Learning more about Mormonism … and discovering the delights of Dudism

A FEW days back, Alex Spillius, writing in the Telegraph, said:

In 2008, Americans made history by choosing their first black President. This time round, they could break with precedent again – by electing a Mormon. Mitt Romney, the strong favourite for the Republican nomination, is a devout follower of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A Mormon President? Heaven for forbid, say a vast number of Christian fundamentalist, including Pastors for Huckabee. Here’s a screen shot from their website, replete with spelling error:

While I was researching  Mormonism, and its effect on US voters, I received an email yesterday from “Molly”, who lives in the US. She has made a most informative and fascinating video about Mormonism:

An image from the Egyptian ancient Book of the Dead inspired the charlatan Joseph Smith to invent Mormonism (click on pic to see video)

“Molly” then informed me that she was a Dudist … and as of today, I am a Dudist too – and I have the certificate to prove it.

The Church of the Latter Day Dude, to give it its full name, claims to be “the slowest-growing religion in the world” – and says on its website that it is:

An ancient philosophy that preaches non-preachiness, practices as little as possible, and above all, uh…lost my train of thought there. Anyway, if you’d like to find peace on earth and goodwill, man, we’ll help you get started. Right after a little nap.

It is the brainchild of freelance journalist and photographer Oliver Benjamin, who is based in Thailand. In an interview with CNN last August, Benjamin said:

Jeff Dowd, left, the real-life person upon whom the character of the Dude was based, appears alongside Oliver Benjamin at the 2008 Lebowskifest in San Francisco, California. Photo courtesty Oliver Benjamin

 Money is power. Dudeists don’t tend to be the upper crust of society. So we’re never going to compete with the really wealthy religions like Christianity.

Ideally, we’d like to help people find ways to earn money with less work, but of course that’s always a challenge. Fifty years ago, everyone thought that robots would be doing all the work for us and people would be living lives of leisure. That this has not come to pass is surely mankind’s biggest tragedy.

Benjamin, who was inspired by the Coen Brothers’ movie, The Big Lebowski, to establish his new religion, added:

One problem also is that too many people just think the Dude is a burned out hedonistic stoner. Nothing could be further from the truth. He’s an intellectual with strong moral character and a lively, creative mind.

He’s also a stoner, but that’s not a bad thing. Too many people confuse Dudeism with anarchism or selfish laziness. Dudeism recognizes the need for organization and rules, and the laziness it touts is disciplined and determined.

Free time should be used to free your mind and cultivate inner peace. Not to play ‘Grand Theft Auto’ all day and gorge on snack food.

In explaining what Dudism is, Benjamin points out:

Incidentally, the term ‘dude’ is commonly agreed to refer to both genders. Most linguists contend that ‘Dudette’ is not in keeping with the parlance of our times.