Discordianism (mainstream)
Joke-religion and parody movement founded by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley (1957). 'Principia Discordia' is the foundational text.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — joke-religion / parody movement; very low-control reference point.
Profile facts
In context
Discordianism is one of the most influential 'joke religions' (Pastafarianism, Subgenius, etc.). Parody of organised religion. Among the lowest-control religious-derived traditions.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
- very low-control reference point
Timeline
- 1957Discordianism founded
- 1965Principia Discordia published
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
| Title | Type | Reliability | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anarchist literature and the development of anarchist counter-archaeologies — World Archaeology (2017) | Academic | Secondary | — |
| ‘Impartial Sources’ and the Registration of Religious Communities in Finland* — Journal for the Academic Study of Religion (2018) | Academic | Secondary | — |
| Ha ha, only serious: A preliminary study of joke religions · archive | Academic | Secondary | — |
| lire en ligne · archive | Journalism | Secondary | — |
| THE PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or, How I Found the Goddess and What I Did To Her When I Found Her · archive | Academic | Secondary | — |
Sources
- Greg Hill, 'Principia Discordia' (1965) search ↗
- Anarchist literature and the development of anarchist counter-archaeologies — World Archaeology (2017) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00438243.2017.1333921 open ↗
- ‘Impartial Sources’ and the Registration of Religious Communities in Finland* — Journal for the Academic Study of Religion (2018) — https://doi.org/10.1558%2Fjasr.35224 open ↗
- Ha ha, only serious: A preliminary study of joke religions — https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/9336?show=full open ↗
- lire en ligne — https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-des-religions/article/2020/12/05/qu-est-ce-que-le-discordianisme-ou-la-religion-de-l-absurde_6062277_6038514.html open ↗
- THE PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or, How I Found the Goddess and What I Did To Her When I Found Her — http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~tilt/principia/ open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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