# Is this fake religion any more ridiculous than real religions? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 9, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570 "2015-03-09T02:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/41 "2015-03-10T04:07:07Z")
This poor wandering thread. The birds have their nests and the hippopotami their creeks, but it lacks any home in which to make its bed. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/42 "2015-03-10T11:45:42Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > This poor wandering thread. The birds have their nests and the hippopotami their creeks, but it lacks any home in which to make its bed. The gods have spoken ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/43 "2015-03-10T12:55:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Absolutely nobody believes this. “42” is the fictional answer to a question asked in a **humorous science fiction book** by Douglas Adams, and it has nothing to do with a “Tree of Life”…or any other tree, for that matter.Nobody believes that “Illuminati” is the meaning of life. _The_ Illuminati are supposedly a super-sekrit group of individuals that have influenced world events for hundreds of years. Humorous science fiction radio play. Get your origin stories right. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/44 "2015-03-10T16:45:15Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I guess you don’t know that not all religions involve worship of a deity. Doesn’t matter. Religion is, deep down inside, nothing but a con game. The structure of the religion is immaterial. What counts are the common goals of all religions: accumulate wealth and gain power over the adherents. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/45 "2015-03-10T18:04:44Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Doesn’t matter. Religion is, deep down inside, nothing but a con game. The structure of the religion is immaterial. What counts are the common goals of all religions: accumulate wealth and gain power over the adherents. Something just shifted; something usually described in the plural. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/46 "2015-03-10T18:16:21Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Doesn’t matter. Religion is, deep down inside, nothing but a con game. The structure of the religion is immaterial. What counts are the common goals of all religions: accumulate wealth and gain power over the adherents. How does this square with your blathering about proof of existence of a “ghod”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/47 "2015-03-11T03:27:53Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Doesn’t matter. Religion is, deep down inside, nothing but a con game. The structure of the religion is immaterial. What counts are the common goals of all religions: accumulate wealth and gain power over the adherents. Naw, naw, naw. Yer talkin’ about the common goal of all RELIGIOUS LEADERS, so to speak, for lack of a better term. Hence the famous remark credited to L. Ron Hubbard, about how the best way to get rich fast was to found your own religion. Not all religious leaders are like that. But I am also thinking of a preacher in Denver, who holds forth from a church of pink porcelain, and whose last haircut cost more than my entertainment system. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/48 "2015-03-11T03:51:06Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > You mean “buckeye” instead of “pebbles”, right? 😉 He also meant horseshoe instead of hand. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/49 "2015-03-11T14:49:06Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Some people think the Meaning of Life (Tree of Life) is Forty Two. Others believe it’s Illuminati. > What if I told you rather than being Illuminati, it’s actually Cincinnati? > > There is an Inverse Correlationship between the Unhappy State of the Galaxy and the state earnings of Ohio. The Universe operates on a system basis known to Buckeyeists as “FTBOO” (pronounced Fitboo), standing for For The Benefit of Ohio. > > If something benefits Ohio, it usually benefits the world, because World and Universe and everywhere else was made to benefit Ohio. I dunno; theologically, ontologically and metaphysically, this doctrine is very difficult to square with the existence of Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/50 "2015-03-11T15:28:34Z")
It is going to be one of those days, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/51 "2015-03-11T18:21:00Z")
I’m going to take a contrarian position and say that yes, the OP’s proposed religion is more ridiculous than real religions. So, there! OK, now I’m waffling. It at least falls towards the “more ridiculous” side on the spectrum of real religions. I don’t know if it can beat, say, Snake-handling Pentecostals, the gold standard of ridiculous religions. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/52 "2015-03-11T19:13:43Z")
It should be noted that 42 is not a religious concept. St. Doug was an atheist and spilt a fair bit of ink mocking the idea of religion. A religious concept would be more like the Great Green Arkleseizure and the coming of the great white handkerchief. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/53 "2015-03-11T19:17:53Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > “A couple hundred years at least”? > > Both Islam and Protestantism enjoyed considerable success while their respective founders were still very much alive. Technically speaking, those are both variants of monotheism, as are Judaism (the root?) and Christianity. Christianity, in particular was relatively esoteric until Saul became Paul and brought in the idea of churches all over the place\*. (I’m paraphrasing part of a long discussion on Paul in IMHO that I saw just before going on vacation and I didn’t get to throw my two bucks in before it had faded away; sorry if my paraphrasing is poor.) But Paul was born something like 700 years after the crucifixion. –G! \*And a lot of others, but this one in particular is relevant to the points about religion spreading and growing (much like a virus…) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/54 "2015-03-11T19:39:34Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > But Paul was born something like 700 years after the crucifixion. For standard values of “Paul” and “the crucifixion,” this is utter nonsense, of course. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/55 "2015-03-11T20:00:43Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Technically speaking, those are both variants of monotheism, as are Judaism (the root?) and Christianity. Christianity, in particular was relatively esoteric until Saul became Paul and brought in the idea of churches all over the place\*. (I’m paraphrasing part of a long discussion on Paul in IMHO that I saw just before going on vacation and I didn’t get to throw my two bucks in before it had faded away; sorry if my paraphrasing is poor.) But Paul was born something like 700 years after the crucifixion. The earliest epistles of St,. Paul were written around 55 AD, much closer to TWENTY years after the crucifixion. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/56 "2015-03-11T20:08:04Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The earliest epistles of St,. Paul were written around 55 AD, much closer to TWENTY years after the crucifixion. Oh, Paul the Apostle Possessed an Epistle So truly colossal It made the girls whistle! – Handelsman ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/57 "2015-03-11T21:29:03Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Technically speaking, those are both variants of monotheism, as are Judaism (the root?) and Christianity. Christianity, in particular was relatively esoteric until Saul became Paul and brought in the idea of churches all over the place\*. (I’m paraphrasing part of a long discussion on Paul in IMHO that I saw just before going on vacation and I didn’t get to throw my two bucks in before it had faded away; sorry if my paraphrasing is poor.) But Paul was born something like 700 years after the crucifixion. > > –G! > \*And a lot of others, but this one in particular is relevant to the points about religion spreading and growing (much like a virus…) This is one of the most bizarre thing I’ve read on here in quite a while. Even without the whole “700 years” thing - which as others have already pointed out is patently absurd - what’s all this about “technically speaking, those are both variants of monotheism”? Do you mean to imply that “monotheism” is a religion - and that Judaism, Christianity and Islam are not? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/58 "2015-03-11T22:52:25Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > This is one of the most bizarre thing I’ve read on here in quite a while. > > Even without the whole “700 years” thing - which as others have already pointed out is patently absurd - what’s all this about “technically speaking, those are both variants of monotheism”? Do you mean to imply that “monotheism” is a religion - and that Judaism, Christianity and Islam are not? Well, actually, Trinitarian Christianity is not really monotheism. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/59 "2015-03-11T23:33:33Z")
When you factor in Gabriel, Michael, Satan, Rufus, the Metatron and the rest of the heavenly host, the whole idea of monotheism starts to become meaningless. And that is not even counting Baal. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570/60 "2015-03-11T23:36:34Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > _ALL_ religions are completely illogical, ridiculous and insane. I’m afraid that the older I get and the more craziness I see out of humans the more I’m with you on that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-fake-religion-any-more-ridiculous-than-real-religions/714570.md?page=4)