While wading through the Discordian Archives the other day, I came across a hand-written note by Greg Hill commenting on the difference between Discordianism and the Church of the SubGenius.
Sayeth The Polyfather:
“The SubGenius is more DADA, while Discordianism tends to be more Surrealist. It is like having two different delicious flavors of the same revolting ice cream.”
11 replies on “The Difference Between the Church of the SubGenius and Discordianism”
I actually complied a list of all the differences between Discordianism and SubGeniism for a pamphlet I wrote to try and get SubGs to join up.
I got to hand it out at 7:05 Am on July 5th, 1998, while Rev Stang was being covered in motor-oil and feathers and tossed in the pond. Good times.
Anyway, the important part:
COMPARATIVE RELIGION MADE EASY
Discordianism: Mainly rips off Zen Buddhism and the Catholic Church.
SubGenius: Mainly rips off Fundamentalist Christians and UFO cults.
Discordianism: Eris, Goddess of Chaos.
SubGenius: JHVH-1, God of Wrath.
Discordianism: Preoccupied with accepting the world, as screwed up as it is.
SubGenius: Preoccupied with hating the Pinks, as screwed up as they are.
Discordianism: Pointlessly complicated mystical rituals.
SubGenius: Pointlessly complicated pseudo-scientific explanations.
Discordianism: One Goddess, entirely too many Saints.
SubGenius: One Saint of Sales, entirely too many Gods.
Discordianism: Founded in, like, California, dude.
SubGenius: Founded in TEXAS, Dammit!
Discordianism: Blames the Illuminati for everything bad.
SubGenius: Blames the Conspiracy for everything bad.
Discordianism: Dedicated to Chaos, Discord, Confusion, and Things We Know Not Of.
SubGenius: Dedicated to Slack.
Discordianism: No hierarchy or central headquarters.
SubGenius: PO Box 140306, Dallas, TX 75214.
Discordianism: The Principia Discordia, and the Illuminatus! Trilogy.
SubGenius: The Book of the SubGenius, and Revelation X.
Discordianism: Some lame-os, and a lot of good material.
SubGenius: Some ‘Bobbies’, and a lot of good material.
Discordianism: Predicted Impending Doom in their Holey Book, but didn’t say exactly when.
SubGenius: Oops!
PS: And I do agree, SubG and Discordianism go together like chocolate and peanut-butter.
Pope Disturban, thanks for your thoughtful response. Discordianism did have a physical headquarters once located in someone’s pineal gland, but those days are long gone.
Also, good to hear that Stang got dowsed in motor oil and tossed into a pond. Too bad it couldn’t have been a pit of lava.
Seems to me that Hill’s comment tells us less about the difference between Discordianism and the Church of the SubG. than it does about what he thought Dada and Surrealism were.
the difference is $1. ;}P>
The difference is 5 pounds of Flax
Dada uses found objects in random ways for absurdist purposes. Surrealism just melts everything all over the place.
Dada is a dead fish with electric eyes impaled upon a toothbrush. Surrealism is a reflection upon having been the fish.
And your captcha demands Con math.
it is obvious that The church of the subgenius is just the new wave of grayfaces trying to steal the 5 might be true paths
It has oft been said that whereas one is a mind f*ck the other is, by contrast, a mind f*ck. How fundamental these differences are can been seen by facing West on the morning of the Summer solstice(s).
However, it should also be remembered that both are indeed mind f*cks and much high weirdness can be expected by the serious scholar.
Discordianism: FREE!
SubGenius: $30+