Worldviews and Ways of Life with Ann Taves. Rather than “religion” and “non-religion,” what does it mean to look at these phenomena as part of the broader category of worldviews and ways of life? Invented Religions with Carole Cusack, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney. The Sunday Assembly with Josh Bullock, a … Read moreCultpunky podcasts from the Open Div Summit (2021)
Cultpunk begins with the premise that all religions are invented as works of art (thereby alienating the gigantic majority of the conventionally religious) and then insists that it is deeply desirable to act on that premise (thereby alienating the gigantic majority of atheists). Some of the happy few we count as pioneers in this field … Read moreHow to create new religions: resources for would-be founders
Jamie Wheal argues for the “ethical cult” as distinct from “traditional cults” such as institutionalized religions and “culty cults” a la the Peoples Temple, Nxivm, et al. More detail on the same theme here:
The creators of the Parable of the Sower – a modern opera inspired by Octavia Butler’s prophetic 1992 work of dystopian fiction – describe the urgent relevance of their story in a time of climate crisis and social malaise: In this genre-defying work of concert performance featuring a powerhouse ensemble of 20 singers and musicians, … Read moreBehind the scenes of the “Parable of the Sower” opera
Grimes‘ music video for her 2020 album Miss Anthropocene imagines new gods for a new world: Miss Anthropocene is an art project by Grimes in which a new pantheon of modern Gods exist as humanoid versions of the concepts that dominate our lives, such as Climate Change, plastic, biological warfare, social media, etc. In the … Read moreGrimes – “New Gods”
Click here to read Carole Cusack’s history and analysis of the Church of All Worlds, an early neoPagan religion that drew significant inspiration from Robert A. Heinlein’s science fiction classic Stranger in a Strange Land: The process of secularization, which was assumed to be the dominant model of religion in Western culture, was supposed to … Read more“Science Fiction as Scripture: Robert A. Heinlein’s ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ and the Church of All Worlds”
Denver, Colorado’s International Church of Cannabis promotes the new religion of Elevationism, on the premise that: (…) an individual’s spiritual journey, and search for meaning, is one of self-discovery that can be accelerated and deepened with ritual and mindful cannabis use. We use the sacred flower to reveal the best version of self, discover a … Read moreElevationism and the International Church of Cannabis
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
This episode of MTV’s True Life series documents the efforts of two quirky 20-somethings – Seattle’s Unicole Unicron and Chicago’s Christopher Karl Allman – as they strive to establish their new religions (Unicultism and The People of Ieya, respectively). The documentary is listed as (S2015 E18) and originally screened in 2015, which should be plenty … Read more“I’m Starting a Religion” (MTV’s “True Life”, 2015)