The
Church of the SubGenius is a
parody religionA parody religion or mock religion is either a parody of a religion, sect or cult, or a relatively unserious religion that many people may take as being too esoteric to be classified as a "real" religion. A parody religion can be a parody of several religions, sects, gurus and cults at the same time...
that promotes slack, while in a meta-commentarial way, satirizes
religionA religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity or deities, or ultimate truth...
, conspiracy theories, UFOs, and
popular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture...
. Originally based in
DallasDallas , with a population of 1,279,910, is the third-largest city in Texas and the 8th-largest in the United States. The city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2009 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of...
,
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s
subcultureIn sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong...
and maintains an active presence on the Internet. Publicly accessible cited figures from 1988 indicated a membership of 3,500 at that time and "more than 5,000" by 1990.
History
The Church of the SubGenius claims to have been founded in the 1950s by the "world's greatest salesman" J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. "Bob" Dobbs is depicted as a cartoon of a
Ward CleaverWard Cleaver is a fictional character in the American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. Ward and his wife, June, are often invoked as archetypal suburban parents of the babyboomer 1950s. The couple are the parents of Wally, a thirteen-year-old in the eighth grade, and seven-year-old ...
-like man smoking a pipe. The church really started with the publication of
SubGenius Pamphlet #1 in 1979. It found acceptance in underground pop-culture circles and has been embraced on college campuses, in the
underground musicUnderground music refers to a variety of music subgenres that usually develop a subcultural cult following despite their lack of mainstream appeal, visibility, or commercial promotion...
scene, and on the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Because of its similarities to the tenets of
DiscordianismDiscordianism is a modern religion centered on the idea that chaos is all that there is, and that disorder and order, the former considered a concept distinct from chaos, are both illusions that are imposed on chaos...
, The Church of the SubGenius is often described as a
syncreticSyncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. This may involve attempts to merge and analogise several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an...
offshoot of that belief. However, its members state that the organization developed on its own with the publication of
SubGenius Pamphlet #1 (also known as
The World Ends Tomorrow And You May Die!) by Reverend
Ivan StangRev. Ivan Stang, born Douglass St. Clair Smith August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius...
and Dr. Philo Drummond, the original SubGenius Foundation. The original group, using such pseudonyms as "Puzzling Evidence", "Dr. Howl," "Susie the Floozie", "Palmer Vreedeez", and "Pope Sternodox", forwarded their literature to a number of underground pop-culture figures such as
R. CrumbRobert Dennis Crumb , often credited simply as R. Crumb, is an American artist and illustrator recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream...
,
Paul MavridesPaul Mavrides is an American artist, best known for his critique-laden comics, cartoons, paintings, graphics, performances and writings that encompass a disturbing yet humorous catalog of the social ills and shortcomings of human civilization...
,
Harry S. RobinsHarry S. Robins, known as "Hal", is a voice artist and screen writer. Robins is best known for his vocal work in the Half-Life series of computer games. He is also a prominent member of the Church of the SubGenius as Dr. Howland Owll. In that persona he voiced the narrator in Arise! The SubGenius...
aka Dr. Hal, the New Wave rock group
DevoDevo , often spelled DEVO or DEV-O, is an American New Wave band formed in Akron, Ohio in 1973. They are best known for their 1980 hit "Whip It", which made it to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
, and Erik Lindgren (producer and president of indie label Arf! Arf! Records in Boston), who embraced it and incorporated it into their work. Crumb's promotion of the Church through his
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
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 SubGeniusThe Book of the SubGenius: Being the Divine Wisdom, Guidance, and Prophecy of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, High Epopt of the Church of the SubGenius, Here Inscribed for the Salvation of Future Generations and in the Hope that Slack May Someday Reign on this Earth is seen as the "bible" of the Church of the...
in 1983, followed by
Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob" in 1990,
Revelation X: The "Bob" Apocryphon in 1994 and
The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon in 2006. In the late 1980s, the video
ARISE!Arise! is the title of a studio album originally released by Amebix in 1985. The album was remastered in 2000 and released on CD and LP with the Right to Ride demo included as two bonus tracks. On the vinyl version these were included as a bonus 7"...
was produced by Cordt Holland and
Ivan StangRev. Ivan Stang, born Douglass St. Clair Smith August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius...
, and narrated by "Dr. Hal" (
Harry S. RobinsHarry S. Robins, known as "Hal", is a voice artist and screen writer. Robins is best known for his vocal work in the Half-Life series of computer games. He is also a prominent member of the Church of the SubGenius as Dr. Howland Owll. In that persona he voiced the narrator in Arise! The SubGenius...
), then distributed by Polygram. 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
UsenetUsenet, a portmanteau of "user" and "network" , is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It evolved from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name....
newsgroups,
alt.slack and
alt.binaries.slackalt.binaries.slack is a Usenet newsgroup created for the purpose of posting pictures, sounds, and utilities related to the Church of the SubGenius, making them available for everyone to see and hear...
