Reply #2: LOL -If you " revere and celebrate the Universe" as God, you must turn in you atheist card :-) [View All]

[papau]

It appears to have little "pantheism" but maybe Spinoza would recognize parts of it -

Pantheism's belief in one God is to this group to the "Universe" as an all-inclusive unity with "not made in our image" a given, and does not inter-act with us assumed. This version sounds like an atheist discussion of standard atheism. The only belief in the sense it contradicts current science knowledge is the rejection of the Big Bang for "the Universe as the totality of being, past, present and future" implying no start or creation of the universe, plus the assertion that there is an undefined "interconnected unity" between matter, energy, and life. It does allow for a "God"and "demi-God" vocabulary and rituals just so long as those are "any non-harmful ritual, symbol or vocabulary that is meaningful" to you. It really seems ideal for a UU discussion group :-) . Indeed Eastern religions would all seem it fit in, given all that is allowed. I think you, as an atheist, would be "safe" with them - me - I am not so sure! :-)




The belief statement of the WPM
1. We revere and celebrate the Universe as the totality of being, past, present and future. It is self-organizing, ever-evolving and inexhaustibly diverse. Its overwhelming power, beauty and fundamental mystery compel the deepest human reverence and wonder.
2. All matter, energy, and life are an interconnected unity of which we are an inseparable part. We rejoice in our existence and seek to participate ever more deeply in this unity through knowledge, celebration, meditation, empathy, love, ethical action and art.
3. We are an integral part of Nature, which we should cherish, revere and preserve in all its magnificent beauty and diversity. We should strive to live in harmony with Nature locally and globally. We acknowledge the inherent value of all life, human and non-human, and strive to treat all living beings with compassion and respect.
4. All humans are equal centers of awareness of the Universe and nature, and all deserve a life of equal dignity and mutual respect. To this end we support and work towards freedom, democracy, justice, and non-discrimination, and a world community based on peace, sustainable ways of life, full respect for human rights and an end to poverty.
5. There is a single kind of substance, energy/matter, which is vibrant and infinitely creative in all its forms. Body and mind are indivisibly united.
6. We see death as the return to nature of our elements, and the end of our existence as individuals. The forms of "afterlife" available to humans are natural ones, in the natural world. Our actions, our ideas and memories of us live on, according to what we do in our lives. Our genes live on in our families, and our elements are endlessly recycled in nature.
7. We honor reality, and keep our minds open to the evidence of the senses and of science's unending quest for deeper understanding. These are our best means of coming to know the Universe, and on them we base our aesthetic and religious feelings about reality.
8. Every individual has direct access through perception, emotion and meditation to ultimate reality, which is the Universe and Nature. There is no need for mediation by priests, gurus or revealed scriptures.
9. We uphold the separation of religion and state, and the universal human right of freedom of religion. We recognize the freedom of all pantheists to express and celebrate their beliefs, as individuals or in groups, in any non-harmful ritual, symbol or vocabulary that is meaningful to them.