Consumerism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
Cavanaugh’s Being Consumed was highly reminiscent of Fredric Jameson’s Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. As in the latter, Cavanaugh traces our strange conditions which can produce a 1950’s-styled McDonald’s, a restaurant themed like a medieval castle and complete with a drawbridge, a Mexican restaurant designed to resemble an 18th-century Spanish mission, and … Continue reading
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM
Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a progressive, liberal, humanist religion which emphasizes diversity in religious practice and belief, as well as a theology driven by social justice and activism. UU was founded in 1961 when the merger of the American Unitarian Association with the Universalist Church of America created the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Although historically … Continue reading
Grail Movement
(This entry should not be confused with the Women’s Grail Movement) The Grail Movement, The Grail Message – In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin (born Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, 1875-1941) serves as the basis for the movements loosely known as the “Grail Movement” or “Grail Message.” In the Light of Truth was written by Bernhardt as … Continue reading
Wicca
Wicca is a Neopagan form of modern witchcraft. It was popularized by Gerald Gardner in England during the 1950s, who referred to his tradition simply as “witchcraft” and its practitioners as “the Wica”. “Wicca” has since been adopted as the name for a diverse number of related traditions, and as with many other Neopagan religions … Continue reading
Thelema
Thelema is the religion and philosophical system developed by British occultist Aleister Crowley. Crowley attributes the religion’s core sacred text, Liber Al vel Legis sub figura CCXX (The Book of the Law), to a revelation from the spiritual entity Aiwass while he was in Egypt on an extended honeymoon in 1904. The philosophy of Thelema … Continue reading
Temple of Set
The Temple of Set was born from a schism in the Church of Satan in 1975. This schism was based in philosophical divisions and catalyzed by Anton LaVey’s 1975 decision to sell positions in the Church’s priesthood. In the same year Michael Aquino performed a ritual working to form a new religion to practice black … Continue reading
The Church of Satan
The Church of Satan was founded by Anton Szander LaVey in San Francisco in 1966. Rejecting notions of transcendent spirituality and viewing the universe as fundamentally indifferent to mankind, it preaches a philosophy of self-indulgence, individualism, and lex talionis morality. Despite assuming the title “Satanism”, the teachings of the Church of Satan do not include … Continue reading
Aetherius Society
The Aetherius Society was founded in 1955 by Dr. George King in London and is now headquartered both there and Los Angeles, California. The principle of the Aetherius Society is that the world is desperately out of balance (for instance the gap between rich and poor) but our ‘Cosmic and Ascended’ Masters has sent messages … Continue reading
The Church of Euthanasia
The Church of Euthanasia Founded in 1992 and legally incorporated on March 25, 1994, the Church of Euthanasia is primarily based in Massachusetts. Its founder, Reverend Chris Korda, was inspired by a dream in which The Being, an entity representing various populations of Earth in other dimensions, warned that humans are destroying the Earth’s ecosystem … Continue reading
Seventh Day Adventists
The Seventh Day Adventists grew out of the popular American prophetic Millerite movement in the 1840’s in New York. The group continues to hold the expectation that the end of the world is near. The Seventh Day Adventists also differ from other Protestant sects in their belief in Ellen G. White as a prophet. Ellen … Continue reading
Networking Religious Movements 