The Dudeism Forum

Okay, this is the new topic. Everything got fucked up in a previous thread, so we're branching it off here due to popular request. See below for link to original topic.

Are you happy now, you crazy fucks?

Old thread: http://dudeism.com/smf/index.php?topic=2576.msg22298#msg22298

ah shit... i clicked back and forth... this is the continuing "direction of dudeism", right?  

and yes, forumdude, i'm a happy crazy fuck! 

Yeah, that's fine. I think it was also about whether or not people can have titles and also whether or not Rev. Ed is a genius or the antichrist.

well... while rev. ed is obviously fond of pontificating ( ), he's hardly the antichrist... unless there's something about that strange 666 mark on the back of his head that i'm missing?

heeheehee 

The Anti Christ surely isn't so sensitive! Actually ??

ok... so there were several things going on... and this discussion bridged from comments regarding titles and their usage, and how it should relate to the larger issue of organizing and expanding dudeism as a religion.  have i got it right so far?

Is this...Is this the fire breathing penguins thread?

Troll!

But that's just like my opinion dude....

I would personally watch out for anything a fire breathing penguin has to say... I mean, they're cool and everything, but when they open their mouths...

Mayhem!

...well... everyone must have gone off to bed... except for drunken caesar dude, stumbling around his flat. look out for that lamp CD! 

i suppose in a perfect forum, we should've continued this thread under the auspice of "moving dudeism forward", rather than make forumdude branch us off... but i'm here, so i'll take the high dive...

so... dudeism is described as "the world's slowest growing religion", and offered as an alternative to the big money religions in a recent CNN article (see link below). a good summary of the church of the latter-day dude, really, and interesting to me because i hadn't really bothered to check out the background of the church until recently. i mean, it's just like, a cool place to hang out and chat, am i right? (for the record, i have spent time at dudeism.com and reading at dudespaper.com , lest you think i'm a complete knucklehead, liking the sound of my own typing fingers) 

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.

as cckeiser opined in some other thread, does the world really need another fucked up "religion" to fight over? particularly one that superimposes a christian-style framework over it's members, however lightly? even with the inclusion of tao practices and beliefs, the danger remains, imo (brought over from the other thread):

"...i'm not arguing against the natural growth process, but i do see a potential danger in emulating western-style christian organizational structures, albeit tongue in cheek, admittedly; calling someone an "archdude" or "rev" or even "dudely lama" is funny... until the humor aspect is lost, and people start taking it seriously..."

and it will be taken seriously at some point, complete with ranks and titles and the power and duties that it entails, because that's the nature of organizational structures... and as cakes pointed out, the use of titles and all that follows, even in jest (and i am guilty of this as well, in referring to myself as a goddess-- which incidentally trumps all you mere earthly mortals) is by its very nature, undudely.

i understand what you guys were saying about, "...hey, we're all dudes here...", and "... don't put much stock in it, it's all in fun...", and "...no dude is ranked higher than another...", but... but... you can't have it both ways. and really, it's fine, if that's what the majority of dudes decide they need to organize and move on, because some of us will peacefully, and without rancor, quietly choose another path.

and just in case you missed the apocalyptic warnings, the fire-breathing penguins have infiltrated the very highest levels of government, and are responsible for the high levels of agent orange in our corn supply. 

as ever dudes, abide 


article link:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3yEP3F/www.cnngo.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793

Quote from: Caesar dude on August 27, 2011, 06:47:30 PM
The Anti Christ surely isn't so sensitive! Actually ??

I'd rather be a sensitive fellow when it comes to personal attacks than the archangel of retribution

I think a lot of us have shown some bad sides in the wake of all this turbulance.  And, congratualtions, the test results are in and apparently, we're all human afterall

Oh, and just because I have red hair, does not mean I'm the antichrist.  It means I'm a disciple of the egyptian god of corruption, Set.  Get your facts right, haters

*cough cough* Moving to the serious side of the topic.

Ok, I understand people's grievances with the titles issue now.  I've heard a lot for the counter argument.  I've heard a lot for the other side too, and I'm still a fence-sitter on this one.

