neo-Pantheism, a consilience of ideas
Recently a very distinguished scholar (Dr. Paul Kurtz) asked me point blank at a cocktail party aboard ship in the Caribbean Sea "What do you mean by Pantheism?" I could not answer him quickly because I didn't have a nice short sound bite that would do the job. The long dissertation I had drafted was not party time discussion fare. Explaining Panthea would probably have left him wondering about a martini drinker with a Goddess delusion. I hadn't even coined the word neo-Pantheism for my flavor of Pantheism as yet. I did shortly thereafter and condensed it to the following brief affirmation:
neo-Pantheism - a humanistic paradigm characterized by an awesome Universe with a Goddess-like essence to it that shows us the Tao (way), an unconventional type of monotheism and a self-authenticating rational spirituality. Its ethical base is human survival, wellbeing, enlightenment, family and virtue. Sexual equality and self-responsibility (Karma) are advocated. It is guided by science and reason and worships nothing as divine. It envisions a grand Destiny for mankind in a sane and intelligent future world.
And:
Panthea, the Goddess, is simply the Tao. She is the sum total of existence and the gateway to all of our mysteries of existence. She is the guiding principle to all of reality and lights the way to virtuous conduct. Belief in the concept of her is an optional tenet of neo-Pantheism.
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