Religion in Cat’s Cradle Mystery surrounds no character in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle more than Bokonon, the self-aware prophet of the fictitious religion, Bokononism, at the heart of the novel. Bokononism is a rare religion which openly claims to a false construction: the Book of Bokonon, the holy book of Bokononism, actively encourages its practisers to live by “foma”, or “harmless untruths”, and furthermore begins with the claim, “All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies” (Vonnegut 5). With the invention of Bokononism, Cat’s Cradle manages to be simultaneously both painfully obvious and deceptively subtle in its messages. Bokononism is an admittedly fabricated religion nevertheless accepted by the population because of its ability to make them feel good about their lives. From a non-religious perspective, the parallels with “real” organised religion are quite apparent (the primary difference being Bokononism’s admitted basis in unreality). Indeed, the reader may well experience the alluring song of Bokononism and the way it presents an emotionally comforting and mentally comfortable explanation of life, a possibility both impressive and troublesome. Upon this particular realisation of Bokononism’s potential, the quotation opening the Book of Bokonon develops a clearer context. Bokononism need not necessarily be untrue; in fact, one could interpret its claims to be extremely true (and, furthermore, the claims are quite impossible to confirm as objectively untrue). However, these possible truths are founded in fiction, lies, fabrications developed by Bokonon spontaneously without any legitimate basis. Religion is a means of telling oneself comforting untruths: invented stories which can never be entirely confirmed as correct or incorrect. Before I continue, I want to clarify I think quite highly of Vonnegut’s deconstruction