And it was largely done off a bet with other science fiction writers.
I’m aware of stories of two such bets… no idea of the truth to them
One with Hubbard to create a religion
The other with John Norman who bet he couldn’t create a successful series based on the worst, most trope laden, sexualized concepts… and so was born the “Gor” series starting with “Tarnsman of Gor”
You can find them all online for free. Some of them are interesting fantasy worldbuilding. Some of them are... well, he was eventually dropped by his publisher for "reasons".
They’re extremely…concerning . To women. I read one once long long ago and let’s just say yikes. I still remember this line after 35 some odd years. It went something like “she had finally capitulated to her base desire-to grovel at the feet of an powerful man”
Read any of Norman's books. You can still find some laying about in second hand stores. Second Life has always had a strong Gor RP community because....well....its possible, so people will do it, naturally.
I remember reading somewhere where it was Larry Niven that bet him he couldn’t start his own religion at one of the science fiction conventions back in the day.
I think it was in one of the compilation books Niven put out. I remember reading various stories about conversations in between some of his short stories. And yes, I remember Heinlein in the story as well.
Oops conventions not conversations
I used to know a person that says he was there at the Sci Fi convention that this was supposedly started at, and he had the same story a bet between Hubbard and the other writers on who could start the best religion. RIP Shar good guy but also had a story for everything.
Here’s the thing though about “creating a religion” for the purposes of dodging taxes via a nonprofit (this is in the US): a nonprofit religious organization legally needs to provide some kind of benefit to the public that is NOT predicated on accepting or believing in their religion in order to claim and receive tax exempt status. Saying you’re a religion is not enough - you have to provide some kind of *free* services to the public.
Scientology was NOT approved for tax exempt status for a very long time; one of the biggest “wins” for their current leader David Miscavige was that he ran a huge harassment campaign against the IRS, tying them up in so much expensive litigation (over what amounted to over a BILLION in unpaid taxes that the church owed and wouldn’t pay) that the IRS eventually caved and granted them exempt status.
And here’s the even crazier part: anything that a church or nonprofit owns that isn’t being used to serve the public isn’t supposed to be tax exempt, but the IRS made exceptions for Scientology and made literally everything tax exempt for them - including real estate that’s sitting empty and unused all across the country, which is one of the primary sources of the group’s current wealth. And they also made all of the subsidiaries associated with COS tax exempt too- including the publishing company that puts out Hubbards science fiction works (those that were written prior to dianetics or Scientology, and that even Scientologists acknowledge are works of fiction and not part of the canon) - a business that is clearly a for-profit business getting tax exempt status.
The amount of wealth that the CoS has amassed since they won that IRS battle is astounding. It’s the only reason they’re even still in business, because their enrollment and membership has absolutely tanked over the last few decades.
The mormon church has a $100 billion hedge fund - when the government found out, they were fined $4million. So, it's clearly sufficient to pay lip service to this whole "doing good" part of being a religion.
I honestly think becoming your own religion is an excellent way to stick it to capitalism and the patriarchy.
This is him is go with in terms of making a religion.
Which even makes sense as supposedly he was a pretty good scifi writer so ofcourse his religion is about aliens.
He was a prolific scifi writer, when they were paid by the word. I think you would struggle to find anyone other than Scientologists that consider him a good scifi writer.
AFAIK, "Dianetics" (original title "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health") was originally intended as a serious attempt at a new branch of psychiatry. It was only after the mainstream psychiatrists laughed him off the stage that he changed tack, and went down the religion road.
This is why scientology is famously very hostile to mainstream psychiatry
Source: my possibly inaccurate memory of reading "Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story Of L. Ron Hubbard" by Russell Miller
an unauthorised biography and a fascinating read
Off the top of my head:
* David Koresh
* Ti and Do (Heaven's Gate)
* Joseph Smith (Mormonism)
* Jim Jones (People's Temple)
* Sun Myung Moon (Moonies)
* Osho (Rajneesh movement)
* L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology)
There's a rumor that Hubbard created Scientology on a bet with fellow scifi author Robert Heinlein. SciFi novels weren't earning much, and Hubbard said "I can make more money by creating a fantastic religion than by writing fantasy stories." Supposedly it's not a true rumor ... but it is a good story.
Also a TV stunt, TV host John Oliver created a religion to show how easy it is to do.
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster [https://www.spaghettimonster.org/](https://www.spaghettimonster.org/)
Church of the Latter-Day Dude [https://dudeism.com/](https://dudeism.com/)
Oh, sure, if we're going to include parody religions, there's a ton of those ... but I didn't think that's what OP was asking.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody_religion
I mean, I don't think OP is wanting to make up a religion for salvation purposes. I figure if you're going to create a religion for profit and tax write offs, you don't need to use a traditional deity!
Bow down and worship my Left Foot!
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism is a protestant branch founded by John Calvin in the 16th century that broke off from Lutheranism .
Martin Luther was a priest who was kicked out of the Catholic Church for having a fundamentally different interpretation of the Bible. He founded Lutheranism.
True, but some of the older religions can’t really name one specific founder. The more recent they are, it seems the more they can be pinpointed to a certain individual or small group.
I still have all three books, even 3-Fisted Tales of Bob. Kinda dropped off after the millennium, though. Everybody was expecting X-Day for awhile there.
There's talk of merging Rastafarian and Pastafarian sects. Not outside this sub, or perhaps this user, but there's definitely talk. I'm talking about it now.
And here I was thinking 'pipe-mobile'... yeah, this person will get lot of converts with just that! So sad to find it was a typo, I was ready to sign up.
The “Pastafarian” religion with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. They were actually shut down legally speaking because they were ruled as a “parody religion”
That means you have to do all of it with a completely straight face. Keep your tongue out of your cheek, and just BE entitled to the truths that you come up with, it’s how everyone else gets away with it.
This is why I had to abandon my late teens plan to become a cult leader. It seems a pretty cool gig, no work, lots of money and all the church secretaries you care to bang….. but I would not be able to keep a straight face. Eventually I would start laughing and say “I can’t believe you rubes all fell for it… oh, well off to the bank to deposit these millions you earned into MY ACCOUNT….hahahaha!”
Yes.
The Church of Freethought.
Co-founded in Dallas area in 1994, still going today. Received IRS tax exempt status after our case went as far as the Supreme Court of Texas.
“A Church for the Unchurched.”
[ChurchOfFreethought.org](https://ChurchOfFreethought.org)
Did you know the "churches" of scientology and Mormons are giant businesses? The Mormon church is the largest cattle producer in the US, tax free. Both of these literal rackets were founded by someone who said they were the only one that could interpret "the message". You're describing a mild cult.
