Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/26/slack-is-back-j-r-bob-dobbs-and-the-church-of-the-subgenius-trailer-drops.html
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This is probably not a good idea, given the current atmosphere of unhealthy zealotry that is permeating much of society, where many cannot discern fact from fiction.
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“Relax in the comfort of your own delusions” pretty much describes any religion, including the one called “Politics.”
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Heresy. The FSM is the One True God. This Bob Dobbs is a false prophet, and I shake my colander in his general direction.
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My church is still online here:
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Which do you mean, the documentary or the “church”? Because TCotS has already been around 40 or so years, so whatever damage they could do, has already been done.
I’ve knowingly met none in person (full disclosure: I was a member, but decided the magazine wasn’t worth any further dues paying), but they mostly seem a good bunch. Any group large enough can’t help but accrue some assholes over time, and I suppose at some point, they probably did. Kinda thought they were on the decline, actually.
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‘Bob’ is a latecomer. I mailed my stamped self-addressed envelope to the Universal Life Church in 1969 for my ordination papers. Suitably authorized, I then founded the Church of Spiny Urchins but was plagiarized by the Church of the Barfing-Yak. Still, as Pompous Maximus, I have promoted all living entities to divine status. Use your powers wisely. Lick that toad if you feel impelled.
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Give me this movie, or kill me!
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Sadly, the Church of the subgenius is just as relevant now as it’s ever been. Reality is increasingly hard to parody!
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One of the early SubPrecepts was “A false prophet in every pot.”
I was in on not-quite-the-ground-floor, but suffered a crisis of faith when the Alien Rapture failed to materialize on July 5, 1998. I may have to dust off my membership card for this.
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Really? I finally opted in 2 years later.
It was the proof I finally needed!
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I got included with my Subgenii ordination. Truly, triple salvation back!
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Indeed. My better half went to a Church of the Subgenius event once years ago at a convention, and found the people there to be pretty serious about their fake religion. 
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I know you asked Melz, but I too am modestly concerned that some folks today learning about Slack for the first time may miss the satire in the Conspiracy given how mainstream equally contrived conspiracies have become. Even back in the day the Church attracted some people who weren’t equipped to maintain their grip on reality, which seems rampant in this “post fact” world of The Dumbening.
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I feel like it’s important for all of us to know that the Steve Jackson Games website has a page that auto-generates a SubGenius rant – just for you!
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This question reminds me of the days when Stephen Colbert pretended to be a right winger in presenting his news and entertainment. And quite a few people got sucked into it, just long enough to be ridiculed.
No one worried aloud -that I ever heard- that Colbert was ironically aiding and abetting white supremecists. There was a pretty huge number of people who were in on the joke, and understood Colbert’s real message.
For all of that I was relieved when he dropped the right wing facade and just led with a more sincere persona.
Anyone who doesn’t see through the SubGenius satire, might get snookered into taking its false doctrines seriously (and missing its true doctrine) all the way up until they actually attend an event, or meet a subgenii in person.
I could pretty easily imagine the SubGenius dropping its ironic wrapper the way Colbert dropped his - in some nightmare future combination of Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale and Heinlein’s Sixth Column. Where the ones who are in on the joke, need the kind of shelter only a church can provide.
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Yeah but if the converts aren’t actually following the path of slack, then are they really converts?
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I always think of Vonnegut’s ‘Mother Night’ about the guy roped in to pretending to be a Nazi propagandist to smuggle intelligence back to the allied forces. And then after the war the question comes up - did he do more good or more bad.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” as Vonegut put it. Some people just don’t get exaggeration or satire.
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Thank you for your advocacy.
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