Neophilic Irreligions

[Cain]

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/neophile.html

The unprecedented growth of the World Wide Web signals the emergence of new forms of communication in the so called Age of Information. Social groups are reevaluating the manners in which they conduct relationships and form organizations. Religions are no exception. Many faiths have online sites where members and nonmembers can gather facts about the group's beliefs, history, and locations of worship. Groups utilize electronic forms of communication like e-mail or newsgroups that bridge the distance between members. Audience cults, a term used by Stark and Bainbridge in The Future of Religion, are dispersed, unorganized religious groups. Three will be the focus of this paper: Discordianism, the Church of the SubGenius, and the cults of Cthulhu. I have attempted to show that the 'members' of these groups are actively involved in the construction of the World Wide Web. Due to their intimate affinity for the computer interface and lack of interest in traditional organization, these audience cults are better categorized as neophilic irreligions, diffuse groups of individuals committed to chaos and the unfamiliar that find meaning in supernatural forces embedded in parodies of conventional faiths. These irreligions construct social space and provide meaning for, instead of retreating from, the confusion and unpredictability so rampant in cyber communication. These groups provide members with ultimate meaning and general compensators that are in tandem to what the Web, and more generally, the Information Age, is all about.

[LMNO]

We = 1337 h4XXX0rz!

[Cramulus]

I love that paper, if only because it opens by interviewing Hal Phillips, my old roommate. Oddly enough we lived together in college for like four months before we discovered eachother's neophilic irreligions.

One day I was stapling photocopies of the PD to the wall. Hal came downstairs and said "fuckwaaaad, you're a Discordian too?"

then he kicked a hole in the sheet rock

[Cain]

 

I'm formatting it for my blog, currently.  Its so big and well written, it deserves to go in my Special Reports area.  And I emailed it to Spiritualforums or whatever they are called.

[Cain]

Hal just commented on the paper.  Apparently its all bullshit, half the quotes are not his and the other half are him joking.

[Cramulus]

*snicker*

he always was pretty evasive in talking about that paper

[Cain]

He doesn't think much of the writer, either.  I told him I was discussing it with you.

[Cramulus]

you're talking to Hal?


Hal and I often exchange cell-phone pictures of our poops. Later today when I take one, I'll cell-phone snapshot it and send it to him. I reccommend you-all do the same. Ask and I'll PM you his cell phone number.

[Cain]

Well, he left a comment and I replied.  He has yet to reply back, though I hope he does.

I wont send him a pic though.  My rates are already horrible, internationally they will bleed me dry.

[LMNO]

I like how your reason is financial, not because, you know, it's a picture of your own shit.

[Cain]

Since when has that mattered?  Monkeys are prone to flinging their poo.  Since humans are far more civilized, we send pics instead.

Ah, progress.

[Cramulus]

NEWS UPDATE: just sent Hal a poomp pic. I know you guys were all waiting to hear how that went. Well it went swimmingly.

[Penumbral]

These groups provide members with ultimate meaning

We do?

[Jasper]

We provide bullshit.  Which is, as any spirituality proves, is just as good.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

We provide bullshit.  Which is, as any spirituality proves, is just as good.

-300 points for painting a picture of the Holy Mother using 169% cow pies.