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Misused: Church Of Happyology

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Deadlock Clock: Oct 17th 2019 at 11:59:00 PM
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#78: Jun 19th 2019 at 7:48:35 AM

[up][up][up]

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
bwburke94 I am mad scientist! It's so cool! from 1.048596% (Y2: Electric Boogaloo) Relationship Status: She does the things you do, but she is an IBM
I am mad scientist! It's so cool!
#79: Jun 19th 2019 at 8:19:20 AM

[up][up][up][up]

...OK, this joke has gone on for long enough.

2025: the year it all ends?
ElBuenCuate Since: Oct, 2010
#80: Jun 19th 2019 at 12:39:45 PM

Just to make sure, I didn't mean just to name drop it once and keep the rest the same, but that after name dropping, the joke ends, and the trope is explained in full without reservations about mentioning scientology, and explaining that is about Writing Around Trademarks.

Edited by ElBuenCuate on Jun 19th 2019 at 1:41:17 PM

bitemytail Since: Dec, 2011
#81: Jun 19th 2019 at 1:36:29 PM

Clear, Concise, Witty in that order.

Making it clear that the trope is about parodies of Scientology is the #1 goal of the page. If we have to say "Scientology" once to make that point, or fifteen times should make no difference.

Going out of our way to write a description to intentionally use (or not use) the word "Scientology" because it's a funny joke detracts from the objective purpose of the description.

Lymantria Tyrannoraptoran Reptiliomorph from Toronto Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Tyrannoraptoran Reptiliomorph
#82: Jun 19th 2019 at 2:52:11 PM

Yes. Like how Wikipedia's page on ''Gadsby once didn't use the letter "e", just like the novel itself. The joke was removed because it made the article difficult to understand - it couldn't say the name of the book's author (Ernest Vincent Wright), couldn't say it was a novel, and couldn't even say that the novel didn't have the letter e, which was what made it notable in the first place! Our own page on the novel has a self-demonstrating version separate from the main article, so that readers who haven't heard of it before know what they're reading about.

It's the exact same problem in this case. While we're not as serious as Wikipedia, we still shouldn't be needlessly confusing - Clear, Concise, Witty is a rule here, after all. If scrapping the joke completely is too much, drop it at the end of the description and in the examples, like others have said.

As for the Useful Notes page, here's why it was cut according to Permanent Red Link Club:

"UsefulNotes.Scientology: Even after being locked, the fighting didn't stop. Since it was the only Useful Notes page that doesn't help you understand anything on this wiki better, the page was deleted. Church of Happyology describes when people make up a ridiculous religion, and you don't even have to know anything about Scientology to get the joke, especially not when it's actually making fun of Scientology itself. Besides, if Scientology's in a work, you can always use Wikipedia to see how accurate it is."

If a work features dinosaurs, you can also use Wikipedia to see how accurate it is, but our page on them still exists. To be fair, dinosaurs aren't quite as controversial a topic as Scientology.

Edited by Lymantria on Jun 19th 2019 at 5:55:31 AM

Join the Five-Man Band cleanup project!
eyebones Since: Apr, 2004
#83: Jun 21st 2019 at 5:55:47 PM

Sandboxed here is a draft "removing the joke".

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken
bwburke94 I am mad scientist! It's so cool! from 1.048596% (Y2: Electric Boogaloo) Relationship Status: She does the things you do, but she is an IBM
I am mad scientist! It's so cool!
#84: Jun 21st 2019 at 10:16:14 PM

[up] Looks good at first glance.

2025: the year it all ends?
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#85: Jun 22nd 2019 at 5:19:16 AM

I would suggest listing some common characteristics of this church, since every parody religion is not a parody of Scientology. Otherwise, the sandboxed description seems fine.

Edited by Fighteer on Jun 22nd 2019 at 8:20:48 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
eyebones Since: Apr, 2004
#87: Jun 22nd 2019 at 9:15:00 AM

Sandbox updated.

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken
naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#88: Jun 23rd 2019 at 7:30:38 AM

What about just adding this to the beginning of the last paragraph of the current description, allowing us to both retain the joke and improve clarity:

Ah, but we jest. To be clear, this only covers parodies of the Church of Scientology. As such, it's a subtrope of Parody Religion.

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"
RallyBot2 (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
eyebones Since: Apr, 2004
#90: Jun 23rd 2019 at 1:56:08 PM

It doesn't seem necessary to me. It is very obvious it is about parody. In fact, I was thinking that the word 'parody' might have been overstressed, as it is. Counting 'parodist', 'lampooning', and 'parody' together, there 5 mentions. In two paragraphs. Anyone still confused will not suddenly get it on the sixth mention.

Edited by eyebones on Jun 23rd 2019 at 4:01:26 AM

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken
naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
eyebones Since: Apr, 2004
#92: Jun 24th 2019 at 8:34:19 AM

Over the addition of a line? It seems like overkill. Let's streamline, a bit. The re-draft has been up for review for a while without any big demurrers. I'll go ahead and install it, and if anyone has a substantial problem with it, we can circle back.

edited to add

Sheesh, it is locked. How do we get an unlock these days?

Edited by eyebones on Jun 24th 2019 at 10:36:42 AM

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#93: Jun 24th 2019 at 8:41:36 AM

That's a bug I thought we had got rid of a while ago. The fix is either to edit the page directly through the URL, or pinging a moderator. I've kicked that lock.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
eyebones Since: Apr, 2004
#94: Jun 24th 2019 at 8:56:05 AM

Thanks!

eta:

Or maybe not. It is still locked.

Edited by eyebones on Jun 24th 2019 at 11:00:38 AM

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken
bitemytail Since: Dec, 2011
#95: Jun 24th 2019 at 9:05:23 AM

It appears to genuinely be under mod lock.

It has an entry on Locked Pages

Edited by bitemytail on Jun 24th 2019 at 9:06:09 AM

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#96: Jun 24th 2019 at 9:14:56 AM

Manually unlocked that page. The lock reason in the system was "People don\'t seem to get that the wor Scietnology is not WANTED IN THIS FUCKING ARTICLE.." for what it's worth.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
eyebones Since: Apr, 2004
#97: Jun 24th 2019 at 9:20:57 AM

Okay. Update installed.[tup]

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken
RallyBot2 (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
#98: Jun 24th 2019 at 11:49:43 AM

The only thing worth making a crowner for is whether we should recreate the Useful Notes page for Scientology, but I'll push my efforts on that back until we're done cleaning up the misuse here.

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#99: Jun 24th 2019 at 12:15:49 PM

I really don't think we need one tbh

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#100: Jun 28th 2019 at 8:15:48 AM

A Useful Notes page would be on-mission for us, given how often Scientology is referenced in media, but it would need to have a very tight writeup and be locked immediately after creation.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Total posts: 104
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