Bronies as a religion and my spiritual experiences

[Steel Accord 6,658]

Fair enough. I just like the horror genre.

As is your right.

 

I'll stick to my happy endings and badass heroes.

so my freedom gets put to the side because of your freedom? one word: hypocritical. if you really wanted freedom of expression this converstaion would have went in a totally different direction, namely one in which we would have tried to understand each other. rather then me stating my opinion you going on to dictate the meaning of my opion, me stating what you did, again you dictating what i meant. and after all that all you can do in the end is act like i want to infringe upon your freedom, when all i was doing was expressing my own. my entire conversation with you was to determine if you actually believed in what you said you did, and apparently you do not. you did not love, you did not tolerate. and i know the comback to this statement as all the others will be you trying to state i am wrong because "reasons", believe what you want but dont tell me im wrong because i stated my opinion. and using cutesy words doesnt take away from the malice in your posts.

 

you are correct, talking about these things or posting about them causes nothing good as you can see from my....."friendly conversation" with the op. thank you for saying what i should have said in the begining rather than trying to converse.

But he wasn't the OP, ScarfaceOne was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Again, I feel I should stress to everypony that this thread wasn't meant to hurt feelings, but ask a question. Obviously discourse can arise when we don't see eye to eye, but I believe we can keep things civil.

[Sweets 198]

I like to consider myself Wiccan. Nature is my temple and the trees and creatures are what I worship.

 

That being said, this is insane. If you aren't screwing around then you need some help, dear. Psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist... Something! This is a serious cry for some outreach.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

I like to consider myself Wiccan. Nature is my temple and the trees and creatures are what I worship.

 

That being said, this is insane. If you aren't screwing around then you need some help, dear. Psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist... Something! This is a serious cry for some outreach.

Again, I must speak in defense of the OP, why?

 

Alan Moore already worships a fictional Roman snake god (one that was a contemporary fictional character mind you), but is one of the greatest creators of our time.

 

As I've said before, you could base far worse franchises as belief systems.

 

If the lessons of friendship, integrity, and compassion are central to the show and any faith based on it, what do the aesthetics matter?

[CosmicHooves 2,705]

I'm a Brony.

I love the show very much and I'm highly involved within this fine community.

I've done a few sketches in the past.

I've listened to allot of the original songs that came out and are coming out of the fandom.

I read a ton of fanfics.

I've bought MLP merchandise.

And I'm a clopper.

*awkward silence*

 

So obviously you can tell I'm heavily into the show and fandom and I seem to be enjoying myself.

Do I consider it a religion or do I worship it?

Of course not.

I've been a Christian for years.

I take my belief seriously.

I really do.

I just don't really feel comfortable placing a TV show in front of my God.

 

Now I'm not discouraging or discriminating anyone if they're into this sort of religion, but I'm not.

I'm a Christian Brony and I wish to stay that way.

People can believe what they want though.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Emerald Starlight

[Flutter_Guy_Dash 35]

Hmmm, interesting subject of choice here... Since religion is a particular system of faith and worship, its usually meant for serious matters of things like a supreme being, mainly in most religion's, God. I would say that "worshiping" a cartoon character in my terms is taking a little bit over the line. I could understand someone's opinion of Luna, being God (because Luna is best princess/God, mind you :3) because God is an like an opinion of Him being the supreme being, and you having faith in that opinion. So, if anybody reading this is serious about Luna being God, and you have complete faith in that opinion, it could technically be a true religion. There already are some weird religion's out there, so this religion wouldn't really be that suprising for that long. I wouldn't really believe in this, but I really like Luna so I wouldn't demote it. I have frequent lucid dreams of me lying in a field alone, when Luna would appear beside me and talk to me about things (I personally want to keep our conversations secret, as they are a very sensitive matter for me. Nothing dirty, mind you :3) and help me through tough situations. I also sort of have a personality disorder so my thoughts play out in my head as someone talking to me, and ever since I did the "Hypnotize your self to be a pony" thing the voice in my head changed to Luna. So, because you pray to God for awnser's I guess since Luna helps me through my problems, it would be logical that I could call Luna "God", but I don't because I believe in God (I wont go into that to much..) Well that's my opinion

[Dretkal 154]

This may not be completely relevant to the topic but seriously I love this picture so much and I have absolutely no idea why, I mean, like, just look at Cadence

[Windseeker 546]

If Bronyism was able to defeat the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Dobb's Army of Xists then I would be all for it.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

Ponify him all you want, I still despise what he and his creator stand for.

