Church of the SubGenius

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The Church of the SubGenius is a satirical pseudo-religious organization, originally based in Dallas, Texas, which gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s subculture, with a large presence on the Internet.

The basics of "Bob"
The Church of the SubGenius claims to have been founded in 1953, though its current popularity can only be traced to the publication of SubGenius Pamphlet #1 in 1980. It has found acceptance in underground pop-culture circles and been embraced on college campuses, in the underground music scene, and on the Internet. The Church describes its philosophy in the following manner:


 * The Church Of The SubGenius is an order of Scoffers and Blasphemers, dedicated to Total Slack, delving into Mockery Science, Sadofuturistics, Megaphysics, Scatalography, Schizophreniatrics, Morealism, Sarcastrophy, Cynisacreligion, Apocolyptionomy, ESPectorationalism, HypnoPediatrics, Subliminalism, Satyriology, DistoUtopianity, Sardonicology, Facetiouism, Ridiculophagy, and Miscellaneous Theology. -- from The Book of the SubGenius

These terms, used in a manner that deliberately parodies New Age terms, reflect the Church's appeal. It portrays itself as an organization for "mutants, blasphemers, disbelievers, rebels, outcasts, hackers, freethinkers," and people who generally consider themselves outside the "mainstream" of society. The organization is widely seen as a satire that mocks organized religion, or as the church describes itself, "a cynisacreligion."

In a manner that mocks the nature of many non-profit religious organizations, the Church is known for blatant appeals for money from believers and non-believers alike. The Church is incorporated as a profit-making enterprise, and declares itself to be "the only religion that is proud to pay its taxes." Anyone can become an ordained SubGenius minister by paying a fee of $30 US for a lifetime membership. No other requirement is laid upon prospective members, though the cost of ordainment separates the Church from the Universal Life Church and other "paper churches" that offer ordination to all comers. The Church of the SubGenius is known for a standing offer that stems from the ordainment fee: "Eternal Salvation Or Triple Your Money Back." The organization claims that if an ordained SubGenius minister dies and his soul goes to Hell, then he will receive a refund check for $90...however, as of 2005 there have been no reports of refund claims from the afterlife.

Because of its similarities to the tenets of Discordianism, The Church of the SubGenius is often described as a syncretic offshoot of that belief. Its members state that the organization developed on its own, however, with the publication of SubGenius Pamphlet #1 (a.k.a. The World Ends Tomorrow And You May Die!) by Ivan Stang and the original SubGenius Foundation. The original group, using such pseudonyms as "Pastor Buck Naked," "Susie the Floozie," "Palmer Vreedeez," and "Pope Sternodox," forwarded their literature to a number of underground pop-culture figures such as R. Crumb, Paul Mavrides, and the New Wave rock group Devo, who embraced it and incorporated it into their work. Crumb's promotion of the Church through his comic book series Weirdo brought many new members into the fold, including artists, musicians, and writers. Their efforts resulted in the publication of the Book of the SubGenius in 1983, followed by High Weirdness By Mail in 1988, Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob" in 1990, and Revelation X: The "Bob" Apocryphon in 1994. The popularization of the Internet in the mid-1990s brought a new surge of interest in the Church, resulting in dozens of home-made, elaborately decorated web sites and three Usenet newsgroups, alt.slack and alt.binaries.slack. (A third newsgroup, alt.binaries.multimedia.slack, was created on March 12, 2005.) Ivan Stang maintains the official SubGenius home page at http://www.subgenius.com today. The Church's weekly radio program, the Hour of Slack, is a staple of many college radio stations.

The Church has said that the name "SubGenius" has nothing to do with intelligence, of a level below genius or otherwise. It appears to be an effort to repudiate pretentiousness. (However, in a purposely contradictory fashion, they have also claimed that they are "SubGenius" because being a genius isn't very fun.)

Such high-profile names as Pee-Wee Herman, David Byrne, Mark Mothersbaugh, Penn Jillette, and actor Bruce Campbell have become SubGenius ministers, though they generally keep their affiliations with the Church quiet in order to protect their public image.

