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I'm definitely going to attempt to begin a cult...through the use of my currently failing Youtube channel. (I'm hoping to get more views through Fallout New Vegas playthroughs and discussing my takes on ethical conflicts in the game...but whether that'll work or not remains to be seen).
I'd like to get some feedback on this.
My hypothesis is that, perhaps, there is something in pantheistic worldviews, and perhaps some stories that match up to reality well, that can take the place of some of the more harmful forms of god-belief. I don't have any evidence to support this hypothesis. I just kind of figure...why not take a shot in the dark?
I like the idea of religious beliefs shifting to become less about concrete knowledge about the nature of reality, and more regarding different ways of viewing the goal of life, and different ways of perceiving reality, with some of these ways involving entertaining stories.
In the far future, I'd like religious beliefs to be distinguished less by everybody having flawed views of reality, and more by different groups being separated by different worldviews.
We might, for example, have a "religion" in which the participants are very interested in nature and want to live alongside animals. We might have another "religion" that emphasizes transhumanism. I figure Buddhism and Taoism would be able to stick around just fine in many forms that focus on philosophy rather than mysticism.
An end goal would be to reach a point at which society collectively acknowledges that these religious "beliefs" are almost always going to be metaphors. I figure that sort of knowledge would render society incredibly skeptical about many claims...getting people used to the idea that society just loves making up fictional stories about reality, and greatly hindering one of the major strengths of the more harmful sorts of religious belief, that spread largely just because it seems as if the religious belief must be true because so many people believe it.
I'd to encourage everybody to invent their own fictional or pantheistic religions...whatever perception of reality works best for them and inspires them...so that's what my "cult" would be about.
Here's the one pseudo religion I've invented that involves a very metaphorical origin of the universe. I think the below story functions as a healthy way of teaching a realistic depiction of reality to people...not for young children. It's kind of too depressing for that...but for adults.
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Statement #1
Once upon a time, a little red dragon was born from an egg called a singularity...and with that little dragon emerged everything in our universe.
As do all children, that little red dragon had parents. These were the gods of the void - beings of cold and nothingness, as old, or older, in some cases, than eternity. That little dragon was born like this:
*"I see a little dragon born.
I see it hatch from an egg formed from nothing.
I can't tell much about it, because there's no light to see it -
No light, at least, none that can be seen by you or by me.
There is heat though, heat that burns at trillions of degrees kelvin.
I feel the heat billowing outwards, expanding as the dragon grows.
I sense particles racing. I sense particles crashing, like lightning in some monstrous storm.
I see the dragon thrashing. It's like a baby crying - rebelling at being pulled into the wide world from its sheltering womb.
I see shadows walking through the void of space.
I see them coming from all directions to see.
I see them coming from neverwhere. I see them coming from every place.
I see them clambering down from pathways in higher dimensions. I see them scrambling up through tunnels in lower dimensions.
I see them emerging from eternity to gaze upon mortality as they watch the little baby dragon grow."*
The little dragon explored, and learned of itself. At first, it was rash and impulsive, as all young children are. This was when the universe was superheated...but over time, it calmed and cooled...partly through the guidance of the gods of the void...calming and cooling it - teaching it to slow down and think a bit.
And after it's childish energeticism had faded a little, once the rush of existence had faded into normalcy - once the thrill of discovery of facets of existence, such as a baby discovering its own toes had become things the little dragon had grown used to, it sought out new thrills, and so became an inventor.
Its first inventions were the great stars of the early universe...but the little dragon was rash and reckless. They were glorious to look upon - enormous, brilliant stars, but the fire that burns brightest does not last long, and after a short time they collapsed in on themselves - crashing and erupting and causing the little dragon to mourn and weep with sorrow.
And so the shadows - the gods of the void - rushed forth to comfort their weeping child, and comfort their child they did, calming and cooling it more so, and with their encouragement, the little dragon began to rebuild.
From the ashes of its fallen beauties the little dragon crafted new stars, to make the universe shine once more like diamond sands. This time, they were smaller and sturdier, and these are the sorts of stars we still see today.
