It’s for real, folks. I am not pulling your leg here. The country of Sweden has officially recognized a new religion that has its basis on file sharing! Now I have always thought of the Swedish people as being tolerant, but I never knew that they are this open minded. Imagine, a religion that is all about what many institutions consider illegal!
Dubbed the Church of Kopimism is new compared to the religions that we grew up with. It has been around for around a year, though and is 3,000-member strong. Just like other religions, the Church of Kopimism has symbols that it holds sacred. Do not laugh, for I am sure its members do not think it is a laughing matter, but their sacred symbols are CTRL+C and CTRL+V. I don’t need to expound on the meanings underlying these symbols, do I?
As can be expected, the church states: “Copy and paste what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” In short, the church believes that information is what is holy and sacred. It is free for all and should not be withheld or restricted. Easy enough to believe in, don’t you think? Unless you are the owner of the copyright and want to be compensated for use of your property! Of course, we can expect this to easily be the basis for complaints and even legal action from those who do not subscribe to the tenets of Kopimism.
Here is the official press release of the church when they got recognized by the Swedish government:
Just before Christmas, the Swedish governmental agency Kammarkollegiet registered the Church of Kopimism as a religious organisation. This means that Sweden is the first country to recognize kopimism as a religion.
The Church of Kopimism have tried to become registered as a religious organisation by Kammarkollegiet for more than a year.
Since Kammarkollegiet has been strict with formalities, we had to apply three times, a happy Gustav Nipe – board chairman for the organisation – says. He continues, I think it might have something to do with the governmental organisations abiding by a very copyright friendly attitude, with a twisted view on copying.
For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament. Information holds a value, in itself and in what it contains, and the value multiplies through copying. Therefore, copying is central for the organisation and its members.
Being recognized by the state of Sweden is a large step for all of kopimi. Hopefully, this is one step towards the day when we can live out our faith without fear of persecution, says Isak Gerson, spiritual leader of the Church of Kopimism.
The Church of Kopimism is a religious organisation with roots from 2010. The organisation formalizes a community that’s been well spread for a long time already. The community of kopimi requires no formal membership. You just have to feel a calling to worship what is the holiest of the holiest, information and copy. To do this, we organize kopyactings – religious services – where the kopimists share information with eachother through copying and remix.
Copy and seed.
Visit the official web site of the religion to learn more about Kopimism. Unfortunately, at this time, the site redirects to a static page, thanks to it being slashdotted. Just keep checking back till it comes back up.
Image via manoj07