Poetic Faiths

“I’m Starting a Religion” (MTV’s “True Life”, 2015)

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)

“A religion you can dance to”: Deborah Kelly’s Creation project

Australian artist Deborah Kelly describes Creation, a “queer science fiction climate change religion” and an experiment in collaboratively creating religion as a work of art: CREATION is a new religion, manifesting in spectacle and intimacy. A faith, a gathering of intention and purpose with which to face an era when paid opinion trumps environmental evidence. … Read more“A religion you can dance to”: Deborah Kelly’s Creation project

The Nontheistic, LGBTQIA+ Prism Sanctuary

What if we had a religion that protected LGBT rights under the umbrella of religious liberty? During the first week of 2022, Republican lawmakers in Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and South Dakota introduced at least 9 measures that limit the ability of transgender and nonbinary youths to participate in sports or receive … Read moreThe Nontheistic, LGBTQIA+ Prism Sanctuary

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

“Hail Satan?” (documentary trailer, 2019)

The Satanic Temple is a science-positive, socially progressive religion in Halloween regalia. Penny Lane’s 2019 documentary Hail Satan? is an illuminating – “Lucifer” being the Light Bringer, after all – and well-produced documentary on a fast-growing but still widely misunderstood religious movement. Far from being the embodiment of all evil, the Satanic Temple is revealed … Read more“Hail Satan?” (documentary trailer, 2019)

“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)

“Dudeism: the Path to Lebowski Enlightenment”

Often described as “the slowest-growing religion in the world”, Dudeism was inspired by the philosophy espoused and exemplified by Jeff Bridges’ character in the Coen Brothers movie The Big Lebowski. According to Dudeism.com: While Dudeism in its official form has been organized as a religion only recently, it has existed down through the ages in … Read more“Dudeism: the Path to Lebowski Enlightenment”

“The Satanic Temple’s Protest for First Amendment Rights”

In this 2018 report, Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves observes that: I think if most Christians are honest about it, I think they’ll admit that they’re just pretty much picking and choosing what they will believe and what they won’t. I think that the more people become comfortable culturally identifying with their religions and realizing … Read more“The Satanic Temple’s Protest for First Amendment Rights”