Stardate 20030730.1532

(Captain's log): When you encounter a position held by someone else that is completely foreign to your own, it can sometimes be difficult to determine whether it's parody. I myself ran into that last year when I had the distinct pleasure of discovering the web site of Paul Treanor, and I wrote about him here.Fnord

The problem with extremist writings is that they approach self-parody, and it's often not easy to tell whether they are serious, or elaborate spoofs. By far the best parody site of that kind I know of is the Landover Baptist Church. The material there is superb, pushing the limit beautifully without crossing the line. They give away the game two ways. First, they have a store, and what they're selling there is far more likely to be of interest to apostates than to true believers. Second is that at the very bottom, in quite fine print, there's a link to a page where they print the mail they've gotten from people who have been taken in. For example, in the wake of an article condemning Wicca, there was a predictable rush of letters from Wiccans and supporters of religious diversity.

Of course, hoaxers like Landover Baptist, and the hyperfringe, are riding the same fine line between plausibility and total absurdity, but they're coming at it from opposite sides. It can be really hard to tell whether what you're looking at is sincere or a truly elaborate hoax.

It would seem that I represent a similar puzzle to at least one young person. Martin writes:Fnord

is this "strategic overview" serious?

i use the phrase "strategic overview" as loosely as possible, i read your entire article. in the end I come to the conclusion that it MIGHT be an attempt at satire. i really have run out of words. i do not know how to react to this..... - sorry, but - nonsense.

really? i'm trying to be as polite as possible. An answer would be greatly appreciated. People link to this page on bullitin boards and cite it as fact, whereas i find it greatly flawed.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Martin is "Psychophobe" in this thread I found in my refers.Fnord

I wrote back, and my answer was very brief: I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I meant every word of it.Fnord

There's a fannish faux-movement called the Discordians. (For those not familiar with it, "fandom" is the self-adopted term used in Science Fiction Fandom. It is rumored that there existd a group known as the Secret Masters of Fandom, and those who belong to it are known as smofs.) The Discordians are thought to worship Eris, the Greek goddess of discord. (Her daughter Ate was the goddess of strife.) Eris figures critically in the Iliad, because she is cited as the cause of the Trojan War. The story goes that Eris was the only goddess not invited to the wedding of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis. Annoyed by the snub, she tossed a golden apple into the banquet hall which was inscribed "Kallisti", for the prettiest.Fnord

Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all simultaneously took hold of the apple, and since none would grant that any of the others was more beautiful, they all stood holding it for three days. Zeus refused to judge amongst them, knowing full well the hazards he would face when he inevitably antagonized at least two puissant goddesses, if not all three. So they sought out Paris, prince of Troy, and asked him to judge which of them was prettiest and thus which of them would get the apple. Of course, each was unwilling to leave the decision to chance, so each of them offered Paris a bribe.Fnord

Hera offered him wealth. Athena offered him heroic military victories. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty, offered him the most beautiful woman alive to be his wife. Paris selected Aphrodite to receive the apple of discord, and claimed for his prize Helen, who was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Thus it was that Helen was abducted and taken to Troy, and Menelaus rallied the rest of the Greeks to help him in conquering Troy to take Helen back and gain revenge. And all of this happened because someone was foolish enough to annoy Eris.Fnord

The Discordians were probably invented by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson for their Illuminatus trilogy, which is very strange. Warning: it's also sexually explicit at times, and is not suitable for pre-teens.Fnord

Steve Jackson made The Discordian Society one of the eight competing Illuminati in his classic game Illuminati. Jackson was inspired by Shea and Wilson's book when he designed the game. I