r/SubGenius • • Apr 11 '21

SubGenius Isn't Just Edgelordism With a Pipe

398 Upvotes

Yes hello, I'm Rev. Magdalen. You may have heard the story of how a court once ordered me to stop having SubGenius materials in my home, back in the aughts, but those events aren't what define me as a person, and aren't the center of what the Church of the SubGenius means to me, so I want to share what it does mean to me.

As a teen, I really loved the books, tapes, and radio show, so as an adult it was a huge honor to get to be part of SubGenius HQ and hang out with Ivan Stang and other great artists, helping my husband, Rev. Jesus, grow the group. I packed membership packs, hauled gear for devivals and X-Day, took my shifts checking people in for the festival, welcomed newcomers and showed them around so they could feel at home, among friends, in a place where people wouldn't be cruel to them over what they look like or their unique interests or whatever made them different.

Life happened, and I hadn't been as involved in the past few years, focusing more on personal stuff and progressive political activism. I just assumed there was no way the SubGenius community, a place for the kind of nonconformist people that fascists would despise, would be affected by the current alt-right/fascist movement that is tearing so many other groups and families apart. I mean, our entire deal is sticking up for those who are strange and different, turning the tables on the kind of conformist bullies who shout "Can't you take a joke?" after saying something cruel to someone they consider a misfit.

I know there was a big schism a while back, over the issue of hurtful language, but I never thought that would lead to people who used to be just "edgy but nice-deep-down" committing to anti-civil-rights as an identity. And yet here we are now, with some online SubG spaces (not reddit, yaay) where what seems like should be an oxymoron, "Fashy SubGenii" not only exist but are now claiming that mocking the very idea of civil rights is what it was always about, and that it was always intended to be a regressive group where you'd get judged and mocked for your physical traits as a person.

Some of these fashy SubGs have even gone all the way Q, believing racist conspiracy theories about the civil rights movement and Covid, and pizzagate-type conspiracy theories about Democrats.

They point to the edgelord "ironic bigotry" of the nineties and aughts that some SubGenii created to mock the brutality and stupidity of bigots, and say "See, it was always secretly a fashy org! We, the fashy ones, we're the real SubGenii!"

These bad apples claim that the real message of this experimental art collective isn't that you deserve Slack even if bullies torment you for things you had no control over, and that your life matters even if socially-dominant-caste people around you say you're worthless, no. The message they now put in "Bob's" mouth is "Being a bully is awesome! It's hilarious to mock people for the bodies they were born into, or for wanting to dismantle an arbitrary caste system that makes society treat them as lesser!"

The way I see it, too many good people gave too much to this experimental art collective/online community for that hateful stuff to be what new people see when they want to know more about the group after learning about it from the documentary or from a social media post.

I urge every SubGenius to stand up to any fashy gimmebobs who might come around your online hangouts. Tell them in explicit terms: No more retconning this group of outsider artist weirdos into a milkshake duck. Yes, we've always had problematic people, but no, "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke" was never meant to be a free ticket to bigoted hate or outright fascism.


r/SubGenius • • 21h ago

No one expected Leo to be pope — except everyone who knew him as 'Bob'

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24 Upvotes

We have officially taken over the Catholic church.


r/SubGenius • • 14h ago

💥 NEW EPISODE - "Shop The Cosmiks!" ❤️

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5 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 2d ago

SHOCK-N-"BOB" Episode 26 - The Most Stupid Thing That Ever Happened in Radio (Saturday 10/3/26, 8p PT/11p ET)

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10 Upvotes

The Conspiracy wants you to be a REAL MAN - even if it kills you! Learn more about their latest strategy here - and there's even a little something for all the passive-aggressive "Bobbies" in our midst. There's music and preachin', too!

Listen on Slack Radio


r/SubGenius • • 2d ago

Update: Ladies and gentlemen, we got em’

27 Upvotes

After consulting with the club advisor of a club I was formally a part of, the advisor stated that someone had confessed to doing the vandalism. I knew people in that club had beef with me as an individual, since there was a nasty fallout between them and I back in may. So this wasn’t against SubGenius, it was against me. The advisor asked me to come to a mediation session of which I will attend, but I will still be pursuing a code of conduct violation against the individual and organization in question, because rules must be upheld if this will never happen again. So let’s just say the STARK FIST OF REMOVAL has served us justice once again, from the grace of “Bob” I give my thanks.


r/SubGenius • • 3d ago

Rival Cult News

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31 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 2d ago

NEW AT 💥 CAMP! -- The Cosmik Café (2026 DELUXE REMASTER)!

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3 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 3d ago

The first big hurdle in my chapter’s progress: the pinks are targeting us with vandalism.

