Mostly crazy, but probably right. :-) Sent from my iPhone
> On Sep 29, 2015, at 08:46, BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical > Centrist Community <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Open-source religion > > From Wikipedia > Open-source religions employ open-source methods for the sharing, > construction, and adaptation of religious belief systems, content, and > practice.[1] In comparison to religions utilizing proprietary, authoritarian, > hierarchical, and change-resistant structures, open-source religions > emphasize sharing in a cultural Commons, participation, self-determination, > decentralization, and evolution. They apply principles used in organizing > communities developing open-source software for organizing group efforts > innovating with human culture. New open-source religions may develop their > systems of beliefs through a continuous process of refinement and dialogue > among participating practitioners. Organizers and participants often see > themselves as part of a more generalized open-source and free-culture > movement.[2] > > > Origin > > The term "open-source religion" first appeared as both a reference to the > open-source Linux operating system's organizing principle, and as an analogy > for highlighting the philosophical differences between advocates of > open-source vs. proprietary software .[3][4] (In 1994, the scholar and > novelist Umberto Eco had popularized religious metaphors in comparing > operating system design and user experience with his essay, "The Holy War: > Mac vs. DOS."[5]). In 2001, Ozacua (later Yoism) began describing itself as > "the world's first opensource religion."[6][7] The term was popularized by > the media theorist, Douglas Rushkoff in his book, Nothing's Sacred: The Truth > about Judaism (2003), where he offered the following description as an > introduction to Open Source Judaism: > > An open source religion would work the same way as open source software > development: it is not kept secret or mysterious at all. Everyone contributes > to the codes we use to comprehend our place in the universe. We allow our > religion to evolve based on the active participation of its people....An open > source relationship to religion would likewise take advantage of the > individual points of view of its many active participants to develop its more > resolved picture of the world and our place within it.[8] > Discordianism, Copyleft, and open-source software > > > Before the coinage of the term open-source in 1998 or even the birth of the > Free Software movement, the Principia Discordia (1963), a Discordian > religious text written by Greg Hill with Kerry Wendell Thornley, included the > following Copyright disclaimer, "Ⓚ All Rites Reversed – reprint what you > like." By 1970, the implications of the disclaimer were being discussed in > other underground publications.[9] > > Commercial publishers are not likely to be interested in the Principia due, > at least, to the counter copyright on it–for, if they had a good seller, then > other publishers could print it out from under them. Consequently publication > and distribution will have to occur spontaneously, thru the “underground”, as > alternative cultures learn to meet their own needs and provide their own > services. This non-commercial limitation of the Principia is to provide less > limitations in other respects, and it is not an accident. The Principia is > not simply a handbook, it is a demonstration.[10] > By the mid-1970s, the concept had influenced a generation of Discordians.[11] > The project to create Tiny BASIC was proposed in Bob Albrecht and Dennis > Allison's Dr. Dobb's Journal of Tiny BASIC Calisthenics & Orthodontia, a > journal of the Homebrew Computer Club, a small group of computer hobbyists > who began meeting in 1975 around Silicon Valley. The first lines of the > source code for Tiny Basic as released in 1976 by Li-Chen Wang stated ‘(ↄ) > COPYLEFT ALL WRONGS RESERVED’. In 1984/5 programmer Don Hopkins sent Richard > Stallman a letter labeled "Copyleft—all rights reversed". Stallman chose the > phrase to identify his free software method of distribution.[12] The > relationship between Discordianism and "Kopyleft" remain part of the culture > of Discordianism, as explained by the Discordian Rev. Dr. Jon Swabey in his > Apocrypha Discordia. > > Discordianism and the concept of KopyLeft go hand in hand. Although just a > small part of the counter-culture gestalt, I believe that the Principia > Discordia was probably one of the earliest expressions and strongest > champions of this idea, which has since seen such concepts as the Open Source > Software initiative, with endeavours such as the Linux Operating System.”[13] > Open-source in established religious traditions > > For established traditions whose canonical works, records of discourse, and > inspired artworks reside in the Public Domain, keeping these works open and > available in the face of proprietary interests has inspired several > open-source initiatives. Open access to resources and adaptive reuse of > shared materials under Open Content licensing provide a structure by which > communities can innovate new religious systems collaboratively under the > aegis of copyright law. For some religious movements, however, public access > and literacy, and the potential of adaptive reuse also provide an opportunity > for innovation and reform within established traditions. In an interview by > A. J. Jacobs in the Atlantic Magazine on open-source religion, Aharon Varady > (founding director of the Open Siddur Project) explained that "cultures > breathe creativity like we breathe oxygen" arguing that open-source provides > one possible strategy for keeping a tradition vibrant while also preserving > historical works as non-proprietary during a period of transition from analog > to digital media.