Bryan Ray

Collected Religious Writings Bryan Ray

The Collected Religious Writings of Bryan Ray is a series of mock-sacred texts: enigmas; mad sermons; abstractions of personal gnosis; ridiculous parables; critical self-interpretations (meant to parody the way that the so-called New Testament writings try to interpret the "true meaning" of the so-called Old Testament writings); and nonsensically bizarre episodes of holy farce.

The book is intended humorously to serve as the bible for the author's newfangled (and nonexistent) sect; but it also can be seen as the record of a mental fight: a journey in which the mind attempts to overcome its own inherited religion by way of artistry.

William Blake, in his book called The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, explains that religions begin when people choose forms of worship from poetic tales. The Collected Religious Writings of Bryan Ray aims to reverse that bad habit by consciously and playfully participating in the zaniness of religion-making, with the hope of ultimately turning it all back into art. The text reminds the reader that all "holy" books are products of the human imagination, and that they should be viewed as poetic tales rather than as sacred truths. (So the word "Religious" in the collection's title is fairly ironic.)

At the very least, this intentionally weird tome is the perfect way to stop the advances of evangelicals, missionaries, or anyone else who would like to convert you to their cult. Now, whenever proselytizers show up at our door soliciting their religion, we can simply impersonate HAL 9000 and say, "Just a moment"; then go fetch a copy of The Collected Religious Writings of Bryan Ray, and tell them: "I will gladly listen to your sales pitch, but only after you finish reading THIS."