. (A third newsgroup,
alt.binaries.multimedia.slack, was created on March 12, 2005.) Ivan Stang maintains the official SubGenius home page at Subgenius.com today. The Church's weekly radio program, the
Hour of SlackThe Hour of Slack is a one-hour radio program produced by the Church of the SubGenius centering around the king of slack, J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. Reverend Ivan Stang presents his own commentary, along with recorded material from all SubGenius radio & stage shows, bands, ranters, media barrage collage...
, is a staple of many
college radioCampus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the station is based...
stations. It draws from live broadcasts by Stang, his wife Princess Wei R. Doe and voice comic "Lonesome Cowboy Dave" (comedian/musician Dave DeLuca), as well as from other SubGenius radio shows including Rev. Susie the Floozie's "'Bob's' Slack Time Fun House" on WREK in Atlanta and "The Puzzling Evidence Show" on KPFA in Berkeley, featuring Dr. Hal, Dr. Philo Drummond and host Puzzling Evidence.
In 1996, Rev. Stang and Steve Bevilacqua worked together to manage the corporate entity of the Church, the SubGenius Foundation Inc. Their efforts helped to bolster the Church's revival through the late 1990s and early 2000s, until Bevilacqua had to retire from Church management in order to support his wife, Rachel Bevilacqua (see Legal matters). The first
X-DayX-Day is part of the mythology of the satirical Church of the SubGenius, an organization formed as a parody of cults and extreme religious groups, and their pamphlets and claims. X-Day fell on July 5 1998, the scheduled "end of the world", and has been celebrated on July 5 each year since then...
gathering also took place at
Brushwood Folklore CenterBrushwood Folklore Center L.L.C. is a family-operated spiritual center that runs events such as festivals, concerts and seminars, and hosts such events held by other organizations. It is a campground which accepts day passes, night passes, and seasonal camping sites. The facility is located in...
in
Sherman, NYSherman is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The town is an interior town in the county, west of Chautauqua Lake. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,553...
in 1996, and the annual Church festival has continued there through the present day.
Such high-profile names as
Paul ReubensPaul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer and comedian, best-known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor...
("Pee-wee Herman", who placed a picture of "Bob" in every episode of
Pee-wee's PlayhousePee-wee's Playhouse is a children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more "adult"...
), Magic Mose & his Royal Rockers, featuring 'Blind Sam' (who actually gave a free advertisement to the Church on the back of one of their EP's),
David ByrneDavid Byrne is a Scottish-American musician and artist best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1974 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo projects on record, and worked in a variety of media, including...
,
Voodoo LoonsVoodoo Loons is an alternative rock band from both Donegal, Ireland and Cincinnati, Ohio that was formed in 2006. The band is known for blending influences from various musical genres, ranging from bluegrass and celtic to punk and psychedelic, into their own signature alternative rock/pop sound.-...
,
Mark MothersbaughMark Allen Mothersbaugh is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He was a member of the new wave band Devo for many years. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games.- Career :...
,
Penn JillettePenn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, musician and writer known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.- Early life and career ...
,
Robert Anton WilsonRobert Anton Wilson became, at various times, an American novelist, essayist, philosopher, polymath, psychonaut, futurist, libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
, science fiction authors
Rudy RuckerRudolf von Bitter Rucker is an American mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author, and is one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy, the first two of which both won...
and
John ShirleyJohn Patrick Shirley is an American science fiction and horror writer of novels, short stories, and television & film scripts.-Biography:John Shirley was born in Houston, Texas and grew up largely in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon...
, and actor
Bruce CampbellBruce Lorne Campbell is an American actor, producer, writer and director.He is best known for doing work with Sam Raimi, such as his starring role as Ash in the Evil Dead trilogy of horror-slapstick movies and cameos in all Spider-Man films...
have become SubGenius ministers. Composer
Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album...
said in his autobiography
The Real Frank Zappa BookThe Real Frank Zappa Book is an autobiography/memoir by Frank Zappa, co-written by Peter Occhiogrosso. The text is copyright 1989 Frank Zappa, and copyright 1990 Simon & Schuster, Inc....
that he agreed with many of the beliefs of the church, but refrained from joining as a full member. Comic book author
Warren EllisWarren Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, well known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...
has stated the influence of the Church on his writings, though as of 2007 he has not yet admitted if he actually sent the $30 membership fee.
Patrick VolkerdingPatrick Volkerding is the founder and maintainer of the Slackware Linux distribution. He is the "Slackware Benevolent Dictator for Life." Volkerding earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1993.For a short while, Chris Lumens and others have...
, the founder and maintainer of
SlackwareSlackware is a free and open source operating system. It is one of the earliest Linux distributions and is the oldest currently being maintained. Slackware was created by Patrick Volkerding of Slackware Linux, Inc. in 1993...
