Discordianism is fascinating. No Discordian actually believes in the existance of
Eris. It is what She represents that is important. Specifically, she offers
catharsis. Discordians are, as a whole, generally atheist. No one who actually believes in a
deity would worship Eris in His or Her place. No one who belives in Eris would actually worship Her: She is pure chaos. Instead, Discordianism offers something to those who believe in nothing, or at least no
religion. Looking around, one sees only chaos. There appears to be no order, and human beings require order. Many people find order in religion-- it will all be better after we die, or it will all be better when I have freed myself from
karma. The atheist looks at life and says it will never be better, at least not in the way the religious believe it will be. Discordiansim, however, takes this one step further. Not only does nothing make sense, nothing is supposed to make sense. There is no divine plan: the
universe is chaotic by nature. The interesting part is that this knowledge comes, not from observing the universe but from
divine revelation. This is
doublethink at its best. Eris is used as a symbol for the chaos of the Universe, the fact that we have no gods to lead us or provide order, but She herself is a goddess. By definition, Her word is law, but Her law is chaos. Discordianism is thus a way of showing that the
meaninglessness of existence is its own
meaning. There may be no meaning, but there isn't supposed to be. Instead, it is merely the human mind,
evolved to search for
patterns, trying desperately to find some where there are none.
So, since writing this, I've realized that, yes, there really do exist Discordians who believe in the literal existence of Eris. However, this still does apply to some people, so I'll leave it (mostly) unchanged.<\h5>