Open source religion
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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.[1]
Of the modern examples can be included the Redefine God[1] group (coined Redefinists) who earned a spotlight at Ning.com in 2008[2] and held the top ten position under the Top Ten Best Web 2.0 applications of allthingsweb2.com category for half of 2008.
Among the first examples of this movement, Yoans (followers of a religion called Yoism, founded 1994[2]) 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]
In spring 2007, Assignment Zero reported that 'for six weeks, 40 brave volunteers from across the U.S. met in a special online forum on "Open Source Religion" to talk about their deepest beliefs'[10] (and the text of the article is itself open-source).
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Charles Piller. "Divine Inspiration From the Masses", Los Angeles Times, 2006-07-23.
- ^ Redefining God: Religion 2.0. Ning.com (May 17 2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-23.
- ^ 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
- ^ Bravely Exploring Our Spiritual Stars: An Adventure in Opening the Ultimate Source
[edit] References
- Evan. "Redefining God: Religion 2.0", Ning.com, May 2008. — on the beginnings of Religion 2.0 and the "Religion of 'what is'".
- 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
- Charles Piller. "Divine Inspiration From the Masses; Open-source programming's organizing principle has been embraced in medical research, engineering -- even religion", LA Times, 23 July 2006.
