From the Introduction
"Much, if not most, of the mass bloodshed in the
world today has a connection to religion. In fact, right now I can’t think of
any significant ongoing violence in the world that doesn’t involve religion,
somehow. Can you?
"In January 2014 the Pew Research Religion and
Public Life Project released a report saying that religious violence around the
globe had reached a six-year high. Yet a number of historians, sociologists and
other smart people have declared that we’re living in the most peaceful time in
human history, overall. Given the persistence of religion-related violence,
it’s hard to escape the conclusion that there’s something about religion that
is stoking the hate flames, somehow....
...
"The question is, does religion have anything
positive to offer the 21st century (and beyond)? Or is it a vestige
of the Iron Age that ought to be contained in museums?
"More critically, is it even possible to be
religious and also be a rational and entirely modern participant in the 21st-century
world? Is it possible to live a devotional,
religious life without denying science or otherwise being assimilated by some
religious-authoritarian Borg?"
I am a long-time Zen student and the
Buddhism expert for About.com. You may also know me from my personal blog, The Mahablog.
This book is a proposal to rethink religion so that
our definitions are both more accurate and more inclusive of the variety of
religious experience around the world. It also is an argument that there is a
way to be religious and modern, open
minded, progressive, appreciative of science, tolerant, and a peaceful global
citizen of the 21st century. And it’s also an argument that there’s
a lot about religion that is hurting humanity more than helping, and religious
people especially must address this.
This book is written entirely from a progressive
perspective. It is not intended to persuade religious and political
conservatives, who will probably not get past the first chapter. I am speaking
here to other progressives — atheists, agnostics, religious and “spiritual but
not religious” — because I think we have common cause if not common
understanding.
Why I'm Asking for Money
I plan to self-publish
Rethinking Religion as an ebook and also as a print-on-demand paperback, so I don't need a huge amount of money. However, at the moment I'm living check to check and can barely afford groceries. I'm going to need $250 for ISBN numbers, and the rest is for promotion and to keep my lights turned on until it's done.
The Impact
I hope to reach enough people to begin to change the way we think about religion, and thus begin to take it out of the hands of literalists, dogmatists, and fundamentalists.
Other Ways You Can Help
Whether you can donate or not, please share the link to this page and spread the word. I understand Indiegogo has promotion tools you can use for that.
