The Bokononist Religion

The novel Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut contains within it Vonnegut's critique of religion. The vehicle used for this purpose is the made up religion known as Bokononism. Bokononism is found by the character “Lionel Boyd Johnson” who, in the language of the fictional citizen of the island nation of San Lorenzo, is known as Bokonon. Bokonon and the character “Corporal Earl McCabe” put themselves in charge of San Lorenzo, without a complaint by any of the inhabitants (122). The goal of the two was to create a Utopian Paradise, and as a result, created a new religion for the island nation. A Calypso of Bokonon explains as such:

I wanted all things

To seem to make some sense,

So we all could be happy, yes,

Instead of tense.

And I made up lies

So that they all fit nice,

And I made this sad world

A par-a-dise.

Through a series of Calypso's and quotes from the holy Book of Bokonon, Vonnegut expresses his view on the purpose of religion and how religions attain power. Vonnegut presents the idea that religions are useful because the bind people together for a common purpose, regardless of blood relation, political affiliation, or other such groups. The view is that God provides a group of people with a network of other individuals in a grand design that is above the minds of those in, as he names it, the karass. Bokonon's fifty third Calypso presents this idea:

Oh, a sleeping drunkard

Up in Central Park,

And a lion-hunter

In the jungle dark,

And a Chinese dentist,

And a British queen--

All fit together

In the same machine.

Nice, nice, very nice;

Nice, nice, very nice;

Nice, nice, very nice--

So many different people
In the same device.

The final bit of advice that Vonnegut gives through the prism of Bokonon is contained within the very short book with a long title, the fourteenth book of Bokonon, which reads as such:

What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?
Nothing.

'Nothing' is the only word in the fourteenth book. A primary point in Cat's Cradle is the fact that the religion is fake, with the hint that all religions are fake and their use is to comfort and give hope to people, not to give the truth.