Can there be blasphemy in Discordianism? While sexy ol’ Eris goddess of confusion of strife has been pretty clear about the rules (there aren’t any rules), some followers of the joke cult/cult joke are hopping mad at a new published edition of their most sacred work the “Principia Discordia” . The problem is that the new edition (re-titled “Discordia: Hail the Goddess of Chaos and Confusion” ) has been altered ever-so-slightly and had a big-ol copyright slapped on it.

Considering the fact that the work has always been in the public domain, this has caused ire amongst the famously tolerant Popes of Discordia.

“Unfortunately for us followers of Discordia they have seen fit to alter the original text, use shoddy, low quality graphics stolen from the Internet and have completely mangled the original layout of our most sacred text…This re-titled version of Principia Discordia is 140 x 165mm and comes in at 192 pages. The reason for the huge page count compared with the original, is that the editor has split up the original layout and spread sections over numerous pages. They have also changed some of the original text to subtly alter it’s meaning and there are numerous just-wrongs throughout; far too many to list here.” – Pope Anonymous Sausages XXIII

“I tried to keep an open mind when looking at this book. Being a Discordian, at first I saw no problem with our Wholey Book having it’s contents modified and changed around. It’s obviously against the Goddess of Chaos to not let something stagnate and all that. But this book is an actual example of Blasphemy, something very difficult to do in this particular faith. Ms. Beverly Potter has copyrighted this version of the Principia Discordia, with the reasoning that the following makes it a different book than the original and he own creative work altogether: Moving jokes around, Removing punchlines from other jokes, Changing fonts on a few pages, Adding a few new pictures, most of which are taken from other Discordian works in the public domain, the logic being that kopyleft+kopyleft= BIG CASH PAYOFF” – The Great Sun Jester

Though being Discordians, one did give it the highest rating.

“I have not bought this book, since I don’t need another version of the text. However, I am readily giving it five stars, for it has thrown upon modern discordians even more Chaos and Confusion than they deserve.” – Ivan Saunter “Axebaud”

Neither Ronin Publishing, nor editor Dr. Beverly Potter (a specialist in treating job burnout) have given any reason for the repackaged hands-off version. It seems an odd way to cash in on Eris. Perhaps they are rogue Subgenii trying to make a quick buck before X-Day comes. I wouldn’t put it past those frop-smoking hooligans.

Addendum: This story has been Boing Boing-ed.