A number of my friends are Discordians. (I almost started with "some of my best friends are Discordians," but let's not go there, mm?) Both the Spouse and my next-closest male friend identify as such, the first fairly casually, the other as seriously as one can and still be what he considers a proper Discordian (which is never more than ha-ha-only-serious).
In my recent fumblings in Near-Eastern historical paganism, one thing that I've found is that various deities of the underworld - Nergal and Ereshkigal, Reshep, Shapshu-Pagri, etc. - have rites and sacrifices, but Death itself - Mot, in the Canaanite literature - does not. Even when Death is figured as a deity, and is mentioned (usually as an antagonist) in the myth-cycles, It's not actively worshipped, perhaps out of a sense that we will all offer It a great enough sacrifice eventually, or perhaps out of a more pragmatic idea that it's not a good idea to invite Its full attention to one's-self.
Personally, I generally feel much the same way about the gods and goddesses of discord. I understand why others might not, and I certainly understand the urge to worship trickster-deities of various sorts. I confess to being confused when my Discordian friends frame Eris that way, though, as that's not really a role She plays in any of the extant myths. I am also perplexed by those who claim to worship "chaos" by way of Discordia, as Kaos is a deity in Its own right in the Theogony. As a worshipper of Tiamat, aka the Tohu half of Tohu-wa-Bohu (and yes, for those of you who play AD&D, the second half of that is related to Bahamut, go give yourself a d20-shaped cookie), I grok worshipping the primeval chaos at the base of all things. But that's not the same thing as discord. Chaos is the wellspring of good order; it comes first and gives form to it. Discord breaks already-existing good order. (It also breaks bad order, and I do understand that that's a major part of the appeal, but we'll leave that aside for the moment.)
Someone out there may be scratching their head as to how I can honor Tiamat and be leery of Discordia. Part of it has to do with how dead gods work, which is different from how gods of the underworld or gods of death work (and now all three of them are running around this post!), and part of it is the difference between the cosmic and cthonic, on the one hand, and the human scale and the social, on the other. The second is far more dangerous, for me. Tiamat was involved in only one war, and She didn't start it; Eris started the Trojan war, and has been part of every one ever since, even though she's not fundamentally a war goddess.
I understand acknowledging Discord, on the grounds that not inviting Her to the feast attracts Her attention in a worse way than inviting Her. In that She is more perceptive than Mot, she requires more attention to keep Her happy, and satiating Her is not so costly. But, despite the fact that She is Matron to the two most important men in my life, I don't understand the attraction beyond that. (In one case, he feels that She chose him rather than the other way around, and given his relationships with mortal women, that does match a recurring pattern in his life, albeit one that I think is perhaps a bit unhealthy.)
It turns out (despite the fact that He is a trickster, and a fine one, as well as being a deity of discord, lies, and perhaps betrayal, although some of that may be spin from the Christian monks who wrote many of the myths down) that many Heathens have the same reaction to Loki that I do to Eris. There also seems to be some question as to whether the pre-Christian Heathens actually did Him honor or not, and therefore whether it is appropriate for modern Heathens to do so. There was apparently some controversy about this at this year's Trothmoot. I get this, although the fact that He has a more broad purview than She does makes me more willing to deal with Him personally, and less confused about why anyone who had a choice about it would choose Him. In response to the controversy, some of his devotees are organizing a Month for Loki to blog about, and otherwise honor, Him. I get this, too - if you do honor Him, and he's been cut out of a central rite, it only stand to reason to honor Him on the peripheries.
Of course, Loki has recently sprung into the broad popular culture, too, via his comic-book-cum-movie fictionalized form in the Avengers movie (and the Thor movie before that), with the highly-attractive and expressive visage of Tom Hiddleston. And, true to form, he has deeply divided the fandom into those who woobify him, those who love him evil-laugh-and-all without the woobification, and those who hate him as a character. I find the fact that He has managed to spread discord in two different communities simultaneously, in two vastly different ways and in different forms, perhaps far more amusing than I should.
Ah, well. No need to speak ill of the gods, even if I see my work as opposed to theirs. Hail Loki, and ave Discordia!
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