Everyone is Jesus in Discordia

Posted by : Rev. Ouabache | Sunday, August 9, 2009 | Published in

One of the single best time wasters on the internet right now is TV Tropes. TV Tropes is a Wiki site devoted to "devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations." Their articles are like little cyber potato chips; you can never stop at one. You'll start reading the article on "House" and 3 hours later you are somehow reading about Sherlock Holmes fanfic.

One of my all time favorite tropes is "Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory":
Memories of that overzealous English teacher who forced you to accept that every character, every scene, and every action had a deep inner meaning have led to widespread fear on the part of readers and viewers everywhere that every tale secretly contains some other story being told in subtext.

The end result of this is a state of mind that, for example, interprets every plot as an allegory for the afterlife and every protagonist as a stand-in for the Christ: Everyone Is Jesus In Purgatory!
Which seems like a pretty good metaphor for Discordianism to me. Discordianism is post-modern religion. Everything has a deep symbolic meaning if you think about it long enough. Everything is true, false and meaningless (in some sense). Everyone is the Messiah and everyone is Satan AT THE SAME TIME. You are responsible for your own salvation. You are responsible for your road to Hell. You alone get to decide what meaning everything in your life has. It doesn't matter in the long run since the Author is dead and has been for a very long time.

(5) Comments

  1. John Ohno said...

    You posted this just as I finished a book which relates my first name to Enki (my nick) *and* to Jesus. Horray for the lawl of fives.

    August 9, 2009 at 1:50 AM
  2. Rev. Ouabache said...

    I meant to do that. ;)

    August 9, 2009 at 1:51 AM
  3. Jared said...

    Your description of Discordianism sounds like existentialism.

    August 9, 2009 at 10:40 AM
  4. Rev. Ouabache said...

    Yes. Discordianism (to me) relies very heavily on existentialism and absurdism. Nothing truly makes sense so feel free to add whatever meaning you want to life. No one is going to stop you.

    "All affirmations are true in some sense, false in some sense, meaningless in some sense, true and false in some sense, true and meaningless in some sense, false and meaningless in some sense, true and false and meaningless in some sense."

    August 9, 2009 at 10:48 AM
  5. Jared said...

    It seems that atheists in general come to reach a similar conclusion, that the world is meaningless and ultimately absurd. Existentialism fits in nicely at this stage as a life-philosophy. The world becomes our playground; the meaning of life the universe and everything is whatever you want it to be. I think that absurdism is more of a stepping stone (or phase) to reach existentialism, and one ought not dwell on it too much. I say this because I believe humans have an inherent need to make order out of chaos, and getting stuck in this absurdist phase will only hamper one's well-being. Discordianism is certainly trying to accomplish something, but it seems to be the opposite of creating meaning out of chaos, i.e., the goal is to create chaos (or remain in chaos). I fail to see how chaos is desirable. I want to construct (or reconstruct) meaning in the world, and I have no desire for something to remain in perpetual chaos. Discordianism, to me, seems incompatible with existentialism.

    August 10, 2009 at 9:38 AM

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