Discordianism

Discordianism
Eris, the Greek goddess of discord
TypeNew religious movement
ClassificationVirtual religion
ScripturePrincipia Discordia
LanguageEnglish
FounderMalaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst
Origin1960s
United States

Discordianism is a belief system based around Eris,[1] the Greek goddess of strife and discord, and variously defined as a religion,[2] new religious movement,[3] virtual religion,[4] or act of social commentary;[5] though prior to 2005, some sources categorized it as a parody religion.[6] It was founded after the 1963 publication of its holy book, Principia Discordia,[7] written by Greg Hill with Kerry Wendell Thornley, the two working under the pseudonyms Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst.[8]

David Chidester considers Discordianism to be the first virtual religion[4] and the first to take up the challenge of establishing its religious authenticity.[9] When the Yahoo search engine categorized Discordianism as a parody religion, in May 2001 Discordians started an email campaign to get the religion reclassified.[9] It is difficult to estimate the number of Discordians because they are not required to hold Discordianism as their only belief system.[5]

According to Arthur Versluis, Discordianism "both shaped and reflects the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s".[10]

  1. ^ Cusack (2010), p. 27.
  2. ^ Rabinovitch & Lewis (2002), pp. 75–76; Robertson (2016), p. 201.
  3. ^ Greer (2016), p. 195.
  4. ^ a b Chidester (2005), p. 198.
  5. ^ a b Rabinovitch & Lewis (2002), pp. 75–76.
  6. ^ Rabinovitch & Lewis (2002), pp. 75–76; Greer (2016), p. 195; Robertson (2016), p. 201.
  7. ^ Wilson (1992), p. 65.
  8. ^ Mäkelä & Petsche (2017).
  9. ^ a b Chidester (2005), p. 199.
  10. ^ Versluis (2014), p. 129.

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