Bokononism

Jasen777 · 03-03-2008, 12:56 PM

Here's something I just came across that I hadn't heard of before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokononism

Quote:

Bokononism is the fictional religion practiced by many of the characters in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle.

It is based on living by the untruths that make one happy, called foma. Many of the sacred texts of Bokononism were written in the form of calypsos. The foundation of Bokononism is that the religion, including its texts, is formed entirely of lies; however, if you believe and adhere to these lies, you will live a happy life.

Bokonon, a character in the novel, is the founder of the religion. He was born Lionel Boyd Johnson. "Bokonon" was the way the natives of San Lorenzo, the fictional Caribbean island where the shipwrecked Johnson started his religion, pronounced his family name.

I think it's an interesting idea.

GX · 03-03-2008, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasen777

Here's something I just came across that I hadn't heard of before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokononism

Quote:

Bokononism is the fictional religion practiced by many of the characters in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle.

It is based on living by the untruths that make one happy, called foma. Many of the sacred texts of Bokononism were written in the form of calypsos. The foundation of Bokononism is that the religion, including its texts, is formed entirely of lies; however, if you believe and adhere to these lies, you will live a happy life.

Bokonon, a character in the novel, is the founder of the religion. He was born Lionel Boyd Johnson. "Bokonon" was the way the natives of San Lorenzo, the fictional Caribbean island where the shipwrecked Johnson started his religion, pronounced his family name.

I think it's an interesting idea.

The only question I have here is who is the arbiter of what are truths and what are lies and how have they come to their conclusions?

Jasen777 · 03-06-2008, 11:47 AM

I think they idea is that they're just things that they've made up. You're right though, how do they know their made up things aren't true? I guess it's pretty much hedonism.

BuckFutter · 03-12-2008, 04:37 PM

I am disturbed to hear that you haven't read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, my favorite book of all time, ever. Run down to the book store and buy a copy and read it like three times in a row. Then you might understand the premise of Bokononism. It is a work of fiction first and foremost. But the lies are not the lies we normally associate with religious lies, like God is in heaven, God is all knowing, God is Merciful but will still send your sorry but to an eternal torture even though you didn't ask to exist in the first place and had no way to know which religion was true. It is about all the little lies that everyone tells all the time in order to make their lives a little easier. It is telling someone that their donut got droppped on the floor, as opposed to admitting to eating it. That is a foma.