Philosophy

“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”

Aretéanism

The Assemblage of Areté promotes: (…) a new, humanist religion focused on developing personal and communal areté (ahr-uh-tay), or human greatness. While we encourage skepticism of religions, we define the word ‘religion’ to mean a cohesive set of philosophies and rituals, requiring active participation; and Aretéanism is exactly that.  Unlike many religions however, Aretéanism specifically rejects … Read moreAretéanism

The Church of Euthanasia: “Save the planet, kill yourself”

Founded by the Reverend Chris Korda and Pastor Kim in 1992, the Church of Euthanasia is a Dadaist quasireligion promoting environmentalism via human extinction: Prayer for a Good Death by Rev. Chris Korda Great Spirit, I am unworthy;My species has disgraced itself.Of all the species that live, or have ever lived,Mine is the lowliest.Lower than … Read moreThe Church of Euthanasia: “Save the planet, kill yourself”

Yoism: a shared vision of rational, human possibility

Founded during the mid-’90s, Yoism is described as: (…) a community of individuals united by a shared vision of human possibility. Together, we can create Heaven on Earth. Uniting Atheist, Skeptic, Agnostic, Buddhist, Pagan, Realist, Enlightenment, Humanist, Unitarian, Deist, Psychedelic, Transcendentalist, and Pantheist systems of belief to create the World’s First Open Source, Rational Religion, … Read moreYoism: a shared vision of rational, human possibility

Scattered notes on Poetic Faith

Poetic Faiths are those new religions that take the skeptical, scientific worldview as read and then ask “now what?” They tend towards: They are, in various permutations, simultaneously post-theistic and post-atheistic; beginning with the premise that there is no literal supernatural and then honoring the actual power of myth, symbolism, etc. in the human psyche, … Read moreScattered notes on Poetic Faith

“Mythopoeia” (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1931)

The following poem was composed by Tolkien in response to his friend C.S. Lewis’s remark that myths were valueless. It’s worth noting that, as a devout Christian, Tolkien could not conceive of a mortal creation that might equal that of an omnipotent deity, and so refers to myths as “sub-creations”. Somewhat ironically, the immense popularity … Read more“Mythopoeia” (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1931)