Philosophism
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Philosophism is a new liberal religious movement that began in the Technocratic Republic of Theodia on 30 March 2020 as a novel means of reconciling religion with science, and as a means of updating religion for the modern world.[1] It is comprised of a number of "Schools", each with its own beliefs and traditions; so Philosophism is less a specific religion in-and-of itself than a grouping or movement, akin to how Protestantism is a grouping of different denominations. Unlike Protestantism, Philosophism itself is governed by an assembly, as are all of its Schools and their sub-Schools. It is hoped that Philosophism will overcome many of the shortcomings of traditional liberal religious movements (like Unitarian Universalism), and is itself a part of the Humanist movement.[1]
Characteristics
By definition, all Philosophists have the following characteristics:
- They are Humanists.
- They are engaged in a free and open search for direction and meaning.
- They seek to practice holistic life philosophies rather than to observe theologies.
- They put Science before fancy.
Structure
Philosophism is composed of congregations. Each congregation follows one or more Schools. Each School recognized by Philosophism has its own assembly composed of its adherent congregations (The same goes for sub-Schools recognized by Schools.). Congregations may also follow unrecognized Schools and hold ad-hoc assemblies for these. Each assembly has a regular meeting schedule. Philosophism itself is governed by a Grand Assembly consisting of all congregations. Congregations participate in assemblies by means of representatives, with the number of representatives being assembly-specific. These representatives are chosen from a congregation's leaders by its members. The leaders of officially Philosophist congregations must be ordained clergy, in order to ensure they are capable of the job; but anyone may seek this ordination.
Schools
Any holistic school of philosophy can act as a School of Philosophism. This includes, but is not limited to, Humanistic versions of religions with consistent non-theological philosophies (such as Humanistic Buddhism), and dedicated life philosophies (such as Stoicism, Epicureanism, etc). There is also a special "School" called "Syncretism", which functions similarly to a very Humanistic Unitarian Universalism.[1]
Each School determines its own dogmas, traditions, ceremonies, etc. Accordingly, different Philosophist schools may look very different from each other.