Vice is nice and a Matrixist speaks

A review of The Joy Of Sects in Vice magazine:

Sam Jordisan, the author of that Crap Towns book, should clean up with this because everyone's secretly fascinated by religious cults - who hasn'’t wondered what those zoned-out Hare Krishna folk do when they're not chanting around town and cooking vegetarian curry? —and you can see Channel 4 picking up the rights for a light-hearted 50 Craziest Cults Ever countdown show presented by Jimmy Carr. From Scientology and The Manson Family to the Nation of Islam, the Moonies and Breatharianism (the one where you 'live'” on light alone; not so popular), most cults are accounted for and gently satirised. Except, that is, the biggies, Christianity and Islam, which are just better established and wealthier than minnows like Matrixism, based on the Matrix film trilogy believe it or not, and Tasmania's nutty Hermes Far Eastern Shining. This is fun bathroom literature but it leaves you saddened thinking about how desperate and confused tens of thousands of people must be to allow themselves to be brainwashed into believing that someone or something can provide all the answers to their problems, especially if they first hand over a stack of cash and their 14-year-old daughter.

PATRICIA SIRK

Ok, they spelled my name wrong, but gently satirical was just the tone I was aiming for. And channel4, are you listening? You too book buying public! I'm supposed to be cleaning up, not wondering how the gawd-help-me I'm going to pay my tax bill etc.

Meanwhile, since I'm blowing my own trumpet, here's a correspondence I had with the Acting Secretary of Matrixism:

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Sam Jordison wrote:

Hello,

I thought you might be pleased to know that matrixism has made it into a UK book called The Joy Of Sects:

amazon.co.uk.

How's that for hacking?

S

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Hi Sam,

Thanks for the write-up. I actually purchased the book as a Christmas present to my self this December. I was however a little disappointed that you stated that the religion began as a spoof. All in all though I was very pleased with the treatment you gave Matrixism. I'll be sure to recommend the book to our fellow matrixists.

Also I will pass the information along to W***. I believe she was the person who you first corresponded with. You will be sad to know that she gave up being our secretary because she couldn't deal with the death threats and such.

You might also be interested to know that Matrixism has been referenced in "Religion and Popular Culture" by A. Possamai. The nifty aspect of this refernce is that it is part of an academic series. It is therefore a scholarly reference and can be sited when writing academic papers. Of course your hack will reach many more people! Again thank you and kudos.

Some things have changed in the FAQ of our website that you will probably be interested in reading.

Regards,

Mark X

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So I was wrong about it being a spoof - for, which Matrixists, I sincerely apologise. I'm also alarmed by the "death threats and such". What's "and such". Poor W***!

All the same, a very heartening email - especially after all the reviews I've been getting on amazon complaining about my research techniques and 'spritual fence sitting'. ON THE SUBJECT OF WHICH, it's a toilet book! Who cares about my spiritual journey? And I did do lots of first hand research. Months of it. Hard grind. Getting into some very weird situations. The cheek! Also, I know I'm in a state of heightened paranoia viz cults, but it struck me that the people writing my one star reviews appear to reading from the same hymn sheet. It's almost as if I've touched a nerve... Haha.

Here's a link for Matrixism by the way:

Matrixism