Why is this site named Antipope?

tturadg about 4 hours ago 40 commentsRead Article on antipope.org

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Discussion (40 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

gerikson•about 2 hours ago

Maybe the drunken sysadmin had a more classical or historical education than most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipope

The_Blade•21 minutes ago

hell is round the corner where i shelter, isms and schisms

i really enjoyed Crusader Kings 2, for 3 you need a mod to antipope

jmercouris•about 3 hours ago

What does AutoPope mean though? The author glosses over this implying it means to pontificate- however- I have not seen this definition anywhere.

d-us-vb•about 3 hours ago

“Pontifications by email” makes it clear enough. Email is an automated message delivery system, and the pope delivers messages from above, soooo…

Such are many of the names coined by creative minds using the early internet.

hammock•about 3 hours ago

Pontificate in its original sense literally means to perform the duties of a pope or priest (a pontiff). The auto part I guess because it’s email? That part is shakier

beardyw•about 3 hours ago

"to speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way" is I think the intention.

hammock•33 minutes ago

Yes. I didn’t bother to mention that part, only the polysemous connection to pope.

bombcar•about 3 hours ago

Pontoon pontification - bridge building.

dfxm12•about 3 hours ago

Auto as in you get it automatically in your mailbox. No need to ask for it or otherwise seek it out. It's just sent to you.

ETA: other meanings likely don't fit. It's not about self pontificating (well maybe only from Charlie's point of view), and the motorcar related to the Pope is already called the Popemobile.

AdamH12113•about 3 hours ago

Automatic Pope, presumably. Offering pontifications (opinions) via technology (automated). “Pontiff” is another word for pope.

layer8•about 2 hours ago

Clearly it means self-pontification.

geor9e•about 3 hours ago

look up the word pontiff

richardfey•about 3 hours ago

Some reference to Les Technopères by writer Alejandro Jodorowsky?

pavlov•about 3 hours ago

Calling him a writer is somewhat underselling his talent. Jodorowsky was a world-class clown and mime (yes, really) before becoming an award-winning filmmaker, visual artist, and comic book writer.

Procrastes•about 4 hours ago

I'm having a Mandela Effect moment. I could have sworn it was a typo for "antipode" instead, but that must be a false memory I picked up somewhere.

shwaj•about 3 hours ago

Not on my timeline, this has been the name the whole time.

h3t08•about 3 hours ago

what does that even mean

andyjohnson0•about 3 hours ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory#Mandela_effect

pessimizer•13 minutes ago

It means you were only interested in apartheid when it was on TV a lot, you completely missed the ending (and all news involving South Africa for the next 30 years), then you get all mystical about it because you think you're psychic. "I'm not dumb, actually reality changed..."

Meanwhile, a bunch of other people who also don't pay attention to world events refer to this woman's ignorance as if it means something because the name that the psychic made up to describe it sounds scientifiky.

thenewwazoo•about 3 hours ago

"I reject your reality, and substitute my own."

stavros•about 3 hours ago

They retconned it as a typo for antipode in their headcanon.

neksn•about 3 hours ago

A Mandela effect is when it happens to a large group of people. I’m afraid you’re alone in this.

tgrowazay•about 3 hours ago

Only when large group of people die and have to be switched to another timeline via quantum immortality.

This person died independently. Welcome to our timeline!

darrenf•about 3 hours ago

Disappointed it isn’t to do with Robert Rankin. Oh well.

Findecanor•about 3 hours ago

I'm disappointed that it isn't to do with Zlad! <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxxhAS16vB0>

wormius•about 2 hours ago

Like the center of a cantelope...

orliesaurus•about 3 hours ago

"Automatic pope." WAT

ineedasername•about 3 hours ago

Typo when it was created.

PeterWhittaker•about 2 hours ago

Not at all sure why this is downvoted, since this is essentially a five-word tl;dr of the article.

Mistletoe•about 3 hours ago

I just assumed he was against the pope and nonsense like that.

tialaramex•about 3 hours ago

Charlie explains why his site is named this, but the word "Antipope" does mean something already and it means specifically a person who says they are the Pope, but you recognise somebody else as Pope instead.

It's thus sometimes unclear which people are "really" Antipopes until some time passes and you're like OK, Steve was an Antipope, the Roman Catholic Church still exists, the Pope is now this Dave guy, so his predecessor Geoff was also Pope, and Geoff's rival Steve's group died out, so Steve was an Antipope, even though for a few years my church said Steve was Pope, I now know that was wrong because God wouldn't let the One True Church vanish and once Steve died his whole church went back to Geoff.

nephihaha•about 3 hours ago

I think it is a reference to the song by the Damned, but given Stross has lived in central Scotland for decades, you'd think he'd realise by now that it sounds more like someone from the Orange Order (Protestant supremacists) in these parts. There is historically a major issue with the Orange Order and Loyalists in the areas in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow, and they organise anti-Catholic marches in many working class communities as well as violence at football matches. I have met him and doubt this is what he is after, but it comes over like this.

mcmcmc•about 3 hours ago

Which is a terrible assumption given an antipope is just a self-declared pope

nephihaha•about 3 hours ago

Charles Stross has lived in Edinburgh for years and you would think by now that something like "Antipope" comes off as Protestant supremacist rather than secularist in central Scotland. One of his close friends has a similar background and she had antipope as part of her email back in the nineties when I was acquainted with her... It caused a lot of issues when she was emailing someone who was Catholic, because they thought it was some kind of Orange/loyalist account.