[14] > > Open-source Judaism > > Early open-source efforts in Judaism can be traced back to 1988 with the free > software code written for calculating the Hebrew calendar included in Emacs. > After the popularization of the term "open-source" in 1998, essays and > manifestos linking open-source and Judaism began appearing in 2002 among > Jewish thinkers familiar with trends in new media and open-source software. > In August 2002, Aharon Varady proposed the formation of an "Open Siddur," an > open-source licensed user-generated content project for digitizing liturgical > materials and writing the code needed for the web-to-print publishing of > Siddurim (Jewish prayer books).[15] Meanwhile, media theorist Douglas > Rushkoff began articulating his understanding of open-source in Judaism. "The > object of the game, for me," Rushkoff explained, "was to recontextualize > Judaism as an entirely Open Source proposition."[16] > > > The term "Open Source Judaism" first appeared in Douglas Rushkoff's book > Nothing Sacred: The Truth about Judaism (2003). Rushkoff employed the term > "Open Source" to describe a democratic organizational model for collaborating > in a commonly held source: the Hebrew Bible and other essential works of > Rabbinic Judaism. Rushkoff conceived of Judaism as essentially an open-source > religion which he conceived as, "the contention that religion is not a > pre-existing truth but an ongoing project. It may be divinely inspired, but > it is a creation of human beings working together. A collaboration."[17] For > Rushkoff, open-source offered the promise of enacting change through a new > culture of collaboration and improved access to sources. "Anyone who wants to > do Judaism should have access to Judaism. Judaism is not just something that > you do, it's something you enact. You've got to learn the code in order to > alter it."[18] The 2003 publication of Rushkoff's book Nothing Sacred: The > Truth about Judaism[19] and an online forum dedicated to "Open Source > Judaism" inspired several online projects in creating web applications for > generating custom made haggadot for Passover, however neither content nor > code for these were shared under free-culture compatible Open Content terms. > > Beginning with the Open Siddur Project in 2009, open-source projects in > Judaism began to publicly share their software code with open-source licenses > and their content with free-culture compatible Open Content licenses. The > explicit objectives of these projects also began to differ from Rushkoff's > "Open Source Judaism." Rather than seek reforms in religious practices or > doctrines, these projects used Open Content licenses to empower users to > access and create their own resources from a common store of canonical texts > and associated translations and metadata. By 2012, open-source projects in > Judaism were mainly active in facilitating collaboration in sharing resources > for transcribing and translating existing works in the Public Domain, and for > adaptation and dissemination of works being shared by copyright owners under > Open Content licenses.[14] > > Open-source Yoga > > Following proprietary claims on Yoga movements by some Yoga instructors, Open > Source Yoga Unity was formed in 2003 to assert that Yoga movements reside in > the Public Domain. The organization provides a common voice, and the pooling > of resources, to legally resist the application of a proprietary Copyright to > any Yoga style thereby "ensuring its continued natural unfettered practice > for all to enjoy and develop." The organization explains, that "while we > appreciate the teachings of yoga teachers, we do not believe that they have > the legal right to impose control over another's Yoga teaching or > practice."[20] In Open Source Yoga Unity v. Bikram Choudhury (2005), the > organization settled out of court, avoiding a federal court hearing to > determine whether Bikram Choudhury’s copyrighted sequence of 26 poses and two > breathing exercises could be legally protected.[21] > > Open-source Wicca > > Concerned with the lack of a source text containing documentation on Wicca in > the tradition of Gerald Gardner, Dr. Leo Ruickbie self-published Open Source > Wicca: The Gardnerian Tradition (2007) for "putting you back in control of > spirituality." The work, a collection of "the original foundation documents > of Wicca" authored between 1949 and 1961, was published digitally and in > print under a Creative Commons Attribution license.[22] > > Open-source in establishing new religions > > Several projects aiding individuals and communities in formulating their own > belief systems cite inspiration from ideas common to the open-source movement > and self-identify as open-source religions or religious initiatives. The > establishment of new religions through open-source methods is closely related > to chaos magic, which emphasizes the pragmatic use of belief systems and the > creation of new and unorthodox methods,[23] the difference being that any > knowledge gained through such innovation is shared openly.[24] > > Yoism > > > According to its founder, Daniel Kriegman, Yoism (founded 1994) combines > rational inquiry, empiricism, and science with Spinozan or Einsteinian > pantheism.[25][26][27] Inspired by the Linux operating system, Kriegman > describes his religion as "open-source" and explains that, similar to > open-source software projects, participants in Yoism do not owe their > allegiance to any leader and that their sense of authority emerges via group > consensus decision-making.[1][28][29] Yoism adopted the Creative Commons > Attribution-ShareAlike copyleft license for sharing original works in May > 2015.[30] > > Belief Genome Project > > The Belief Genome Project aims to use crowdsourcing to catalog all beliefs as > a resource for those wishing to build and discover their own belief > system.[31] The project is an initiative of the Open Source Religion Social > Network, a website established in 2009 by Sidian M.S. Jones which he > described as "a system for the mixing of religious and non-religious beliefs > in an individual, even across multiple religions."[32] > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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