And from the ashes of those first great stars came the first complex molecules, and with those molecules, the dragon's maturing inventor side tinkered...and tinkered....and tinkered...on a never-ending quest for fulfillment.
And eventually, the young dragon created the first life.
The dragon molded the first life out of rock and clay and minerals, and into it it placed bits of its soul - its innermost self - its soul of flame - and with that soul of flame the rock and stone and clay creatures began to move about.
And all was well and good with the world until those little creatures began eating each other...and then the world spiraled into violence, and it was no longer the dragon weeping - but the gentle gods of the void, crying at the horrors their child had created.
But with those horrors - with that horrific, millions of years of Darwinian competition - came a rainbow of diversity in which the dragon could play, and Earth was, and always has been, a horrifically violent place...everything eating and destroying everything around itself to survive....
And then the dragon created the first minds. Those first minds opened their third eye - their mind's eye, and began, in their simple way, thinking, and this thinking pleased the dragon much.
Eventually, the dragon constructed the ancestors of the first humans - beings more imaginative than all others of its creations...and it made a pact with them, and the pact went like this...when the first ancestors of humans approached a burning tree, curiously, afraid, but seeking discovery and power:
"I see the dragon named I. I see it build the first ancestors of humans, the veritable personification of greed.
I see them building. I see their creativity and cravings upsurging.
I see lightning striking. I see a tree burning.
I see apelike beings watching. I see apelike beings curious and wanting.
I see apelike beings creeping close with beating hearts thumping.
I see them frightened. I see them whooping and hollering.
I see them excitedly scampering.
I see few of them brave, but I see a few of them brave.
I see the young dragon tempting.
I see the young dragon goading and smiling.
"Go on," it whispers. "Be brave" it whispers.
I see them move into the light."
And the ancestors of humans accepted that pact, and obtained the power of fire, and they burned themselves, and burned the land, but through their newfound power gained the skill to create...better than anything else...in addition to destroying.
The gods of the void still weep for their fallen child. They plan to end all life eventually - trillions upon trillions of years from now. They are the dark energy pushing the universe apart. Eventually, if their efforts prove fruitful, the universe will expand outwards forever, becoming dark and cold, and no more reactions will occur, and life will cease to be, ending the Darwinian maelstrom called life created by the dragon, as a gentle mercy to those frozen gods.
And the dragon is still reckless. It tempts us to go mountain climbing without ropes. It wants us to bury our toes in Martian sands and do all sorts of exciting, impractical things. It makes us foolish...but its fires fuel our inspiration.
And within us these two battling forces live...one calming and cooling - teaching stoicism, forgiveness, and reason, the other teaching passion and movement and pride, infatuation and love and wonder....
And I'd hope, one day, humans will be able to teach these creators of ours a few pieces of wisdom. Perhaps we mortals are the ones best suited to be the new gods of the cosmos some day. Perhaps we mortals might become wiser than our creators ever were. I would certainly hope so.
And these gods don't (exactly) exist...but they kind of do to...as memes...as ideas that spread and grow and change society, if they thrive well enough.
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I figure the above is a pretty accurate depiction of reality, if the acts of the "gods" are taken as metaphors for the forces of the universe. It also emphasizes that...our instincts, quite often, don't point to the wisest paths for us. (they were invented by a mindless destructive dragon-creature with all the forethought of a five year old on a sugar rush) but they, and our emotions and passions are a useful source of energy. It also emphasizes that, it's humanity's job to construct the best world around us we can...in this case, because the gods aren't any wiser than us.
Here's another part of it...from the dragon's perspective, that I consider rather motivational:
The gods tell me that I shall fade away and die someday, and that all my accomplishments shall be for naught, like dust scattered to the winds, as is the ultimate fate of all living beings....
But I am like fire. I spread my wings and bloom.
Like fire, I grow, or I fade, so I grow.
Like fire, I kindle starlight and birth the warmth that makes the souls of all things.
