The Dudeism Forum

It's not a matter of hate, beside Dudeism I still consider myself Christian while I don't, and I couldn't either, be a Catholic.

My point is that being Christian and Catholic are two different things and that very few Catholics are in reality Christians. I even served the mass when younger, so I know a little about the matter.

What do you think JCD would have thought if looking at the funerals of John Paul II and seeing all those cardinals fully dressed with expensive clothes and covered in gold? How many people can be helped by selling just one gold crucifix?
I prefer friars and nuns, at least they still have some points in common with JCD.

But you are right, maybe I've generalized too much. Sometimes I still get a little too uptight. 

Thats a good post, good point about the people that could be helped by selling off the excessive trappings of the church. I sure see that when you have a large assembly of the various church leaders, like at the 911 religious ceremonies. Something about most religions means the leader usually gets ornate clothing and always headgear. It sometimes looks like an odd hat contest...?
The church(s) started out with noble intentions, but became large, expensive, like the gov. but lets leave that topic for another forum, or another day.
my question is: what if a dude I work with believes that the God is inside your brain. (I am quite fond of this possible explanation)
God/religion is the answer (and the question) to the brain's natural need to draw a connection to all the events in our life, and the eventual outcome we all get to, death.

An organized religion is thus a group of people with like minds.
A nihilist is someone who does not have that need to link things together.
An agnostic is someone who says I dont need it, but I will wait and see.
And finally the atheist, who might be that smarter person, who asked the question got the answer above and moved on(?)

I dont claim to know all the answers, I just have a clear head this morning, tried to stay limber last night, and this is the result.

Quote from: not_exactly_a_lightweight on November 15, 2009, 10:01:42 AM
The church(s) started out with noble intentions, but became large, expensive, like the gov. but lets leave that topic for another forum, or another day.

Thanks for the (s). The point I was trying to make is that it's not just the Catholic Church. I mean, those well dressed folks who go on the TV and ask for donations and milk poor old ladies for their life savings, well, they aren't Catholic. It's undude to level all the blame at Catholics.

Quote from: not_exactly_a_lightweight on November 15, 2009, 10:01:42 AM
God/religion is the answer (and the question) to the brain's natural need to draw a connection to all the events in our life, and the eventual outcome we all get to, death.

An organized religion is thus a group of people with like minds.

Mark it 8, man. I've been thinking about this for a long time. I think it's deeper than just drawing connections though. It's about finding meaning in the random stuff around us. It's about finding the "essence" for lack of a better term. The kinda thing that turns a mash of colours into a work of art. I think we need to be able to look at the randomness of the universe through some kind of organizing lens. Y'know, for our own comfort and sanity. Religion is one of those lenses.

that is a very thought-provoking comment (and "mark  it 8, man" that is so dudeism appropriate and well received)

This dude thinks you have no nihilist characteristics.

I would suggest that the human brain is very difficult to understand. Your concept of essence is a good start. mark it 9, man.

But, art  means almost nothing to me. I am an art nihilist. Religion I can focus on, but a view from outside the net, in the parlance of our day.

"It's undude to level all the blame at Catholics."
Surely you are right. But being grown up in the Catholic country, Italy, it's the religion I know better, beside Dudeism I hope. Of course assholes are everywhere. Muslims and Hindus have their owns. And a lot of them. Religions beside ours have almost always started well and then become a way to raise money and power. A lot of people in India makes a lot of money selling themselves as gurus as much as in the USA as tv preachers. Once I red that if all the pieces of JCD's cross were put together you could have something like the Black Forest of Germany. What I find funny is that usually those who state to be nearest to God or JCD almost always behave as being the farthest. And I guess it's the same for all other religions. And not_exactly is right, anytime religious leaders meet it seems a kind of fashion competition, except for the Dalai Lama maybe.
The reason for this is quite simple: religions are made by men and have the same flaws that men have.

Yesterday I was thinking about a nice question to ask to those religious leaders: if there was no man on earth how God will be?

Matt, I saw the movie on you tube. I don't know how to call that but not a Christian for sure, at least for what I consider a Christian to be. I have two consideration for that, "woman", .

1 see a md as soon as possible, possibly a psychiatrist. Or undergo an exorcism.
2 eat less.

Fucking uptight, JCD wasn't.

I need some beers now.

Quote from: greatspiritmonk on November 16, 2009, 01:35:00 AM
"It's undude to level all the blame at Catholics."
Surely you are right. But being grown up in the Catholic country, Italy, it's the religion I know better, beside Dudeism I hope. Of course assholes are everywhere. Muslims and Hindus have their owns. And a lot of them. Religions beside ours have almost always started well and then become a way to raise money and power. A lot of people in India makes a lot of money selling themselves as gurus as much as in the USA as tv preachers. Once I red that if all the pieces of JCD's cross were put together you could have something like the Black Forest of Germany. What I find funny is that usually those who state to be nearest to God or JCD almost always behave as being the farthest. And I guess it's the same for all other religions. And not_exactly is right, anytime religious leaders meet it seems a kind of fashion competition, except for the Dalai Lama maybe.
The reason for this is quite simple: religions are made by men and have the same flaws that men have.

