Definition
A mock or parody religion usually takes one of two forms. The first is a fictional religion that highlights the deficiencies of existing religions, like Bokononism in the novel Cat’s Cradle (1963) by Kurt Vonnegut. The second form of mock religion is a deliberately created institution and belief that mimics in structure and content traditional religions such as Christianity. An example is the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, founded by Bobby Henderson to protest the teaching of “Intelligent Design” (creationism) in Kansas schools. The existence of mock religions is linked to the rise of secularism and atheism in modernity.
Introduction
Since the colonization of Latin America by Europeans in the sixteenth century, Catholicism has been the dominant, and only legitimate, form of religion. Until 1960, approximately 90% of the population was Catholic; the Pew Research Centre’s survey of November 2014 indicates that figure has fallen to 69%, with 19% now identifying as...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bullivant S, Lee L (2012) Inter-disciplinary studies on non-religion and secularity: the state of the union. J Contemp Relig 27(1):19–27
Chadband I (2014) World Cup 2014: Diego Maradona still worshipped 28 years after the ‘Hand of God’ Goal Against England. The Telegraph, 21 June. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/argentina/10915346/World-Cup-2014-Diego-Maradona-still-worshipped-28-years-after-hand-of-God-goal-against-England.html. Accessed 12 Jan 2018
Chidester D (2005) Authentic fakes: religion and American popular culture. University of California Press, Berkeley
Cornille C (2013) Multiple religious belonging. In: Cheetham D, Pratt D, Thomas D (eds) Understanding interreligious relations. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 324–340
Cusack CM (2010) Invented religions: imagination, fiction and faith. Ashgate, Farnham/Burlington
Cusack CM (2016a) Sport. In: Stausberg M, Engler S (eds) The Oxford handbook of the study of religion. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 472–481
Cusack CM (2016b) Invention in ‘new new’ religions. In: Lewis JR, Tøllefsen IB (eds) The Oxford handbook of new religious movements, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 237–247
Davidsen MA (2013) Fiction-based religion: conceptualising a new category against history-based religion and fandom. Cult Relig 14(4):378–395
Free M (2014) Diego Maradona and the psychodynamics of football fandom in international cinema. Celebrity Stud 5(1–2):197–212
Garvey B (2010) Absence of evidence, evidence of absence, and the atheist’s teapot. Ars Disputandi 10:9–22
Henderson B (2005) The gospel of the flying spaghetti monster. Villard, New York
Henderson B (2009) Mexico sighting. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, 13 October. https://www.venganza.org/2009/10/mexico-sighting/. Accessed 12 Jan 2018
Henderson B (2011) Colombian Pastafarians first meeting. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, 25 April. https://www.venganza.org/2011/04/colombia-pastafarians-first-meeting/. Accessed 12 Jan 2018
Herrero V (2015) Nothing can stop the spread of Latin American Atheism. America Economia, 9 February. Translated by WorldCrunch. https://www.worldcrunch.com/opinion-analysis/nothing-can-stop-the-spread-of-latin-american-atheism. Accessed 12 Jan 2018
Howland-Jackson R (2008) La Iglesia Maradoniana – Argentina’s real religion? The Argentina Independent, 1 December. http://www.argentinaindependent.com/life-style/ba/la-iglesia-maradoniana-argentinas-real-religion/. Accessed 12 Jan 2018
Montero P, Dullo E (2017) Brazil: the invisibility of the Brazilian bus campaign. In: Tomlins S, Bullivant S (eds) The atheist bus campaign: global manifestations and responses. Brill, Leiden/Boston, pp 51–80
Pew Research Center (2014) Religion in Latin America: widespread change in a historically catholic region. Pew Research Center: Religion in Public Life, 13 November. http://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/. Accessed 12 Jan 2018
Possamai A (2003) Alternative spiritualities, new religious movements, and Jediism in Australia. Aust Relig Stud Rev 16(2):69–86
Possamai A (2005) Religion and popular culture: a hyper-real testament. Peter Lang, Brussels
Rico (2014) New religion comes to Costa Rica. Q Costa Rica, 5 October. http://qcostarica.com/new-religion-comes-to-costa-rica/. Accessed 12 Jan 2018
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Cusack, C.M. (2018). Mock Religions. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_559-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_559-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities