There are a few fringe religions out there that are meant to mock the old-school beliefs in the bible, god, etc. such as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Adherants call themselves "Pastafarians". Pretty funny! Well, one that piqued my curiosity was started by a dude named Oliver Benjamin, who after watching the Coen brother's cult classic "The Big Lebowski", realized that the role Jeff Bridges played could actually be the basis for a religion. So, he started "Dudeism". Bridges plays the role of "the Dude", and his philosophy is to "Just take it easy, man"... actually very Tao-like. If you don't know what Taoism is, it's a philosophical approach to life that helps one be very Zen-like; very peaceful, modest, living in the moment.

Well, it's been a runaway hit! There's over 250,000 ordained Dudeist priests (...I'm one), and it's all just for fun. Some of these people actually take it seriously, in that they apply Taoist-like principles to their life, but wrapped up in Dudeism. All over the world, these "Dudeist priests" hold Lebowski Fests at bowling lanes (the movie's characters are in a league), and view the movie, following along with the script, quoting lines from the movie out loud. I've even heard that a consulting firm in New York City won't hire unless you can quote from the movie! All pretty funny. For me, it's a way to poke fun at myself for being such an asshole with my christian evangelical fundamentalism years ago, AND I get to call myself Reverend Jim, my favourite character from that 70's comedy show "Taxi".

So, here's a few links to round out the explanation: