Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780754667803)

Utilising contemporary scholarship on secularisation, individualism, and consumer capitalism, this book explores religious movements founded in the West which are intentionally fictional: Discordianism, the Church of All Worlds, the Church of the Sub-Genius, and Jediism. Their continued appeal and success, principally in America but gaining wider audience through the 1980s and 1990s, is chiefly as a result of underground publishing and the internet. This book deals with immensely popular subject matter: Jediism developed from George Lucas' Star Wars films; the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, founded by 26-year-old student Bobby Henderson in 2005 as a protest against the teaching of Intelligent Design in schools; Discordianism and the Church of the Sub-Genius which retain strong followings and participation rates among college students. The Church of All Worlds' focus on Gaia theology and environmental issues makes it a popular focus of attention. The continued success of these groups of Invented Religions provide a unique opportunity to explore the nature of late/post-modern religious forms, including the use of fiction as part of a bricolage for spirituality, identity-formation, and personal orientation.

Author: Carole M. Cusack
ISBN-10: 0754667804
ISBN-13: 9780754667803
Publisher: Routledge
Language: English
Published: 09/20/2010
Pages: 186
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.50d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2011