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| - The Church of Golly is a religious organization dedicated to spreading the teachings of Golly of Nazareth. Gollyism, or Golism as it is sometimes called, is a phenomenon of American religious sensibility, as are Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses. It has its beginnings in mid-nineteenth century Midwestern middle-American upper income homes, where many other middling attempts at making sense of the history of religion were also born, bred, and raised. The difference between this religion and those referenced above, as well as most others that might be mentioned in the same breath, is that Gollyism is based on a profound sense of doubt. Most religions are based on belief. The religion (if it can actually be called a religion) which developed out of the teachings of Golly of Nazareth is fo
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| abstract
| - The Church of Golly is a religious organization dedicated to spreading the teachings of Golly of Nazareth. Gollyism, or Golism as it is sometimes called, is a phenomenon of American religious sensibility, as are Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses. It has its beginnings in mid-nineteenth century Midwestern middle-American upper income homes, where many other middling attempts at making sense of the history of religion were also born, bred, and raised. The difference between this religion and those referenced above, as well as most others that might be mentioned in the same breath, is that Gollyism is based on a profound sense of doubt. Most religions are based on belief. The religion (if it can actually be called a religion) which developed out of the teachings of Golly of Nazareth is founded on a core of surprise and doubt--in other words, it is the polar opposite of the typical religion so-called. Understandably, such a religious philosophy--or philosophical religion--was squelched, suppressed, and ruthlessly stomped into the dust by the Christian Church from the time of Christianity's ascendancy to the throne of The Church Imperial. It wasn't until the Enlightenment had produced the American and French revolutions, and the Americans had produced the Profit Motive, that such a notion as Eternal Doubt could find a foothold on the treacherous heights of the cliff (notes) of Religion. If one looks at the few extant texts referring to the teachings of Golly the Prophet which can be verified as having their origins in the centuries following the time of this supposed contemporary of Jesus, we can see two important facts: 1) that the gospels attributed to followers of Golly are highly doubtful as to their authenticity, and 2) that the followers of Golly are highly doubtful as to the authenticity of Golly himself. This presents one of the most challenging and fascinating paradoxes in the history of religious thought--rivaling even the contrived contradictions of Zen Buddhism. How could a religious philosophy which doubts even its own origins be taken seriously? The followers of Golly would probably say: "We seriously doubt it". This is nothing if not difficult for the average historian of religions to get his mind, teeth, hands, or legs around. The modern sects of Gollyism that flourish today do indeed use, publish, and refer to several "gospels" (for want of a better term) that purport to be based on the teachings of Golly of Nazareth, and to have been written, or at least handed down, by direct disciples of the prophet. Among these are the Books of Either/Or, Jim, Mark-off, Zackadaka, Persians, Confusion, Costly, Dubious, Conclusions, Questions, and Make-Up. These writings are gathered together in The Big Book, the admittedly presumptuously-titled text of the Church of Golly. This institution, which can claim to be scarcely forty years old at this writing, is among the fastest-growing religious organizations in America. This is largely due to the work of one man, Oval Rubber, founder of the Church, and his television program "The By Golly Show", which is syndicated on hundreds of stations nationwide and is produced by a cadre of fervent Doubters which include his wife, Ethyl Rubber, his son, Galvin, and his young daughter, Michelin, as well as his unofficial co-pastor in evangelism, Ben Simple.
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