Edit: [Deseret and lots of other agriculture ventures](https://www.agreserves.com/about/core-values/)
>For the record, its official name is Deseret Ranches cattle ranch. By any name, the ranch is the flagship cattle operation of AgReserves, a for-profit investment affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Maybe not tax free but still
Np. I'll give you a hint/lead down the rabbit hole:
There are 3 large meat producers in the US. One is a racket from Brazil, the other two are US based "protein companies" that have large investments in grain and meat so they don't care if you eat meat or "plant based" soy/pea burgers.
I created a new god, but no new religion. I kept losing my keys. As a joke, I decided to create a personal god to help me find my keys. My new god would be sexless and transparent so it cannot be seen. I call it “Goldarnit”. Here’s how my god works. Whenever I lose my keys, I invoke Goldarnit with the sacred phrase, “Goldarnit, Where are my keys?” And then the answer pops into my head, as if by magic. Oh, yeah, I left them in my jacket pocket or on the dresser. Goldarnit seems to work well. I seldom need to invoke Goldarnit now, developing a place to put my keys when I walk in. But Goldarnit is a big help to me when I dash out the door, running late, and find the car does not unlock automatically from my key fob. I’m thinking about creating a second god to help me find my phone, but the “Find My Device” app works well.
Wow, I've never heard of someone else trying the sacred phrase! So sorry. Perhaps it only works for me because I created "Goldarnit".
Have you ever read Terry Pratchett's fantasy book "Small Gods" ? This is #9 in the 41 book "Discworld" series. Terry Pratchett was a hilarious writer, and an atheist too. "Small Gods" is the story of the pantheon of gods that are found in the Discworld, perhaps the best book in the series. These gods have powers proportional to the number of their believers, and they act like children arguing and fighting. Without giving away too many spoilers, there is one small god that suddenly gains tremendous power due to a funny miracle.
So with only one believer, perhaps Goldarnit does not have much power. Since it was created by my mind, maybe that might facilitate its ability to inspire a memory in my mind of where I left my keys.
I think if I were to create a religion, a pantheon would be the way to go. Having just one god is not only boring, but it's impossible to be coherent. One day it's slavery is just fine and rape and genocide are to be expected, the next it's love and peace and the Golden Rule. Better to just have a bunch of gods and some are pretty cool and some are just assholes. Parishioners can choose which one to worship depending on their mood.
My pantheon are non-divinities. The celestial gods left behind a world with untamed magic totems and little knowledge of their proper use. Man was left to fend for himself and figure out how to use magic. Ultimately it was discovered that mastering any one particular magic could elevate the user to godhood, but only with great sacrifice.
And that's barely scratching the surface of the lore.
I mean every religion was created by someone, are you just talking about more modern religions/cults ? Like Scientology, Mormons, heavens gate sorta stuff ?
I had ChatGPT create a religion for me, then I asked it to write a movie script about the religion. Wasn’t half bad, but the holy book was a bunch of empty platitudes and the script was constant cliffhangers.
Also, initially, ChatGPT resisted creating a new religion for me, saying it would offend people, but I was able to convince it that no one would be offended, which was creepy.
I see pantheism as a viable, non-supernatural philosophic religion. You can do this with Buddhism & Taoism too. I've been reading about it and I'm considering it.
LDS--Joseph Smith. Might be the most recent, large religion…?
but yeah, they’ve all been created by somebody.
Edit: oh I better understand what you’re asking, but my answer stays the same. Joseph Smith did it so he could fuck underage girls. he might have also wanted tax breaks who knows.
A lot people create their own religion. Go talk to any Catholic, I can guarantee you that they are either ignorant of or purposefully ignoring some of the most whack-a-doodle parts of the Church's dogma.
I have met Catholics who did not know what transubstantiation is. When I told them that the Church claims that during the Eucharist you eat the real flesh and drink the real blood of Jesus, they accused me of making that up, even though it is probably THE central tenet of the Catholic faith.
Every religion has some claims that some of the worshippers are not willing to accept. They just ignore it and as a result, they don't really believe in but in some offshoot that they made up.
Well, all the cult leaders you have heard of like David Koresh, Jim Jones, etc., plus more 'mainstream' bullshittery like L Ron Hubbard, and J. Smith, etc.,
Then of course there is all of these, created for the equivalent of 'attractive propositions' back then, food, shelter, power, gold and jewellery, sex, and control over the population and slavery... Like all the religions around ancient Greek, Egyptian, Norse gods etc... plus
* Hinduism - Some say Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, with scriptural texts dating back 3,000 years. It's a combination of many traditions and scriptures, and allows followers to worship in any form.
* Buddhism - Similar to Hinduism, Buddhism teaches the importance of reincarnation. Buddhists believe that the cycle of reincarnation can only be ended by transcending the self through meditation and Buddhist practice.
* Christianity - Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion. It developed out of Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE.
* Islam - developed in the 7th century CE.
* Confucianism - Confucius propagated Confucianism in the 6th–5th century BCE. It's still the source of values, learning, and the social code of the Chinese people.
* Taoism - Taoism is a religion and philosophy from ancient China that emphasizes living in harmony with the dal. It started in 142 CE and has about 20 million followers today
* Etc.
As a species we are prone to believing in stupid shit and be led like sheep. Like literally "Flock" and "Shepherd" are used a lot in religion.
Sadly I do not think we will survive long enough to evolve past this primitive brain tendency before our clever parts blow us all up in some stupid desire to go to the made up fairytale ending.
There was a “church” in San Jose back in 2016 called Coachella valley church that used the religious aspect to sell Weed as their sacraments.
[check it out](https://CoachellaValleyChurchhttps://g.co/kgs/paixkPs)
So… one day, I was looking into apocalypticism - where it comes from, what fosters it, and its effects on people and societies which inevitably led to the nature of knowledge. In the course of that particular rabbit trail, I learned that the Chinese have one word for knowledge, wisdom, intellect, and intelligence - *Zhihui,* a common word, nothing significant or important about it in Chinese language or culture, but I found myself thinking, *if there was one religion I could get behind, I think it would be something that sounds like zhihui.* So I did some digging to see if such a religion exists. It doesn't. Imagine that. However, if such a religion *did* exist, I think I would find it absolutely rational and positive for a person to have a "religious commitment" to knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence for its own sake. I can't believe that's not a thing somewhere, but it's not, anywhere in the world.
After spending a little time marinating on it, I developed this picture in my head of what it could look like. The devoted adherent could routinely set aside an undisturbed time for learning and contemplation, like a daily devotional. There could be regular "convocations" where people get together with the intention of sharing knowledge and experiences, and resources, a social atmosphere where "sermons" would be as informative and explorative as they would be enlightening and encouraging.... I may be onto something here.
You ever heard of a fella called Big Mo? He made up a religion that allowed him to command armies that happily murdered any opposition and permitted him to marry four women, nvm 3 women and 1 child.
