Challenge 4, Season 1: Submission Thread

[Ivy]

Bring it on!

[disregard]

Forward
One of the problems of religion is to maintain sacred texts and religious services that stay relevant, inspirational, and enlightening to the modern culture. Modern culture is always in a rapid state of flux, while religion remains fairly static. If we look in the field of economics we see that the shift from Command and Feudalistic economies toward Market economies has greatly increased the wealth of modern people. This is because authority has become decentralized allowing many people to decide what happens in the economy. Likewise modern Democracies are superior to alternative forms of govenment because authority is less centralized, and the ideas for new laws originally come from within the nation's citizenry. Therefore there should be a similar shift in modern religion toward a decentralization of power. The beliefs of the religion should come from within its membership, and it should be able to gradually shift to stay relevant as the culture changes.


Inspirationism
The idea of Inspriationism is that the "scripture" is composed entirely from works of art, specifically music, literature, visual arts and performing arts. Furthermore the Canon is selected by the members of the faith, and the Canon is updated regularly in order to stay relevant within a modern context. Worship services are encouraged to draw their inspiration from the artistic works of the Canon, and artists within each individual congregation are encouraged to add their own works to the worship services. The focus of Inspirationism is for a person to draw their inspiration and enthusiasm about "The Divine" i.e. God, The Tao, etc... from works of art.

Here is how the Canon is chosen:
Initially all of the current members of the Inspirationist faith nominate and then vote in order to choose the 40 most essential religious works ever created. The top 10 are selected from each of these four categories:
Literature - This can include any kind of holy text, book, short story or poem.
Music - This includes any type of musical piece.
Visual Arts - This includes paintings, sculputures, murals, drawings, etc....
Performing Arts - This can include drama, film, dance or any other type of performing art.

These initial 40 works are known as the Major Canon. These are meant to be the focus of religious teaching and worship. Additionally every year afterward 4 more works are selected (one from each category) to be added to the Minor Canon. The number or works in the Minor Canon will always be four times the number of years that the Inspirationist faith has existed (one per category per year). On every fifth year (after the normal annual selection process) members of the Inspirationist faith nominate and then vote on whether to replace any works from the Major Canon with any of the works from the Minor Canon. In this way the Major Canon gradually shifts to fit the needs of an ever changing culture.

One may ask, "How can something be part of a canon if it is not a formal writing?" The purpose of the Inspirationist faith is not to lay down hard and fast rules, but rather to inspire a person's mind toward thoughts of The Divine, humanity, and how the two interact. Obviously one can still follow strict rules if written in literature such as "You shall not kill" or "Seek to remove from yourself all desire", but the goal of the Inspirationist faith is to positively motivate oneself toward a more wise and enlightened way of life rather than to restrict specific behavior. Furthermore many sacred texts of other religions have existed to inspire people over the years. The Inspirationist faith seeks to put even more emphasis on inspiration by including music, paintings, films, etc... as part of our sacred canon.

One may ask, "What role do the Major and Minor Canons play in the life of an Inspirationist?" The Major Canon is meant to be the focus of worship and inspiration. The Minor Canon is meant to be used for sources of further inspiration and shed greater light on the Major Canon. Additionally a congregation is encouraged to use additional artistic works during worship services which they view to be in harmony with the Major Canon including art created by members of the congregation.

The format of worship services is up to the individual congregation. One congregation might use a more traditional format with music and then a sermon or lecture based on a piece of literature. Another group may simply watch a film and then discuss it afterword at a coffeehouse. A third group may use a different format for each week of the month.

One may ask, "What are the Ten Commandments of your faith?" We have no explicitly spelled out "Ten Commandments". Instead all teachings come from the inspiration of our Major Canon which is selected by our members.

One may ask, "What is your Holy City?" If we have anything like Holy Cities they would be New York City and London. Every year the new additions to the Minor Canon are announced in a ceremony in one of these two cities. These cities are chosen, because they are viewed as artistic centers. The location of the ceremony alternates between the two cities each year (New York the first year, London the second, etc...).

One may ask, "Why would I want to join an Inspirationist congregation?" If you are someone who is seeking more spiritual depth but wants their religion to be relevant in a more modern context then you will appreciate Inspirationism. Likewise you will meet and grow with other people who share your desire. Lastly you will have an opportunity to affect what the sacred canon of your faith is. Please come and experience one of our worship services.

[EffEmDoubleyou]

The Green Team invites you to consider Caffeinology! Please explore the pages of the Caffeinology website to learn what this powerful new religion can do for you.

Caffeinology | Unlock The Power Of Coffee Within You

[Jennifer]

God. I'm going to bed.

[Tigerlily]

CLICK ME


Elvis our prophet on earth, is now The King of Heaven. Like all religions, the Faith of the Elvisism is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that that he was a prophet; we logically know he is in heaven because he died.


On August 16, 1977 our lord and savior, Elvis Presley, ascended to heaven to assume his rightful throne. Throughout his time amongst us he revealed his divine prophesy through his music, true believers keep the faith by having his music in their hearts.

Elvis re-appeared before his most devout believers at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee on Christmas Day 1977 to spread the divine word as promised in his prophesy I'LL BE HOME ON CHRISTMAS DAY. The following is a recount of that evening by one of his disciples, Ernest Judge;

We had I’M COMIN’ HOME playing on a loop in the background and candles surrounding the Kings shrine, at exactly five past midnight they flickered he appeared before us in a bright light, we were overcome with emotions at the sight of our King and Saviour.

“Thank you, thank you very much” he said. “DON'T CRY DADDY, I’m IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE now and IT FEELS SO RIGHT”

We were in awe of his presence and had many questions, one believer started asking him all the thoughts that had been plaguing us for the past four months but was quickly interrupted “A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, I come with commandments for my true believers,” We obeyed and stood in silence whilst he recited our new 10 commandments. I’ll never forget that day, many non-believers try to test my faith but an experience like that cannot be denied I JUST CAN'T HELP BELIEVIN'.

Elvisism: Improved Ten Commandments

1. Thou shall BELIEVE IN THE MAN IN THE SKY.
2. Thou shall have no other Idols before me for there shall be DOUBLE TROUBLE if you do.
3. Thou shall LOVE ME TENDER and not use my name in vain.
4. Thou shall wear BLUE SUEDE SHOES on the Sabbath to keep it holy.
5. Thou shall honor thy parents because everyone NEED SOMEBODY TO LEAN ON.
6. Thou shalt not murder because it's not EASY COME EASY GO.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery, I SLIPPED, I STUMBLED, I FELL is not an excuse.
8. Thou shalt not steal but FINDERS KEEPERS, LOSERS WEEPERS.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness as IT'S A SIN TO TELL A LIE.
10. Thou shalt not covert THE GIRL OF MY BEST FRIEND.


Faith Based Recipes Featuring The Elvis Fried Peanut Butter Banana Sammy

[Ivy]

I have it on good authority that Red is submitting but having technical difficulties. Please stand by.

[NoahFence]

The Red Team invites you to view a pamphlet that is sure to convert you to the Cult of Four!!!
Tract 1
Tract 2
Tract 3
Tract 4
Tract 5

[Tallulah]

We can has poll?

[disregard]

Heh. If this challenge were to take place in a high school classroom, Green would be the power-point making hand-raisers, Red would be the stoner misfits, and black would be the popular kids that always get an A with the least effort.

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Black would also be the team that tries to get their paper back and make changes to it after handing it in.