atheistic synchronicity
Recently, on a local burner email chat forum, there was a post inspired by a recent Wired article about the "Battle of the New Atheism"
The original post simply read:
"Who here is an Atheist?"
To which, I eventually replied:
...as my friend T Polyphilus says:
"I am not an Atheist in your sense of the word: your doctrine is too
coarse for any known blasphemy to shame it.
I am not an Atheist in your sense of the word: fancy a Priest let
loose on Society!
As long as men and women shall bury their own perfect natures in fear,
guilt, and shame--I am against Atheism, and for the Mysteries.
Every 'rational enlightenment' has engendered new superstitions.."
also q.v. "Apatheism, Allognosticism, and the American Religious
Landscape," by Dionysos Thriambos
--
Although I am not dogmatic enough for some of the religious folks, I
am also too fascinated with ceremony & ritual for many atheists.
I refer to myself as The Minister of Free Inquiry for the purposes of
officiating during a veriety of ceremonial occasions, such as those
dealing with: birth, adolescence, adulthood, elders, rites of passage,
initiations, mentoring, marriage, divorce, making amends, ordinations,
providing unction, last rites, counseling, moderaton & conflict
resolution, etc.
I enjoy many forms of ritual... including, but not limited to:
veneration of ancestors, apotheosis of heroes, sacrifice to archetypal
"deities," &/or mystical transcendence...
I have also noticed that there are some burners who enjoy exploration
& participation in many of these activities; but there are others who
object to even being referred to as spiritual, much less religious...
perhaps b/c of the fundamentalist/fanatic connotations of the words?
...even though many of the facets of burner culture are also well
known as facets of religion in an anthropological sense... behaviors
like: celebrating festivals during certain times of the year, using
language in a particular way known to people initiated into that
particular culture, burning effigies of a symbolic nature,
experiencing altered states of consciousness, adhering to a set of
principles (even if they are not a dogmatic creed for everyone, there
are ethical guidelines which are promoted), etc.
I enjoy burn events as one of many initiatory paths, and I am also
quite fond of the Neophilic Irreligions... (for example):
Discordianism, The Church of the Subgenius, and Cthulhu Cults
A more complete overview of my own personal modus operandi can be found here.
--
Ironically enough, a couple of friends asked me and a corresponding
female friend of ours to officiate their Neophilic Irreligious wedding
at Epoch Coffee Bar (221 W. North Loop Blvd. Austin, TX 78751 tel
512.454.EPOC) this evening... Tuesday, October 31st @ 6:30PM
I must say that this is probably the most humanist/atheist event in
which I have personally ever participated (although I once almost took
a job as a mail clerk for Madalyn Murray O'Hair's organization,
American Atheists, Inc.). For the marriage, we have incorporated
material from Elizaveta (Liza) Yurevna Kuzmina-Karavaeva Pilenko
(later aka Maria Skobtsova), Robert Anton Wilson, Bucky Fuller, François Rabelais, and other surprises...
It will be a public ceremony... any & all are welcome to attend!
The original post simply read:
"Who here is an Atheist?"
To which, I eventually replied:
...as my friend T Polyphilus says:
"I am not an Atheist in your sense of the word: your doctrine is too
coarse for any known blasphemy to shame it.
I am not an Atheist in your sense of the word: fancy a Priest let
loose on Society!
As long as men and women shall bury their own perfect natures in fear,
guilt, and shame--I am against Atheism, and for the Mysteries.
Every 'rational enlightenment' has engendered new superstitions.."
also q.v. "Apatheism, Allognosticism, and the American Religious
Landscape," by Dionysos Thriambos
--
Although I am not dogmatic enough for some of the religious folks, I
am also too fascinated with ceremony & ritual for many atheists.
I refer to myself as The Minister of Free Inquiry for the purposes of
officiating during a veriety of ceremonial occasions, such as those
dealing with: birth, adolescence, adulthood, elders, rites of passage,
initiations, mentoring, marriage, divorce, making amends, ordinations,
providing unction, last rites, counseling, moderaton & conflict
resolution, etc.
I enjoy many forms of ritual... including, but not limited to:
veneration of ancestors, apotheosis of heroes, sacrifice to archetypal
"deities," &/or mystical transcendence...
I have also noticed that there are some burners who enjoy exploration
& participation in many of these activities; but there are others who
object to even being referred to as spiritual, much less religious...
perhaps b/c of the fundamentalist/fanatic connotations of the words?
...even though many of the facets of burner culture are also well
known as facets of religion in an anthropological sense... behaviors
like: celebrating festivals during certain times of the year, using
language in a particular way known to people initiated into that
particular culture, burning effigies of a symbolic nature,
experiencing altered states of consciousness, adhering to a set of
principles (even if they are not a dogmatic creed for everyone, there
are ethical guidelines which are promoted), etc.
I enjoy burn events as one of many initiatory paths, and I am also
quite fond of the Neophilic Irreligions... (for example):
Discordianism, The Church of the Subgenius, and Cthulhu Cults
A more complete overview of my own personal modus operandi can be found here.
--
Ironically enough, a couple of friends asked me and a corresponding
female friend of ours to officiate their Neophilic Irreligious wedding
at Epoch Coffee Bar (221 W. North Loop Blvd. Austin, TX 78751 tel
512.454.EPOC) this evening... Tuesday, October 31st @ 6:30PM
I must say that this is probably the most humanist/atheist event in
which I have personally ever participated (although I once almost took
a job as a mail clerk for Madalyn Murray O'Hair's organization,
American Atheists, Inc.). For the marriage, we have incorporated
material from Elizaveta (Liza) Yurevna Kuzmina-Karavaeva Pilenko
(later aka Maria Skobtsova), Robert Anton Wilson, Bucky Fuller, François Rabelais, and other surprises...
It will be a public ceremony... any & all are welcome to attend!