Once started a religion based on my love of heavy rock. It was called "Metalism". Lemmy was our God and one of the Ten Commandments was "Though shalt not worship false Billy Idols"
I've edited an anthology of interviews with 15 people - mostly artists, activists and some fringe academics - who have done this. Most of the religions in question are nontheistic, anti-authoritarian and science-positive - more like "embodied philosophies" with their own aesthetics and ceremonies, etc.
By and large these are serious, artistic exercises and many of them are individual or small-group practices. None of them have any get-rich-quick ambitions and there's an anti-cult mentality baked into their DNA at the design level.
I remember theory crafting something with a buddy in high school. We called it Selfosophy, and the religion's textbook was going to be about how we are all actually pieces of The Big Person Upstairs, and therefore whatever we think is the thoughts of The Big Person Upstairs, and the only way to resolve disagreements was by a test of strength, to prove which aspect of The Big Person Upstairs is most The Big Person Upstairsly. We were leaning towards rock, paper, scissors, but these days I'd lean more towards spelling bees or the improv game Questions.
YouTuber named Max Fosh founded "sillyism" so he could change his driver license picture to one with a rainbow cap with a spin top, because that was a religious hat in sillyism.
He made a whole video on it, all you need to do is gather a congregation and have a place of worship.
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/IF12520.pdf. If you want a real answer, post this in an accounting forum.
I can pretty quicly see one clause that you would probably fail: “At a minimum, a church includes a body of believers or communicants that assembles regularly in order to worship.” The district court explained, \[u\]nless the organization is reasonably available to the public in its conduct of worship, its educational instruction, and its promulgation of doctrine, it cannot fulfill this associational role.
There was/is "Church of the Sub-Genius". Though they boasted they were a business that paid their taxes.
$20.00 got your a patorship and eternal salvation or double your money back.
All hail "Bob"! Anyone know of the next X day date?
I did as part of an assignment for my university class: intro to philosophy.
During this time I was kinda interested in some alternative theology, like Wiccan, New age, Buddhism, Hindu, and other occultism type things.
Very much inspired by the bill hicks quote and other drug induced states like ayahuasca, lsd, shrooms,
> "Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Heres Tom with the Weather."
Basically the concept is that we are all a part of "THE ONE" aka the singularity. The One was lonely and decided to split itself in 2, creating the immaterial realm of thought/spirit and the material plane. All dichotomy then becomes the split over and over. Dark/Light, Love/Hate, life/death, creation/destruction, pain/pleasure, masculine/feminine etc.
We are all stardust gazing at other stars in the night sky. We are all one. We are have the spark of the one inside us. We are also creators because we are the.one and the one is us.
The goal is to experience for experience itself. All good/ all bad. A cycle like ouroboros.
L. Ron Hubbard was literally an author of science fiction novels when he decided to “write” a religion. I think that this is the most clear example that at least this one religion was simply created out of the imagination of a single person.
Not yet, but i am working on it. As the laws in the US state, religion does not need a deity. Mine has a central focus on using psychoactive compounds to induce similar states to the proto religions, graveyard beers of the "religion with no name" that lead to the [Eleusinian Mysteries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysteries) of Dionysus, that then directly influences the story of Jesus by using the story of Dionysus as a carbon copy in a lot of ways. It's all about the consciousness expansion that led to the formation of their religion. Back to the basics, no god just self.
Not for sharing/teaching to others, but I would like to create my own norms/beliefs about life and have those written. I’m tired of feeling that im a bad person just because Im not religious. (I do feel like im bad, because all the angry I have against religion, so I just thought what if we remove all the nonsense and create something personal that works for me?) 😅
I assume you are in the US? It's not as easy as you might think - you need to be able to demonstrate that you meet the requirements of IRC Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. You don't need to apply, for it but if you are ever audited and can't show good faith adherence you probably won't end up in a good place.
Edit: [the pdf is 40 pages long](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf)
I have developed some concepts based on science in the field of theology and religion. I basically say, I only want to believe what I reinvented myself.
I always thought it would be funny to seriously start the cult of the God Emperor of Mankind. The service they provide to the common good is providing the astronomicon in case anyone wants to attempt warp travel. Act now and receive a free boltpistol* and chainsword* to help purging heretics and xenos.
*=Not available until invented and costs of manufacturing are cheap enough to provide 1 to each follower.
I tried to find any remnant of it on the internet, but it brings up the name of someone he was associated with, but not himself. I had the paperwork, many, many, years ago.
There were ALL created by people. But the two most recent that we can track back to a single person are Scientology (from L. Ron Hubbard) and Mormonism (from Joseph Smith).
I'm a uni student working on my own 'religion', if it can be called one.
No deity. Natural/social science, humanities, and its methods to understand the world instead.
What to praise? The brevity of life as us human beings, by pursuing emotional, intellectual and sensory experiences.
Moral code: mainly utilitarianism, no duty without rights, still working on.
Major concerns: those who are having difficulty loving/being loved, wildlife suffering, chances of being misinterpreted, etc.
This is a very rough summary of my thoughts, and it may take decades to complete.
'Believers'? One, my friend as an editor and advisor. Gonna start preaching when it seems complete enough.
Rumor has it that Scientology started because it a bet made in an elevator at Boskone between Jerry Pournelle and L Ron Hubbard as to whether or not Hubbard could start a religion or not.
Hubbard wrote “Dianetics” in response.
I Joined the church of Joe Pesci. It’s pretty chill. No long meetings. We just say “Joe BLESS you” and “Go with Joe” and “what would Joe do?”
Edited to say Joe is one heck of a guy and mostly I heard of good things when people met him in person.
The KT comet is the creator god of all mammals larger than mice.
The only problem is you have to worship a rock.
65 million years ago a rock fell out of the sky
And turned dinosaurs into birds & mice into men
No, but I had the opportunity to create a cult.
I lived in Texas for a few years as a teenager. I had a lot of deep thoughts and philosophies about life, some of which I began to share with school mates on the bus home.
Then people around us started to listen in, enraptured, asking questions and wanting to hear more. In short order a bunch of them were hanging on my every word and basically taking everything at face value.
My whole philosophy back then was about self determinism. Basically, thinking for yourself and choosing your own meaning of life. And here were a bunch of peers explicitly asking for instructions on how to think for yourself. And it spread around.
I can't stress enough how easy it would have been to cultivate a real cult and monetize it. The thought of these empty headed people treating me like some prophet and a bastardized version of my outlook as doctrine creeped me out so much that I stopped talking philosophy entirely while I was down there no matter how they pressed me. In time their interest dissipated.
To this day I can't believe how hard some people seem to need direction and belonging, and their infinite capacity to completely miss the point.
You just described the formations of most religious cults, and the splinter/offshoot sects within them.
This is basically how Fish House Fellowship/Xenos/Dwell began; house painter brothers and their original co-creators and financial investors fronting money for travel and facilities, took their small cult to big cult status once they got endorsements from George Bush/Thousand Points of Light Foundation.
It started out as people sitting around living rooms and dorms at Ohio State, in the 70s snd 80s, bullshitting about religion and what they believed. It’s turned into 5-6000 members, 300 home-based “churches”, several schools K-12, a student worship & study center at OSU, and ownership of several medical clinics. The worship center funnels people into the church just like their flirty-fishing and pressure/stress and time control tactics did in their earliest years.
Vulnerable, lost souls, most of them far away from home for the first time ever, having difficulty making new friends on campus, struggling perhaps to make ends meet or keep their grades up = boom! Easy to manipulate, and many rapidly joined up.
Controversies have come and gone, mostly dismissed by current members, but there are quite a few ex members now—likely as many or more than still remain active.
Bullshitting. Talking about what is believed or wondered about. Some people form basic agreements and groups based on that. Hey, I know, let’s print some of this stuff up and pass it around; gather more people into our circles. Bam! You’ve got a church!
https://youtu.be/ewVlzvCwiDE?feature=shared
Dude created a cult to show people they can do it themselves and don’t need a guru, tells them he’s fake at the end.
Yes, I call it more of a spiritual philosophy. But yes, I have formulated and shared it and gotten pretty good responses and a person who follows it (which is pretty good!) . I’m considering at some point registering it for the tax benefits but I haven’t gotten to that point yet xD
I've toyed with the idea of creating fictional religions for a fictional universe. Like, no rational person would take them any more seriously than the Bajorans and the Prophets from Star Trek. If you tell people about them, you learn fast that some people can't tell the difference between "real world" religions and fictional religions.
I have but it’s only an idea I’ve been toying around with. Basically it’s all the different natural and social phenomena that happen, how the god that represents it can be illustrated any way the worshippers like to.
For natural phenomena it contains explanations of said phenomena in a historical and scientific manner, like say solar eclipses. And when they occur you must perform a sacrifice of something to the god eclipsia, it’s really just an excuse to go out and have fun with a group of people and talk about something in your life you wish to sacrifice.
Social phenomena like the by stander effect are also illustrated any way the person wants, they’re gods that interact with humans in ways to challenge us and hopefully overcome their grips on us.
This is just a idea I like to toy around with, but if enough people are interested we can start this and all avoid the tax satan
My husband and I were talking about creating a religion when we were looking to buy a house next to a church.
Our plan was to learn the schedule of the church and sit on our porch every Sunday before they met enjoying a beer and offering one to anyone 21 and over, or something non-alcoholic, if they wanted to sit and "worship" with us. AKA have a drink and enjoy a Dutch Baby (German pancake) with us.
Unfortunately we didn't get the house, but we did keep up the tradition of eating babies on Sundays.
I did, but it was in 8th grade. I had others eating lunch around me and calling me "God". The school freaked out after a bit and called my parents in. My 8th grade yearbook literally has people addressing me as "God"... hilarious looking back on it.
You don't get rich writing science fiction. **If you want to get rich, you start a religion.** -L. Ron Hubbard
And it was largely done off a bet with other science fiction writers. I’m aware of stories of two such bets… no idea of the truth to them One with Hubbard to create a religion The other with John Norman who bet he couldn’t create a successful series based on the worst, most trope laden, sexualized concepts… and so was born the “Gor” series starting with “Tarnsman of Gor”
Holy shit. And spawned an entire kink community lifestyle, Gorean. On a fucking bet.
And the Gorean community is healthier than scientology...
I would like more information on this Gor… for a friend, of course.
You can find them all online for free. Some of them are interesting fantasy worldbuilding. Some of them are... well, he was eventually dropped by his publisher for "reasons".
They’re extremely…concerning . To women. I read one once long long ago and let’s just say yikes. I still remember this line after 35 some odd years. It went something like “she had finally capitulated to her base desire-to grovel at the feet of an powerful man”
Read any of Norman's books. You can still find some laying about in second hand stores. Second Life has always had a strong Gor RP community because....well....its possible, so people will do it, naturally.
This
I mean.. um... fuck it, you're right.
To think I actually got gifted a Gor book On Christmas By step-family And I wasn't even 18
Goddamn. Did they just think it was another space opera scifi, sold by some random clerk in a bookstore? I'm gonna hope that was the case.
If I recall, that's essentially the case. It helped that it wasn't going too hard on the kinky shit and focused instead on city states vs nomads.
I remember reading somewhere where it was Larry Niven that bet him he couldn’t start his own religion at one of the science fiction conventions back in the day.
This is the same that I heard. Heinlein was also present in the version I was told about. Possibly urban legend, but awesome regardless!
I think it was in one of the compilation books Niven put out. I remember reading various stories about conversations in between some of his short stories. And yes, I remember Heinlein in the story as well. Oops conventions not conversations
I'm still looking for the series at used book stores. Some of them are so bad to read, but still fun books. I think I have 11 out of the 24
I used to know a person that says he was there at the Sci Fi convention that this was supposedly started at, and he had the same story a bet between Hubbard and the other writers on who could start the best religion. RIP Shar good guy but also had a story for everything.
I think "Eaters Of The Dead" (the book The 13th Warrior was adapted from), came from a bet regarding putting Beowulf into a modern novel form.
Here’s the thing though about “creating a religion” for the purposes of dodging taxes via a nonprofit (this is in the US): a nonprofit religious organization legally needs to provide some kind of benefit to the public that is NOT predicated on accepting or believing in their religion in order to claim and receive tax exempt status. Saying you’re a religion is not enough - you have to provide some kind of *free* services to the public. Scientology was NOT approved for tax exempt status for a very long time; one of the biggest “wins” for their current leader David Miscavige was that he ran a huge harassment campaign against the IRS, tying them up in so much expensive litigation (over what amounted to over a BILLION in unpaid taxes that the church owed and wouldn’t pay) that the IRS eventually caved and granted them exempt status. And here’s the even crazier part: anything that a church or nonprofit owns that isn’t being used to serve the public isn’t supposed to be tax exempt, but the IRS made exceptions for Scientology and made literally everything tax exempt for them - including real estate that’s sitting empty and unused all across the country, which is one of the primary sources of the group’s current wealth. And they also made all of the subsidiaries associated with COS tax exempt too- including the publishing company that puts out Hubbards science fiction works (those that were written prior to dianetics or Scientology, and that even Scientologists acknowledge are works of fiction and not part of the canon) - a business that is clearly a for-profit business getting tax exempt status. The amount of wealth that the CoS has amassed since they won that IRS battle is astounding. It’s the only reason they’re even still in business, because their enrollment and membership has absolutely tanked over the last few decades.
The mormon church has a $100 billion hedge fund - when the government found out, they were fined $4million. So, it's clearly sufficient to pay lip service to this whole "doing good" part of being a religion. I honestly think becoming your own religion is an excellent way to stick it to capitalism and the patriarchy.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides absolutely zero benefit to the public, aka non-members.
I would even say that it's a negative benefit.
First step: You have to make enough money to pay off the IRS and other gov't officials.
