Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 I read this article that kind of through me off... it's a blog post from the UK Telegraph talking about fandoms including the Brony fandom, in the context of them being a religion. Apparently, being a Brony means you base your ethical decisions on the way of the pony. The Bronies are a group of mainly young men who try to live their lives according to the ethics of My Little Ponies, particularly the final series of the television programme, which was called "Friendship is Magic". (You remember My Little Ponies: those little keepsake toys from the 1980s and 90s designed for girls under 10). They also believe the world should be more like Equestria, which is the Ponies’ utopian realm. A small fringe try to look like a pony too – and overlap with another large internet subculture known as "furries". Bronyism is considered to be part of the New Sincerity movement, which rejects modern cynicism: "love and tolerate" is their catchphrase. Quite why and how a fandom slowly inches into a lifestyle choice or spiritual devotion is not entirely obvious. According to Prof Adam Possamai of University of Western Sydney, probably the leading expert on these new religions (which he calls "hyper-real"), the reason isn’t digital. The authority of self, he argues, is on the rise. External religious authorities such as priests have less of a hold on our spiritual wellbeing today, and growing numbers determine that there is no higher more authority than oneself. I don't know about other people, but I kind of find it a stretch to say that because people learn from the moral lessons in the show, we follow the teachings of the series like a religion. Certainly, I think the show does have good ethical lessons, but it kind of boggles my mind that they would go so far as to say that every person who identifies as a Brony follows the show as some sort of spiritual belief in its moral code as a way to live life. Anyway, I thought I'd toss this article up for discussion on here and see what other people think... is this the new way of making fandoms look like a cult, a genuine misunderstanding of what a fandom is, or are there really a large number of people who treat the show as a religion? Full article text is here: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jamiebartlett/100012300/bronies-whovians-and-snapewives-is-pop-culture-creating-genuine-online-religions/ 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblivion 20,266 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Ugh, no...It's a fandom, and a really REALLY awesome and massive one at that! Saying being a brony is a religion is like saying that being a Star Wars fan makes you a Jedi...sort of lol. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serbon div 386 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Dude... It's a cartoon about ponies... Religion includes not just beliefs, but rituals as well. We don't have rituals. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 Dude... It's a cartoon about ponies... Religion includes not just beliefs, but rituals as well. We don't have rituals. Getting up Saturday mornings in my PJ's to watch a live stream doesn't count as a ritual? xD But yeah, I agree with you... I think that's what through me off guard the most from the article... it seems to have a very strange interpretation of what a religion is if it thinks anything we gain moral values from is a religion. If that were the case, everybody's parents would be a religion because we follow their ethical guidance. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acchan 232 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 I was not aware this was a religion. I'm pretty sure it is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 I was not aware this was a religion. I'm pretty sure it is not. Of course we are... that's why we all own small plastic statues of our religious icons and adorn ourselves in clothes and jewelry of them... it has nothing to do with thinking the show is good 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acchan 232 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Of course we are... that's why we all own small plastic statues of our religious icons and adorn ourselves in clothes and jewelry of them... it has nothing to do with thinking the show is good I do NOT adorn myself in clothes and jewelry of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 I do NOT adorn myself in clothes and jewelry of them. xD I was just joking around. (You totally own the figures though... I saw you leave that out... xD) In all seriousness though, I'm kind of relieved to see that others find this article as ridiculous as I did... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaoticgeek2 71 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 I, for one, welcome our new religious pony overlords. But yeah no this sounds dumb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starshine 16,334 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Oh god what. This reminds me about that one article about feminism and their hard-edged belief on the existence of a global patriarchy Then again, we have a whole bunch of bronies that won't stop talking about converting everyone they can find and claim about being prosecuted whenever someone outside the group disagrees with them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 Then again, we have a whole bunch of bronies that won't stop talking about converting everyone they can find and claim about being prosecuted whenever someone outside the group disagrees with them We also have the Celestia is God headcanon... we just need rituals and a martyr and we can get this religion going... come on people we need organization 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acchan 232 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 We also have the Celestia is God headcanon... we just need rituals and a martyr and we can get this religion going... come on people we need organization Our martyr can be either Luna or Derpy!! This is going to be hilarious if we continue this. Why are we organizing a religion again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starshine 16,334 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 We also have the Celestia is God headcanon... we just need rituals and a martyr and we can get this religion going... come on people we need organization Getting someone to die in the name of Celly without getting the rest of the fandom in the FBI watch-list is near impossible I dunno bout rituals, but we do have a holy book about Celestia's Church of the Sun somewhere. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acchan 232 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Getting someone to die in the name of Celly without getting the rest of the fandom in the FBI watch-list is near impossible I dunno bout rituals, but we do have a holy book about Celestia's Church of the Sun somewhere. This scares me to no end. Why do we have a holy book? See, this is why we're seen as a religion. Stuff like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken B. Trippin 43 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Under this interpretation ANY TV show that attempts to teach our children life lessons constitutes as a religion. See a recent episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and thought it'd be a great idea to make some Banana Swirl and Veggie Spaghetti like in the show? Congratulations! You've now conducted a ritual of the Episcopal Church of Latter Day Tigers. Give me a break. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 (edited) Our martyr can be either Luna or Derpy!! Kaze wants to off Derpy :'( without getting the rest of the fandom in the FBI watch-list is near impossible Ooooh persecution by the government... that'd definitely help the cause... This is going to be hilarious if we continue this. Why are we organizing a religion again? Because we have been told it is so by the news and we cannot deny them their natural born right to be accurate about us... Edited February 9, 2014 by Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 I've never accused journalist, or news people of being smart.... And this is why. 3 My peep is against bullying.... Are you? http://mlpforums.com/topic/117034-suggestion-anti-bullying-campaign/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starshine 16,334 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 This scares me to no end. Why do we have a holy book? It is wonderful how much weird you can get out of hundreds of bored people. It's also kind of sad that eventually, some people will see that supposedly-a-joke book as something true x_x Banana Swirl and Veggie Spaghetti You made me hungry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acchan 232 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Kaze wants to off Derpy :'( Ooooh persecution by the government... that'd definitely help the cause... Because we have been told it is so by the news and we cannot deny them their natural born right to be accurate about us... I do not wish to off Best Pegasus!! It is wonderful how much weird you can get out of hundreds of bored people. It's also kind of sad that eventually, some people will see that supposedly-a-joke book as something true x_x Oh... a joke book. I can deal with that. ... I've clearly heard some weird shit before if I thought you were serious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 Under this interpretation ANY TV show that attempts to teach our children life lessons constitutes as a religion. Well the article also talked about Whovians... I think the article has decided that any show with a following must be a religion... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken B. Trippin 43 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 It is wonderful how much weird you can get out of hundreds of bored people. It's also kind of sad that eventually, some people will see that supposedly-a-joke book as something true x_x You made me hungry Dude I'm watching the Food Network right now and crying inside because I can't even hope to afford all the ingredients needed to make all this deliciousness on my TV. Maybe I can start a Food Network Religion and accept tax free donations to support my eating habits? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 Maybe I can start a Food Network Religion and accept tax free donations to support my eating habits? That would be one obese church... just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken B. Trippin 43 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 That would be one obese church... just sayin'. I shall call it...Fatfaterian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177 February 9, 2014 Share February 9, 2014 Well the article also talked about Whovians... I think the article has decided that any show with a following must be a religion... Because we like the show isn't a good enough explanation as to why we watch it..... I'm srry, that article kinda pissed me off... 2 My peep is against bullying.... Are you? http://mlpforums.com/topic/117034-suggestion-anti-bullying-campaign/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon 4,557 February 9, 2014 Author Share February 9, 2014 I shall call it...Fatfaterian. Wait... a religion based on eating... I think that's just called being American... Because we like the show isn't a good enough explanation as to why we watch it..... I'm srry, that article kinda pissed me off... I think it pissed all of us off xD I think that's why this thread has quickly degraded from a serious discussion to making fun of it xD 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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