Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Church of the Bunny

If the Church of the SubGenius and the Principia Discordia could have a kid, it would be the Church of the Bunny. Back in the heady, idyllic days of the early 1990s, there arose on CompuServe the first cyber-religion devoted to silliness. It was called the Church of the Bunny and was comprised of people from all around the country who came to the CompuServe religion forum to gripe and bitch about religion.
I posted stuff at COB from 1994 to 1996, and was known as Lt. Jr. Grade Pope Eric. The group's founder, Pope Rich, was a locksmith from Virginia. I enjoyed the utter goofiness of the COB and even designed the church's logo, wrote the sacred texts (The Book of the Bunny) and produced a newsletter I mailed to about 15 people all around the country. While most 25-year olds were getting drunk and laid, I was publishing this stupid newsletter.
Cleaning out the garage recently, I discovered a box filled with COB papers, including old pamphlets, printouts of CompuServe messages and newsletters. I literally hadn't looked at this material in 16 years and thought it had been thrown out. What a marvelous find! Re-reading it, I've come to the conclusion that not only am I a natural at writing comedy, but I have a warped sense of humor. And I was also a pretty good cartoonist back in the day.
As to the fate of the Church of the Bunny? That goofy cyber-religion folded in 1996, vanished when CompuServe buckled and the Internet took off. I think they all relocated to another planet somewhere, where they spread wisdom and nibble the holy carrot of joy.
What follows are sections of newsletters I mailed out that have been scanned and made fresh for the 21st century.
Enjoy, ya knuckleheads!















3 comments:

Fool-Smacker said...

LtJG Pope Eric!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just googling around, and here you are!!!!

Ironically, before I got to your site, I found a 2-year-old post from Susie Mellott on her site, bemoaning the fact that all the old Compuserve correspondence has been lost to time. I mentioned to her that, other than a few random snippets on my computer, all I have left is the stuff you did. It's good to know that you kept some stuff.

Vice Pope Doug said...

Whoa - Dude! The Bunny Is Truth and Truth is the Bunny. Not to mention that Our God Is The Most Fun To Pet. Wow - Memories - and Stuff. A lot has happened since the mid-90s - much of it far less interesting that our small yet humorous global religion. Thanks for the newsletter posts - cool to see them after all this time! May the Grace of the Bunny Be Upon You In Ways That Don't Require Drycleaning. ~VPD

Fool-Smacker said...

VPD!!!! I just noticed that I did not mention in my 2-and-a-half year old post that I was/am Pope Rich. It's good to hear from another of the CoB. VPChrisPV is on Facebook, but other than her, I've pretty much lost touch with everyone. (Actually, I think Eric is on FB too. I should probably Friend him, instead of just commenting on his old blog).