J. R. "Bob" Dobbs is the figurehead of the parody religion[1] the Church of the SubGenius. His image is derived from a collection of clip art distributed by the Bell Telephone Company of West Texas in 1946.[2]
According to SubGenius dogma, "Bob" was a salesman who, in 1953, saw a vision of the god JHVH-1 on a television set he had built.[3] The vision inspired him to write or dictate the "PreScriptures" (as described in the Book of the SubGenius) and found the Church. The theology holds that "Bob" is the greatest salesman who ever lived, and has cheated death a number of times. He is also revered for his great follies and believed to be a savior of "Slack". He was assassinated in San Francisco in 1984, though the Church claims that he has come back from the dead several times since then.
The quotation marks in "Bob"'s name are always included when spelling his name, according to the Church.
- ^ Solomon, Dan (2 November 2017). "The Church of the SubGenius Finally Plays It Straight". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
Dan Solomon: The SubGenius has been a put-on for so long. What's it like to drop that mask and tell the story in a real way now? Ivan Stang: It's fun for me. I've been keeping a straight face for thirty-five years. Your face gets tired. I really would not drop character for a long, long time.
- ^ Rucker, Rudy. "Collected Essays: Note on "Bob's Three Miracles And Me"". RudyRucker.com. Rudy Rucker. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ Chryssides, George D. (2012). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements (2nd ed.). Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0810861947. Retrieved 2014-10-05.