Naturalistic pantheism
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Bkonrad
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/68.97.87.196|68.97.87.196]] ([[User talk:68.97.87.196|talk]]) to last version by Bkonrad
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'''Naturalistic pantheism''' is a form of [[pantheism]] that holds that the universe, although possibly un[[conscious]] and non-[[Sentience|sentient]] as a whole, is a meaningful focus for [[secular spirituality]] and [[mysticism|mystical]] fulfillment. Accordingly, [[Nature]] is seen as being [[God]] only in a non-traditional, impersonal sense. Therefore, naturalistic pantheism is also known as "impersonal pantheism" and "impersonal absolutism".
==Adherents==
Adherents believe that naturalistic pantheism might best be understood through the teachings of [[Baruch Spinoza|Spinoza]], and the [[Universal Pantheist Society]] (UPS) and [[World Pantheist Movement]] (WPM) today.
Although the UPS is the older of the two, it has seen decreased activity in recent years. The WPM (founded by former UPS vice-president [[Paul Harrison (pantheist)|Paul Harrison]]), on the other hand, has expanded more considerably due to its promotion of "scientific pantheism", which critics claim is essentially no more than "[[atheism]] for nature lovers"{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. This charge seems to stem from the fact that scientific pantheism is not only [[Humanistic naturalism|naturalistic]], but avowedly [[materialism|materialistic]] as well, with little tolerance for any reference to traditional theological concepts. Despite a history of controversy surrounding the WPM's [[heterodox]] stance within the UPS and its eventual secession from that organization, the WPM approach has met with some acceptance, even while critics claim it may not actually constitute any strict or authentic or [[classical pantheism]].
Although the Universal Pantheist Society ostensibly accepts pantheists of all varieties, in practice, it too tends toward the modern (naturalistic) pantheism. To understand this, it must be re-emphasized that the theological concept which the term "pantheism" was originally intended to describe (the equivalence of the traditional God concept with nature) is considered to be essentially obsolete by many naturalistic pantheists. It is often maintained that the intent of such individuals in describing themselves as "pantheist" is chiefly to identify themselves as adherents of a naturalistic spirituality by using an established religious term.
==Criticism and response==
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===Semantics===
Opponents of naturalistic pantheism allege that it constitutes an intentional misuse of terminology, and an attempt to justify [[atheism]] by mislabeling it as pantheism. They claim that naturalistic pantheists believe no more that nature, the universe, and everything are all God, than [[secular humanists]] actually believe that human beings are all gods. They claim that naturalistic pantheists no more really believe in a god than secular humanists, who are atheists but adhere to a "religion".
Naturalistic pantheism places little emphasis on the concept of God. This raises the concern that it is really no longer pantheism at all, but something more like "spiritual naturalism" or "feel-good atheism". After all, these critics ask, if you remove the concept of God from your philosophy, what is the purpose of using the term "pantheism?" It is charged that the [[etymology]] of the word reveals it is inappropriately used in describing an anti-theist [[philosophy]]. In answer to this objection, naturalistic pantheists maintain that the "pan-" prefix modifies the "-theism" suffix to such an extent that pantheism in fact has little to do with traditional theism.
Critics regard this modern pantheism as simply a more reverent and naturalistic form of atheism, since this unusual conception of God is seen as bending the traditional definition so far as to make it meaningless. In the view of some modern adherents, this objection to using the historical term "pantheism" for the naturalistic interpretation is essentially valid, and these adherents usually admit that the term is maintained only for the sake of convenience.
Recognizing this, some naturalistic pantheists are willing to concede that the term may in fact be more appropriate for other spiritual views than for themselves, and there is currently some discussion over possible alternative terms for this worldview.
An argument intended to show that the term "pantheism" remains appropriate for the modern, or naturalistic interpretation of pantheism is that the contemporary pantheist sees the term "God" as a synonym for "nature". If nature is equivalent to the theological concept of God, then saying "all is God" (pan-theism) is the same as saying "all is nature". Accordingly, this is the way that many pantheists choose to view the term "pantheism" — all is nature, nature is all. Pantheism, then, is (in this view) essentially a form of [[spirituality]] based on nature rather than on [[supernatural entities]] such as [[deities]]. Accordingly, it is widely accepted that the modern interpretation of pantheism is essentially naturalistic, and therefore constitutes a form of [[naturalistic spirituality]].
===Mysticism===
In addition, a number of modern (naturalistic) pantheists further identify themselves as "[[mysticism|mystics]]", although the debate over this has been somewhat less heated than that over other terminology. It is widely (although not universally) accepted that the essence of mysticism within the context of pantheistic thought lies in a direct knowledge or a direct experience of God, which is in their mind readily attainable by the pantheist, considering that his or her god is all that exists.
===Spirituality===
General acceptance of naturalistic pantheism has been undermined to some extent by the existence of considerable disagreement within their community as to whether or not ideas such as "spirituality" are truly applicable to a naturalistic worldview. Although a clear conclusion has not yet been reached, the rough consensus currently holds that within a pantheistic framework, spirituality can be meaningfully and consistently interpreted as "the human relation to the [[numinous]]", as [[Carl Sagan]] and some others have suggested.
===Pandeism===
[[Pandeism]] is a kind of naturalistic pantheism, holding that the universe is an unconscious and nonsentient God, but also that God was previously a conscious and sentient force or entity that designed and created the universe. In pandeism, God only became an unconscious and nonsentient God by becoming the universe. Other than this distinction (and the possibility that the Universe will one day return to the state of being God), pandeistic beliefs are identical to the above pantheistic beliefs.
{{belief systems}}
[[Category:Pantheism]]
[[Category:Secularism]]
[[no:Naturalistisk panteisme]]