Rational Communities, Religious Communities

Do rational communities have a functional counterpart to the features of sustainable religious communities? Should they? What are the bones of a religious community, and what would a rationalist community look like if it intentionally borrowed features of religious communities? What would be gained or lost?

Phil has been a pastor, and also teaches philosophy as a professor at CCV. Skyler has been involved in running just about every style of rationalist meetup anyone's invented. Their first American ancestor was banned from Massachusetts for "Blasphemy" - specifically, being a Quaker. The family history with religion is so longstanding, their last name is "Crossman."

The connotation of Sacred is that it is set apart, prioritized above its competitors. Features of religions include:

• Sacred Text (Pentateuch, Mishnah, Talmud, Qur'an, Dao Te Ching, Analects)

• Liturgies/Creeds (Apostle's Creed, Nicene Creed, the Shahada, etc.)

• Sacred Rules (Shariah Law, Deuteronomy, Sermon on the Mount, Laws of Manu, etc.)

• Sacred Hierarchy (Mullah, Pope, Bishop, Pastor, Dalai Lama, Supreme Leader, etc.)

• Sacred Mission (Evangelize, Enlightenment, Nirvana, etc.)

• Sacred Orders (Jesuits, Franciscans, Mahayana, Hinyana, Shinshoko, etc.)

• Sacred Traditions (Passover, Communion, Haj, Matsuri, etc.)

• Sacred Calendar (Ramadan, Eid, Yom Kippur, Succoth, Passover, Easter, Holi)

• Sacred Places (Cathedral, Mosque, Jerusalem, Mecca, Chaco canyon, Torii, Mt. Sinai, etc.)

• Sacred Art (Sistine Chapel, Mandalas, Pieta, Haggia Sophia, etc.)