Principles
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Welcome to the Resistance (US)
With the leak of a draft opinion overturning the pivotal Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed all people with uteruses the right to an abortion through the first trimester of pregnancy, shock waves are rippling across the United States. It won’t stop here. This Court has revealed its radical, reactionary and activist nature. It is highly likely that the right to access contraception, the right to privacy in consenting conduct between adults (which legalized same-sex sexual acts but also has implications for people in alternative relationship configurations like BDSM relationships and polyamory), and even the right to same-sex marriage are on the chopping block. Unless some unforeseen change…
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From the Atheopagan Society: A Statement of Policy Values
Ours is an engaged spirituality: engaged in society, engaged in the world. Atheopagans care not only about our own growth, joy in living, discovery and wonder, but the well-being of our fellow humans and the biosphere of which we are each a part. Our Atheopagan values, enshrined in the Four Sacred Pillars and the 13 Principles, are modern, progressive, inclusive, and in some cases have radical implications for improving conditions in our world. We understand the destructive and unsustainably rapacious nature of industrial capitalism, and know the values that dominate the world must change for justice, biodiversity, kindness and happiness to prevail. This is not just abstract. Activism is a…
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Atheopaganism: A Path of Reverence, Celebration and Service
It’s been awhile since I wrote just generally about Atheopaganism: what is it, why does it exist, and what does it stand for? Atheopaganism is a godless, supernatural-free religious/spiritual path I envisioned between 2005 and 2009, which led to publication first of an essay and eventually of the book Atheopaganism: An Earth-Honoring Path Rooted in Science. In this path, the worldview and approach to learning of science are combined with progressive values and Neopagan ritual practices celebrating nature, the diversity of humanity, and our passage through the seasons of the year and of our lives. This not the first time that scientific/naturalistic cosmology has been combined with Pagan practice. If…
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Building Community, Core Values and Leadership
Recently, the Atheopagan Society launched a new program for the community: affinity groups. These are small groups organized around topics of common interest or geographical areas, where Atheopagans can interact, learn, support and get to know one another better. They meet on whatever platforms they choose (or in real life, when safe), and are not moderated by the Society or by the community’s Facebook or Discord moderators. While we have provided forums for asking questions and seeking support, the groups are generally self-managed. I have been careful since the time that Atheopaganism started to catch on with other people to stipulate that I may be the originator of this path…
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Reciprocity vs. the Overculture
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Overculture lately: how the dominant values and paradigms of our societies inform how we think, how we speak, and what we do. For a discussion of all that, I invite you to listen to this week’s episode of THE WONDER podcast. That will give you a good sense of what I’m talking about. It was a great conversation with Yucca. The Overculture is tricky to talk about because it is the water within which we fish swim: it’s everywhere, and to talk about other ways of living seems alien and farfetched. But we know they exist: we did not always live in a…
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When Life is Hard
It’s been a tough few months. Within the space of three days at the beginning of May, we received a 60-day notice to move (illegally, as it turns out), and had to euthanize Miri, the Very Soft Cat. The housing market around here is a nightmare and it took more than 60 days to find a new place and move. But the new place is much nicer, and only a little more expensive. And we now have a feisy and playful new tuxedo cat, Kiki, who I prefer to call Rocket J. Squirrel. Life, however, was not done with us. Yesterday, I lost my job. Now, there is a lot…