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
, is also a SubGenius affiliate, and he has confirmed the Church and "Bob" inspired the name for Slackware.
It is claimed waggishly in church doctrine that Dobbs inspired
L. Ron HubbardLafayette Ronald Hubbard was an American science fiction author who developed a self-help system called Dianetics, which was first published in 1950. Over the next three decades, Hubbard developed his self-help ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religion he...
to create his own cult when he remarked to him that the general public may be pink, "but their money is green" Ivan Stang also claims that in 1986, an official SubGenius ordainment for Hubbard was paid for and mailed to his address—only two weeks before the Scientology founder's death.
Basics of "Bob"
The Church describes its philosophy in the following manner:
These terms, used in a manner that deliberately parodies
ScientologyScientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in New Jersey.Scientology teaches that...
and
New AgeThe New Age is a decentralized Western social and spiritual movement that seeks "Universal Truth" and the attainment of the highest individual human potential. It includes aspects of cosmology, astrology, esotericism, alternative medicine, music, collectivism, sustainability, and nature...
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
satireSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
that mocks organized religion, or as the church describes itself, "a cynisacreligion."
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 ordination separates the Church from the
Universal Life ChurchThe Universal Life Church is a religious organization that offers anyone semi-immediate ordination as a ULC minister free of charge. The organization states that anyone can become a minister immediately, without having to go through the pre-ordination process required by other religious faiths...
and other paper churches that offer
ordinationIn general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
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 "Normal" or "Boring" Hell, he will be personally greeted by Church founder J. R. "Bob" Dobbs Himself and receive a refund check for $90.00, along with a booklet titled, "How to Enjoy Hell for Five Cents an Eternity," which costs $89.95.
The Church claims that true SubGeniuses are not actually human, but rather are descendants of the
YetiThe Yeti or Abominable Snowman is a mythological creature and an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
. According to
Revelation X: The 'Bob' Apocryphon (published in 1994), SubGenii are actually the
mutantA mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the wild type. The natural...
offspring of a forbidden sexual union that took place millions of years ago between a resident of
AtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias.In Plato's account, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BC...
and a
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
; at that time, humans were little more than a slave race. The resulting offspring was the catalyst that led to the fall of Atlantis. SubGenii often refer to one another as "Yeti" (or
yetinsyny), though this origin story is generally not well known outside of the Church itself. (The term
yetinsyny was appropriated from the artist Stanisław Szukalski, whose
Behold! the Protong posited that Communists and other people Szukalski disliked were descendant from such unions.)
The Church has said that the name "SubGenius" has nothing to do with intelligence, of a level below
geniusA genius is a person, a body of work, or a singular achievement of surpassing excellence. More than just originality, creativity, or intelligence, genius is associated with achievement of insight which has transformational power. A work of genius fundamentally alters the expectations of its...
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
geniusA genius is a person, a body of work, or a singular achievement of surpassing excellence. More than just originality, creativity, or intelligence, genius is associated with achievement of insight which has transformational power. A work of genius fundamentally alters the expectations of its...
is not very fun.) The term may have something to do with the general unhappiness and absolute slacklessness of the self-proclaimed
super-genius, Wile E. Coyote.
"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 styled
clip artClip art, in the graphic arts, refers to pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively in both personal and commercial projects, ranging from home-printed greeting cards to commercial candles. Clip art comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However,...
, and bearing a striking resemblance to 50s comic strip character
Mark TrailMark Trail is a newspaper comic strip created by the American cartoonist Ed Dodd. Introduced April 15, 1946, the strip centers on environmental and ecological themes. Mark Trail, the main character, is a photojournalist and magazine writer whose assignments lead him into danger and adventure...
. (In the SubGenius film 'Arise', "Bob" is described at one point, quite aptly, as "A comicbook character who communicates with space aliens and worships money".) "Bob" was considered to be the best salesman of all time. The Church claims that "Bob" (the quotes are included when spelling his name, supposedly as a symbolic halo around his name) founded the Church after he saw a vision of
JHVH-1 (or "Jehovah-1")Jehovah 1 or JHVH-1 is a God-like entity important in the mythology of the Church of the SubGenius, and the opposite number of the Satan-like entity NHGH....
on his homemade TV.
"Bob" was killed in San Francisco in 1984 (though former Church members state this was just a publicity stunt). Since that time, he has been killed and subsequently returned from the dead many times through a process known as teledeportation. The Church, however, denies any similarity between this claim and the Biblical account of
JesusJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
's resurrection. The Church guards the
trademarkA trademark or trade mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or services from...
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
SublimeSublime is an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California. Originally formed in 1986, Sublime consisted of Bradley Nowell , Bud Gaugh , and Eric Wilson . Lou Dog, Nowell's dalmatian, was the mascot of the band. Sublime achieved mainstream success with their self-titled third album...
and
George ClintonGeorge Clinton is an American singer, songwriter and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and began his work as a solo artist in 1981. He has been called one of the most prominent...
