The Principia Discordia or How I Found the Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her by Malaclypse the Younger (Greg Hill) and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst (Kerry Thornley). You can find free copies online (it is "copyleft" document), but be sure to find an illustrated copy if you are going to read it.
The book presents a religion which parodies other religions and philosophies by pointing out the absurdities of certain beliefs, and at the same time embraces absurdity whole-heartedly. Greg Hill has stated that what he originally had in mind was a sort of "transcendental agnosticism" which was able to accept chaos and meaninglessness more earnestly than standard religion.
Here is a link to the full text with illustrations:
Principia Discordia | the book of Chaos, Discord and Confusion | Fnord!
And a few quotes:
Quote:
"What is this?" mumbled one to the other, "A religion based on The Goddess of Confusion? It is utter madness!"
And with those words, each looked at the other in absolute awe. Omar began to giggle. Mal began to laugh. Omar began to jump up and down. Mal was hooting and hollering to beat all hell. And amid squeals of mirth and with tears on their cheeks, each appointed the other to be high priest of his own madness, and together they declared themselves to be a society of Discordia, for what ever that may turn out to be.
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Quote:
A SERMON ON ETHICS AND LOVE
One day Mal-2 asked the messenger spirit Saint Gulik to approach the Goddess and request Her presence for some desperate advice. Shortly afterwards the radio came on by itself, and an ethereal female Voice said YES?
"O! Eris! Blessed Mother of Man! Queen of Chaos! Daughter of Discord! Concubine of Confusion! O! Exquisite Lady, I beseech You to lift a heavy burden from my heart!"
WHAT BOTHERS YOU, MAL? YOU DON'T SOUND WELL.
"I am filled with fear and tormented with terrible visions of pain. Everywhere people are hurting one another, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war. O, woe."
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THAT, IF IT IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?
"But nobody wants it! Everybody hates it."
OH. WELL, THEN STOP.
At which moment She turned herself into an aspirin commercial and left The Polyfather stranded alone with his species.
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Quote:
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I am chaos. I am the substance from which your artists and scientists build rhythms. I am the spirit with which your children and clowns laugh in happy anarchy. I am chaos. I am alive, and I tell you that you are free.
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