What is Dudeism?
I was chatting to a friend recently, Greg (not his real name), and Greg likes to call people dude, so the subject of discussion turned to the film The Big Lebowski. For those unaware, The Big Lebowski is a hit 1998 film starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, within which the main character is known as “The Dude”. It’s a very odd, hilarious film with famously wacky characters, which has grown a cult following in a literal sense. Greg told me about the philosophy/faith of Dudeism. Important to note is that moments before this, he stated that he wanted to be referred to as the Dude and promptly changed his nickname and profile picture on discord to match. So when he mentioned this new faith, “Ah”, I thought “, he’s a closeted Dudeist himself, and it’s going to be one of those conversations”; the taboo sort. The sort like when a friend tells you they have a piss fetish and spends the next 20 minutes explaining to you why it's not weird; you sit there thinking, “are you trying to convince me or yourself?” (for the record, I’ve got nothing against a piss fetish; you do you, my guy).
The Mantra of Dudeism
If you’ve seen the film, you can imagine this is a fairly relaxed philosophy, and you’d be right; I quote it's “The ancient philosophy that preaches non-preachiness” and “practices as little as possible.” The philosophy relates most directly to Taoism with the “holy text” of Dudeism known as The Dude De Ching, a “philosophical meeting of the Tao Te Ching and The Big Lebowski” written by Oliver Benjamin, The Dudely Lama of Dudeism. There is also the Abide Guide and The Tao of the Dude if The Dude De Ching is too much too fast for you.
At its very essence is the mantra of live and let live, and Dudeism prides itself on its simplicity, believing that everything can go wrong once religion gets too complex. It’s straightforward to follow as well; firstly, they prefer the word “worldview” to faith (my apologies); the sacraments only include bowling, driving around and probably watching the Big Lebowski though that's not directly stated in the text; however, it does compare the film as akin to the gospel for Christians. So yeah, pretty simple, and as stated before, if you can’t be bothered to do those things, they don't care — that's the whole point!
Now you might be thinking, “Jeez, what a load of bollocks! What has the world come to when you can become an ordained member of Dudeism and marry people in some states (no joke).” That might be the normal reaction. I, too, met it with a level of satire and disbelief but is Dudeism that bizarre compared to other religions and traditions?
I myself am a Catholic, and Christians (the most popular faith) have to admit that the neo-cannibalism of the Eucharist is a bit odd, and many practising Christians don't even think it's symbolism; they genuinely feel that it's the literal body and blood of Christ. And what about Islam, the second-biggest faith? Well, every year, hundreds of thousands flock on pilgrimage to the Arabian city of Mecca and pray to a big cube. Not only that, but both have strict rules — no drawings of Muhammad, Church every Sunday, no sex before marriage, no homosexuality, no this, no that — it's exhausting. Don’t get me wrong, I think both faiths mentioned, and most mainstream faiths have produced vibrant and beautiful cultures that predominately preach peace & love. The most important commandment of christ being “love thy neighbour”, and Islam translates to Peace, but over thousands of years, interpretation, translation, re-interpretation and bias allow for hatred. Organisations such as the Westboro Baptist Church and ISIS are proof of that, not to mention hundreds of years of warfare and brutalism based on religious dogma. Compare that to Dudeism, and it's looking pretty good.
As well as this, Dudeism is basically for everyone. Dudeism has a virtual nation that's part of Macronesia; classed as a supernation, it means you can be part of Dudeland no matter your nationality showing that borders are no barrier. Furthermore, figures such as Jesus, The Buddha, Lao Tzu and even Snoopy are classed as great dudes of history, so no matter your faith, you can be part of the Dudeism worldview. There is no figure of evil in the Dudeist church. In fact, the anti-dude, least live and let live fella is probably Walter, and he’s The Dudes best friend. The only written rule of Dudeism is don’t be an asshole, and the only people they’re against are those they consider un-dude:
Rug-pissers, brats, nihilists, Nazis, human paraquats, pederasts, pornographers, fucking fascists, reactionaries, and angry cab drivers.
So What Have I Learnt?
- Greg is probably less Dude and more Walter
- I need to watch The Big Lebowski again
- Dudeism might be the king of all worldviews
- I might be a Dudeist too. Thanks, Greg!
Let’s be real; if you can’t get on board with not being an asshole, going bowling, loving all non-assholes, just having a relaxed lifestyle and hating “fucking Nazis”, I hate to tell you, but you’re probably a twat. Dudeism is for everyone, and everyone should be for Dudeism!
Thanks for reading & don't forget The Dude Abides!