; the movie
The Wizard of Speed and TimeThe Wizard of Speed and Time is a 1989 low-budget feature film written, directed, and starring animator Mike Jittlov, as well as a 1979 16 mm short film, also by Jittlov.-1979 Short film:...
by
Mike JittlovMike Jittlov is an American animator and the creator of short films and one feature length movie using forms of special effects animation, including stop-motion animation, rotoscoping, and pixilation...
; in the graphical character set of the
Atari STThe Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1985...
computers; printed on CDs for
SlackwareSlackware is a free and open source operating system. It is one of the earliest Linux distributions and is the oldest currently being maintained. Slackware was created by Patrick Volkerding of Slackware Linux, Inc. in 1993...
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
(prior to Version 3); on the set of
Pee-wee's PlayhousePee-wee's Playhouse is a children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more "adult"...
, in British comic 2000AD, inside the strip
Robo-HunterRobo-Hunter is a recurring strip in the British Comic 2000 AD, initially written by John Wagner and illustrated by Ian Gibson. The series starred Sam Slade, a laconic, ageing, cigar-smoking bounty hunter of robots that have gone renegade....
, and in
DevoDevo , often spelled DEVO or DEV-O, is an American New Wave band formed in Akron, Ohio in 1973. They are best known for their 1980 hit "Whip It", which made it to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
's video for the song "Love Without Anger". "Bob" made an appearance in the comic
The BadgerThe Badger is a comic book character and series created by writer Mike Baron in 1982.The series ran until the 1990s, when it was cancelled along with the other comics titles under the First Comics imprint...
, his form having been taken by a demon who commented at one point "Do? I'm going to beat you to death with this pipe." He also made a brief appearance in
Marvel Comics'Marvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
SlapstickSlapstick is a Marvel Comics superhero created in the early nineties. He debuted in Slapstick #1, November , created by Len Kaminski and James Fry...
as a coffee store clerk.
The Church has recently adopted a new symbol called the "Dobbs Icon" (Also known as the sacred ikon), 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. This symbol resembles the
patriarchal crossThe Patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the universal religious symbol of Christianity. Similar to the familiar Latin cross, the Patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main one, so that both crossbars are near the top. Sometimes the patriarchal cross has...
as it is possibly a parody.
Nothing is more central to "Bob" than his pipe, which is said to be filled with the mysterious substance known as habafropzipulops or "frop," (not a common drug) which may contain either mystical, hallucinogenic, or Divine powers. The pipe may also allude to surrealist painter
Rene MagritteRené François Ghislain Magritte
[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...
's famous work,
The Treachery of ImagesThe Treachery of Images is a series of paintings by René Magritte, the most noted of which is famous for its inscription Ceci n'est pas une pipe , French for this is not a pipe...
, which features an image of a pipe and the words "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (This is not a pipe). 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.
The number 13,013 (usually seen as "13013") is the Number of "Bob", or the Mark of Dobbs.
In its January 1, 2000 issue, a
Time magazine internet-based poll named J.R. "Bob" Dobbs the #1 "Phoney Or Fraud" of the 20th century.
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 are all born with Original Slack, but that Slack has been stolen from us by a worldwide
conspiracyConspiracy theory is a term that originally was a neutral descriptor for any conspiracy claim. However, it has come almost exclusively to refer to any fringe theory which explains a historical or current event as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful Machiavellian conspirators.Conspiracy...
of normal people, or "pinks". The Church encourages originality and frowns on actions seen as pinkness, which happens when one bows down to authority and the accepted limits of society. Slack is also about doing nothing and getting what you want anyway. "Bob" being the center of the Slack plane cannot fail, even his failures are startling successes as a result of his absurdly high Slack. Popular Church phrases supporting these goals are "Give Me Slack or KILL ME!", "The SubGenius Must Have Slack" and "Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke."
The Linux distribution
SlackwareSlackware is a free and open source operating system. It is one of the earliest Linux distributions and is the oldest currently being maintained. Slackware was created by Patrick Volkerding of Slackware Linux, Inc. in 1993...
is named for Slack. The card game
Chez GeekChez Geek is a popular card game that has a humorous take on geek culture and cohabitation. It was created by Jon Darbro and developed by Alain H. Dawson, with additional development by Steve Jackson and Russell Godwin...
uses Slack to keep score; the object of the game is to accumulate Slack counters until one player wins by reaching his or her Slack Goal. One of the cards that a player can use within the game to gain Slack is the Book of the Subgenius.
Sense of humor
The Church encourages humor,
comedyComedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece...
