i don't know of any!!!!

Check out Luskentyrianism ( Whit, Or Isis Among The Unsaved ).

It is tempting to put Dianetics on this list but I'll resist it;)

manny, perfect! I am *so* going to read this...soon, I promise (great review, btw)

ETA: I added it to the list even tho' I've not yet read it.

jo wrote: "i don't know of any!!!!"

I'm sure I've read more than I've listed, but I'm drawing a blank too!

Marvin wrote: "It is tempting to put Dianetics on this list but I'll resist it;)"

hahah! thank you for adding S of T -- I forgot that one (gah, and I just re-read it too!).

jakaem wrote: "manny, perfect! I am *so* going to read this...soon, I promise (great review, btw)"

Thank you! It's really a fun book.

Oh, and I just remembered that there's another nice fictional religion in Damon Knight's Analogue Men - it's a kind of wacky version of Satanism. The Prayer of Thanks starts something like this:

"For thy curses, All-Lowest, we thank Thee; lift not Thy maleficient rump from us; let Thy darkness enfold our steps..."

Manny wrote: Thank you! It's really a fun book.

Oh, and I just remembered that there's another nice fictional..."

I'll add that one too.

Here's a question for all on the thread: are made-up religions *always* satirical? I think not (which is why Earthseed fails for me as a literary device). But Atwood's God's Gardeners is so fascinating (and, I'd say, so successful) because of the ambiguity of the satire.

... just mulling ... it's Sunday after all. ;-)

I'm not sure Bokononism is entirely satirical. It's quite beautiful in some ways.

A couple more candidates! How did we forget the Followers of the Second Coming of the Great Prophet Zarquon from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? The scene where he makes his belated appearance is one of my favourites. And, a much more obscure one, Dort-worship, from Mose Mallette. I must post about this!

OK, look here.

Non-satirical made-up religions: how about the one in the Dune books, e.g. God Emperor of Dune?

Bokononism non-satirical? A religion founded on foma? Maybe you're right, maybe the irony swallows itself like a snake swallowing its own tail.

I haven't read Dune.

And Hitchhiker's Guide! Yes, a grievous omission ... I'll add that one, coz at least I've read it...

... trying to remember if Another Roadside Attraction has a fully articulated counter-religion to the Catholicism it mocks... hmmmmm. Anyone?

jakaem wrote: "... trying to remember if Another Roadside Attraction has a fully articulated counter-religion to the Catholicism it mocks... hmmmmm. Anyone?"

I'd say no. I'd vote yes on the Dune books too.

ETA: Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! Equus

Manny wrote: "OK, look here."

truly odd.

Ceridwen wrote: "ETA: Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! Equus..."

Yikes. :-(

Of course there were "clever" people who voted for the Bible and Qu'ran.

Were any of the gods in American Gods created by Gaiman? I guess the forgotten god was (and Delirium of the Endless makes a cameo) but the others are based on existing religion/folklore.