Essay

“A Headless God or religion for our times” (The Structure of Metamodern Religion 1/3)

Substack blogger Octopusyarn writes on metamodern religion: Being self-aware of its constructedness, a metamodern God concept needs to be able to sustain critique. Daniel Görtz describes this concept of a headless God as follows: “It is a God whose altar can be pissed upon, is insulted again and again, yet remains sacred, is resurrected. (…) Always on … Read more“A Headless God or religion for our times” (The Structure of Metamodern Religion 1/3)

“Myth and Archetype in Science Fiction”

From Ursula K. LeGuin’s 1976 essay “Myth and Archetype in Science Fiction“: Where intellect fails, and must always fail, unless we become disembodied bubbles, then one of the other modes must take over. The myth, mythological insight, is one of these. Supremely effective in its area of function, it needs no replacement. Only the schizoid … Read more“Myth and Archetype in Science Fiction”

“We need a better class of cult”

Blogger Felonious Monk writes on the potentials of ethical cults: When you look at the downfall of most cults, it almost always relates to the very thing that cults ask their members to give up: ego. And specifically, the ego of a leader who has become drunk on his (usually) power, treating members as his … Read more“We need a better class of cult”

“Inside the Spirituality ‘Cult’ Whose Members Allege Sexual and Financial Exploitation”

Mark Wilding writes for VICE on Gudni Gudnason’s Modern Mystery School: The school describes this network as an “international community of lightworkers, initiated in an ancient tradition of service, compassion and empowerment”. Its critics, including numerous former students, describe it as a cult and a spiritual pyramid scheme, whose members face psychological trauma, spiralling debts … Read more“Inside the Spirituality ‘Cult’ Whose Members Allege Sexual and Financial Exploitation”

“Why religion without belief can still make perfect sense”

Philosophy professor Philip Goff writes for Psyche on the perspectives of practicing agnosticism and religious fictionalism: It is common to assume that religion is all about belief. Religious people are ‘believers’. Muslims believe that God revealed the Quran to Muhammad; Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead; Buddhists believe in cyclical rebirth and the non-existence … Read more“Why religion without belief can still make perfect sense”

“Promised Land: Religious Ideology and Solarpunk Science Fiction”

Rob Cameron writes for The New Modality on the potentials of re-enchanting the optimistic Solarpunk and Afrofuturist genres: There is no greater or more fundamental technology than culture. It, and the ark of ideologies that arise from it, are more than just peer pressure from dead people. Culture is software. And more often than not, that includes … Read more“Promised Land: Religious Ideology and Solarpunk Science Fiction”

Read this first: “A Cultpunk Manifesto”

We are Cultpunks.  We affirm that belief systems, rituals, symbols, pilgrimages, tenets, holy days, shrines, festivals, taboos, mythologies and pantheons can and should be created as works of art.  If so, then surely any sufficiently advanced magic is likewise indistinguishable from technology, and religions may usefully be considered as psychological technologies.  Just like any other tech, … Read moreRead this first: “A Cultpunk Manifesto”

“Facing Death Without Religion”

An excerpt from Christel Manning’s excellent essay for the Harvard Divinity Bulletin on how nontheists/atheists, freethinkers et al face their own mortality: We often think of science as cold and hard and value neutral. Max Weber famously wrote of how the ascendancy of science over religion in the modern world has led to “disenchantment.” Yet I found that science-based … Read more“Facing Death Without Religion”

The Meaning of Life According to Tom Robbins

Tom Robbins is the author of numerous counterculture classics including Another Roadside Attraction (1971), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976) and Jitterbug Perfume (1984). The search for meaning is not a whole lot different than the yearning for certainty, which is to say, an unsuitable pursuit for any who might aspire to nimbleness of mind, … Read moreThe Meaning of Life According to Tom Robbins