Welcome to the "the slowest growing religion in the world."
The Dudeist Bible: Just Take It Easy, Man.
by Cathleen Falsani
for Religion News Service in Washington, D.C.
What would the Dude do?
That is the central spiritual, if not theological, concern of the Church of the Latter-day Dude, the totally not-fake religion based on the ethos of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, the slacker savior of Joel and Ethan Coen's 1998 cult masterpiece "The Big Lebowski."
"The Dude may seem an unlikely figurehead, but in this day and age where our greatest concerns aren't Armageddon or the afterlife, but generalized anxiety and existential engagement, the Dude helps us enlighten up to a greater quality of life," Benjamin, the "Dudely Lama," said. "We don't need heroic figures to lead us to a promised land. We need Dudeists to help us abide where we are."
While Dudeist-themed publications have appeared in the past, most notably Benjamin's book "The Dude De Ching" and the church's official online periodical "The Dudespaper" -- a lifestyle magazine for the deeply casual -- "The Abide Guide" marks the first time the religion's central tenets, such as they are, have been collected in one volume.
"We, the Dudeists, in order to form a more perfect groovin', establish just taking it easy, and promote inner tranquility, do ordain and establish this guide on abiding," the Dudeist "survival guide" begins. "For in this world there are two paths you can go by. ... There's the uptight way and there's the Dude way."
Dudeism traces its origins back more than 2,500 years to the "rebel shrug" of Chinese Taoism and its progenitor, Lao Tzu. Through the ages, the Dude's "way" has surfaced in various spiritual traditions, the "Abide Guide" explains, including Christianity, Sufism, "John Lennonism and Fo'-Shizzle-my-Nizzilism," to name but a few.
Much like Buddhism, Dudeism is more of a philosophy than an actual religion. And because of its laid-back beliefs, it can be practiced in concert with other religious traditions.
I find the Dudeist philosophy to be a splendid complement to my Chrisitan faith. Dudeism's charge to "take it easy" fits nicely with the our Golden Rule: Treat others the way you'd like them to treat you.
In fact, in the Dudeist tradition, Jesus Christ is considered to be a proto-Dude or prophet, along with various other gurus of grooviness such as the Buddha, Walt Whitman, Bob Marley, Jerry Garcia and Emily Dickinson.
"The Abide Guide" is quick to point out to its faithful that Dudeism is an egalitarian ethos. Traditional gender roles and stereotypes need not apply. [...]
Stella Quinn, one of the women Dudeist priests who penned the section on Dudeist Feminism, argues that the Dude, by rejecting conventional social restraints, is nothing but good for the women who seek to emulate his approach to life.
"Dudeism offers a way of thinking about the world that will never ask them to self-censor or conform to arbitrary gender roles," Quinn writes. "Your'e not going to see any neurotic casserole-baking Stepford Wives in this religion, because no Dudeist would ever cut a woman down like that."
That's a dogma I can gladly abide.
(my emphasis)
Me too.
Link:
Church of the Latter Day Dude