Open source religion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Open source religions attempt to employ open source methodologies in the creation of religious belief systems.[1] As such, their systems of beliefs are created through a continuous process of refinement and dialogue among the believers themselves. In comparison to traditional religions - which are considered authoritarian, hierarchical, and change resistant - they emphasize participation, self-determination, decentralization, and evolution. Followers see themselves as part of a more generalized open source movement, which does not limit itself to software, but applies the same principles to other organized, group efforts to create human artifacts.[2]
Among the first examples of this movement, Yoans (followers of a religion called Yoism) claim that their version of open source religion does not have allegiance to any spiritual guide, rather the sense of authority emerges from the group via consensus.[3]
Another early example, in 2001, Douglas Rushkoff organized the first Reboot summit that took place in 2002.[4] "The object of the game, for me, was to recontextualize Judaism as an entirely Open Source proposition."[5] The publication of Rushkoff's book, Nothing Sacred: The Truth about Judaism,[6] in 2003 spawned the creation of the Open Source Judaism movement. Open Source Judaism, in turn, has spawned other open source projects, such as the Open Source Haggadah.[7]
By 2005, a number of other attempts to form open source religions began to take form, for example, The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn[8] and Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis.[9]
[edit] Notes
- ^ LA Times reports on Open Source Religions
- ^ Charles Piller. "Divine Inspiration From the Masses", Los Angeles Times, 2006-07-23.
- ^ Gunderson, Matt (January 11 2004). Taking 'yo' off the street and into church. Globe Newspaper Company. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
- ^ Rebooters.net
- ^ Open Source religion
- ^ Douglas Rushkoff (2003). Nothing Sacred: The Truth about Judaism. Three Rivers Press.
- ^ Open Source Haggadah
- ^ Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn website
- ^ Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis website
[edit] References
- Thomas Goetz. "Open Source Everywhere", Wired Magazine, November 2003. — on the explosion of open source collaboration notes the existence of "open source projects in law and religion."
- Dave McKenna. "Liberation dot com", The Silhouette, November 2004. — on the relationship between human liberation and Internet-based open source innovations, with a specific reference to open source religions
[edit] External links
- Church of Reality A reality-based open source religion
- Crepuscule.sourceforge.net Open Source framework exploring aestheticism emergence in the evolution of dividual order
- Integrative Spirituality a highly developed, specific open source religion focused on democracy, co-intelligence, collaboration and spirituality. Also has a major emphasis on providing a framework, tools, and resources for the development of other open source religions
- Khala World Community, an open source movement dedicated to the creation of a complete world view through the utilization of available human knowledge.
- Open source Judaism a Judaism focused open source project
- Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn a ritualistic Pagan open source project with Masonic and Rosicrucian roots
- Open Source Theology a Christian Gospel focused open source project
- Open source truth a tongue-in-cheek, semi-serious, open source religion
- Society of Friends of the Earth: a proposed starting framework for the development of an open source "Religion of Sustainability"
- The World Question Center 2006 - Jordan Pollack (and others) discuss the possibility of "a new open-source spiritual and moral movement."
- Yoism, open source melding of enlightenment philosophy, modern science, and spirituality
