Church of the SubGenius

The Church of the SubGenius is a satirical pseudo-religious organization, originally based in Dallas, Texas, which gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s subculture, with a large presence on the Internet.

The basics of "Bob"

The Church of the SubGenius claims to have been founded in 1953, though its current popularity can only be traced to the publication of SubGenius Pamphlet #1 in 1980. It has found acceptance in underground pop-culture circles and been embraced on college campuses, in the underground music scene, and on the Internet. The Church describes its philosophy in the following manner:

Related Topics:
1953 - 1980 - Underground - Internet

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:The Church Of The SubGenius is an order of Scoffers and Blasphemers, dedicated to Total Slack, delving into Mockery Science, Sadofuturistics, Megaphysics, Scatalography, Schizophreniatrics, Morealism, Sarcastrophy, Cynisacreligion, Apocolyptionomy, ESPectorationalism, HypnoPediatrics, Subliminalism, Satyriology, DistoUtopianity, Sardonicology, Facetiouism, Ridiculophagy, and Miscellaneous Theology. -- from The Book of the SubGenius

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These terms, used in a manner that deliberately parodies New Age terms, reflect the Church's appeal. It portrays itself as an organization for "mutants, blasphemers, disbelievers, rebels, outcasts, hackers, freethinkers", and people who generally consider themselves outside the "mainstream" of society. The organization is widely seen as a satire that mocks organized religion, or as the church describes itself, "a cynisacreligion."

Related Topics:
New Age - Satire

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In a manner that mocks the nature of many non-profit religious organizations, the Church is known for blatant appeals for money from believers and non-believers alike. The Church is incorporated as a profit-making enterprise, and declares itself to be "the only religion that is proud to pay its taxes." Anyone can become an ordained SubGenius minister by paying a fee of $30 US for a lifetime membership. No other requirement is laid upon prospective members, though the cost of ordainment separates the Church from the Universal Life Church and other paper churches that offer ordination to all comers. The Church of the SubGenius is known for a standing offer that stems from the ordainment fee: "Eternal Salvation Or Triple Your Money Back." The organization claims that if an ordained SubGenius minister dies and finds himself standing at the gates of Hell, that he will be personally greeted by "Bob" Himself and receive a refund check for $90.00, along with a booklet entitled, "How to Enjoy Hell for Five Cents a Day," which costs $89.95.

Related Topics:
Non-profit - Universal Life Church - Paper churches

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The Church claims that "true" SubGeniuses are not actually human, but rather are descendants of the Yeti. According to Revelation X: The 'Bob' Apocryphon (published in 1994), SubGeniuses are actually the mutant offspring of a forbidden sexual union that took place millions of years ago between a resident of Atlantis and a human; at that time, humans were little more than a slave race. The resulting offspring was the catalyst that led to the fall of Atlantis. SubGeniuses often refer to one another as "Yeti" (or yetynsyni), though this origin story is generally not well known outside of the Church itself.

Related Topics:
Yeti - Atlantis - Human

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Because of its similarities to the tenets of Discordianism, The Church of the SubGenius is often described as a syncretic offshoot of that belief. Its members state that the organization developed on its own, however, with the publication of SubGenius Pamphlet #1 (a.k.a. The World Ends Tomorrow And You May Die!) by Ivan Stang and the original SubGenius Foundation. The original group, using such pseudonyms as "Pastor Buck Naked", "Susie the Floozie", "Palmer Vreedeez", and "Pope Sternodox", forwarded their literature to a number of underground pop-culture figures such as R. Crumb, Paul Mavrides, and the New Wave rock group Devo, who embraced it and incorporated it into their work. Crumb's promotion of the Church through his comic book series Weirdo brought many new members into the fold, including artists, musicians, and writers. Their efforts resulted in the publication of the Book of the SubGenius in 1983, followed by High Weirdness By Mail in 1988, Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob" in 1990, and ' in 1994. The popularization of the Internet in the mid-1990s brought a new surge of interest in the Church, resulting in dozens of home-made, elaborately decorated web sites and two Usenet newsgroups, alt.slack and alt.binaries.slack. (A third newsgroup, alt.binaries.multimedia.slack, was created on March 12, 2005.) Ivan Stang maintains the official SubGenius home page at http://www.subgenius.com today. The Church's weekly radio program, the Hour of Slack, is a staple of many college radio stations.

