In a country where a pizza can get to your house faster than an ambulance, it’s no wonder how England’s mentally-challenged cousin is considered to be the pudgiest country in the world.
However, just when you thought things in America couldn’t get any worse, Dudeism comes along to turn getting completely wasted on weed and Kahlua into an official religion.
With over 300,000 Dudeist priests already registered worldwide, Dudeism seeks to teach the public about the age-old philosophy of “taking it easy” and “going with the flow.” While many tend to regard Dudeism as a “mock religion” of sorts, Dudeists take their beliefs very seriously, and they assure you that their religion is legit.
The religion itself is actually a homage to the late 90’s comedy film by the Coen Brothers titled The Big Lebowski. The film follows a laidback stoner named Jeffery Lebowski (a.k.a. the Dude) and his bowling buddies as they prepare for a bowling tournament against a crazed competitor named Jesus.

Lebowski-Fest is an annual convention dedicated to the 1998 cult film “The Big Lebowski” that attracts hundreds of thousands of people to it worldwide each year. While it originates from Louisville, Kentucky, it has since expanded to as far as London and Los Angeles. This two-night event features a screening of the film, live music, and a bowling party attended by fans dressed as characters from the film. So pull out your White Russians and bongs because it’s time to get completely wasted!

Meanwhile as he searches for a lost rug, the Dude somehow gets himself mixed up in a kidnapping plot involving a disabled millionaire, his gold-digging wife, a gang of German nihilists, the head of a pornographic industry, and a whole ton of crazy characters. But in the midst of all this madness, the Dude seems to have no worries in the world other than bowling, drinking, and puffing the magic dragon.
Now, while the Dude might sound like a deadbeat loser with absolutely no redeeming qualities to him whatsoever, that’s kind of the whole point! In Dudeist philosophy, society is presented as building people up for great progress and great things they want to achieve, but in the end, very few people actually achieve what they are aiming for. In our modern world where wealth and fame are over-glorified as the keys to success and happiness, the Dude stands out as the wise man teaching us to focus our attention more towards the little things in life rather than losing ourselves in a chase for praise and acclaim.
According to an article from CNN titled “The man who founded a religion based on ‘The Big Lebowski’”, the religion’s founder Oliver Benjamin stated that while The Dude is an extreme case, everyone can potentially identify with some aspects of Dudeism in some way.
I like to think of Dudeism as a modern form of the hippie movement. Although I believe a lot of interesting philosophies, ideas, and great music came from the hippie movement, at the end of the day, hippies were just a bunch of homeless acidheads who wanted a revolution but never actually did anything, which is exactly what I think about Dudeism—just another slobbish approach towards anarchy.