Community
-
What Are We Doing Here?
Recently, the usually calm and civil tone of conversations on the Atheopaganism Facebook group has been roiled a bit by some contentious subject matters. Particularly, the subject of “woo”—scientifically unsupported beliefs—and whether or not it is okay for us to poke fun at these beliefs in the group provoked some very strong responses. Opinions ranged from those who felt that these beliefs should be taken seriously as possibly yet-undiscovered, real phenomena, and those who feel that in the safety of our Atheopagan space, we should be free to laugh a bit at the kinds of things non-skeptics can get up to believing. I find the Facebook group a deeply satisfying…
-
REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Moon Meet 2018—A Gathering of Atheopagans and Friends
The second annual Moon Meet is a congregation of Atheopagans, non-theist Pagans and others interested in our paths, held from Friday, August 24 through Sunday, August 26, on private land on a redwood-covered mountain near Healdsburg, in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma County, California. Registration is now open! Click here to register! Moon Meet—named because we will hold it during the weekend of the full moon—is a group camping gathering; a few indoor sleeping locations are available by prior arrangement for those disabled or coming from distance and unable to bring their gear along. We will share meals and workshops, hold a community discussion about how our Atheopagan community is developing and…
-
SAVE THE DATE and CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS: MOON MEET 2018!
SAVE THE DATE! The second annual Moon Meet is a congregation of Atheopagans, non-theist Pagans and others interested in our paths, held from Friday, August 24 through Sunday, August 26, on private land on a redwood-covered mountain near Healdsburg, in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma County, California. Moon Meet—named because we will hold it during the weekend of the full moon—is a group camping gathering; a few indoor sleeping locations will be available for those disabled or coming from distance and unable to bring their gear along. We will share meals and workshops, hold a community discussion about how our Atheopagan community is developing and how best to move…
-
Atheism, Paganism, and Agreeing to Disagree
I’ve been thinking lately about the crossroads where Atheopaganism lives: straddling lines between atheism, Paganism, and activism. In the atheistic world, skepticism is a given. There, when you propose something—a policy, a factual claim, a strategic approach to problem solving—it is assumed that you will have both material evidence and cogent argumentation to back your position. Others are welcomed to interrogate, prod at, and refute the position as best they are able. This is a process by which we can arrive at a position which is more likely to be correct than if we did not so critique the initial proposition. The process is central to the operation of science…
-
Talking with Atheists Who Dismiss Your Atheopagan Practice
Existing in both the atheist world and in the Pagan, Atheopagans have the unique “good fortune” of fielding criticism from extreme elements of both. I’ve written before about Pagan fundamentalists who dismiss our religion as “not real Paganism. ” Today, we take a look at the atheist community’s counterpart: the so-called “anti-theists”. A vocal subset of atheists, the anti-theists start with the position that there are no literal gods. So far, so good. But… From there, many of them overreach, arguing not only that theism is destructive and irrational, but that all religion and spirituality are fraudulent, pointless and harmful behaviors that humanity would be better off without. Anti-theists can…
-
Beyond Faith. Beyond Fundamentalism.
Let’s start by acknowledging that the definitions are fuzzy. There is no universally agreed-to definition of what a “religion” even is. “Spirituality” is just as indeterminate. So all we can do is look at religions of the world and try to identify the elements that compose them. When I do that, I conclude that a religion, functionally, comes in three pieces: a cosmology, which is a description of the nature of the Universe which is subscribed to by adherents of the religion; a set of values which define what is Sacred, what is important, and how we should live; and a set of practices such as rites, holidays, traditions and…
-
Walking Our Talk: Modeling a Vision for the Future
As I have written before, Atheopaganism is a forward-looking religious path. We envision a time when humanity lives in balance with the natural systems of the biosphere and when all people are treated fairly and equally in human society. Those are tall orders, but that’s what a vision is for, right? Especially in these times, it is clear that we have far to go to approach these visionary goals. And so as we create our “microcosms” of human society in our Pagan circles, it is that much more important that we model for ourselves and others the world we hope to create. In my experience, Pagans don’t do nearly so…
-
Producing Your Own Atheopagan Event
Having online community is great, but real, in-person gatherings where we can build relationships, celebrate our rites and learn from one another are much, much better. I encourage you to organize your own events and start building your own non-theist Pagan community. To that end, I’m happy to announce the release of the Atheopagan Event Planning Guide . I hope you’ll download the Guide and its associated spreadsheets (the Timeline Template and the Budget Template), and use them to create your own gatherings. When planning your Atheopagan event, be sure to contact The Atheopagan Society (our registered nonprofit) to see if there are ways we can help (with affordable event…
-
Unpopular Ideas
On this day in 1809, Charles Darwin was born. 50 years later, he would publish “On the Origin of Species”, which pretty well blew the doors off the scientific world, outraged the contemporary religious culture, and established the key scientific foundation of the field of biology for all time. Darwin knew what he was doing. He sat on “Origin” for years, aware that the core implication of his work—that no God was necessary to explain the diversity of life on Earth—would bring him a deluge of hatred and ridicule. He was right. 159 years on, Christian fundamentalists still rail against Darwin’s discovery. Their entire worldview is threatened by his simple…
-
On the Other Hand…(A Love Letter)
So, I’ve been a little hard on the Pagan community lately. I’ve decried abuses and hierarchies, lack of political engagement, and the leftovers of the sexual culture of the 1960s that still thrive in many corners of it. Those things are true, in my opinion, and I stand by them. So why, one might ask, do I continue to be a part of a community of people who I find so problematic? Well, let me tell you: because it’s wonderful. In all my experience, no cohort of people has ever been so smart, interesting, creative, unique and, by and large, genuinely good-hearted. Weird, yes—but isn’t that just a synonym for creative? Despite blind…
