Inspirationism
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.