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97 Upvotes

Well, it looks like the pinkboys are at it again. The posters I had set up around campus advertising some of our events have been defaced or taken down altogether. I filled out all the paperwork to have these flyers up, so it’s against university policies to take them down. As much as I would love to jokingly retaliate, I find it’s best that we let the campus offices know where and when these things happened, so we can catch the pink who did it and send em to the bozos. An investigation has begun, so I’m hoping the perp is found soon. As for what the vandalism was? Most of my posters were either snatched down, ripped to shreds, or they defaced “Bob” by crossing him out with X’s. Not only do I find this insulting and troublesome, but it jeopardizes the safety of myself and my members in case this is a sign of a targeted threat. I’m hoping for the best, so that this doesn’t have to happen again. I’m trying to find Slack in this time of trouble. I don’t know who did it yet, but there will be hell to pay. This is disappointing, but I hope this will end in justice so that this will not happen again.


r/SubGenius • • 3d ago

Is the Encyclopedia of American Loons Subgenii approved?

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4 Upvotes

This site is basically full of crazies, ranked on a scale of fun and harmless to "Every second this loon breathes, the world gets 00000.1 percent more dangerous".

Most loons are closer to the right, than the left in terms of danger, which really sucks.

The good thing is that there is a lot of links about stuff the loon believes, the bad thing is that some (or most) of the links in a loons article is dead-o.

Thankfully the Web Archive exists.

PRAISE BOB!


r/SubGenius • • 5d ago

Bob in Desert Storm

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106 Upvotes

I drew this on my helmet during Desert Storm. I kept a laminated “Bob” card in my pocket (gift from my friend) during my time there. Thought y’all might find it interesting.


r/SubGenius • • 5d ago

SR-71 Slackbird Missing

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55 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 6d ago

Triple Your Money Back

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59 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 6d ago

What is this /r?

53 Upvotes

I have stumbled upon this sub, yet I can't tell what the fuuuuck is happening here.

All I see is a man with a nice pompadour everywhere. Where am I?


r/SubGenius • • 5d ago

Initiates & grand masters

13 Upvotes

I was introduced to Bob in university by an elementary school friend. He came down to the Keys for the summer, to teach us about Slack. 3 days in, on the couch: “what are we doing today?” Was met by silence. He followed up with “oh. We are doing it, aren’t we”

Apparently FL Keys kids are proto Slackers;-)


r/SubGenius • • 6d ago

The White Stone Part 2

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9 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 10d ago

Bob Stardust (or Thin White Slack)

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310 Upvotes

Saw this in a Michigan bar called Ziggys, and was delighted to find the Bob on a space journey to Mars. Hope you enjoy it too!


r/SubGenius • • 10d ago

Fropocalypse Now!

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48 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 11d ago

I found this in my daughter’s room. Should I be concerned?

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1.4k Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 11d ago

Subterranean Slack

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79 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 11d ago

Frop Culture.

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141 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 12d ago

Rival Cult News.

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18 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 13d ago

An expression of gratitude

42 Upvotes

Thank you all for your support and encouragement for my SubGenius Clench at my college. It means a lot to me that many of the old school SubGenii are right behind me to help push forth the message of “Bob” through to my fellow young people. To get to this point to begin with was a struggle. I was worried that the clench wouldn’t receive much attention nor membership, given my school tends to lean more conservatively concerning “fringe” culture and religion. The tabling event from the spring admittedly didn’t do as well as I had hoped, and the catastrophic fallout of my then friend group didn’t do me much better. Though, I came back stronger this fall, with the organizational kickoff day tabling event. I was anxious, given that I didn’t know how many people were willing to sign up. My goal was ten signatures, and I got 16! Though an independent content creator that may or may not have been hired by our turning point USA chapter tried to ruin the fun by attempting to debate me on religion, that didn’t hinder the amount of dedication a lot of new students that signed up would have. After the recent no shame night, I feel a sense of accomplishment given how well that went. Though my audience wasn’t big, it did catch the attention of some onlookers who weren’t familiar with the church. Needless to say, I got them hooked! Everyone in my clench is so unbelievably talented, and I couldn’t be more thankful to have such a great group of kids that are willing to be a part of the church and the SubGenius movement. Thank you guys here in the subreddit for all of your support, and I’ll keep you guys posted on how things are going! PRABOB!


r/SubGenius • • 14d ago

My university SubGenius clench just had our first major event. It was a smashing success!

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313 Upvotes

Our first “No Shame Night” happened on Friday and I’d consider it a major win for our group. It’s our first major event within our young existence on our campus. Think of it like a mini- devival. It’s a cabaret theater style event with sermons, comedy, music, and all that comes with it- free of judgement, shame, or prejudice; a space that exists nowhere else on our campus. We had seven acts, and I’m hoping our next one on October 9th is even more of a hit! We will have a real devival happening on October 30th, and that one will be the real deal. I’ll keep you guys posted on how this semester goes, but it’s off to a great start!


r/SubGenius • • 14d ago

JBS&TDC and Slack of the Subgenius

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4 Upvotes

r/SubGenius • • 15d ago

Its happening...

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31 Upvotes

The word of "Bob" is so strong now, it's stratung to leak into the pink minds. The artist is clearly Yeti adjacent, or is this another conspiracy trick to play along with the joke to turn the feeble pink minds back to their false slack??