Fruits of the Deep Ecology Tree: Pantheism

Pantheism means “All (pan-) is God (theos)”. Pantheism is the belief that God/dess is not remote or separate from nature, but immanent within it. [Read more...]

Are monism and polytheism a matter of temperament?


It would be beneficial if we as a community would stop looking at one another as deficient because we perceive the divinity differently. It’s natural, when we discover something beautiful, to want to share it, and even to get frustrated when other’s can’t see it. But the fact is that our perceptions are selective. And by attending to one for of beauty, we necessarily cut ourselves off from other forms. The problem comes when we start insisting that our limited vision is all there is to see, rather than a piece of the puzzle. [Read more...]

“A mighty host respond”: Pagan unity through diversity

Three mountains diverged in the sky, and I—I took one of them and you took the other. And that has made all the difference.

Is it possible to build a religious community around the idea of celebrating difference? Is it possible that what makes us “Pagan” is not what we have in common, but the ways we are different? Perhaps being “Pagan” means nothing more (and nothing less) than being one those who have gathered around this word, “Pagan”, gathered together to celebrate not a single meaning, but to celebrate the diversity of what that word means to us. [Read more...]

The dirty words we use to describe each other

Some time ago, I heard a story on NPR’s “This American Life”, about a guy who lost a friend when the friend found out that he had voted for Obama. The friend had called him a “socialist”. Of course, he didn’t think of himself as a socialist, but was left feeling that he had been [Read More...]

Is life like the Iliad or the Book of Job?

If you have never seen that sight, then suspend your decision about the propriety of devil-worship, and the expediency of conciliating the devil. – Herman Melville, Moby Dick Watching Bill Moyers’ interview of Huston Smith at church last Sunday, we came across a part of the interview where Huston is explaining that “God is one” [Read More...]