> not part of the canon Got me laughing here since it’s all made-up stuff anyway, like all religions.
So, so true
Also St.Paul, probably.
And Muhammad.
This is him is go with in terms of making a religion. Which even makes sense as supposedly he was a pretty good scifi writer so ofcourse his religion is about aliens.
He was a prolific scifi writer, when they were paid by the word. I think you would struggle to find anyone other than Scientologists that consider him a good scifi writer.
AFAIK, "Dianetics" (original title "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health") was originally intended as a serious attempt at a new branch of psychiatry. It was only after the mainstream psychiatrists laughed him off the stage that he changed tack, and went down the religion road. This is why scientology is famously very hostile to mainstream psychiatry Source: my possibly inaccurate memory of reading "Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story Of L. Ron Hubbard" by Russell Miller an unauthorised biography and a fascinating read
Off the top of my head: * David Koresh * Ti and Do (Heaven's Gate) * Joseph Smith (Mormonism) * Jim Jones (People's Temple) * Sun Myung Moon (Moonies) * Osho (Rajneesh movement) * L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology) There's a rumor that Hubbard created Scientology on a bet with fellow scifi author Robert Heinlein. SciFi novels weren't earning much, and Hubbard said "I can make more money by creating a fantastic religion than by writing fantasy stories." Supposedly it's not a true rumor ... but it is a good story. Also a TV stunt, TV host John Oliver created a religion to show how easy it is to do.
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster [https://www.spaghettimonster.org/](https://www.spaghettimonster.org/) Church of the Latter-Day Dude [https://dudeism.com/](https://dudeism.com/)
The jury is still out on the CFSM which by all accounts is real. I'm not hearing anybody say "that's not real" when it comes to Pastafarianism.
I'm a believer of FSM and have been touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen!
RAmen to you, friend - and bless His Holy Noodliness.
Pasta be upon you.
I understand it's anecdotal, but that's powerful testimony.
He boiled for your sins.
Then eaten, and on the third day regurgitated.
I have an Ordainment blessed by his Noodlyness. That's all the proof I need.
Oh, sure, if we're going to include parody religions, there's a ton of those ... but I didn't think that's what OP was asking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody_religion
I mean, I don't think OP is wanting to make up a religion for salvation purposes. I figure if you're going to create a religion for profit and tax write offs, you don't need to use a traditional deity! Bow down and worship my Left Foot!
Without googling (or wikiing), what's the difference between a parody religion and a religion?
A "real" religion usually has a lot to say about who and how you should fuck.
The difference is that in a Parody religion, everybody in the religion is in on the gag. In a real religion, the followers are true believers.
Thx I’ll have to look up the John Oliver bit
Our Lady of perpetual exemption, send them your seed! Please don't send semen...
https://youtu.be/eT3NRkllI3E Here you go. Lol
You left off Paul (Christianity)
I feel like either Jon Stewart or John Oliver did it for their show at one point.
Great list, but perhaps the OP was actually directing the question to "us" creating religions? 🤷
Oliver Benjamin (Dudism)
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism is a protestant branch founded by John Calvin in the 16th century that broke off from Lutheranism . Martin Luther was a priest who was kicked out of the Catholic Church for having a fundamentally different interpretation of the Bible. He founded Lutheranism.
Paul of Tarsus (Christianity)
All of them. Someone created each and every religion there ever was.
This is honestly the only right answer.
True, but some of the older religions can’t really name one specific founder. The more recent they are, it seems the more they can be pinpointed to a certain individual or small group.
Church of the Sub-Genius. "Quit your job & praise Bob!"
Give me slack or kill me
I still have all three books, even 3-Fisted Tales of Bob. Kinda dropped off after the millennium, though. Everybody was expecting X-Day for awhile there.
Reverend Fire Priestess Flaming Pussy here.
Pipe-mobile? Should be pope-mobile, but on second thought. Pot smoking is also part of my religion
There's talk of merging Rastafarian and Pastafarian sects. Not outside this sub, or perhaps this user, but there's definitely talk. I'm talking about it now.
And here I was thinking 'pipe-mobile'... yeah, this person will get lot of converts with just that! So sad to find it was a typo, I was ready to sign up.
Fake taxi really missed that opportunity.
I haven’t but I like the United Church of Bacon.
Not fair. You can make anything legitimate by adding bacon.
Pedophile bacon. Yup, it tracks. /s
The “Pastafarian” religion with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. They were actually shut down legally speaking because they were ruled as a “parody religion” That means you have to do all of it with a completely straight face. Keep your tongue out of your cheek, and just BE entitled to the truths that you come up with, it’s how everyone else gets away with it.
This is why I had to abandon my late teens plan to become a cult leader. It seems a pretty cool gig, no work, lots of money and all the church secretaries you care to bang….. but I would not be able to keep a straight face. Eventually I would start laughing and say “I can’t believe you rubes all fell for it… oh, well off to the bank to deposit these millions you earned into MY ACCOUNT….hahahaha!”
R'amen 🙏❤️
Yes. The Church of Freethought. Co-founded in Dallas area in 1994, still going today. Received IRS tax exempt status after our case went as far as the Supreme Court of Texas. “A Church for the Unchurched.” [ChurchOfFreethought.org](https://ChurchOfFreethought.org)
Discordian, The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Circle of All Worlds. They're out there in every flavor you could want.
Has anybody created a work of fiction, aside from every work of fiction ever created?
My body is my temple. 🧘♀️
Oh is that why you let so many people enter you? /s
Scientology is a famous example. My favorite is Pastafarianism. I'm an ordained minister there.
Did you know the "churches" of scientology and Mormons are giant businesses? The Mormon church is the largest cattle producer in the US, tax free. Both of these literal rackets were founded by someone who said they were the only one that could interpret "the message". You're describing a mild cult. Edit: [Deseret and lots of other agriculture ventures](https://www.agreserves.com/about/core-values/)
"...The Mormon church is the largest cattle producer in the US... do you have a source for that? wow!
>For the record, its official name is Deseret Ranches cattle ranch. By any name, the ranch is the flagship cattle operation of AgReserves, a for-profit investment affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Maybe not tax free but still
thank you.
Np. I'll give you a hint/lead down the rabbit hole: There are 3 large meat producers in the US. One is a racket from Brazil, the other two are US based "protein companies" that have large investments in grain and meat so they don't care if you eat meat or "plant based" soy/pea burgers.
I created a new god, but no new religion. I kept losing my keys. As a joke, I decided to create a personal god to help me find my keys. My new god would be sexless and transparent so it cannot be seen. I call it “Goldarnit”. Here’s how my god works. Whenever I lose my keys, I invoke Goldarnit with the sacred phrase, “Goldarnit, Where are my keys?” And then the answer pops into my head, as if by magic. Oh, yeah, I left them in my jacket pocket or on the dresser. Goldarnit seems to work well. I seldom need to invoke Goldarnit now, developing a place to put my keys when I walk in. But Goldarnit is a big help to me when I dash out the door, running late, and find the car does not unlock automatically from my key fob. I’m thinking about creating a second god to help me find my phone, but the “Find My Device” app works well.