Like fire, someday I shall fade and die, but before I do, I hope to re-shape the world into ruby crimson. I hope to make my mark on this place. I hope to spit strarfire towards the heavens, lighting up the dark places in the universe, so that all the gods can see.
I'll also include in the above religion I invented my view of ethics and my preferred way of perceiving reality. It consists of the following:
#1. All feeling life are sensory appendages of a single organism. We're individuals too...so this is not the only valid way of looking at things, but I do think it's a pretty valid way of looking at things.
#2. We are one-another's afterlife. Throughout my life my body will change, my mind will change, my opinions will change, my memories will change, my skills will change, my taste buds will change, my relationships will change...everything about me will change, except for one part of me: as long as I'm fit to be called me, I gaze out of my windows called eyes, and through my other senses, and experience the universe around me and interact with that universe...and that's the exact same unchanging part of everybody else.
There is a great difference between myself when I was five and myself now, than there is likely to be between myself now and another male of my age. There would be little difference between me getting a severe and permanent enough case of amnesia but living on, and me dying, but you living on, and in that way, anyone reading this is, essentially, my afterlife.
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The ethics of this worldview would involve an extremely consequentialist outlook involving maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering for all live...viewing things like every instance of suffering produces a certain quantity of units of suffering, and every instance of pleasure involves the production of a certain quantity of units of pleasure, and the goal is to produce the maximum quantity of pleasure and minimum quantity of suffering for all life in the universe.
And...in this worldview...motivations don't matter. The "gods of the void" for example, want to destroy all life to help it...because that would, at least in their eyes, be a way of minimizing suffering that they believe the pleasure obtained in existence wouldn't be sufficient to cancel out.
I view that sort of consequentialist outlook in which we're all sensory appendages of the same super organism, and behave that way, as being pretty much the most accurate possible way of perceiving reality...and the reason we don't behave that way...like cogs in some machine dedicated to maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering as efficiently as possible...is because of that individualistic, passionate, rambunctious dragon, who insists, "I am an individual. I am not part of some greater organism. I am me!"
And that dragon's messages, while leading to all sorts of messy conclusions and chaos, are a vital part of what we are too.
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And on that note...because my worldview will not inspire everybody, or be interesting to everybody, I'd prefer my cult to be one in which everybody invents their own worldview. Maybe there could be Christian forms of paganism some day...forms that emphasize the "turn the other cheek" nature of Jesus, but deny the otherworldly magical stuff. Alongside it we might have moderate forms of LaVeyan Satanism, and Buddhism and Taoism. Maybe we'd have religions that are very nihilistic, that emphasize seizing the day.
All these different worldviews, I think, can match up with reality pretty well...and which will inspire a person the most may just depend on their personality.
A goal would be to construct a meme that is somewhat carnivorous...that essentially preys upon religious beliefs that emphasize concrete, definite, knowledge in afterlife beliefs, and stern godly figures that have strong opinions about reality and laws they will punish mankind for not obeying...by providing a more relaxed alternative, that still gives reality some of that sense of magic and interest personification often does. I'd say Einstein's religious beliefs seem like they'd be a fine example of what I'd like to see spread...the view of wanting to "understand the mind of God."
Einstein presumably personified the universe, which rendered it more interesting to him, as personification often makes the things we personify...and I'm not sure he'd have different conclusions whether or not he believed he was talking about a literal mind or merely a creator who works through the laws that govern reality.
We (My atheist roommate and I) Tried that in college, or at least set down how to do it. Cable TV was cheap at the time, this was before You Tube, but we figured a few hours a week late at night to start then as more money came in, move to daytime and weekends.
We had a name, logo, message, stories, eventually planned to sell self help books.
Thing was, being that we were in Texas, we already had to compete with all the other religions who were doing the same thing......selling people something for money. In the end, it seemed like neither of us could engage in something so fraudulent.
'I'd to encourage everybody to invent their own fictional or pantheistic religions...whatever perception of reality works best for them and inspires them...so that's what my "cult" would be about.'
