Religion

Can't we all just get along?

Religion is belief in god in practice. Those that share a common belief system will express those beliefs in their traditions, rituals and worship practices.

Unfortunately no such traditions exist for those with secular orientation. But since tradition and ritual are integral to culture, it is necessary for metaculture to develop traditions and rituals that can reinforce modern values like freedom, reason, science, equality, etc.

In order to remedy this situation, the first step is to enumerate all of the functions that religion serves in our society and personal psychology, in order that we can find secular analogs for each that can perform the same function, or improve upon them.

Essential Components of Religion

A fully fledged religion needs to have

• A god
• A creation story
• An apocalypse story
• Cultural history
• A system of ethics
• Enforcement of taboos
• Rituals to celebrate life's milestones like birth, coming of age, marriage and death
• A metanarrative that provides meaning, context, and easy transmission of a culture's most critical beliefs
• Legal recognition by the government
• Enough followers to not be considered a cult

metaculture should provide all of these things in order to fully serve the social and psychological functions of religion without contradicting the rational, materialistic view of the universe.

metaculture's Core Theology

The following theological beliefs have been lovingly hand-crafted to provide the greatest compatibility with both science and an allegorical reading of scripture, while inspiring wonder and awe in the universe and the oneness of humankind.

• Definition of god
• Pantheism
• Universalism
• The fractal geometry of god
• The god concept
• Sierpinski Trinity
• Morality and Ethics
• The Dogma of No Dogma
• Faith and Certainty
• Creation Story
• The Afterlife
• Apocalypse Prevention

Evolution of Religion

Throughout history, the traditions of one culture have been coopted and repurposed by the next. Saturnalia becomes Christmas once the Roman Empire becomes a Christian state. This makes sense from a psychological perspective since it is much easier to redirect an existing habit than to form a new one from nothing.

Christmas has already been coopted again by the god of capitalism, and as such it should be embraced. Rather than being a selfish perversion of the teachings of Jesus, it can be a joyous celebration of all the wonderful stuff that capitalism is so good at producing. This is simply acknowledging the evolution in meaning that the Christmas holiday has already undergone.

And this is the nature of rituals. They evolve and change their meaning with the tide of history. Old traditions become new by taking on new meaning imbued by future generations. Rarely are they simply made up out of whole cloth, and when they are it's more likely to become a cult than a religion.

Religion Videos

There are a lot of videos on religion that could be chosen. Here are some of them.

The Origins of Religion

The History of Religion

The Neuroscience of Spiritual Experiences - Patrick McNamara

The Neuroscience of Spiritual Experiences - Andrew Newberg

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Visions of the Emerald Beyond