These are just some of the ways we feel about life. Do you?
Albert Einstein
A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of
the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant
beauty - it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute
the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and this alone, I am a deeply religious man.
The World as I See It
Is
Nature your spiritual home?
Do you feel a deep sense of peace and belonging and
wonder in the midst of nature, in a forest, by the ocean, or on a mountain
top? Are you speechless with awe when you look up at the sky on a clear
moonless night and see the Milky Way strewn with stars as thick as sand on a
beach?
When you see breakers crashing on a rocky shore, or
hear wind rustling in a poplar's leaves, are you uplifted by the energy and
creativity of existence?
Do you find it impossible to believe in
supernatural beings, and difficult to conceive of anything more worthy of
reverence than the beauty of nature or the power of the universe?
If you answered yes to these questions, then you
will feel thoroughly at home in the World Pantheist Movement. Our caring and
celebratory approach focuses on nature rather than the supernatural, on what
we can see and do and live out rather than on invisible entities that we can
only imagine.
These
are just some of our friends and members.
Add yourself!
Margaret Atwood
god is not the voice in the whirlwind
god is the whirlwind
Stephen Hawking
Larry King: Do you believe in God?
Stephen Hawking:
Yes, if by God is meant the embodiment of the laws of the universe.
Larry King Live, December 25, 1999
Carl
Sagan A religion old
or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed
by modern science,
might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly
tapped by the conventional faiths.
Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge. Pale Blue Dot
Mikhail
Gorbachev
I believe in the cosmos.
All of us are linked to the cosmos.
So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples
and forests
are my cathedrals.
Sitting Bull
Every seed is awakened
and so is all animal life.
It is through this mysterious power that
we too have our being
and we therefore yield
to our animal neighbours
the same right as ourselves, to inhabit
this land.
Henry David
Thoreau
We are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by
the perpetual instilling and drenching
of the reality that surrounds us. We can never have enough of nature.
Towards a naturalistic spirituality
Terminology is the downfall of religions: the
core of what we stand for is our beliefs (see the belief statement), not our name. For convenience,
we use the name pantheism because it has a long and venerable history. But
almost all of what we say applies to all the spiritual orientations that
find shelter in the WPM. They go under the names of scientific pantheism,
religious humanism, religious naturalism, religious atheism, deep ecology,
nature-worship. They also include philosophical Taoism, modern Stoicism,
Gaian religion, as well as to those forms of wicca and paganism that see
magic and the gods as symbols rather than realities, also Western forms of
Buddhism that celebrate nature and everyday life, and to those in Unitarian
Universalism who do not believe in supernatural beings.
In the WPM we take the real universe and
nature as our starting and finishing point, not some
preconceived idea of God. We feel a profound wonder and awe for these,
similar to the reverence that believers in more conventional gods feel
towards their deity, but without antropomorphic worship or belief that Nature
has a mind or personality that we can influence through prayer or ritual.
Our ethics are humanistic and green, our metaphysics naturalist and
scientific, but to these we add the emotional and aesthetic dimensions which
humans need to joyfully embrace their place in the universe and to motivate
their concern for nature and human welfare.
In the WPM we revere and care for nature, we accept
this life as our only life, and this earth as our only paradise, if we look
after it. We revel in the beauty of nature and the night sky, and are full
of wonder at their mystery and power.
Our beliefs and values reconcile spirituality and
rationality, emotion and values and environmental concern with science and
respect for evidence. If you want to see why other people have chosen this
spiritual approach, then check Members'
Voices.
Why do we need a spirituality of nature?
Most people have a sense that
there is something greater than the self or than the human race. The WPM's
naturalistic reverence for nature can satisfy this need, without sacrificing
logic or respect for evidence and science. As one member put it, it is
spirituality without absurdity.
It does not require faith in miracles, invisible entities or
supernatural powers.
It accepts and affirms life joyously. It does not regard this life
as a waiting room or a staging post on the way to a better existence
after death.
It has a healthy and positive attitude to sex and life in the body.
It teaches reverence and love and active concern for nature. Nature
was not created for us to use or abuse - Nature created us, we are an
inseparable part of her, and we have a duty of care towards her.
It enthusiastically embraces the picture of a vast, creative and
often violent universe revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope. We need a
spirituality in keeping with this new knowledge, not one that seeks to
deny or explain away parts of it.
It does not simply co-exist uncomfortably with science: it fully
embraces science as part of the human exploration of the awesome
universe. However, this does not mean we believe that science can answer
all questions, nor that we endorse all modern technologies regardless of
their impact on nature.
So why an organization?
Most people also have a deep need to belong to a
community - this is perhaps the main reason why people join or stick with
religions they may privately doubt. The WPM aims to provide a spiritual and
social "home base" for people who love Nature and the Universe but do
not believe in supernatural entities. A home base that provides the
community support of local groups, and facilitators to help celebrate
natural weddings, funerals and other special occasions in the style that
people really want. A base where you can share your beliefs and your
enthusiasms without fear of being ostracized or considered an outsider.
The WPM Credo. This is not a requirement of
membership but simply a notice on our door, to show what we are about so
people can decide if it suits them or not.
Our aims
The major aims of the movement are:
To promote the values of environmental concern
and human rights.
To sponsor nature conservation activities and help members to
conserve nature
To make earth-honoring life-affirming naturalistic beliefs
widely available as a spiritual option and a rational alternative to
traditional religions.
To build up membership in localities and promote the formation of
local groups.
To create a network of celebrants for nature and life-oriented
child dedications, weddings, and funerals.
To promote an expanding presence for these beliefs and values on
the Internet and in other media of all types.
To assist in the research and publication of books and other media
related to these beliefs and values.
If you join the WPM you will be joining a young, rapidly growing and dynamic group
with an expanding range of activities. We have several lively mailing lists,
with over 1000 members from over 50 countries in five continents, and
54 US states or territories. We also have regional and specialized e-mail
lists and Web bulletin boards.
There have been many local meetings of members right
across the USA and in other parts of the world, where people have found a
rare level of fellowship and stimulation. Two of the major benefits, members
find, are gaining new like-minded friends and finding support for your own
beliefs and attitudes to life and nature.
Check us out by exploring the links on the left:
find out our beliefs, organization and suggested practices, visit our
bulletin board, join the WPM.
President
Dr
Paul Harrison California, USA.
Environmental writer, UN Environment Programme
Global 500
award winner
VP USA
Dr
Tom Moore Maryland, USA.
Astro-geophysicist, research
and development manager with NASA
VP
Europe
Tor Myrvang, Italy. Treasurer, International Fund
for Agricultural Development
(retired)
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