,
parodyA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, and
satireSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
far more than most religious faiths. This belief is probably why the Church is seen on one level as an elaborate joke (the Church argues that if it is a joke, then it is "a very serious joke," "a joke that you can believe in," or "the greatest joke ever told"), an arguably postmodern mockery of organized religion, and a parody of controversial religious groups and
cultCult may popularly refer to a religious group with relatively few adherents whose beliefs or practices are regarded by others as strange or sinister.The term "cult" was originally used to denote a system of ritual practices...
s, especially
ScientologyScientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in New Jersey.Scientology teaches that...
and
EvangelicalismEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s.Most adherents consider its key characteristics to be: a belief in the need for personal conversion ; some expression of the gospel in effort; a high regard for biblical authority; and an emphasis on the...
(evangelical, or fundamentalist,
ProtestantismProtestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
, and "
televangelismTelevangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A televangelist is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his or her ministry to television broadcasting...
"), to those unfamiliar with the church. Some refer to it as a "joke" or "
parody religionA parody religion or mock religion is either a parody of a religion, sect or cult, or a relatively unserious religion that many people may take as being too esoteric to be classified as a "real" religion. A parody religion can be a parody of several religions, sects, gurus and cults at the same time...
". For instance, in their book
Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet, Lorne L. Dawson and
Douglas E. CowanDouglas E. Cowan is a Canadian academic in religious studies and the sociology of religion and currently holds a teaching position at Renison College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada...
characterize it as a "sophisticated joke
religion"A parody religion or mock religion is either a parody of a religion, sect or cult, or a relatively unserious religion that many people may take as being too esoteric to be classified as a "real" religion. A parody religion can be a parody of several religions, sects, gurus and cults at the same time...
. Almost nothing is considered off-limits to comedy in SubGenius circles, and the group's jokes often veer into the realm of bad taste. The
Book of the SubGeniusThe Book of the SubGenius: Being the Divine Wisdom, Guidance, and Prophecy of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, High Epopt of the Church of the SubGenius, Here Inscribed for the Salvation of Future Generations and in the Hope that Slack May Someday Reign on this Earth is seen as the "bible" of the Church of the...
says: "If you don't laugh, you didn't get it, but if you ONLY laugh, you didn't get it." Church members frequently pull practical jokes on each other, even as they are using their comedic talents to other ends. The Book of the SubGenius poses the question "Is this a joke disguised as a religion, or a religion disguised as a joke in sensible shoes?"
Clenches
Church members living in the same geographic area are encouraged (though it is not mandatory) to form a group: a local club or "clench". These clenches are typically the ones who bind together in order to put on a Devival. Some of these clenches position themselves as their own religion. This is encouraged by the Church, and is officially known as a schism. Ivan Stang himself has been quoted as saying, "Quit the church and start your own damn religion!" Paradoxically, one of the ways one can most fully embrace the philosophy of the Church of the SubGenius is to ultimately declare oneself to no longer be a faithful member of the Church, but to instead have schismed and formed one's own heretical sect or denomination, such as the
Church of Don. This dynamic embodies the nature of the Church as fundamentally individualistic, and antithetical to the adherence and obedience-based ways of most religions.
Devivals
SubGenius gatherings, or Devivals, can be seen as a combination of religious preaching, stand-up comedy, and
rock concertThe term rock concert refers to a musical performance in the style of any one of many genres inspired by "rock and roll" music. While a variety of vocal and instrumental styles can constitute a rock concert, this phenomenon is typically characterized by bands playing at least one electric guitar,...
s. When the local members of the Church hold a Devival in their area, it typically occurs at a popular
nightclubA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
, and it features SubGenius preachers such as Dr. Hal, Rev. Susie the Floozie, Priestess Pisces or Rev. Stang, and backed by rock bands with such names as the Swingin' Love Corpses, Doktors 4 "Bob", Saint N and Hellena Handbasket, Jehovah Hates Phred, Einstein's Secret Orchestra, The Mondo Retardo Band, The Amino Acids, and the Kings of Feedback. Devivals have been held each year as part of both the
Starwood FestivalThe Starwood Festival is a six-day Neo-Pagan, New Age, multi-cultural and world music festival presented in mid- to late July, currently in Sherman, New York. Approximately 1,500 people attend including staff, speakers and entertainers. The Starwood Festival is a camping event which holds workshops...
and WinterStar Symposium since 1991. Attendees at Devivals are encouraged to bring money and spend it at the ever-present sales table. Some Devivals have been known to veer out of control. In 1999, overly cautious officials of the city of
CambridgeCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
pressured owners of
The Middle EastThe Middle East is a live music venue, bar and restaurant in the Central Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Having featured a huge variety of musicians over the last 25 years, The Middle East is one of the most important alternative music venues in New England and features "nothing less than...
nightclub to cancel the booked devival because of a mistaken belief that the organizers were affiliated with the Trenchcoat Mafia (an organization which was mistakenly accused of being responsible for the
Columbine High School massacreThe Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton...
).