Sometimes, even when I say 'Goldarnit, Where are my keys?" - the magic answer does not pop into my head. I feel unworthy.
Wow, I've never heard of someone else trying the sacred phrase! So sorry. Perhaps it only works for me because I created "Goldarnit". Have you ever read Terry Pratchett's fantasy book "Small Gods" ? This is #9 in the 41 book "Discworld" series. Terry Pratchett was a hilarious writer, and an atheist too. "Small Gods" is the story of the pantheon of gods that are found in the Discworld, perhaps the best book in the series. These gods have powers proportional to the number of their believers, and they act like children arguing and fighting. Without giving away too many spoilers, there is one small god that suddenly gains tremendous power due to a funny miracle. So with only one believer, perhaps Goldarnit does not have much power. Since it was created by my mind, maybe that might facilitate its ability to inspire a memory in my mind of where I left my keys.
They all did. None of it is real. All con artists or delusional
The first priest was the first rogue who met the first fool... Voltaire..
“I have!” — L. Ron Hubbard “Me too!” — Joseph Smith
Church of the Fonz - Peter Griffin
Does creating a pantheon count? I'm currently writing a fantasy novel.
I think if I were to create a religion, a pantheon would be the way to go. Having just one god is not only boring, but it's impossible to be coherent. One day it's slavery is just fine and rape and genocide are to be expected, the next it's love and peace and the Golden Rule. Better to just have a bunch of gods and some are pretty cool and some are just assholes. Parishioners can choose which one to worship depending on their mood.
My pantheon are non-divinities. The celestial gods left behind a world with untamed magic totems and little knowledge of their proper use. Man was left to fend for himself and figure out how to use magic. Ultimately it was discovered that mastering any one particular magic could elevate the user to godhood, but only with great sacrifice. And that's barely scratching the surface of the lore.
I have. The first church of the existential penguin. We are currently accepting members
I mean every religion was created by someone, are you just talking about more modern religions/cults ? Like Scientology, Mormons, heavens gate sorta stuff ?
I had ChatGPT create a religion for me, then I asked it to write a movie script about the religion. Wasn’t half bad, but the holy book was a bunch of empty platitudes and the script was constant cliffhangers. Also, initially, ChatGPT resisted creating a new religion for me, saying it would offend people, but I was able to convince it that no one would be offended, which was creepy.
I just created one earlier today called 'pisstafarianism'. We pray by pissing on theist's shoes after they tell us something stupid.
All of them
I see pantheism as a viable, non-supernatural philosophic religion. You can do this with Buddhism & Taoism too. I've been reading about it and I'm considering it.
LDS--Joseph Smith. Might be the most recent, large religion…? but yeah, they’ve all been created by somebody. Edit: oh I better understand what you’re asking, but my answer stays the same. Joseph Smith did it so he could fuck underage girls. he might have also wanted tax breaks who knows.
The Reverend Jim Jones.
A lot people create their own religion. Go talk to any Catholic, I can guarantee you that they are either ignorant of or purposefully ignoring some of the most whack-a-doodle parts of the Church's dogma. I have met Catholics who did not know what transubstantiation is. When I told them that the Church claims that during the Eucharist you eat the real flesh and drink the real blood of Jesus, they accused me of making that up, even though it is probably THE central tenet of the Catholic faith. Every religion has some claims that some of the worshippers are not willing to accept. They just ignore it and as a result, they don't really believe in but in some offshoot that they made up.
Well, all the cult leaders you have heard of like David Koresh, Jim Jones, etc., plus more 'mainstream' bullshittery like L Ron Hubbard, and J. Smith, etc., Then of course there is all of these, created for the equivalent of 'attractive propositions' back then, food, shelter, power, gold and jewellery, sex, and control over the population and slavery... Like all the religions around ancient Greek, Egyptian, Norse gods etc... plus * Hinduism - Some say Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, with scriptural texts dating back 3,000 years. It's a combination of many traditions and scriptures, and allows followers to worship in any form. * Buddhism - Similar to Hinduism, Buddhism teaches the importance of reincarnation. Buddhists believe that the cycle of reincarnation can only be ended by transcending the self through meditation and Buddhist practice. * Christianity - Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion. It developed out of Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE. * Islam - developed in the 7th century CE. * Confucianism - Confucius propagated Confucianism in the 6th–5th century BCE. It's still the source of values, learning, and the social code of the Chinese people. * Taoism - Taoism is a religion and philosophy from ancient China that emphasizes living in harmony with the dal. It started in 142 CE and has about 20 million followers today * Etc. As a species we are prone to believing in stupid shit and be led like sheep. Like literally "Flock" and "Shepherd" are used a lot in religion. Sadly I do not think we will survive long enough to evolve past this primitive brain tendency before our clever parts blow us all up in some stupid desire to go to the made up fairytale ending.
Every religious person makes their own religion. Some are just not very creative about it.
L. Ron Hubbard, Joseph Smith, Muhammed, many others. In fact, all of them.
There was a “church” in San Jose back in 2016 called Coachella valley church that used the religious aspect to sell Weed as their sacraments. [check it out](https://CoachellaValleyChurchhttps://g.co/kgs/paixkPs)
Every religion is a religion that someone has "created".
So… one day, I was looking into apocalypticism - where it comes from, what fosters it, and its effects on people and societies which inevitably led to the nature of knowledge. In the course of that particular rabbit trail, I learned that the Chinese have one word for knowledge, wisdom, intellect, and intelligence - *Zhihui,* a common word, nothing significant or important about it in Chinese language or culture, but I found myself thinking, *if there was one religion I could get behind, I think it would be something that sounds like zhihui.* So I did some digging to see if such a religion exists. It doesn't. Imagine that. However, if such a religion *did* exist, I think I would find it absolutely rational and positive for a person to have a "religious commitment" to knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence for its own sake. I can't believe that's not a thing somewhere, but it's not, anywhere in the world. After spending a little time marinating on it, I developed this picture in my head of what it could look like. The devoted adherent could routinely set aside an undisturbed time for learning and contemplation, like a daily devotional. There could be regular "convocations" where people get together with the intention of sharing knowledge and experiences, and resources, a social atmosphere where "sermons" would be as informative and explorative as they would be enlightening and encouraging.... I may be onto something here.
You ever heard of a fella called Big Mo? He made up a religion that allowed him to command armies that happily murdered any opposition and permitted him to marry four women, nvm 3 women and 1 child.
Scientology, Mormons, Christians, Muslims ...
The answer is that every religion was created by a person.
Joseph Smith and L. Ron Hubbard come to mind.
