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]
Among the first examples of this movement, Yoans (followers of a religion called Yoism, founded 1994[1]) 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.[2]
Another early example, in 2001, Douglas Rushkoff organized the first Reboot summit that took place in 2002.[3] "The object of the game, for me, was to recontextualize Judaism as an entirely Open Source proposition."[4] The publication of Rushkoff's book, Nothing Sacred: The Truth about Judaism,[5] 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.[6]
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[7] and Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis.[8]
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'[9] (and the text of the article is itself open-source).
Another example is the Redefine God group (coined Redefinists), an online network for "Open-source spirituality."[10][11]
Notes[]
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Cite news
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1 at line 4069: attempt to call field 'set_selected_modules' (a nil value).
- ↑ Rebooters.net
- ↑ Open Source religion
- ↑ Template:Cite book
- ↑ 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
- ↑ http://www.redefinegod.com
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1 at line 4069: attempt to call field 'set_selected_modules' (a nil value).
References[]
- Template:Cite news — on the beginnings of Religion 2.0 and the "Religion of 'what is'".
- Template:Cite news — on the explosion of open source collaboration notes the existence of "open source projects in law and religion."
- Template:Cite news — on the relationship between human liberation and Internet-based open source innovations, with a specific reference to open source religions
- Template:Cite news
fr:Yoisme it:Yoismo zh:开源宗教