Hmmm . . . Pantheism

For the past year, I have been toying with the idea of adopting Pantheism as my official worldview and “faith”.  I mean, shit, it was the religion of my Norwegian ancestors.  Don’t know if they worshiped “gods” literally or metaphorically, but they sure as hell revered Mother Nature.

While I myself really don’t believe in any type of god or things supernatural, at the end of the day, the only object that humans could and should worship is the Cosmos.

I mean, hell, Carl Sagan said we’re made of stardust.  How can you get any more “one” with the Cosmos than that!

The fate of individual human beings may not now be connected in a deep way with the rest of the universe, but the matter out of which each of us is made is intimately tied to processes that occured immense intervals of time and enormous distances in space away from us. Our Sun is a second or third generation star. All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star-stuff.

Our atomic and molecular connection with the rest of the universe is a real and unfanciful cosmic hookup. As we explore our surroundings by telescope and space vehicle, other hookups may emerge. There may be a network of intercommunicating extraterrestrial civilizations to which we may link up tomorrow, for all we know. The undelivered promise of astrology-that the stars impel our individual characters – will not be satisfied by modern astronomy. But the deep human need to seek and understand our connection with the universe is a goal well within our grasp.

[pp. 133-134, Carl Sagan, “The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective”.  Sagan was not the originator of the concept, which has been traced back to 1913.]

Here are some websites about Pantheism:

– Naturalist Pantheistic Musings: Exploring Spirituality From A Naturalistic Pantheist Perspective (WordPress Blog):

Naturalistic Pantheism is an ancient religion, philosophy and way of life centred on our relationships with the Earth and the Universe . . .

Naturalistic Pantheism is a way of life that fuses together spirituality and science, humans and nature. It has two central tenets – The Universe is Divine and the Earth is Sacred. Naturalistic/ Scientific Pantheism does not believe in any supernatural elements but believes that the beauty, majesty and creativity of the Universe is the proper focus for our reverence, awe and wonder in life. There is something greater than ourselves, it is Nature.

We believe that Nature is worthy of the same kind of reverence that believers of other religions give to their deities. We are part of Nature, part of the Universe, not above it, made from the same matter and energy. Nature creates us, sustains us and destroys us. It is ancient, beautiful and awe-inspiring. It is our only home, our only paradise. We should approach it with humility, awe, reverence, celebration and a search for deeper understanding. We must treat Nature as sacred, respecting, protecting and preserving it, and honouring all life.  [Note: hmmm . . . must be an non-American: “honoUring”]

– Religious Naturalism Wikipedia:

• All varieties of religious naturalism see humans as an interconnected, emergent part of nature.
• Accept the primacy of science with regard to what is measurable via the scientific method.
• Recognize science’s limitations in accounting for judgments of value and in providing a full account of human experience. Thus religious naturalism embraces nature’s creativity, beauty and mystery and honors many aspects of the artistic, cultural and religious traditions that respond to and attempt to interpret Nature in subjective ways.
• Approach matters of morality, ethics and value with a focus on how the world works, with a deep concern for fairness and the welfare of all humans regardless of their station in life.
• Seek to integrate these interpretative, spiritual and ethical responses in a manner that respects diverse religious and philosophical perspectives, while still subjecting them and itself to rigorous scrutiny.
• The focus on scientific standards of evidence imbues RN with the humility inherent in scientific inquiry and its limited, albeit ever deepening, ability to describe reality .
• A strong environmental ethic for the welfare of the planet Earth and humanity.
• Belief in the sacredness of life and the evolutionary process

[taken from Introduction of Bron Taylor, editor, Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, (London & New York, Continuum, 2005)

– Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Pantheism

– World Pantheism

Are you searching for a path which focuses on Earth and the Cosmos, rather than some imaginary beyond? Are you more concerned with saving the planet than saving your eternal soul? With making the best of your one life here, rather than longing for life in an imaginary paradise?

Do you find it hard to believe in supernatural gods, and difficult to conceive of anything worthier of the deepest respect than the beauty, power and mystery of the Universe?

Do you feel a deep sense of peace, belonging, and wonder in the midst of Nature?

Are you looking for a spirituality that respects individual choice and the rights of all living things? One that values reason and science over adherence to ancient scriptures?

If so, then you will feel at home in the World Pantheist community.