You mean...  Brilliantly written prose, unbounded imagination, and endeavoring to elevate horror fiction to a respectable artform?  I find the vain implication that you've successfully pinned down what Lovecraft or any of his creations "stand for" startlingly dubious, and I would be similarly taken aback if you'd actually read any of his fiction.  He was one of the most influential horror authors in the whole of the 20th century, and his influence persists, uninterrupted, today.  And I thought I should inform you that you misspelled Yog-Sothoth in a previous post; that's not gonna help you get on that ubiquitous, malign congeries of spheres' good side.

 

It sounds to me as though you hate Lovecraft because his fiction does not facilitate escapism.  Or because it does not place man (truly a flawed, descpicable creature if ever there was one) at the top of the totem pole.  Obviously, if you've no desire to read his fiction, don't.  Don't read Lovecraft.  And don't read Stephen King.  Or Anne Rice.  Don't read the Hellboy comics.  Don't watch "The Thing."  Don't watch "Pacific Rim."  Even G.R.R.M. loved Lovecraft at some point in his life.  Don't have anything to do with them, because this teeny, tiny sampling of authors and creative works all owe something to Lovecraft.  How familiar are you with any of these:

 

"In the morning, mist comes up from the sea by the cliffs beyond Kingsport. White and feathery it comes from the deep to its brothers the clouds, full of dreams of dank pastures and caves of leviathan. And later, in still summer rains on the steep roofs of poets, the clouds scatter bits of those dreams, that men shall not live without rumor of old strange secrets, and wonders that planets tell planets alone in the night. When tales fly thick in the grottoes of tritons, and conchs in seaweed cities blow wild tunes learned from the Elder Ones, then great eager mists flock to heaven laden with lore, and oceanward eyes on tile rocks see only a mystic whiteness, as if the cliff's rim were the rim of all earth, and the solemn bells of buoys tolled free in the aether of faery."

 

"Well-meaning philosophers had taught him to look into the logical relations of things, and analyse the processes which shaped his thoughts and fancies. Wonder had gone away, and he had forgotten that all life is only a set of pictures in the brain, among which there is no difference betwixt those born of real things and those born of inward dreamings, and no cause to value the one above the other."

 

"It is said that in Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, no man may kill a cat; and this I can verily believe as I gaze upon him who sitteth purring before the fire. For the cat is cryptic, and close to strange things which men cannot see. He is the soul of antique Aegyptus, and bearer of tales from forgotten cities in Meroe and Ophir. He is the kin of the jungle’s lords, and heir to the secrets of hoary and sinister Africa. The Sphinx is his cousin, and he speaks her language; but he is more ancient than the Sphinx, and remembers that which she hath forgotten."

 

Or these quotes: "What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"

 

"Time, space, and natural law hold for me suggestions of intolerable bondage, and I can form no picture of emotional satisfaction which does not involve their defeat—especially the defeat of time, so that one may merge oneself with the whole historic stream and be wholly emancipated from the transient and the ephemeral."

 

Lovecraft was a dreamer.  A creative genius.  A pursuer of knowledge, and a lover of Dunsany and Poe.  He was complex.  He was not this one thing you've mistaken him for.  This is a rather blanket spoiler, but: at the end of precisely NONE of Lovecraft's fiction does the world end.  The stalwart, to-a-degree unflappable human characters (that, in some cases, Lovecraft actually made sympathetic and significant) battle and cope with unspeakable otherworldly entities beyond the explanation of science and "cosmic order."  Ant-like, meaningless little fodder at the feet of a gelatinous mountain...  That actually...  Show tremendous courage and psychological endurance.  Mere mortal men that seek to thwart something they, perhaps small-mindedly, deem as evil; something to whom they are but a half-heard whisper in the grand scheme of things and the infinity of time.  Lovecraft's characters have guts, and they sure as hell don't have giant robots or big guns or even the full support of the comparably ignorant masses on their respective sides.  You don't know Lovecraft.  So why hate him?

[Solid 1,326]

I would prefer to keep Bronyism as an ideology, b/c turning it into a religion would have its consequences...

[Steel Accord 6,658]

You mean...  Brilliantly written prose, unbounded imagination, and endeavoring to elevate horror fiction to a respectable artform?  I find the vain implication that you've successfully pinned down what Lovecraft or any of his creations "stand for" startlingly dubious, and I would be similarly taken aback if you'd actually read any of his fiction.  He was one of the most influential horror authors in the whole of the 20th century, and his influence persists, uninterrupted, today.  And I thought I should inform you that you misspelled Yog-Sothoth in a previous post; that's not gonna help you get on that ubiquitous, malign congeries of spheres' good side.

 

It sounds to me as though you hate Lovecraft because his fiction does not facilitate escapism.  Or because it does not place man (truly a flawed, descpicable creature if ever there was one) at the top of the totem pole.  Obviously, if you've no desire to read his fiction, don't.  Don't read Lovecraft.  And don't read Stephen King.  Or Anne Rice.  Don't read the Hellboy comics.  Don't watch "The Thing."  Don't watch "Pacific Rim."  Even G.R.R.M. loved Lovecraft at some point in his life.  Don't have anything to do with them, because this teeny, tiny sampling of authors and creative works all owe something to Lovecraft.  How familiar are you with any of these:

 

"In the morning, mist comes up from the sea by the cliffs beyond Kingsport. White and feathery it comes from the deep to its brothers the clouds, full of dreams of dank pastures and caves of leviathan. And later, in still summer rains on the steep roofs of poets, the clouds scatter bits of those dreams, that men shall not live without rumor of old strange secrets, and wonders that planets tell planets alone in the night. When tales fly thick in the grottoes of tritons, and conchs in seaweed cities blow wild tunes learned from the Elder Ones, then great eager mists flock to heaven laden with lore, and oceanward eyes on tile rocks see only a mystic whiteness, as if the cliff's rim were the rim of all earth, and the solemn bells of buoys tolled free in the aether of faery."

 

"Well-meaning philosophers had taught him to look into the logical relations of things, and analyse the processes which shaped his thoughts and fancies. Wonder had gone away, and he had forgotten that all life is only a set of pictures in the brain, among which there is no difference betwixt those born of real things and those born of inward dreamings, and no cause to value the one above the other."

 

"It is said that in Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, no man may kill a cat; and this I can verily believe as I gaze upon him who sitteth purring before the fire. For the cat is cryptic, and close to strange things which men cannot see. He is the soul of antique Aegyptus, and bearer of tales from forgotten cities in Meroe and Ophir. He is the kin of the jungle’s lords, and heir to the secrets of hoary and sinister Africa. The Sphinx is his cousin, and he speaks her language; but he is more ancient than the Sphinx, and remembers that which she hath forgotten."

 

Or these quotes: "What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"

 

"Time, space, and natural law hold for me suggestions of intolerable bondage, and I can form no picture of emotional satisfaction which does not involve their defeat—especially the defeat of time, so that one may merge oneself with the whole historic stream and be wholly emancipated from the transient and the ephemeral."

 

Lovecraft was a dreamer.  A creative genius.  A pursuer of knowledge, and a lover of Dunsany and Poe.  He was complex.  He was not this one thing you've mistaken him for.  This is a rather blanket spoiler, but: at the end of precisely NONE of Lovecraft's fiction does the world end.  The stalwart, to-a-degree unflappable human characters (that, in some cases, Lovecraft actually made sympathetic and significant) battle and cope with unspeakable otherworldly entities beyond the explanation of science and "cosmic order."  Ant-like, meaningless little fodder at the feet of a gelatinous mountain...  That actually...  Show tremendous courage and psychological endurance.  Mere mortal men that seek to thwart something they, perhaps small-mindedly, deem as evil; something to whom they are but a half-heard whisper in the grand scheme of things and the infinity of time.  Lovecraft's characters have guts, and they sure as hell don't have giant robots or big guns or even the full support of the comparably ignorant masses on their respective sides.  You don't know Lovecraft.  So why hate him?

 

When I said "hate" it was meant as hyperbole. The only work I've read was Shadow Over Innsmouth. And while I'm not as praising of his work as you are, I certainly would not deny his influence, or even the net-positive gain of his perspective, even if it's not one I agree with.

 

I loved Pacific Rim precisely because, though we are certainly challenged, we are able to conquer the Old Ones with science and friendship as our sword and shield. Otherwise I don't particularly care for the creators or works you listed. (With the exception of Hellboy, but that's more passing familiarity than a true following.) 

 

I don't see man as being the top of the cosmic food chain, certainly not, but I refuse to believe our existence is without meaning or purpose. Which is an on running theme for Lovecraft.

 

You're right though, I do not like Lovecraft's works because they largely don't have escapist elements. I don't know if that preference makes me childish, but I know it doesn't make me limited. Alan Wake and The Secret World sit among my favorite games and both of those have very strong Lovecraftian influences. Much like your examples of Lovecraft's protagonists though, Alan and the Player Characters are courageous and even empowered to fight the Unnatural forces that mean to undo them and the world.

 

My favorite works include Disney animated features,  Bioshock, Deus Ex, Assassin's Creed, Power Rangers, Mass Effect, John Carter of Mars (the much better books!), The Princess Bride, Star Wars, and yeah, starting to see a pattern here?

 

Clearly you have a respect for the man and his works and I'm deeply sorry for my hasty word choice, I did not mean to hurt anypony's feelings or infringe upon opinions.

I would prefer to keep Bronyism as an ideology, b/c turning it into a religion would have its consequences...

 

Well I know what you mean, better to sort of keep it loose and up to personal interpretation. But many organized faiths still have a great deal of interpretation in them. Hell take any two Monks or Priests and they will both have two spins on their faith.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Steel Accord

[Sugar Pea 2,681]

Umm. o-o

Believe in what you want to, not judging. I just don't know what to say...or how to respond. >.>

Edited May 26, 2014 by Princess PeachBlink

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

Clearly you have a respect for the man and his works and I'm deeply sorry for my hasty word choice, I did not mean to hurt anypony's feelings or infringe upon opinions.

I...  Am genuinely - even pleasantly - surprised by the way some "arguments" end within the context of these forums lol.  Having read your entire reply, I'd say it was definitely the word choice that set me off (and made me hasten to the defense of my favorite author), and led me to presume certain things regarding your character.  I see that I prejudged you, and I shall harbor no ill-feelings regarding our back-and-forth.

[Solid 1,326]

One problem if this becomes a religion is that everything would become more rigid and inflexible, and conflicts often arise from those "inflexible" parts of the religion.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

I...  Am genuinely - even pleasantly - surprised by the way some "arguments" end within the context of these forums lol.  Having read your entire reply, I'd say it was definitely the word choice that set me off (and made me hasten to the defense of my favorite author), and led me to presume certain things regarding your character.  I see that I prejudged you, and I shall harbor no ill-feelings regarding our back-and-forth.

 

Of course. I don't blame you. You could not have known my intent based purely on my words. Context is everything, after all and at the time of posting, everypony was being emphatic and pointed in a playful manner.

 

As much as I don't personally like Ol' HydroPhobic Lovecraft's worldview, I certainly can appreciate the imagination of his work. No one could have thought up those images of monsters and gods but him. And the view that we, when compared to the vastness of the universe, are these whispers of existence is certainly a deep and thought provoking meme.

 

In my defense, if you'll permit me, my brain's automatic follow up to that is . . . "and?" or "okay, then what's next?" Rather than the final word on our lot in life, I usually take that as a challenge, an observation of the current setup and how we might improve our standing.

 

(Personally, I plan to make my own contribution to the Lovecraft mythos with a new character concept of mine one day.) 

One problem if this becomes a religion is that everything would become more rigid and inflexible, and conflicts often arise from those "inflexible" parts of the religion.

 

Well that's exactly what I said. Even many outwardly strict faiths have internal permutations and sects. Certainly the Church of Bronies would be more accepting if one group wanted to go off and found a different order than to excommunicate them and treat them like criminals.

 

We'd welcome discourse and schisms, it would mean our religion would not repeat the mistakes of the old faiths.

[Kel_Grym 1,917]

One problem if this becomes a religion is that everything would become more rigid and inflexible, and conflicts often arise from those "inflexible" parts of the religion.

 

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...pends.

 

Religion may be too stiff a term to use, as it is often distinguished as being different from spirituality, however, for such a pony religion/spirituality model to actually be posited in any serious fashion, a necessary breaking of old ideas would be in order.

 

First of all, faith and religion have often been things that are passed down from authoritative texts which have their authority backed by an origination, or simply strict tradition. Generally.

 

With this pony based faith, there really isn't anything to go on except the ideas which are presented to us in the show. We have several Jungian archetypes to pick and choose from and even a unique model of "Elements" which has as much spiritual functionality as the Kaballah's Tree of Life, despite it being a somewhat simplified version of it.

 

However the only authority that these archetypes would have would only be what the practitioner would give to them.

 

Egregore (also egregor) is an occult concept representing a "thoughtform" or "collective group mind", an autonomous psychic entity made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of a group of people. The symbiotic relationship between an egregore and its group has been compared to the more recent, non-occult concepts of the corporation (as a legal entity) and the meme. - From Wikipedia

 

Belief in Egregore's would be enough to give this faith some tangible meaning, and even credibility, if one is serious enough in their belief of such things.

 

If there were a faith to come about using this as its justification and mlp as its basis, there wouldn't be any rigidity from organizations or anything like that....at least at first.

 

From this model, the characters from MLP, and the elements of harmony would be taken to be clusters of ideas from the collective unconscious of of humanity, which believers would attribute certain metaphysical properties to, and could seek to attune their-selves or even contact these egregores in any variety of ritual or worship that they please. Whatever works for them.

 

This faith's plus side would lie in it's decentralized organization. No one would be more authoritative than another on the subject matter of said faith. Or no one should.

 

In the end, all it would take would be for a collection of like minded individuals to form a club, that turns into an organization, and a charismatic figure to arise and claim to be "more intune" to the Egregore's and then BAM!

 

Cult.

 

My advice is to decentralize, decentralize, decentralize, and never listen to a charismatic cult leader.

 

...unless that's me of course.

[Navi 39]

I For One, Welcome Our New Goddess.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Navi

[Vaddix 85]

I'm also a Celestiast. Before anyone asks, no, I'm not joking. 

 

Before MLP, my life was complete crap. I didn't feel like continuing on. Nothing made me happy. I was a complete and utter trainwreck. It was horrible. 

 

After MLP, I have an incentive to live again. And it's all because of that cartoon. It changed how I felt. It's powerful. If it weren't for that cartoon, I wouldn't be here. 

 

I strongly believe that Celestia knew my, and many other fellow bronies tribulations, and projected the idea into Lauren Faust's head to show those struggling on Earth that there's peace in Equestria, and for those who believe in her, will go to Equestria in the afterlife. 

[Magpie 621]

Sure why not? I mean, no, but you can if you want to I guess.

[Paladin Butters 163]

I think some people rush to believe that MLP is like some kind of Religion or something because they're probably scared of death or something in that nature. There are some things that will fix this.

 

1 - Go outside

2 - Hang out with friends on Fridays IN REAL LIFE

3 - Make Minecraft worlds with Friends

4 - Get a good job

5 - Get a good girlfriend

6 - Talk to your folks about your family

7 - VISIT YOUR GRANDMA! <-- best one.

[Navi 39]

I think some people rush to believe that MLP is like some kind of Religion or something because they're probably scared of death or something in that nature. There are some things that will fix this.

 

1 - Go outside

2 - Hang out with friends on Fridays IN REAL LIFE

3 - Make Minecraft worlds with Friends

4 - Get a good job

5 - Get a good girlfriend

6 - Talk to your folks about your family

7 - VISIT YOUR GRANDMA! <-- best one.

OBJECTIONS TO THIS!