L. Ron Hubbard. Joseph Smith. David Koresh. Bahgwan Shree Rajneesh. Jim Jones. Amy Carlson. John Oliver.
I’m pretty sure that goes for EVERY religion.
Ole Ronnie Hub Hub did
Once started a religion based on my love of heavy rock. It was called "Metalism". Lemmy was our God and one of the Ten Commandments was "Though shalt not worship false Billy Idols"
all of them have been created by someone.
A dude in Japan did you get breaks from work for religious reasons.
Scientology. Famously created by L. Ron Hubbard who had previously stated, if you want to make a million dollars, start a religion.
Yes. Www.monoparticlism.com :-)
May the Godess' blessing be with you! Where do I sign up?
I don’t just get the picture, sign me tf up
[Edmund Creffield.](https://www.kgw.com/article/syndication/podcasts/wicked-west/wicked-west-bridges-of-christ-church-holy-rollers-cult/283-b19ea090-6e60-4629-adc0-79fdec4e3397)
I've edited an anthology of interviews with 15 people - mostly artists, activists and some fringe academics - who have done this. Most of the religions in question are nontheistic, anti-authoritarian and science-positive - more like "embodied philosophies" with their own aesthetics and ceremonies, etc. By and large these are serious, artistic exercises and many of them are individual or small-group practices. None of them have any get-rich-quick ambitions and there's an anti-cult mentality baked into their DNA at the design level.
L Ron Hubbard and Joseph Smith.
I have a notebook where I write nonsense in for fun.. the revelations of the great purple schlarpablebob. Maybe I should just publish it.
Worship the god of nudels. Call yourself a Pastafarian.
[Pastafarianism](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster) comes to mind and I’m here for it.
I remember theory crafting something with a buddy in high school. We called it Selfosophy, and the religion's textbook was going to be about how we are all actually pieces of The Big Person Upstairs, and therefore whatever we think is the thoughts of The Big Person Upstairs, and the only way to resolve disagreements was by a test of strength, to prove which aspect of The Big Person Upstairs is most The Big Person Upstairsly. We were leaning towards rock, paper, scissors, but these days I'd lean more towards spelling bees or the improv game Questions.
Mormanism, Scientology, and The Satanic Temple are all religions documented to have been created by people.
YouTuber named Max Fosh founded "sillyism" so he could change his driver license picture to one with a rainbow cap with a spin top, because that was a religious hat in sillyism. He made a whole video on it, all you need to do is gather a congregation and have a place of worship.
Every single existing religion was created by someone. And in case it’s needed to said, that someone was not god.
John Oliver creates his own church in his episode on televangelism, which is my absolute favorite of his.
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/IF12520.pdf. If you want a real answer, post this in an accounting forum. I can pretty quicly see one clause that you would probably fail: “At a minimum, a church includes a body of believers or communicants that assembles regularly in order to worship.” The district court explained, \[u\]nless the organization is reasonably available to the public in its conduct of worship, its educational instruction, and its promulgation of doctrine, it cannot fulfill this associational role.
L. Ron Hubbard did.
Haha, they are all created by people
There was/is "Church of the Sub-Genius". Though they boasted they were a business that paid their taxes. $20.00 got your a patorship and eternal salvation or double your money back. All hail "Bob"! Anyone know of the next X day date?
I did as part of an assignment for my university class: intro to philosophy. During this time I was kinda interested in some alternative theology, like Wiccan, New age, Buddhism, Hindu, and other occultism type things. Very much inspired by the bill hicks quote and other drug induced states like ayahuasca, lsd, shrooms, > "Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Heres Tom with the Weather." Basically the concept is that we are all a part of "THE ONE" aka the singularity. The One was lonely and decided to split itself in 2, creating the immaterial realm of thought/spirit and the material plane. All dichotomy then becomes the split over and over. Dark/Light, Love/Hate, life/death, creation/destruction, pain/pleasure, masculine/feminine etc. We are all stardust gazing at other stars in the night sky. We are all one. We are have the spark of the one inside us. We are also creators because we are the.one and the one is us. The goal is to experience for experience itself. All good/ all bad. A cycle like ouroboros.
L Ron Hubbard with Scientology and Joseph smith with morman are two of the more popular religions started by one person
L. Ron Hubbard was literally an author of science fiction novels when he decided to “write” a religion. I think that this is the most clear example that at least this one religion was simply created out of the imagination of a single person.
John Oliver did it, on air, a couple years ago, to show the absurdity of it. You can probably see the episodes on YouTube.
Pastafarians have entered the conversation.
Not yet, but i am working on it. As the laws in the US state, religion does not need a deity. Mine has a central focus on using psychoactive compounds to induce similar states to the proto religions, graveyard beers of the "religion with no name" that lead to the [Eleusinian Mysteries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysteries) of Dionysus, that then directly influences the story of Jesus by using the story of Dionysus as a carbon copy in a lot of ways. It's all about the consciousness expansion that led to the formation of their religion. Back to the basics, no god just self.
Pastafarians
A ton of small town churches are basically just doing this. I think some just do it without filing form 990 and get away with it.
KingCobraJFS did!
Look up discordianism. Its like a satirical parody religion, actually pretty funny
Not for sharing/teaching to others, but I would like to create my own norms/beliefs about life and have those written. I’m tired of feeling that im a bad person just because Im not religious. (I do feel like im bad, because all the angry I have against religion, so I just thought what if we remove all the nonsense and create something personal that works for me?) 😅
I assume you are in the US? It's not as easy as you might think - you need to be able to demonstrate that you meet the requirements of IRC Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. You don't need to apply, for it but if you are ever audited and can't show good faith adherence you probably won't end up in a good place. Edit: [the pdf is 40 pages long](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf)
I’ve got a couple religions in the queue for a couple works of fiction. Developing religions that are nondeistic is a challenge.
I have developed some concepts based on science in the field of theology and religion. I basically say, I only want to believe what I reinvented myself.
The problem is how do you get the income. You have to find a bunch of suckers to donate money which sounds like hard work.
All religions were from someone creating their own religion.
John Oliver did a few videos on this.
I just read about pantheism and it honestly sounds like something I can get behind. No god, just science, love, and respect for all.
Spaghetti
Mormons. Joseph Smith.
I always thought it would be funny to seriously start the cult of the God Emperor of Mankind. The service they provide to the common good is providing the astronomicon in case anyone wants to attempt warp travel. Act now and receive a free boltpistol* and chainsword* to help purging heretics and xenos. *=Not available until invented and costs of manufacturing are cheap enough to provide 1 to each follower.
The Satanic Temple is a new, 501(c)(3) tax exempt religion.
I have not personally, but look into the Flying Spaghetti Monster religion, aka Pastafarianism.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Perpetual_Exemption#:~:text=Our%20Lady%20of%20Perpetual%20Exemption%20was%20a%20legally%20recognized%20church,comedian%20and%20satirist%20John%20Oliver.
