Why I am Bokonist

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is my favorite author from the US. His simple and captivating language makes his literature pieces flow as fast as most pulp, while leaving you with a new perspective about the absurdity of the universe that we live in.
The war comedy Slaughterhouse-Five had me laughing out loud at the crimes against humanity committed by the Allies. So it goes.
Listen: Breakfast of Champions left me in awe after the author himself appears in the book to tell to one of the characters that his suspicion is true: he is a character in a book. And so on.

I just finished reading his Cat's Cradle, a book that has everything a Mad Scientist must have: a tropical island, an evil dictator, and an apocalyptic weapon. The outlawed religion taught by Bokonon is the only escape against the oppressive scientific totalitarianism. "See the cat? See the cradle?" is the phrase that reminds us about the absurdity of the complicated mechanism of self-deception that we use to carry on with our lives.
Check the book out; it is short, fun and a good first book to get to know Vonnegut.

But, most importantly, this book introduced me to The Books of Bokonon, the first religious book that resonates with my own spiritual needs. If you think you aren't a Bokonist, just read Cat's Cradle, you will think differently by the end.

The Books of Bokonon start with the following warning:

Don't be a fool! Close this book at once! It is nothing but foma!

Where foma is the word for lies and deception.

All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies.

is how Bokonon continues his seminal, continuously growing religious testament.

Man blinked. "What is the purpose of all this?" he asked politely.
"Everything must have a purpose?" asked God.
"Certainly," said man.
"Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this," said God.
And He went away.

Bokonon teaches us in his religion. But, he has his own opinion about religions:

Of course it's trash!

Can religion fill the void? Can it give meaning to our existence? Bokonon's Fourteenth Book has the answer. I won't try to paraphrase or edit the answer, so I will just include here the total contents of the book:

Title: What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?
Only verse: Nothing.

I can now say that I am a bokonist, and I have always been one. I am convinced that you will find out that you have always been one too, you just don't know it.

I will now finish this post with a verse from The Books of Bokonon:

Someday, someday, this crazy world will have to end,
And our God will take things back that He to us did lend.
And if, on that sad day, you want to scold our God,
Why just go ahead and scold Him. He'll just smile and nod.