I'm not pro-titles, like I said, I don't have one, I don't want one and I've never been offered one.  In fact, I think only 3 people have, to my knowledge. I now understand that people see it as a potential minefield for the future, and I had not considered that, because I'd taken the more "fuck it" attitude, and simply not cared (hence my stance in the Levelling article that titles just plain didn't matter.

For an egalitarian society to truly work there must be complete, unequivocal levelling in process, and that includes the right to call yourself whatever you wish.  But, after reading said concerns, I'll concede that some names are affixed with connotations that are not easy to shrug off.  I had not considered this, and I apologise if it might have seemed like my "fuck it" stance was somehow invalidating your concerns, this was my bad for not taking the issue seriously, even though it's obvious, in the wake of the meltdown on this topic that it's very emotive to some people.

So, if people really believe this will be an issue, I say let's agree that any form of title that implies some sort of higherachy should be frowned upon, and certainly none given.  I'm sure people like Rev Andrea F, the archdude of Italy won't be griping, he's one of the coolest, most downtoearth people around, and never really uses his title anyway.  Once again, I'm sure GMS isn't really attached to his title, he's much the same.  Neither use the title, but if even owning it is a potential issue, I'm willing to bet they'll both give them up to smooth things out.

Like I said, we all get to be called Rev, if we want, and if not, then surely it won't matter that someone else is called it.  If it's an issue to take these titles (I mean, I'm not beholden to mine, I'm just not into using an old nickname like rhed or TwoBands or something like that, but it's not out of the question for me to change my forum name if it's an issue.  I'm not out to ruffle feathers, and if I am, I'll change my forum ID, no sweat.

Which leads to the structure... Once again, I hear the concerns, but I don't see anyone, not a single person, in favour of a structure (Christian or otherwise).

I see the biggest issue in calling ourselves a religion to simply be the perception in the West of what a religion is.  These concepts of structure and rigidity and disrespect for others and imposition... I don't recognise these.  Maybe it's because the people that take umbridge are, as I mostly see, Americans, and you guys seem to have had a very different experience to us Brits when it comes to religion.  I see that we have it easy compared to the deluge of undudely religious behaviour you guys have to put up with.  CC's tale about his family and local community made me sad, as I'd hate to be made to feel like that all the time.  Makes me feel damned lucky.

However, in spite of that, I still believe this to be a religion, but we're more for the eastern thing, the uncompramised first drafts of Taosim and Buddhism.  The more perfect model is one of my favourite religions and one I intend to write about more (look out for the second parts of the "Spiritual Bungalow trilogy of articles), and that is Sikhism.

Sikhism has zero structure and zero inequality.  They are complete egalitarians who have no "clergy" of any kind, and whose rituals bring people together, as equals.  Men, women, young, old.  All can take turns reading from the sacred script, all sit equally on the floor, all partake of the same simple, humble meal.  I love Sikhism, and I love Dudeism, and that's because Dudeism(or Abidism) takes the flow of the Tao, the good-naturedness of the Buddhas and the equality of the Sikhs as well as the laidback groove of the Rastafarians, the open forum philosophy of the ancient Greeks and so much more.

I can't express how much I love what we have here, and my own personal beef is merely with the fact that the Lebowskiian side of Dudeism is not in keeping with the egalitarian ideals that are closest to my heart.  I don't want a religion that has too much focus on single white males.  And that's my only gripe.  Apart from that, I'm so, sooo grateful to be part of this, and to be accepted, and to make so many friends, and to have the ear of the community, and to be an ear in return.

I don't think I can make my position clearer that I don't want anything to change that means structure and inequality.  All along I've been an advocate of MORE equality by laying off on the Lebowski image somewhat.  I don't see how anyone could say I was doing otherwise, but, maybe I'm not always so clear.  I do waffle, that's true

Yours abidingly,
Ed
AKA, the Antidude

I had the name Reverend Dog which was just amusing to me for personal family reasons. Not wishing to seem mightier than thou & in the good spirit that wanders aimlessly around this forum ...

I shall henceofrth from this moment be named SpaceDog. So there.

Ok, seeing as Jay's taken the plunge and renamed himself, ignore the wishwashiness from my last post, I'll change mine as well.

Back to being known, clandestinely, as TwoBands