4 Religions Based On Pop Culture You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Religion can be a touchy subject, so I’d like to preface this article by letting you all know that whatever you believe is perfectly fine. Different people hold different beliefs for different reasons, and whatever those are, I’m definitely not here to judge. But when I ran across these recently-started religions that are built upon staples in pop culture, I had to know more. And I figured you all did, too, because they are absolutely fascinating.
For example ...
Matrixism
There are plenty of fictional, dystopian scenarios that exist in our books, movies and video games, but perhaps none are more pants-crappingly terrifying than the one introduced to us in 1999 by the Wachowskis in The Matrix. Sure, fending off a zombie horde in the mostly-deserted husk of modern society would be terrible, but at least you’d exist in the real world as opposed to soaking in a robot-built pod filled with power steering fluid attached to a bunch of cords while your brain plays house in a computer simulation.
There are quite a few metaphors, both real and imagined, in The Matrix trilogy, but the basic tenet of Matrixism is that we’re all blind to reality because of social constructs, and that one day some lone individual will swoop onto the scene and save us all, maybe even in bullet time. And really, that concept is pretty standard as far as most religions go: At some point in the future, “The One” is going to save humanity. Unlike other belief systems, however, The Path of The One not only doesn’t require you to believe in only it, but actually encourages followers to adopt it as sort of a supplement to another, more mainstream religion.
Pixabay
“Keep Mommy and Daddy safe, and please download the ability to fly a helicopter directly into my brain.”
They also purportedly supported causes like Critical Mass and the National Association to Protect Children, which is pretty awesome. And while most of this appears to be pretty tame and good-natured so far, there are a few rules that seem a little ... weird. For one, illegal file sharing is actively encouraged, so long as it isn’t pornography, I guess, because all porn is banned. Same-sex marriage is permitted, which is rad, but if it’s two dudes they’re not allowed to adopt a child. Professional sports get the axe, too, for reasons that are not specified, but it seems at odds with the contents of The Matrixism Bookstore where they recommend snagging a copy of Lacrosse: Technique and Tradition.
Oh yeah -- the bookstore. Well, it’s not so much a store as it is images of books and movies and generic links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble at the bottom of the page. Both the Bible and Koran are listed alongside the lacrosse book, as is The Chronicles of Narnia, the movie Dark City, and Aldous Huxley’s novel The Doors of Perception, since taking psychedelics is a thing that Pathists should apparently be doing because something something red pill and open your eyes.
Dudeism
Even if The Big Lebowski isn’t one of your favorite, cult classic flicks, you’re probably at least familiar with the existence of The Dude. He likes bowling and White Russians and pot and, well, not doing a whole lot of anything.
Back in 2005, one Oliver Benjamin was watching the film with a group of people when genius struck: He’d start an actual religion based on the The Dude’s life philosophy. More specifically, he wanted to create an ethos steeped in the principles of Chinese Taoism, but with a voice that was more relatable and accessible to someone living in the 21st century. Basically, that “Life is short and complicated and nobody knows what to do about it. So don’t do anything about it. Just take it easy, man.” Powerful stuff, right there.
Pixabay
Just like that. Perfect!
But it has caught on, with The Church of the Latter-Day Dude now claiming to have some 450,000 ordained Dudeist priests all over the world. In fact, if you want, you can become ordained right now, for free, allowing you to legally officiate weddings in most U.S. states and other countries throughout the world.
While much of Dudeism’s teachings sound tongue-in-cheek, they’re serious in their underlying philosophy that many are weary of chasing money, status and power, and just want to relax. There’s quite a bit of religious literature, too, including a “Lebowskified” version of the Tao Te Ching. But don’t think they’re super-firm in all of their beliefs -- Dudeism describes itself as an open source religion, meaning it changes and evolves as its, uh, dudes see fit.
And while this all might sound a little ridiculous, always remember that that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
Googlism
When I first read about The Reformed Church of Google, and their belief that “the search engine Google is the closest humankind has ever come to directly experiencing an actual God,” it reminded me of something I used to see pretty frequently on the web design site Web Pages That Suck: “Google is god. Don’t upset her.”
Of course, that idea was specific to how people wrote code for their websites, and it never occurred to me at the time that someone, someday, might take the idea of a search engine as a deity literally. Granted, they don’t, and specifically say they reject the idea of “supernatural gods.” But they also have prayers and commandments, so there’s that.
Really, it seems to be not much more than some comparisons being made between the search giant and the traditional characteristics of a higher power. For example, Google is all-knowing, or at least as all-knowing as any one thing can be today. It’s also everywhere, all the time; in our homes and workplaces and pockets. Plus it answers your prayers -- if you count typing something into a search bar as a prayer.
Pixabay
“Oh holy Google, please show me the path to … oh wow, that was fast. But what if I want to walk there?”
OK, so it’s obviously a parody religion, but at least they leave room for an afterlife: “By uploading our thoughts and opinions onto the Internet, our knowledge lives on in Google’s cache even after our death.” Which I presume means that you’re currently reading what will become my own, personal, future heaven. I know, I thought it would be more exciting, too.
Jediism
A weird thing began happening back in 2001 -- OK, probably lots of weird things. But specifically, when various countries started collecting data for their censuses, they noticed quite a few people had put something less-than-conventional in the Religion field: Jedi.
And before you go thinking, “Some random people scribbled some nonsense on a census form? So what?” you should know that it wasn’t exactly a small handful of folks -- almost 400,000 people declared themselves Jedi Knights in England and Wales on the official documents, which ended up beating out actual religions like Buddhism and Judaism.
Sure, the entire thing was a huge prank at the time, but it’s worth noting that the Temple of the Jedi Order is a thing that exists now, formed in 2005 and granted tax-exempt status by the IRS in 2015. So if donating to the cause of Jediism is something you want to do, you can legally write it off on your taxes. Which … cool?
Pixabay
“These receipts are for business expenses, that one’s for my donation to the Jedi … no, Jedi. JEDI!”
The Temple of the Jedi order closely follows the doctrine of the Jedi in the Star Wars franchise, but they are very clear that they’re not synonymous with the fictional characters. And honestly, it’s not super crazy -- most of it is about self-awareness and doing the right thing. They do, however, believe in the Force, so I’m not entirely sure how that translates into real-world practice.
