The Brony Religion? · 12:33am Feb 6th, 2013
If you want to skip to the point, go down to the purple text.
I would like to share something that has only recently been pointed out to me. These concern the various divides of the fans of the show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. There are many different kinds of people who enjoy the show, therefore many different kinds of fans. This leads to quite dramatic divides in the philosophies of the fandom. One such divide that was made apparent to me just earlier is that a good number of fans have adopted the term "Brony" as the title for the fandom, while there are others who can hardly stomach the title and believe the use of the term to be childish and annoying.
I had accepted the term long before, thinking that all the fans considered themselves "Bronies" and left it at that. This was the first time I had ever seen anyone detest the use of the word, when they were clearly an active member of the fandom. Frankly, it was a bit startling at first, then intriguing. Makes me wonder what kind of person they must be, for I haven't seen many such people in the fandom before.
Anyway, touching more on these various divides, I introduce another idea. The idea that a good deal of fans take the show's philosophies and themes seriously enough for it to be called a religion. I was accused of such when defending a fellow writer after a particularly harsh and negative, yet admittedly intelligent enough comment had been thrown at them. I expressed my belief that his point could have been made in a much less harsh, more understanding fashion. I didn't mean to sway him from his opinion, just to be less harsh about it. I think that the fandom ought to show such qualities of kindness and tolerance as are expressed in My Little Pony Frienship is Magic, in defense against those who show hatred toward the fans. It is my belief that such universal tolerance in a fandom was what set the fans of My Little Pony apart from fans of, say, Star Trek, the Twilight Saga, and others in the vastly different ranges of the media. It was this belief, however, that really does make My Little Pony seem like a religion.
There isn't much getting around it. It genuinely does make this branch of the fandom who preach tolerance and kindness a kind of religion, or philosophical teaching. There is a very spiritual aspect of it in the way that such fans as myself who proudly use the term "Brony" and spread a message of kindness, go about doing so and practicing these beliefs in daily life. I wouldn't call it a religion because that implies some kind of belief in what happens after we die, but it is a fairly accurate term. I'd call it a philosophy instead. I refer to such tolerant and kind bronies as, "The Good Bronies" while I categorize the opposite kind of fan who lashes out very negatively and harshly as a "Bad Brony". At this point, these terms seem a bit politically incorrect. Just because there are those who don't share the, "Brony Spirit," doesn't mean they're bad people. Just means they aren't as serious. For them it's simply a hobby. For such people as myself, it's more of a lifestyle.
Now the question is whether or not this is a bad thing. Well, not really, no. Is the Christian belief of "Treat others as you would like to be treated" a bad thing? Is the Buddhist belief that we don't need material things to be happy, a bad thing? They certainly don't harm anyone, and lead to some pretty positive results. Even if this kind of dedication or, "Spirituality" involving the show may be strange, it certainly isn't something to complain about. This is coming from a guy who gets all kinds of religious beliefs shoved down his throat daily, so believe me when I say I can understand how irritating it can be, but it certainly isn't doing any more harm than good. The "Brony Spirit," unlike most religions, don't have any particularly bad effects when disagreements ensue. Part of the Brony Spirit is accepting other people's opinions and not questioning them or trying to forcibly sway them. The religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have clashed in the past because these faiths depend on one being right and the other two being wrong or half-right. With the Brony Spirit, it's simply a lifestyle where you try to be as kind and understanding as you can be, thus encouraging others to do the same until the world eventually becomes a more pleasant and happy place. That's the idea, anyway. I can't see anything harmful in such philosophy, and have to wonder why being kind to one another isn't simply a fundamentally desired human trait.
So, yes. It may be becoming like a religion, and I'm actually proud to say that I practice it. If being kind is something that is frowned upon, then by all means scold me. I just want to try and make the world a better place and to be the best person I can be. Whether or not it acts a bit like a religion doesn't matter to me, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone.
So, just to clarify and recap:
The definition of a religion as said by dictionary.com is: A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.
Literal belief that the show is reality isn't necessary. Not all religions have literal belief in their scriptures, nor do all of them worship a specific god or deity. Buddhism, for example, does not pay worship to any god. Buddhism is a set of guidelines on how to live with peace, sound mind, and the ability to live without material possessions you would have to leave behind in death. Having read the scriptures of quite a few different religions myself, I can say that whether or not you believe them to be true, they all really just act like guidelines on how to live. The show shares this key feature.
The show expresses a definite moral code, or a fundamental set of practices. This moral code is taken quite seriously by a large part of the fandom, so what can be said about this fundamental set of practices is that they are generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects. The sects being the varying groups of fans who take the morals of the show seriously. There are a lot of different groups, for instance, character fan clubs. There's dozens f groups dedicated to the character of Derpy Hooves, a background character who has made several "Where's Waldo" appearances with her eyes a bit screwed up. She only ever got three lines in the show, I believe, and yet she is one of the most popular characters in the fandom.
Anyway, the definition of religion is a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects. I've been able to quite easily establish that My Little Pony Friendship is Magic acts to many as a fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects. No matter how you look at it, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is, by definition, a religion.
I remember seeing this on your dA account. As for me, I'm a brony and I'm an agnostic... wait... how does that work?
799009
Haha. Yes, I did post the first part of this on Deviantart. I added the purple part for further clarification that my post on DA seemed to be lacking.
As for the whole religion thing, I wouldn't take it too seriously. It may fit into the definition, but it doesn't exactly compete with Judaism, Christianity, Catholicism, Islamic, Buddhism, Hindu, Mormon, Scientology, Paganism, Wiccan, Satanism, Vampirism, any of the lost religions of old like old Norse or others where Greek or Egyptian gods held sway over the Earth, or any other religion you can think of. I'd say that being a "dedicated brony" in this manner of being true to the "brony spirit" is more of an on the side thing. Kinda like astrology. You could believe in Zodiac signs while still being Christian or Jewish or other. There's tons of on-the-side beliefs. Chakras, Tarot, Zodiac, spirit guides, even something as simple as believing in fortune cookies counts as a side belief along with whatever religion someone practices.
Are you quite sure you count as one of these serious dedicated bronies? If so, then that's wonderful, but if not then I don't think it counts as a belief. It counts if you take the morals of the show seriously and practice them in daily life, having a full understanding of their many different meanings.
...I've put too much thought into this.
799733 Actually, I don't know if I count. I like the show, but I also think that I may have to piss off a lot of people to get somewhere in the real world, and that may break the MLP lessons.
800106
Now why in the world would you have to piss off a lot of people to get by in the real world?
You don't have to lie and cheat to make your way up the social ladder!
And even if you did, it's always better to be the better man in the first place. Be someone people will mourn when you pass away.
Not someone who can only work their way up by pissing others off.
Interesting, the show DOES tell you how to live MOST of the time. There are a few episodes where no REAL lesson was taught, but there are parts of the bible that are the same way.
It [MLP:Friendship is Magic] could be defined as a religion, which makes it very dangerous for those that take it too far.
it seems to me that fandoms may be replacing religions, so it's no surprise to me that some might consider the brony fandom religious