A worthy endeavor, even if it isn't my thing. I reject the notion of there being "false" and "true" ways of life (what most just call religions, I suppose) - it's more a question of where the currents of life happen to take your particular boat. Then, recognizing the strengths and weaknesses...
I'm not sure why you would desire or expect any agreed-upon ontology. That's... weird. It won't ever happen for the human species, ever. Probably because humans have very different feelings and life experiences through which we filter any and all ontological perspectives and those differences...
You don't have to - you can either be a theist whose gods don't have those qualities or a non-theist.
I'm not claiming anything, I'm expressing the experiential and emotional root that leads to theistic worldviews. If anything, those are deeper truths than those that are merely talked about...
Generally, I agree. I might put it a bit differently - acceptance of the gods is more or less accepting that there are things out there that are bigger, grander, or more spectacular than humans. Reveling in that awe, being inspired by that mystery, and seeing the sacred majesty before you...
I won't comment from a Christian theological perspective as a non-Christian. The "problem of evil" is absent in my religion as the gods are simply not assumed to revolve around human beings in the first place. To me, that's a simpler explanation - the universe (the gods) doesn't revolve around...
It's not a new idea - it's prevalent in many of the world's religions, notably any that has retained its animistic orientation. Personally, I don't use the word "consciousness" to describe it because I just strongly dislike that term but all matter and energy has to have some sort of awareness...
There's an irony in that the gods of polytheistic religions are can be literal embodiments of death, disease, and destruction - you know, stuff that can and will actively murder and destroy you and do just that on a routine basis - but polytheistic religions don't proselytize. Perhaps because if...
It's an indigenous (or Pagan) religion in the sense that it is an extension of connection to place and ancestors but with a cleaner origin story than that of contemporary Pagans like myself. Whereas descendants of colonialists like myself are reconstructing pre-colonial traditions that were...
Two reasons, in prime:
For all practical intents and purposes - that is, when considered from the limited scope of human experience that requires existence of the universe - the universe has always been here. Put another way, because human experience cannot be present without the universe, the...
I made spaghetti squash, but it felt like a bad omen in a way because it was partially rotted on the inside. It looks like an insect made its way inside the fruit as it was ripening and was eating away on the inside. I suppose in some ways that's just nature - our insect friends need their...
I would recommend that you check that assumption at the door. There are different forms of questioning and critique ranging from asking questions simply to understand and to learn versus asking questions to belittle and diminish others. The second of these is why members leave, and it happens...
I could try, but the rub is I don't really know what that means.
Genuinely adopting and practicing a religious tradition - which is what I think you might mean - takes time (at least in my experience). It can be changed over time, but it's not quite a simple on-off switch. To really...
The mysteries taught by OBOD in the form of exploring the tale of Ceridwen's cauldron is a big one. The enlightenment of Gwion and his rebirth as Taliesin was an accident. The brew wasn't for him, it was for Ceridwen's ugly son Morfran who needed some sort of positive quality to balance out...
There are many ways to tell the story. How someone tells the story will more or less align with their own way of life and their own values. Some will tell the story about how you are mistaken in you assessment, because they do not share in your life experiences and perspective. Some will tell...
The dysfunctional relationship the human species presently has with the other-than-human beings they share this planet with. There are three main ways that is manifesting: (1) habitat destruction (aka, ecological genocide) (2) biodiversity loss (aka, sixth mass extinction), and (3) climate...
Okay, you've still lost me on this and I don't understand where you are coming from. Sorry about that.
Huh? Nah, man, don't sweat it. Relax. Even if I did think that my brain just ain't wired that way. :sweat:
Except Jesus, right? I'm dimly aware of some other Abrahamic traditions that accept other incarnations of God as a human. I don't know much about them beyond that they're a thing - it was touched upon in the world religion course I took in college.
So... to paint a picture of my level of confusion, I just now realized you aren't, actually, a new member to the forum and just an old member who recently changed their username. Thus, in my brain, I'm going "what is this new user going on about... I have only replied to like one other thread...