Related Topics:
Discordianism - Syncretic - Ivan Stang - R. Crumb - Paul Mavrides - New Wave - Devo - Comic book - Book of the SubGenius - 1983 - High Weirdness By Mail - 1988 - Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob" - 1990 - 1994 - Usenet - Newsgroups - Alt.binaries.slack - Hour of Slack - College radio

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The Church has said that the name "SubGenius" has nothing to do with intelligence, of a level below genius or otherwise. It appears to be an effort to repudiate pretentiousness. (However, in a purposely contradictory fashion, they have also claimed that they are "SubGenius" because being a genius isn't very fun.)

Related Topics:
Intelligence - Genius

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Such high-profile names as Pee-Wee Herman, David Byrne, Mark Mothersbaugh, Penn Jillette, Frank Zappa and actor Bruce Campbell have become SubGenius ministers.

Related Topics:
Pee-Wee Herman - David Byrne - Mark Mothersbaugh - Penn Jillette - Frank Zappa - Bruce Campbell

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"Bob"

The central figurehead and symbol of the Church is the smiling, pipe-smoking face of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, an image based on 1950s clip art. Bob was considered to be the best drill bit salesman of all time. The Church claims that "Bob" (the quotes are included when spelling his name) founded the Church after he saw a vision of Jehova 1, Space God on his homemade TV.

Related Topics:
J. R. "Bob" Dobbs - 1950s - Jehova 1, Space God

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Since that time, "Bob" has been killed and has returned from the dead many times, though the Church denies any similarity between this claim and the Biblical account of Jesus's resurrection. The Church guards the trademark and copyright on "Bob's" image, though his face has been used by many artistic figures, showing up on such places as albums by the rock band Sublime and George Clinton; the movie The Wizard of Speed and Time by Mike Jittlov; in the graphical character set of the Atari ST computers and on the set of Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Related Topics:
Jesus - Trademark - Sublime - George Clinton - The Wizard of Speed and Time - Mike Jittlov - Atari ST - Pee-wee's Playhouse

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(The Church has recently adopted a new symbol called the "Dobbs Icon", which is a stylized cross with three bars and a pipe, placed in a pattern that matches the eyes, nose, mouth, and pipe of "Bob"'s image.)

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Nothing is more central to "Bob" than his pipe, which is said to be filled with the mysterious substance known as "frop," either of which may contain mystical, hallucinogenic, or Divine powers. The pipe may also allude to surrealist painter Rene Magritte's "The Betrayal of Images". The painting feautures an image of a pipe with the words "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (This is not a pipe) written below the image. According to the church, the image of "Bob" and his pipe are often seen on random objects, possibly to herald things to come or as an omen, or possibly for no reason at all.

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Slack

The central belief in the Church is the pursuit of Slack, which generally stands for the sense of freedom, independence, and original thinking that comes when you achieve your personal goals. The Church states that we were all born with Original Slack, but that Slack has been stolen from us by a worldwide conspiracy of normal people, or "pinks". The Church encourages originality and frowns on actions seen as pinkness, which happens when you bow down to authority and the accepted limits of society. Popular Church phrases supporting these goals are "The SubGenius Must Have Slack" and "Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke."

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The popular Linux distribution Slackware is named for slack.

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Sense of humor

The Church encourages humor, comedy, parody, and satire to a point far exceeding that of most religious faiths. This belief is probably why the Church is seen as an elaborate joke, an arguably postmodern mockery of organized religion, and a parody of controversial religious groups and cults. Almost nothing is considered off-limits to comedy in SubGenius circles, and the group's jokes often veer into the realm of bad taste. Church members frequently pull practical jokes on each other, even as they are using their comedic talents to other ends.

Related Topics:
Comedy - Parody - Satire - Cult - Practical jokes

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