From: Olga Bourlin (fauxever@sprynet.com)
Date: Wed Oct 16 2002 - 21:20:32 MDT
From: "Christopher Whipple" <crw@well.com>
> Those of us who are quick to deride religion must keep in mind that some
people view the Extropian principles as the structure of a "techno-futurist"
religion. That was the impression of a friend of mine who I had asked to
read them. I'm sure there are threads in the archive regarding
Extropianism's status (or lack thereof) of being a religion.
A religion was formed around a jazz musician (John Coltrane), and in
Portland, Oregon, there's a Church of Elvis (they don't speak in tongues
there, but plant theirs firmly in cheek). Then there's "Scientology"
(what's that supposed to mean?).
An acquaintance of mine thought the Extropian principles sounded "New Agey."
(I think "New Age" is sometimes used as a catch-all for ... just about any
philosophy that's not entirely understood.)
One way to differentiate between what is and what is not a religion (at
least in the USA) is to find out whether an organization receives the
oh-so-special religious tax exemption. Even so, it's not always clear
(e.g., the American Humanist Organization has some kind of religious
exemption, even though they are not a supernaturally-inclined group of
folks, i.e., they have "religious atheists" in their group).
Anytime I think about religion (any religion), scads more than the usual
number of my neurons commit hiri-kiri (I can almost hear them in unison,
somewhat like the Whos in Whoville).
Olga
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