared to 50 or 100 years ago.  It's a slow evolution, but I do see it happening.

[meekon5]

I think Hominid and myself have frequently argued the semantics of this point extensively.

Personally I don't agree with the statement:

But would you go as far as some people and call Dudeism a mock religion?

I think the semantics balance on the word "religion".

I would not really class Dudeism as a religion, the same way I would not term Taoism a religion.

But then the term religion has been hijacked in many quarters to mean christianity.

As for us being "serious", here we divert into concepts like the laughing Buddha, the mass of the absurdity, and the holy fool.

I will be honest the best way I've managed to put my opinion is here:

http://dudeism.com/smf/index.php?topic=2621.msg22592#msg22592

[meekon5]

Oh, no doubt old-school religion still plays a major role in certain societies - but  I see it taking more of a back seat compared to 50 or 100 years ago.  It's a slow evolution, but I do see it happening.

The UK have also changed the way they question about religion (due to a Humanist campaign) which caused almost eighty percent of people (UK) in the last census to put they were not of any particular religion as apposed to just ticking the boxes, "white", "british", "christian".

[Hominid]

Ya, I suppose if the languaging was agreed upon, there wouldn't be so much back-and-forth you and I have had.  FWIW, religion to me is more the old-school transcultural world religions that have been around for centuries.  Catholic, Islamic, etc... is what I'm thinking of here.

More to the point though is that Manralf's question about taking Dudeism seriously as a religion speaks to - as I mentioned - the seemingly tongue-in-cheek way that Oliver started this whole thing in the first place... He called it a religion, labelled it as such, what with all the bastardized terms, all of which is one big "Let's thumb our nose at religion" effort.  Am I wrong?

Parody is parody is parody...  Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[meekon5]

But for me Dudeism doesn't belong to Oliver any more, it did until it went public domain.

Also it doesn't actually matter that you don't take it seriously, it matters that I take it seriously.

As i said to my godson when he picked up one of my important crystals at home, it doesn't matter that he doesn't believe it matters that I believe.

[Hominid]

No offense meant - I have huge respect for you...