Open source religion

Open source religion is based on the extension of the open source principles to the areas of religious experience, religious cosmology, and religious systems of belief, as an extension of the general development from purely technical open source software via open source movement and into the open source culture in general.

Related Topics:
Open source - Open source software - Open source movement - Open source culture

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In contrast to open source projects, the formation and maintenance of religious phenomena has almost always been closed, authoritarian, and change-resistant. Central to the notion of open source religion is the non-proprietary, decentralized, and user-determined evolving nature of all open source projects. All significant examples of explicit attempts to develop open source religions are Internet based and thus recent phenomena.

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Another specific advantage claimed for some open source religions (e.g., Yoism, which also claims to be "the world's first open source religion,") is that it breaks the link between "birth location happenstance" and belief. As has often been noted, the vast majority of people believe in the religion they were "born into." While it is not claimed that open source religion would completely mitigate parental impact on the development of a child's beliefs, it is claimed that the very nature of an open source system of belief would make local religions more ecumenical and open to ideas from all over the world. The principle espoused is twofold: One, an open source religion taught to a child would, by its open source nature, almost always include ideas that came from outside of the local community. Two, in the act of "indoctrinating" a child into an open source religion, the child would simultaneously be taught that truth is not fixed or beyond improvement with ideas from others.

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These ideas are expressed in the writings of Yoism, in which they claim that their version of open source religion

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...endeavors to harness the power of Internet communication to cultivate and develop the most thoughtful, meaningful, and moving religious inspirations that have ever existed. No longer must humanity be chained to the limited beliefs found in the neighborhood of each individual's birth and growth. The Internet enables a spiritual community to form in which the best in human thought and insight can be available to everyone, wherever they live.

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