"Bob"
The central figurehead and symbol of the Church is the smiling, pipe-smoking face of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, an image based on 1950s clip art. The Church claims that "Bob" (the quotes are included when spelling his name) founded the Church after he saw a vision of Jehovah 1 on his homemade TV.

Since that time, "Bob" has been killed and has returned from the dead many times, though the Church denies any similarity between this claim and the Biblical account of Jesus' resurrection. The Church guards the trademark and copyright on "Bob's" image, though his face has been used by many artistic figures, showing up on such places as albums by the rock band Sublime and George Clinton; the movie The Wizard of Speed and Time by Mike Jittlov; in the graphical character set of the Atari ST computers and on the set of Pee-wee's Playhouse.

(The Church has recently adopted a new symbol called the "Dobbs Icon," which is a stylized cross with three bars and a pipe, placed in a pattern that matches the eyes, nose, mouth, and pipe of "Bob's" image.)

Slack
The central belief in the Church is the pursuit of Slack, which generally stands for the sense of freedom, independence, and original thinking that comes when you achieve your personal goals. The Church states that we were all born with Original Slack, but that Slack has been stolen from us by a worldwide conspiracy of normal people, or "pinks". The Church encourages originality and frowns on actions seen as pinkness, which happens when you bow down to authority and the accepted limits of society. Popular Church phrases supporting these goals are "The SubGenius Must Have Slack" and "Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke."

Sense of humor
The Church encourages humor, comedy, parody, and satire to a point far exceeding that of most religious faiths. This belief is probably why the Church is seen as an elaborate joke, (an arguably postmodern) mockery of organized religion, and a parody of controversial religious groups and cults. Almost nothing is considered off-limits to comedy in SubGenius circles, and the group's jokes often veer into the realm of bad taste. Church members frequently pull practical jokes on each other, even as they are using their comedic talents to other ends.

Clenches
Church members living in the same geographic area are encouraged (though it is not mandatory) to form a group: a local club or "clench." These clenches are typically the ones who bind together in order to put on a Devival. Some of these clenches even position themselves as their own religion; this is encouraged by the Church, and is officially known as a "schism." Ivan Stang himself has been quoted as saying, "Quit the church and start your own damn religion!"

Devivals
SubGenius gatherings, or Devivals, can be seen as a combination of religious preaching, stand-up comedy, and rock concerts. When the local members of the Church hold a Devival in their area, it typically occurs at a popular nightclub, and it features SubGenius preachers backed by rock bands with such names as the Swingin' Love Corpses, Doktors for "Bob," Saint N and Hellena Handbasket, Jehovah Hates Phred, Einstein's Secret Orchestra, and the Kings of Feedback. Attendees at Devivals are encouraged to bring money and spend it at the ever-present sales table. Some Devivals have been known to veer out of control. In 1999, officials of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts pressured owners of the Middle East nightclub to cancel the booked devival because of a mistaken belief that the organizers were affiliated with the Trenchcoat Mafia (the organization claimed to have been responsible for the Columbine High School massacre).

X-Day
An important SubGenius event did not occur on July 5th, 1998: X-Day. The Church had been predicting that on this day the world would be destroyed by invading alien armies known as the X-ists. Only the members of the Church of the SubGenius were expected to be saved from this SubGenius version of the apocalypse, by being carried away in the spaceships of the Sex-Godesses. Although that day and each subsequent July 5th has passed without evidence of an alien invasion, the faithful membership still gather for the "Rupture" at a campground in western New York state to herald this SubGenius holiday. Reverend Ivan Stang has given many excuses for the failure of the Rupture to happen, such as claiming that "Bob" betrayed all SubGenii, that the scriptures were accidentally read upside down and the Rupture is set to happen in 8661, or that it isn't really 1998 yet.

Clenches

 * NYC
 * Tampa
 * Seattle
 * Ishmaelian Sect