– “An Introduction to Pantheism” by Jan Garrett

– Encyclopedia Britannica’s entry:

Pantheism, the doctrine that the universe conceived of as a whole is God and, conversely, that there is no God but the combined substance, forces, and laws that are manifested in the existing universe.

I could go on and on.

Next time . . .

Cheers,

Brandr

The Spiritual Journey Is Dangerous

Wow!

At this point in life, the spiritual journey looks like a mine field.  I have recently left Evangelical Christianity along with Biblical Literalism for many reasons: the history of Christian hatred in a religion that supposedly preaches love, gross errors and contradictions in the Bible which I had either glossed over or ignored, leading my life down many unnecessary dead ends, causing friction with unbelievers, and sheer boredom of thinking a bunch of narrow-minded authorities had THE answer to my questions.  Now that that´s over, I´ve embarked on a new journey, exploring various writings on Atheism, Agnosticism, Freethinking, Skepticism and Naturalist Pantheism.

I don´t know if this is an irrational fear, but I´m very nervous about jumping ¨from the frying pan into the fire¨, i.e., getting involved in an equally or more ridiculous religious philosophy.  With all their attractions, the down side of Atheism is that it only solves half the problem: that the Christian god doesn´t exist.  Yeah, so what?  And what next?  Where do I go in figuring out moral questions?  What is now the ultimate base for the existence of humanity and the rest of the cosmos?  Where do I direct my spiritual seeking energies without going down the rabbit hole of superstition again?  And frankly, the New Atheists often look as scary to me as the Old Fundamentalists of Christendom.  They make a blanket statement that ALL religion is THE problem of humanity, when there are so many problems, for example, Money Worship, disdain for the natural environment, Western imperialism, etc.  Secularists are just as ¨good¨ at abusing nature and fellow humans as the religiosos are.

Agnosticism looks appealing in that it humbly admits, as Socrates did, that ¨I know that I don´t know¨.  On the other hand, in its wishy-washiness, Agnosticism does not have that critical edge of being able to assess religions, superstitions and truth claims.  While I believe that we´ll never really know full truth, at least we can know enough to make important decisions about life. Agnosticism almost becomes an excuse for laziness. Or, worse, Agnostics stand back while watching the religious make really stupid mistakes, fearful of speaking out, and actually having no basis to do so.

Natural Pantheism, which Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion called a ¨Sexed-Up Atheism¨, is a reverence for Nature, seeing it as divine-like. Classical Pantheists actually believe that the universe IS God, but Natural Pantheists give no personality or force-like characteristics to nature. Instead, Nature is the basis of existence, and should be honoured as such. There is no belief in spirits, or another parallel world, as in Gnosticism. This is it, what you and I see, feel, smell, taste and hear.

I´ve been attracted to Natural Pantheism recently and admired some of the articles online. However, there is a fine line here: it appears very easy for a NP to slide down the slippery slope of the metaphysics of other religions the ¨New Age¨ or the Human Potential Movement. Frankly, I´m not interested in crystals, seances, channeling, out-of-body experiences, guardian angels, manifesting, controlling the Force or Qi or Manna, or any other ridiculousness. In fact, I will join the Skeptics in publically critiquing this crap which passes for spirituality. Nor am I curious about reincarnation, resurrection, Heaven or Hell, hearing voices, healing and miracles, etc.

In addition, the REAL religions that dominate our society go under other names: Capitalism, i.e., Money-Worship, Techno-Worship, Progress, etc. Basically it´s the ¨American Dream¨ which has sucked in the entire planet. Yes, this is really a religion. Money, technology and progress seem to promise us limitlessness. We can have what we want, when we want. New technologies, as Marshall McLuhan once said, overcome our physical restrictions, that is, they extend our faculties. Cars are extensions of our feet. Phones extend our voices. Google endows us with omniscient-like qualities, the ability to ¨know all¨. These forms of belief and action are in fact even more dangerous that formal religions or New Age. Altogether, both the money-worshipping secularists and their religious counterparts are destroying nature as they continue to expand the Western Empire not only geographically, but to every sphere of human existence.

Any spirituality that´s worth its salt will oppose Empire and provide alternatives. This is the part I have rarely seen. Most religions, philosophies and spiritualities, including New Atheism, seem to also support money-making and techno-worship. However, to me, true spirituality would do no harm to the environment that sustains us. Nor harm to other humans. Truth opposes the deceit of capitalism and its twin offspring of science and technology.

