Rev. Ivan Stang: The Problem of “Faith”

Stang is one of the founders (some say THE founder) of the Church of the SubGenius. We’ll cleared that issue and other things up about this religion masquerading as a joke (or is that the other way around?)

Some minor technical problems did not deter us from having a great talk about the mystic origins of the SubGenius “faith,” which began with phone and CB radio pranks and evolved to crazed pamphlet-writing and eventually a worldwide phenomenon. We also discussed the problem of SubGenius members who believe too much, which is strange since it seems that the entire movement was founded on the idea of fanatical non-belief masquerading as unwavering devotion.

You might not hear it, but I was laughing hysterically off-microphone for much of the program. The show ends abruptly due to a technical glitch while we were talking about the band DEVO, but Ivan has told me that he wants to continue the conversation a later date.

The image above is from issue #5 of my old magazine. Stang wrote the cover story. Art by Hal Robbins. That’s a terrified Stang looking up at the smelly alien.

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