Atheism is dead but Paganism is Alive; and Growing.

The clues may have been with us for a while but now those who have a keen interest in these developments are taking notes. They conclude that Paganism has not only taken hold, but is on the rise and may well overtake Christianity not too long from now. So who has been asleep? Well I did say it was likely the clues were right there though we did not know it.

There is the popular expression spiritual but not religious. This is another way to say leave out the dogma would you? Then there the nones or those with no religion. They ripe and ready to get on board with this spiritual stuff; on condition that just two of their criteria are met. As long as it includes everybody and is all about you know what. That thing they call love. For this lot there is no need to worry about a bugbear like doctrine. This is the essence of spiritual it is a nebulous thing. It is this free-floating just can’t explain it type of thing.

Churches are guilty too. In a bid to pack them in, it is about community most of all, besides we can’t expect moderns to understand complex, ancient stuff. As for all those big words… well. Like one said; there is all that purple language and that is just the start.

And so they pander.

Then there are the many rogue actors who always want to change what is.

I bet no one could have predicted a time like this when the sacred would have to be nailed down to protect it from the profane; or did they? Well the prophets called it. And here we are. Idol worship is a big part of the problem here; just like it was for paganism.

This one goes by the name of Eucharist Spirituality. Yes it is based on the RC take on Holy Communion but with more than a few embellishments. From what I can gather so far in one word this is concerning. Ugh. OK so they leave Paul’s warnings out. That it is called a thought experiment; an imagining? Should tell you all you need to know.

The spirituals aren’t shy about encroaching on the turf of the religious. They like to compete if this makes sense.

They experience awe as well they tell us which just means wonder. Taken to mean they have a spiritual side too. Wonder is not just feels to the religious; but about who or what the focus is on behind it. So what these folk say is neither here nor there.

Now if the wonder they claim to feel for say nature leads them to deify it, well it is a different matter. Then we can deduce they are in fact pantheists; which makes them of course pagans.

They were lectured by academics and told they must admire the community aspect of church. This is your captain speaking this is a command. Then with marching orders in hand; they climbed on board. Even the maladjusted were encouraged to come out of hiding; and just get with the program.

Look at it this way. Paganism was the ONE big thing until Christianity whizzed past it; but will they trade places once again.

Material atheism died as new atheism was being birthed after 9/11. The newer type of atheism that replaced it was much more of an antitheist movement than anything else. On top of which it lacked the coherence of its predecessor and kicked the bucket round about the mid two thousands. Now few will admit to having once been a new atheist.

Some interesting trends have been picked up by those studying this new rise in Paganism.

They have noticed an organic connection between CRT as well as Queer Theory and Paganism. There are other angles but as they have noted this new alternative to theistic belief is not sterile atheist rationalism but new age Pantheism and its counterpart; pagan spirituality.

One philosopher and atheist who thinks material atheism was too harsh and needs a fresh take and other observations makes me wonder if humans are not indeed more homo religious than even they may realize.

This idea of a random universe is passé at this point. Materialists have come to realize that it is much more structured and complex than that. What; why only now?

In other words there are patterns that can’t be ignored.

One columnist asks if secularism can make room for things that are thought to be in the domain of the religious.

He says; if meaning is baked into the nature of the universe, then it is. It is the secular God-fear that gets in the way of things a lot of the time he reckons. And it is dishonest.

He speaks of universe-consciousness; where a hospitable universe is a kind universe, a moral universe etc. It’s a universe that is on ‘our side.’ This type of thing is accepted by neuroscience for the most part. This is what atheism liberally sprinkled with the spiritual looks like. It is pagan as well.

As many as six in ten Americans cling to some sort of New Age belief. So says Pew Review.