Yesterday I was thinking about a nice question to ask to those religious leaders: if there was no man on earth how God will be?

lol i'm indian and i've got some stuff to say about that. the situation heres pretty similar, yet different. politicians fight with each other over whether india should be the land of hindu nazis who're gonna be nihilistic and kick the other religions out, or whether india should be pseudo secular and kiss minority ass. sheesh, these nihilists treat people like "hindus" and "muslims" instead of treating them like normal, equal people. very undude, imo.

yeah even i would like to ask them that. if there were no christians, who would go to hell? all other religions are supposed to, right? LOL.

in short, every, conservative, overbearing religious "leader" is a hypocritical, self righteous, cleft asshole. people like osho, jesus, buddha, and sri sri ravi shankar, on the other hand, are what i call "true dudes" because they spread the message of tolerance, love, and openness. especially osho, he's like the dudest dude ever.

Welcome fella from India. Nice to see that Dudeism is spreading so much.

I've red something about Osho, nothing about sri sri ravi shankar. Osho has some good insights and points of view. Things to ponder. As an example when he said that you can think about being "enlightened" after having fed the monkey.

Unfortunately we can't have dudes without undudes, it's the price to pay. Even buddhists sometimes are undudes, and this explains a lot. What I feel strange about India is that it's a culture 5000 years old and gave birth to Siddharta Gautama and Gandhi but still there are those problems. Never been there but it's on the list, there are a lot of beautiful places to see and you have some of the most beautiful girls in the world.

You're right, those religious leaders could sit all together around a table, having some beers and discussing points of view without trying to reach each other's throat. Which is cool.

I feel like I am observing all this from on a hill.
A hill overlooking the glowing and massive metropolis of Religious Angeles. It's bright down below, quiet and dry where I am.
A tumbleweed blows across the parched chaparral, abiding the direction of the winds, directly towards the confluence of these many people and many beliefs. As that little tumbleweed soul travels into the bedlam, the bosom of beliefs (some pacific), I say goodnight, sweet prince. I'll stay here.

Nice poetry dude. 

There's also the "gnostic" element to TBL.

The gnostics were dudes who were considered a heretical Christian movement who thought that the god of this world was at the very least "ignorant" and at worst a fucking fascist (being a "jealous" god). They saw the Divine Paraquat as being just an emanation of  and ignorant of the true unknown god and christ as not being a saviour but a guide (an inner Dude, if you will) to the "true" way.

To the gnostics, humans (and all life) are just trapped "sparks" of divinity in a reality that they didn't choose, and, like His Dudeness, have to deal with nihilists and fascists and strikes and gutters and what have you.

They also didn't prescribe to the "historical" truth of the Bible but saw it as a myth (as modern movies are to our culture), but a myth is something that changes people's consciousness.

Far out, eh!

Aight! But dudes, let's think about our nomenclature! Don;t use so many cuss words :p
Also, whatever the more 'conservative' Christians ramble, don't think they speak for every Christian, man, things are way more, ehm, complex... new shit has come to light man! Lot's of those guys think way to uptight, but as many others don't.
I think it is very undude to bitch about Christians and other believers. It is more dudely, when you disagree with them tot say: "Well thats just, like, your opinion, man..." And then, fuck it!

Take 'er easy now!

Aw and I thought this an atheist sect!

(ps I count myself as a Dudeist Pagan)

QuoteAw and I thought this an atheist sect!

Yeah man or whatever happened to polytheism ...I'm a pagan with druidic tendencies and the thought of a white robed judge and executioner weighing up all my supposed transgressions in order to PUNISH me just makes want to me run to the bar for an oat soda.

My version of Dudeism is a Godless one where the golden rule of Abide is law.

But hey that's just like my opinion man...

Being a devout agnostic, Dudeism has fitted perfectly into my own spiritual philosophy, something along the lines of "Well Dude, we just don't know".

I'm not one for throwing my spiritual lot in with some heavy-duty faith saying there is or isn't a god.  Being a thiest or an athiest is not really in my personal scope.  God may well exist, or not, or there may be a whole load of super-human beings around, that's not really my concern for the here-and-now, because I'm not likely to get any answers this side of existance.

I couldn't even really take Buddhism past the world-view stage due to the fact I can't really put stock in reincarnation (that and I love my ego too much to let the darned thing go, I kinda like being me).  But Buddhism, for me, was the search to become a Buddha, an 'Enlightened One', not the study of one guy, and I recognised that in Dudeism, the persuit to be Dude, like some Taoist state of Zen, mastering your ability to just hang loose, without having to jack in what makes you unique in this world.

I can see the point about tailoring a divine imageto be more "Dude", but I think that's a personal thing.  Dudeism itself isn't concerned so much with matters divine, we care about life, here and now, in this world.  It's more than cool to mix your faith in such things with your Dudeist worldview, there are plenty of Buddhists who are also Christian or part of any other generally well-meaning faith.  Our doors are more than open to other faiths, when it comes to the afterlife, or lack thereof, as long as Dudeism itself is focused on existance as we know it.  God is a personal choice of faith, and if anyone, dude or otherwise, wants to conjour up their own personal image, based on belief, then go for it.  Just don't expect a concensus from anyboy here, man