The Church as cosplay

[Hagoth]

I was thinking about something I heard someone say on a podcast (can't remember who). Basically it was that when we go to church we are all pretending, it's just that some of us know we're pretending and some don't. I find myself thinking about this a lot.

I like to contrast church participation to other make-believe activities where all or most of the participants know they are pretending and are willingly suspending their disbelief just for fun. Harry Potter cosplay seems like a good analog. A group of people come together to dress up and pretend that they are special, that they have magical powers, that they are surrounded by invisible creatures and that if they do the right rituals and say just the right words they can gain secret knowledge, wield amazing magical powers and persuade supernatural beings to do their bidding.

Now imagine that some of those people actually believed those things. They do the rituals and say the words and it doesn't always go as they expected but they are always on the lookout for subtle signs and coincidences to help them keep believing that the magic is real. They go to great lengths to avoid having their fantasy disrupted by naysayers who try to point out their folly. Some of them know it's not really real but they still find value in it and they want to play along and fit in. Still others have chosen to hope that it is real and they will continue to participate devoutly, hoping that some day the magic will really work and confirm that their time and sacrifice was worth it after all. For most of these people the worst thing they can imagine is that their deepest fears might be validated, that it's all make believe and they really aren't special at all. They're just like the Game of Thrones or the Star Trek cosplayers. They want so badly to be special, to be the real thing, and they would feel so foolish to admit they've just been running around in a pointy hat with an ordinary broom clamped between their knees and waving not-so-special twig.

[LostMormon]

They want so badly to be special, to be the real thing, and they would feel so foolish to admit they've just been running around in a pointy hat with an ordinary broom clamped between their knees and waving not-so-special twig.

I think it looks more like a bakers hat, oh wait, who are we talking about here?

[Snowdrop]

That's an affront to cosplay! Most fandoms have consistent universes which require critical thinking! Now that my geekiness has been made clear, I will contribute to the conversation:

I have long considered every Sunday a performance complete with costumes, makeup and everything. I used to play my part admirably until I realized that my script was poorly written with gaping plot holes. It would be a much easier performance if the subject matter was compelling me to a deeper understanding of the human condition.

[Fifi de la Vergne]

Great analogy, Hagoth. It reminds me of (that really old movie) Somewhere in Time. The Christopher Reeve character was able to transport himself back in time by removing everything from his consciousness that would distract him from concentrating on believing himself back one hundred years or so. He magically transports himself to this earlier time, falls in love, has an amazing experience -- and it all seems real . . . until he sees something that triggers his memory that this is all make-believe (I think it was a coin in his pocket with a modern date on it). That popped the balloon and brought him back to reality. And broke his heart.

Church meetings (especially F&T) are group sessions of reassuring each other that this is all real and maintaining the illusion. Anti-mormon stuff (questioners, un-correlated history) is evil because it pierces the illusion for everyone and makes it harder to believe.

[wtfluff]

Well... The thing that sucks about Mormon Cosplay: I was taught from my first breath that Mormon Cosplay was the most important thing I'd do during my mortal existence, and that there was an eternal reward / punishment based on how good I was at the Mormon Cosplay. Honestly, I sucked at Mormon Cosplay for most of my life, but kept going through the motions, because I was told that Mormon Cosplay was THAT important, and it would make me happy. Even though it didn't make me happy, I continued the Mormon Cosplay, and the big, important folks who invented Mormon Cosplay and ran the conventions / meetings told me that if I didn't enjoy Mormon Cosplay, there was something wrong with me, and I should Mormon Cosplay even harder!

The majority off my family thinks that Mormon Cosplay is the most important thing they'll do in their life too.

Why can't I just take of the stupid hat, and throw the ******* costume away and be done with it?


It would be incredibly nice if religion were treated like Cosplay / a hobby. You tell your family and friends that it's no fun any more, so you're not going to participate and they say: "That's nice, wanna go have a mild barley drink?"

[2bizE]

I call it Larping for the Lord.