Diving is a religion!
This, just forwarded to me from my buddy, Brian. We have always said that diving is our religion, and that the ocean is our church where we wash away all our sins. And here is some of the proof that venturing under the waves isn’t so far away from visiting your local church/mosque/synagogue, temple, satanic meeting place!
Diving is like religions because:
1. There are mainstream religions: PADI, SSI, NAUI, YMCA, etc.
2. There are fundamentalists: GUE/DIR.
3. There is the CREED: The NDL tables, slightly different for each religion, but essentially the same on how you use it.
4. There is a GOD: Air.
5. There is the GREATEST COMMANDMENT: Thou shalt no run out of air.
6. There are religious fanatics: The Scubaboard addicts.
7. There are priests: Dive instructors.
8. There are deacons: Dive masters.
9. There are wisemen: The old geezers.
10. There cults: Cave, Wreck, Pink.
11. There are public stoning: When a troll is caught.
12. Rites of initiation: 25 meter one breath dive, OOA drills, mask clearing, etc.
13. Saints: Jacque Cousteau.
14. Martyrs: I will not name names for the sake of the family.
15. Pilgrimages: Famous wrecks.
16. Donations: At least 15% of your disposable income yearly.
17. Holy wars: Do a search on PADI bashing, start a thread on using spare air.
18. The Church: Any open body of water.
19. The followers: Common everyday rec divers.
20. Holier than thou people: Tech divers.
21. Religion controlled states: Scubaboard - using moderators as enforcers.
22. Conservatives: Dive with large ponies and doubles.
23. Liberals: Dive with spare airs and pink gears.
24. Religious symbols: Wear dive computer instead of a watch, dive symbol on tie clip, PADI badges.
25. Chapels: Dive boats and popular dive sites.
26. Religious book: Encyclopedia of diving. Navy dive manual.
27. Sacraments: Open water, Advanced Open water, Nitrox, etc.
28. Daily mass/church attendant: The obsessive diver trying to exceed his 5000th dive.
29. The typical diver: Attend “church” service only twice a year while on their cruise.
30. Baptism: First OW dive.
31. Hermits: Solo divers.
32. Sinners: Return to the boat with empty tanks, exceeding the NDL, diving with out an SPG, rototilling the corals with your kicks.
33. God’s punishment for sins: Decompression sickness, ear squeeze, death.
34. Wife’s punishment for religion: Divorce paper filed the day after you bought the rebreather.
or Discuss this Article
Hi Dave,
Thank you for commenting at my blog. Glad to see another Japansugoi reader.
I see that you’re an avid diver - that’s amazing. I can only imagine what a wonderful world it must be underwater. Personally I’m not very hydrophilic, but I’d love to try diving for at least once in my life.
Keep up the good work with your blog! And I must agree with you that anything can be regarded as a religion. Living is in itself a religion that we all believe in.