Dudeism, A Religion I Can Really Dig

As far a religious persuasions go I find Dudeism to be a particularly palatable theology/philosophy (though I have been known to offer the occasional utterance to the Omnipotent Flying Spaghetti Monster).  As such I am very fond of the ponderings that come out of The Dudespaper a couple of times a week.  Sure, say what you will about basing a theology off of a fictional movie character, but personally I don’t see how that is any worse than what any other religion has done.  And all around Dudeism seems to be a pretty accepting faith combining the best elements of other long running belief systems.  And what greater view on one’s life than “the dude abides,” seriously, that seems like the creed for me (always along with my ever important mantra of “books are good, I like books”).

Considering that The Big Lebowski (the film in which the Dude, the basis for Dudeism, is portrayed) came out ten years ago (circa 1998) I must have only been around 15 when I first watched the film.  My dad had brought it home from the video store and asked if I was interested.  Considering that at the time we didn’t have cable or a computer, watching a movie sounded pretty great to me.  I am not sure where my mom or brother were but I know they were not present.  I remember watching The Big Lebowski and just thinking, “Man this is a really great movie.”  It would be another four years before I watched the wonderful movie again, in a film class, my senior year of high school (we had also watched Raising Arizona, which in many ways can be seen as a direct evolutionary ancestor to The Big Lebowski and its greatness).  I have now achieved the ideal of owning The Big Lebowski as my own and make an effort to watch it often lest I stray to far from the path of ideal Dudeist philosophy.

Wonderful, wonderful stuff.  As always . . . the Dude abides.

~ by Nathaniel on December 2, 2008.