 

1- Albino

2- Anti-social

3- Can't afford Minecaft

4- Have no proper education

5- Un-attractive

6- Have no "folks"

7- Grandma's dead

 

I feel bad for anyone with all of those, but still, ARGUMENT: INVALID!!

[Gone Airbourne 21,969]

Being a brony as a religion..... 

 

 

 

 

 

Uhhh wut???? 

 

That is the strangest thing I have heard of all day seriously o.O.... 

 

Whatever floats your boat i guess

Edited May 26, 2014 by Lucky Dice

[Steve 290]

that sounds silly but people have made stranger religions

 

so if you wanna worship celestia, thats your buisness

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

Thought about it some more and...  If people can do this as part of practicing their religion:

 

 

Then people should be able to worship ponies unmolested lol.  I mean, there are Christians who use their belief in god / the promise of heaven / the threat of hell as incentives to do "good."  So long as any ponyworshipper isn't inflicting harm upon others in the name of Celestia or what have you...  Whatever.  If anything, I'd expect followers of Celestia to be comparably more open-minded and accepting in general.  Christian love and tolerance is often conditional.

I think some people rush to believe that MLP is like some kind of Religion or something because they're probably scared of death or something in that nature. There are some things that will fix this.

 

1 - Go outside

2 - Hang out with friends on Fridays IN REAL LIFE

3 - Make Minecraft worlds with Friends

4 - Get a good job

5 - Get a good girlfriend

6 - Talk to your folks about your family

7 - VISIT YOUR GRANDMA! <-- best one.

I don't consider MLP a / my religion (and, in fact, do not subscribe to any religion), but I still would like to address your 7 points (mostly for my own amusement lol - if you'll humor me):

 

1. I'm agoraphobic.  If I do go outside, it usually ain't far.

2. Enormously socially awkward.  Do not have irl "friends" outside of family.

3. Minecraft as a religion lol?  Actually, I've never played it. xD

4. Disabled and unable to work / hold down a job.

5. Disabled, socially awkward, agoraphobic; aversion to touch.  In love with a blue pegasus pony.

6. Okay I guess?  Can't really refute that one.

7. Ohhhhhh ho ho ho ho!  My grandmother is EVIL lol.  But not "lol," because she's genuinely pretty bad.  And she's nuttier than any ponyworshipper, I promise you that.

 

I had fun. xD

[Kel_Grym 1,917]

I think some people rush to believe that MLP is like some kind of Religion or something because they're probably scared of death or something in that nature. There are some things that will fix this.

 

1 - Go outside

2 - Hang out with friends on Fridays IN REAL LIFE

3 - Make Minecraft worlds with Friends

4 - Get a good job

5 - Get a good girlfriend

6 - Talk to your folks about your family

7 - VISIT YOUR GRANDMA! <-- best one.

 

Well that kind of goes with a lot of religions, not just a mlp based one. People want to believe that if they are good there will be an afterlife for them. Fear of death goes hand in hand with religion, but it's a mistake to believe that is the prime motivator.

 

However it's an insult to imply that if one adheres to such a religion that one doesn't get out often enough or talk to their friends and family, or don't have a girlfriend.

 

Maybe they are crazy, but you fail to realize that many crazy people lead very active social lives.

 

You don't know who's nuts and who's not, and you certainly can't tell how crazy a person really is just by appearance alone.

 

What is really insane, is to expect everyone to adhere to social norms and when they don't, immediately draw judgmental conclusions about them, and offer a patronizing 7 point bulletin of advice to "help" the "crazies."

 

IMO, anyways.

[Adachi 772]

I believe that God has a masculine and feminine aspect, each their own entity. Om is the masculine aspect, Azna is the feminine aspect. That said, I believe that Azna embodies everything that Celestia does. She protects her children, the other side is a utopia (kinda like Ponyville, there's still work, but really easy work and scarcity is nonexistant), and she's also a warrior mother (she loves to be thought of as a warrior). So even if there isn't a Celestia goddess, Azna has taken on the role of Celestia for me.

 

Not to mention that when we do cross over, if we want, we could probably will Celestia into existence (I read it works with objects and buildings and gardens anyway)