X-Day
An important SubGenius event occurred on July 5, 1998:
X-DayX-Day is part of the mythology of the satirical Church of the SubGenius, an organization formed as a parody of cults and extreme religious groups, and their pamphlets and claims. X-Day fell on July 5 1998, the scheduled "end of the world", and has been celebrated on July 5 each year since then...
. The Church had been predicting that on this day the world would be destroyed by invading
alienExtraterrestrial life is defined as life which does not originate from planet Earth. The existence of life outside the planet is theoretical and all assertions of such life remain disputed....
armies known as the X-ists (which is short for "Men from Planet X"). Only the members of the Church of the SubGenius were expected to be saved from this SubGenius version of the
apocalypseApocalypse is a term applied to the disclosure to certain privileged persons of something hidden from the majority of humankind. Today the term is often used to refer to the end of the world, which may be a shortening of the phrase apokalupsis eschaton which literally means "revelation at the end...
, by being carried away in the spaceships of the Sex-Goddesses. When the promised cataclysm failed to manifest, Rev. Stang was tarred and feathered by his fellow SubGenii. Nevertheless, Stang was permitted to retain his position as Church administrator, and although that day and each subsequent July 5 has passed without evidence of an
alien invasionThe alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which an extraterrestrial society invades Earth with the intent to exterminate and replace human life , enslave it under a colonial system , to harvest humans for food , or sometimes to destroy the earth altogether .The...
, the faithful membership still gather for the "Rupture" at a campground called
Brushwood Folklore CenterBrushwood Folklore Center L.L.C. is a family-operated spiritual center that runs events such as festivals, concerts and seminars, and hosts such events held by other organizations. It is a campground which accepts day passes, night passes, and seasonal camping sites. The facility is located in...
in western New York state to herald this SubGenius
holidayThe words holiday or vacation have related meanings in different English-speaking countries and continents, but usually refer to one of the following activities or events:...
.
Reverend
Ivan StangRev. Ivan Stang, born Douglass St. Clair Smith August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius...
has given many excuses for the failure of the Rupture to happen, such as claiming that "Bob" betrayed all SubGenii, that the scriptures were accidentally read upside down (hence the real year of the Rupture will be 8661), or that due to calendrical error or sabotage it is not yet really 1998. Some would argue that it did happen, albeit in a
metaphysicalMetaphysics investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world...
and/or
allegoricalAllegory is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal. An allegory is a device that can be presented in literary form, such as a poem or novel, or in visual form, such as in painting or sculpture...
manner requiring greater shift of
paradigmThe word paradigm has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts....
to truly understand. Others have suggested that the X-ists did visit Earth as predicted, but that the planet we know as Earth was either secretly switched with
MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance, due to iron oxide prevalent on its surface....
sometime during or shortly after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, or that the X-ists left with the persuasion that mankind will do the job just as well, if not better.
Reverend Stang has argued that X-Day is a religious holiday for the Church, and members of the Church should take the day of July 5 as vacation or holiday: "...if you can't get off the planet, at least get off from work."
Other holy days
Besides X-Day, the Church of the SubGenius has six seasons as identified in
The Book (Advert, Epicacophony, Emaculation, Turnover, Passaround, and M'Moreal Day) and has also published a "Sacred Calendar of SubGenius Saints" at the end of their most recent major publication,
The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon (a partial version of it can also be found buried in the archives of their website.) It assigns a feast day or holy day (sometimes several) to every day of the year. Many of these feast days are rather unusual:
- The Night of the Lemur
- The Feast of St Klaatu
Klaatu is the humanoid alien protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part due to the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well as...
- Cremation Wednesday
- The Feast of St Monty Python
Monty Python were a British comedy group that created the influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
- Quaternary
The Quaternary period is the youngest of three periods of the Cenozoic era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows after the Neogene period, spanning 2.588 +/- 0.005 million years ago to the present...
ProlapseProlapse literally means "To fall out of place". In medicine, prolapse is a condition where organs, such as the uterus, fall down or slip out of place. It is used for organs protruding through the vagina or the rectum, or for the misalignment of the valves of the heart...
begins
- The Feast of "Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, actor, comedian, and satirist. Yankovic is known in particular for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
- The Feast of the Blessed Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology. Popular depiction shows them as being no...
- Palmistry Sunday
- The Feast of Saint Eris
Eris is the Greek goddess of strife, her name being translated into Latin as Discordia. Her Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with the war-goddess Enyo, whose Roman counterpart is Bellona...
- St Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was a seminal American stand-up comedian and social critic. His humor challenged mainstream beliefs, aiming to "enlighten people to think for themselves." Hicks used a ribald approach to express his material, describing himself as "Chomsky with dick jokes." His jokes...
Day
- The Feast of Saint Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel,...
- The Feast of St Guinness
Guinness is a popular dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is based on the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide. A distinctive feature is the burnt...
the Stout
- Desecration Day
- Yell "Fudge" at North American Cobras Day
- The Feast of St Kali
Kali , also known as Kalika , is a Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy. The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time ". Despite her negative connotations, Kali is today considered the goddess of time and change...
