ABSTRACT
This chapter will interrogate an ambiguity in the construction of ‘The Conspiracy’ in the cultural products of the Church of the SubGenius (hereafter CoSG). On the one hand, The Conspiracy in CoSG writings parodies real-world claims of ‘conspiracy theories’ as examples of unre-exive dogmatic thinking. Such a satirical approach is in keeping with CoSG’s typical presentation as a ‘parody religion’. However, less frequently noted is that CoSG often seems to be reproducing or paralleling conspiracy theory narratives literally. As I have noted elsewhere, Robert Anton Wilson (a major gure in both CoSG and Discordianism) treated conspiracy theories playfully and uses them as examples of dogmatic thinking (Robertson 2012). Wilson would adopt conspiracist thinking in the same way that he would adopt religious narratives; in order to relativise his own thinking, and prevent dogmatic, un-self-reexive thought:
The basic technique . . . is to so mix the elements of each book that the reader must decide on each page ‘How much of this is real and how much is a put-on?’