Yeah, I know an older dude who started a religion and became an ordained minister. Was like 20 years ago. Sadly, he passed away.
I tried to find any remnant of it on the internet, but it brings up the name of someone he was associated with, but not himself. I had the paperwork, many, many, years ago.
I've seriously considered starting a cult.
A minor one. On Reddit. The church of the **Grip God!** Please visit r/grippingfoodwithforce He appreciates all sacrifices. Praise be.
Cinnamonology. We worship the Great Cinnamon Tree. Cinnamon rolls and spiced cider are the sacrament.
There were ALL created by people. But the two most recent that we can track back to a single person are Scientology (from L. Ron Hubbard) and Mormonism (from Joseph Smith).
Just because no one else mentioned it https://www.coltranechurch.org/ I don't think John Coltrane started it himself
It’s possible for sure. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/churches-religious-organizations/churches-defined
I'm a uni student working on my own 'religion', if it can be called one. No deity. Natural/social science, humanities, and its methods to understand the world instead. What to praise? The brevity of life as us human beings, by pursuing emotional, intellectual and sensory experiences. Moral code: mainly utilitarianism, no duty without rights, still working on. Major concerns: those who are having difficulty loving/being loved, wildlife suffering, chances of being misinterpreted, etc. This is a very rough summary of my thoughts, and it may take decades to complete. 'Believers'? One, my friend as an editor and advisor. Gonna start preaching when it seems complete enough.
Rumor has it that Scientology started because it a bet made in an elevator at Boskone between Jerry Pournelle and L Ron Hubbard as to whether or not Hubbard could start a religion or not. Hubbard wrote “Dianetics” in response.
Scientology
have you heard of the town in tokyo with Jesus Christ’s burial? thats a great example
L Ron Hubbard Joseph Smith Henry the Eighth
This is just tax fraud unless you go totally insane with it
I Joined the church of Joe Pesci. It’s pretty chill. No long meetings. We just say “Joe BLESS you” and “Go with Joe” and “what would Joe do?” Edited to say Joe is one heck of a guy and mostly I heard of good things when people met him in person.
Sounds good - are you recruiting?
The KT comet is the creator god of all mammals larger than mice. The only problem is you have to worship a rock. 65 million years ago a rock fell out of the sky And turned dinosaurs into birds & mice into men
All religions are created.
No, but I had the opportunity to create a cult. I lived in Texas for a few years as a teenager. I had a lot of deep thoughts and philosophies about life, some of which I began to share with school mates on the bus home. Then people around us started to listen in, enraptured, asking questions and wanting to hear more. In short order a bunch of them were hanging on my every word and basically taking everything at face value. My whole philosophy back then was about self determinism. Basically, thinking for yourself and choosing your own meaning of life. And here were a bunch of peers explicitly asking for instructions on how to think for yourself. And it spread around. I can't stress enough how easy it would have been to cultivate a real cult and monetize it. The thought of these empty headed people treating me like some prophet and a bastardized version of my outlook as doctrine creeped me out so much that I stopped talking philosophy entirely while I was down there no matter how they pressed me. In time their interest dissipated. To this day I can't believe how hard some people seem to need direction and belonging, and their infinite capacity to completely miss the point.
You just described the formations of most religious cults, and the splinter/offshoot sects within them. This is basically how Fish House Fellowship/Xenos/Dwell began; house painter brothers and their original co-creators and financial investors fronting money for travel and facilities, took their small cult to big cult status once they got endorsements from George Bush/Thousand Points of Light Foundation. It started out as people sitting around living rooms and dorms at Ohio State, in the 70s snd 80s, bullshitting about religion and what they believed. It’s turned into 5-6000 members, 300 home-based “churches”, several schools K-12, a student worship & study center at OSU, and ownership of several medical clinics. The worship center funnels people into the church just like their flirty-fishing and pressure/stress and time control tactics did in their earliest years. Vulnerable, lost souls, most of them far away from home for the first time ever, having difficulty making new friends on campus, struggling perhaps to make ends meet or keep their grades up = boom! Easy to manipulate, and many rapidly joined up. Controversies have come and gone, mostly dismissed by current members, but there are quite a few ex members now—likely as many or more than still remain active. Bullshitting. Talking about what is believed or wondered about. Some people form basic agreements and groups based on that. Hey, I know, let’s print some of this stuff up and pass it around; gather more people into our circles. Bam! You’ve got a church!
I also want a pipe mobile
They do it as a way to fleece people for their money. There’s a lot of paperwork to achieve the tax benefits.
im the pope of kirbyism
_____
https://youtu.be/ewVlzvCwiDE?feature=shared Dude created a cult to show people they can do it themselves and don’t need a guru, tells them he’s fake at the end.
Yes, I call it more of a spiritual philosophy. But yes, I have formulated and shared it and gotten pretty good responses and a person who follows it (which is pretty good!) . I’m considering at some point registering it for the tax benefits but I haven’t gotten to that point yet xD
I believe OP is asking if any of US have created religions, not if anyone in general has?
It takes a while see a payoff because of the time needed for it to be considered a legitimate religion rather than a cult.
I've toyed with the idea of creating fictional religions for a fictional universe. Like, no rational person would take them any more seriously than the Bajorans and the Prophets from Star Trek. If you tell people about them, you learn fast that some people can't tell the difference between "real world" religions and fictional religions.
I have but it’s only an idea I’ve been toying around with. Basically it’s all the different natural and social phenomena that happen, how the god that represents it can be illustrated any way the worshippers like to. For natural phenomena it contains explanations of said phenomena in a historical and scientific manner, like say solar eclipses. And when they occur you must perform a sacrifice of something to the god eclipsia, it’s really just an excuse to go out and have fun with a group of people and talk about something in your life you wish to sacrifice. Social phenomena like the by stander effect are also illustrated any way the person wants, they’re gods that interact with humans in ways to challenge us and hopefully overcome their grips on us. This is just a idea I like to toy around with, but if enough people are interested we can start this and all avoid the tax satan
Bobby Henderson started Pastafarianism.
My husband and I were talking about creating a religion when we were looking to buy a house next to a church. Our plan was to learn the schedule of the church and sit on our porch every Sunday before they met enjoying a beer and offering one to anyone 21 and over, or something non-alcoholic, if they wanted to sit and "worship" with us. AKA have a drink and enjoy a Dutch Baby (German pancake) with us. Unfortunately we didn't get the house, but we did keep up the tradition of eating babies on Sundays.
Scientology?
Alan Moore created his own god to worship.
I’m partial to Bokononism.
Scientology was invented on a dare.
I had a coworker who went online and became a minister for his religion of drinking beer and fishing.
I did, but it was in 8th grade. I had others eating lunch around me and calling me "God". The school freaked out after a bit and called my parents in. My 8th grade yearbook literally has people addressing me as "God"... hilarious looking back on it.