- The Display of the Embarrassing Swimsuits
- The Feast of St Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
- Drug Side-Effects Day
- The Dance of the Insensitive Bastards
- Start of the Holy Month of "Ramalamadingdong"
- Caesarean Section Day
- Rock Star Day The earth is no longer a planet, it's a dormant star
- Yummy Kippers Day
- All Asquires' Day
- The Feast of St Attila
- The Feast of St Oliver the Humanzee
Oliver is a Common Chimpanzee and a former performing ape once promoted as a missing link or "Humanzee" due to his unusually human-like face and a tendency to walk upright...
- The Feast of St Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft in 1926, first appearing in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu" when it was published in Weird Tales in 1928....
- Hate for the Sake of Hating Day
- The Martyrdom of St Kenny
- Whiny Victimization/Co-Dependency Day
- The Feast of St Lucifer
Lucifer is a Latin word, literally meaning "light-bearer", that was used as a name for the "day star" or "Morning Star" that precedes the rising of the sun. The name is frequently given to the Devil in Christian convention...
(not the same as Lucifer Calaritanus)
Additionally, in the e-mails sent out by the SubGenius foundation to confirm orders made at their online store, mention is made of a holiday called "Xistlessnessmess", which falls on December 25. Furthermore, it has been asserted that "Bob" has died and been reincarnated at least 366 times throughout history & prehistory, thus every day is "Bob"'s birthday (and cause for celebration).
Mythology
- See also a dictionary of entities in the #External links section.
Church mythology, or SubGenius Mythos, includes entities such as:
- Jehovah 1
Jehovah 1 or JHVH-1 is a God-like entity important in the mythology of the Church of the SubGenius, and the opposite number of the Satan-like entity NHGH....
(aka JHVH-1 or Jehovah-One), a God-like wrathful entity (a "wrathful alien space god from some corporate sin galaxy").
- NHGH (aka Nhee Ghee or Eehg Eehn), a Satan-like smiling entity (god of Bad Luck and Unfortunate Coincidences, cosmic embodiment of Murphy's Law
Murphy's law is an adage that broadly states: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."- History :The perceived perversity of the universe has long been a subject of comment, and precursors to the modern version of Murphy's law are not hard to find...
) designed by Joe RileyJoseph Vergel "Joe" Riley was a U.S. visual and plastic artist based in Dallas, Texas. A painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and special effects makeup artist, he made horror designs for latex masks and for films, such as the vampire movie Blade: Trinity from Marvel Comics, as well as conceptual art for...
.
1989: Bob Black's bombing
According to two accounts he published and the charging document filed in Federal District Court, ex-SubGenius anarchist
Bob BlackBob Black is an American anarchist and lawyer. He is the author of The Abolition of Work and Other Essays, Beneath the Underground, Friendly Fire, Anarchy After Leftism, and numerous political essays.Kenn Thomas hailed Black in 1999 as a "defender of the most liberatory tendencies within modern...
received a bomb in the mail in November 1989. Black charged a Church member for the deed, believing the device was sent to him because of criticism he had made of the Church.
Ivan StangRev. Ivan Stang, born Douglass St. Clair Smith August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius...
and other members of the Church have denied any involvement in this incident, and no one else was charged.
2006: Rev. Magdalen's child custody troubles
In 2006, Rachel Bevilacqua, known as Rev. Magdalen in the SubGenius hierarchy, lost custody and contact with her son after a district court judge took offense at her participation in the Church's X-Day festival. Judge James Punch asked Bevilacqua to explain the humor of pictures from the event, and required that she produce a picture that would "absolutely knock my socks off with the humor of it". Without identifying anything in her testimony as specifically false, Punch pronounced her description of the church's activities as "clearly prevaricating" and "obviously so not true from anybody who's looking at it from any normal perspective" and Bevilacqua herself as "mentally ill" and a "pervert". (Ironically, the Official X-Day Video comes with a humorous instruction pamphlet that, among other things, warns people not to show the film to "normals" because "they will think you are insane".) Punch subsequently recused himself, and Bevilacqua retained Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP, the law firm of
Paul CambriaPaul Cambria is a Buffalo, NY based first amendment attorney who has represented various figures and companies within the pornography industry. Cambria received his Juris Doctorate degree from University of Toledo College of Law in 1973 and a BA from State University of New York at Fredonia in...
. On January 5, 2007, district Judge Eric Adams issued a ruling in Bevilacqua's favor requiring her son to be returned to her, but a temporary stay order was issued preventing this ruling from taking effect. The case was apparently ended on July 6, 2007, when a New York appellate court awarded custody of Bevilacqua's son to her ex-boyfriend, the boy's father. However, further incidents resulted in an additional custody hearing in August 2007, with Judge Punch returning to the case. As of August 14, 2007, custody of Bevilacqua's son has been awarded to her, pending the outcome of a felony hearing (drunk driving) for the boy's father.
