<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">I have to nitpick. Theism means the view that there are gods or a god. That doesn’t entail religion necessarily. For instance, once can believe there are gods but one owes no alleigance to them and no rituals or practices that can alter their disposition. (Aristotle view of god seems like this.) Religion on the hand usually involves devotional practices or rituals and a view that one can affect the gods, one owes allegiance or service to them, that they take an interest in one’s affairs. (Again, Aristotle’s god seems to be utterly devoid of interest in people.)<div><br></div><div>There’s another problem with this view as anything other than a joke: various theistic views can be contradictory. At an abstract level, for instance, it seems monotheism (there is one and only one god) contradicts polytheism (there are more than one god).<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Regards,</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dan</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Sample my Kindle books at:</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">http://author.to/DanUst</span></p></div></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Apr 20, 2020, at 10:32 AM, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
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charset=windows-1252">
On 20/04/2020 10:57, Will Steinberg asked:<br>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:mailman.54.1587376660.666.extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">What
are y'all?
</blockquote>
<br>
I have an atheistic world-view, which stems from being a
materialist, so I call myself an atheist. But I also call myself an
'Omnitheist', which is not about religious <u>faith</u>, but about
<u>membership</u> of religions.<br>
<br>
An Omnitheist claims membership of (although not belief in) ALL
religions, past, present, future, real and imaginary. As an
Omnitheist I can call myself a muslim, a zoroastrian, a
sock-puppetarian, a pastafarian, a mormon, a wiccan, etc., etc.
Absolutely everything.<br>
<br>
Anyone who wants to become an Omnitheist just needs to read, print
out and sign the following declaration, and voila, you are a
fully-signed up member of every single religion that does, did,
will, could and couldn't exist, with all the associated rights,
privileges, obligations (automatically deemed to have been
satisfactorily met), the holidays, and so-on. And this is perfectly
compatible with atheism, you don't have to believe a thing (if any
religion <i>requires</i> that you believe something, that
requirement is simply deemed to have been met):<br>
<br>
===========================================================<br>
OMNITHEIST DECLARATION<br>
<br>
By the reading and signing of this document, I the undersigned
hereby declare, affirm and otherwise state:<br>
<br>
That I am henceforth a full member of every religion that exists,
has ever existed, will exist and could exist, as well as every
religion that cannot exist for whatever reason.<br>
<br>
In the case where membership of any religion requires the
performance of a ritual, the utterance of a statement, or any other
voluntary action, that action is hereby deemed to have been taken.<br>
<br>
In the case where membership of any religion requires the explicit
permission of an existing authority of that religion, a sect or
splinter group of that religion is deemed to have been created which
does not require such permission, and membership of such sect or
splinter group is hereby asserted, claimed, granted and confirmed.<br>
<br>
In the case where membership of any religion requires specific or
general physical criteria to be met, such as bodily modifications,
possession of certain bodily forms, gender, age, weight, etc., or
pre-existing membership of some other group, such criteria are
deemed to have been met.<br>
<br>
In the case where membership of any religion requires any other
conditions or circumstances, these are deemed to have been
satisfied.<br>
<br>
I hereby assume all the rights, responsibilities, duties and
benefits that membership of the above-mentioned religions confers,
and deem and certify that all such duties and obligations have been,
are and will be carried out in a satisfactory manner.<br>
<br>
This by the power, assent and indulgence of all the gods, demigods,
devils, demons, elemental powers, spirits, sprites, ghosts, any
other supernatural or imaginary beings and abstract concepts, past
present and future, eternal and transient, real and imaginary, of my
own free will, in solemnity and absurdity, in mockery and in
reverence, permanently and irrevocably, unless and until I change my
mind.<br>
<br>
<br>
Signed:<br>
===========================================================<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Ben Zaiboc</pre>
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