While I´m all for the scientific method, and for scientific explanations of the universe, most of what science has been used for is to rape Mother Nature and increase the stock prices of the capitalists. This is something the New Atheists need to answer, instead of limiting their critiques to easy targets. And the rest of us need to find a spirituality that honours the universe without falling into superstition and cult-like tendencies. And at the same time defend nature and humans from the continued onslaught of the capitalists who screw the planet with impunity.

Back to my main idea: spirituality is dangerous. On the one hand, you could slip down one side of the slope into superstition and creepy rituals. With all your friends pushing the writings of Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, the Dalai Lama, etc, and the innumerable flakey New Agers who are ready to take your reverencing of Mother Nature and pull you down into strange superstitious practices. I was thinking of starting a Naturalist Pantheist group in my neighbourhood, but the fear of the flakes coming out of the woodwork and hijacking any effort I make discourages me at times. On the other hand, the other slippery slope is to forget spirituality, to abandon Mother Nature and just live for the same empty values as the rest of society, bowing at the altar of money and technology. Or to simply join the Freethinkers and Skeptics who spend their time sitting on their asses and scolding the religiosos, which equally appears to be a waste of time and energy.

What to do? I´m the kind of person who, like Will and Jaden Smith´s characters in the recent movie After Earth, face and eradicate my fears. And boldly moves ahead. To face off against the Money, Technology and Progress (MTP) Worshippers, the religiosos and the New Age flakes, and the divisive, troublemaking extremists in the Green and Social Justice Movements. And to seek a spirituality that respects Mother Nature, upholds a set of ethics that far surpasses the Evangelical Christians, and works toward the Common Good.

Time to dream on . . . and get moving.

Cheers,

The Seeker

Make Nature, Not Science, Your ¨Religion¨

Outside Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, while on our honeymoon

I just noticed a pic on Facebook:

My question about this is: Shouldn´t all of us also be skeptical about science? After all, most scientists are paid for by huge American and other Western corporations. Therefore, their research is biased toward what will make money for the corporation and their stockholders. ¨Independent¨ science is a myth.

Better to make Nature our ¨religion¨. At least Nature is observable and can tell us about the nature of reality. While we may not have all the money scientists have at their disposal to do high-level research, at least we can understand reality more to some extent through our observation and experience.

While I´m all for the Scientist Method, we have to be rich to use it effectively. And if we simply believe the published research of scientists, we are putting our faith in people who claim to be ¨experts¨, and who may be intentionally or unintentionally deceiving people. For example, I have seen environmental destruction all over the US, Canada and China. My own observation ¨warms¨ up my mind to accept the scientific findings regarding Climate Change and predictions of increasing ecologically crises.

As some people here in Vancouver, BC, Unceded Salish Territories, used to say on their bumper stickers, while ironically polluting Mother Earth with their fricking vehicles: ¨Nature is my Church¨. She´s mine too, but at the same time, I´m not going to adopt a bunch of superstitious beliefs and rituals from New Age gurus and anyone else, usually trying to make a buck off spirituality! I remain agnostic on God/the gods and the claims of all religions. And yet, I´m always seeking, seeking, seeking ; )

Cheers,

Brandr

Drop me a line at
thorsblade888 AT gmail.com

Wild Wall outside Beijing

Topics I’d Like to Blog About

 

Here’s a list of topics I’d like to write or lecture on now and in the future:

Babies & Child Rearing 

– the joys and tears of raising a baby and a teen

Books

– book reviews, ideas, etc.

Christianity

– its strengths and weaknesses

– its history, esp the 2 streams: social justice & Empire/oppression

– its mythology that Evangelicals and other Bible literalists deny

Climate Change / Environmental Risks

– how the planet is getting fracked up, and how Mother Nature will take her revenge

Culture

– especially Chinese, Western, First Nations, etc.

Empire

– the globalised Empire, handed down from the British, Americans, etc.

Fatherhood

First Nations

Marriage

Movies

– reviews, ideas, etc.

Music

– rock, heavy metal, folk, rap, world music, etc.

Politics

– especially how that Fascism is spreading throughout the world in our post-Cold War times

Spirituality

– Agnosticism, Pantheism, Atheism, indigenous spirituality around the world

Violence Vs. Non-Violent Resistance

– the Gandhi/MLK Jr Approach Vs. the Malcolm X/Che Guevara Approach

 

I’ll add to the list as I go along . . .

Cheers,

Brandr

Email me at

thorsblade888 AT gmail.com