Books
- The Book of the SubGenius (1983, McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are education, publishing, broadcasting, and financial and business services...
; 1987, Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin, and HarperCollins...
)
- High Weirdness By Mail
High Weirdness by Mail, by Ivan Stang is a 1988 book dedicated to an examination of "weird culture" by actually putting the reader in touch with it by mail....
(1988, Fireside Books)
- "Bob's" Favorite Comics: The SubGenius Comic Book (1989, Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press, Inc. is a seminal publishing company that specializes in adult-themed literature and graphic novels, mostly in a specific comic book format known as underground comix.-Overview:...
)
- Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob" (1990, Fireside Books)
- Revelation X: The "Bob" Apocryphon (1994, Fireside Books; 2006, Thunder's Mouth Press)
- INWO: SubGenius (1997, Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
) (Illuminati New World Order game supplement)
- The SubGenius Psyclopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon (2006, Thunder's Mouth Press)
Periodicals
- The Stark Fist of Removal - official newsletter
See also
- Discordianism
Discordianism is a modern religion centered on the idea that chaos is all that there is, and that disorder and order, the former considered a concept distinct from chaos, are both illusions that are imposed on chaos...
- A closely related parody religion which is considered a direct precursor to the Church of the SubGenius
- Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term Lovecraft Mythos is preferred by some — most notably the Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi....
- referenced and/or parodied extensively in several SubGenius products
- Devo
Devo , often spelled DEVO or DEV-O, is an American New Wave band formed in Akron, Ohio in 1973. They are best known for their 1980 hit "Whip It", which made it to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
- 80s band whose lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh is a vocal SubGenius
- Doomsday cult
"Doomsday cult" is a term used to describe groups obsessed with Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and can refer to both groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and those that attempt to bring it about. The term was popularized in John Lofland's 1966 study of the Unification Church,...
- what the Church of the SubGenius is, according to SubGenii
- Flying Spaghetti Monster
The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of the parody religion the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism. It was created in 2005 by Bobby Henderson as a satirical protest to the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as...
- a parody of creationism, also known as Pastafarianism
- Fnord
Fnord is the typographic representation of disinformation or irrelevant information intending to misdirect, with the implication of a worldwide conspiracy....
- If you don't see the fnord, it can't eat youhttp://www.aidd.org/fnords.htm.
- GWAR
Gwar is a Grammy Award-nominated thrash metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1985. The band is best known for their elaborate sci-fi/horror film inspired costumes; raunchy, obscene lyrics; and graphic stage performances, which consist of humorous re-enactments of political and moral taboo...
- a band that is popular among SubGenii
- Harry S. Robins
Harry S. Robins, known as "Hal", is a voice artist and screen writer. Robins is best known for his vocal work in the Half-Life series of computer games. He is also a prominent member of the Church of the SubGenius as Dr. Howland Owll. In that persona he voiced the narrator in Arise! The SubGenius...
- aka Dr. Hal, illustrator, screenwriter, voice talent and showman
- Paul Mavrides
Paul Mavrides is an American artist, best known for his critique-laden comics, cartoons, paintings, graphics, performances and writings that encompass a disturbing yet humorous catalog of the social ills and shortcomings of human civilization...
- aka LIES, co-designer of the SubGenius books (and co-author of "Revelation X")
- Mojo Nixon
Mojo Nixon is an irreverent American musician, known for playing psychobilly music...
- a retired SubGenius musician
- Ong's Hat
This article is about a literary work. For the New Jersey Pine Barrens locality, see Ong's Hat, New Jersey.Ong's Hat was one of the earliest internet-based secret history conspiracy theories created as a piece of collaborative fiction by four core individuals, although the membership propagating...
- a famous hoax involving "Bob" and several other Dobbses in its conspiracy theory
- Philip Gale
Philip Chandler Gale was a pioneering internet software developer and computer prodigy, and avid musician, born and raised a Scientologist but rejected that upbringing and turned to the Church of the SubGenius...
- left Scientology after being exposed to the Church of the SubGenius
- Slackware
Slackware is a free and open source operating system. It is one of the earliest Linux distributions and is the oldest currently being maintained. Slackware was created by Patrick Volkerding of Slackware Linux, Inc. in 1993...
- official operating system of the Church of the SubGenius
- X-Day (Church of the SubGenius)
X-Day is part of the mythology of the satirical Church of the SubGenius, an organization formed as a parody of cults and extreme religious groups, and their pamphlets and claims. X-Day fell on July 5 1998, the scheduled "end of the world", and has been celebrated on July 5 each year since then...
- SubGenius holiday to celebrate the end of the world on July 5, 1998
- The Amino Acids - Detroit surf punk group who are all Subgeniuses
- Bob Dobbs
- 'Pataphysics
External links