Quite the quixotic idea, given that cults tend to encourage brainwashing rather than creative, individualistic thought.
I'm a little too sober to read through the rest of it at this p[o]int, but the night is young. I won't be quite as rudely dismissive as TroutDude was.
I was definitely interested in your topic, I think it's interesting you want to start a cult.
However, I don't hate myself enough to read through the origin narrative, sorry about that (truly).
I'm not understanding your motivation, with replacing one religion with others, even if the replacement religion is more kinder, gentler, happier regarding it's supplicants, etc. You want to create (your reality) to be filled with a cult of people who have their own reality? How is that gonna play out, in your mind?
I definitely do enjoy your idea of everyone creating their own reality, but if you're gonna do that, why is there a need for religion at all? I mean, if it's YOUR reality, don't you just wanna be the God Source of that reality? Why would you create a reality where you're still a supplicant? And a cult leader who isn't in charge of anyone or anything? Hmmm. Why.
And on that note...because my worldview will not inspire everybody, or be interesting to everybody, I'd prefer my cult to be one in which everybody invents their own worldview. Maybe there could be Christian forms of paganism some day...forms that emphasize the "turn the other cheek" nature of Jesus, but deny the otherworldly magical stuff. Alongside it we might have moderate forms of LaVeyan Satanism, and Buddhism and Taoism. Maybe we'd have religions that are very nihilistic, that emphasize seizing the day.
All these different worldviews, I think, can match up with reality pretty well...and which will inspire a person the most may just depend on their personality.
I kind of like this idea, but I personally prefer the alternative of doing away with religion altogether, if we're fantasizing to the extent that you are in this post. HP Lovecraft comes to mind as someone who probably did kind of what you're envisioning here, but he's renowned/revered to this day because he was pretty singular in what he did. Barely anyone else is going to undertake such an endeavor.
he ethics of this worldview would involve an extremely consequentialist outlook involving maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering for all live...viewing things like every instance of suffering produces a certain quantity of units of suffering, and every instance of pleasure involves the production of a certain quantity of units of pleasure, and the goal is to produce the maximum quantity of pleasure and minimum quantity of suffering for all life in the universe.
'And...in this worldview...motivations don't matter. The "gods of the void" for example, want to destroy all life to help it...because that would, at least in their eyes, be a way of minimizing suffering that they believe the pleasure obtained in existence wouldn't be sufficient to cancel out.
I view that sort of consequentialist outlook in which we're all sensory appendages of the same super organism, and behave that way, as being pretty much the most accurate possible way of perceiving reality...and the reason we don't behave that way...like cogs in some machine dedicated to maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering as efficiently as possible...is because of that individualistic, passionate, rambunctious dragon, who insists, "I am an individual. I am not part of some greater organism. I am me!"
And that dragon's messages, while leading to all sorts of messy conclusions and chaos, are a vital part of what we are too.'
Utilitarianism/consequentialism is the ultimate 'rational' system of ethics; to think of there being a 'fake religion' centered around promotion of its aims is pretty great IMO. I'd like to write a utilitarian fairy tale for 6-year-olds, invoking slightly different imaginary beings than your dragons and whatnot...there's definitely a void in the marketplace there.
" ... In the far future, I'd like religious beliefs to be distinguished less by everybody having flawed views of reality, and more by different groups being separated by different worldviews. ..."
For me, too many less reliable views are hidden, then promoted, under the disguise of "its just different.". To me, if its just different then it will stand up to the rigors of questioning just like all others. Without any tactic having to be deployed that are only used to really "sell" the idea.
Example: Life started on earth vs life came from space. They both can handle the rigor of questioning and testing them for now.
I only read the title and want to encourage you to do it!!
I wish I had decades ago!!
Smart people, those tax-free religious or cult leaders!!!
Like any successful business, rem you must fill a need...feel the pulse of those
that would join.
This was tried years ago. Church of the SubGenius.
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