As for the last warning - I think the religious traditions are not so timeless as many people believe, and as anything alive must change or die. I see more value than danger here, and I come from tradition that goes back three, four thousand years.for six weeks, 40 brave volunteers from across the U.S. met in a special online forum "Open Source Religion," to talk about their deepest beliefs; along the way, their respectful curiosity wound up defying the old warning about never discussing religion with strangers.
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The volunteers ranged from atheists to evangelicals, Methodists to Muslims, young students to aging scholars. As their emails crisscrossed the continent, the forum members moved from exploring their own spiritual yearnings to talking honestly about their anxieties over religious conflict in the world.
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But what emerged from the discussions is strong evidence that there's real energy behind open source religion: People are eager to express their most sacred insights within emerging grassroots crowds that are forming around the world
There's solid sociological data behind this observation. It comes from multiple waves of World Values Surveys, analyzed by University of Michigan sociologist Wayne E. Baker, who also joined our forum. Baker wrote about this in his 2006 book, "America's Crisis of Values: Reality and Perception." As Baker sorted out the data, he showed that religious values are very strong and widespread across America. Americans rank with traditionalist countries around the world, places like Pakistan, in the strength of our religious values. But Americans also are almost off the chart in another powerful value -- our desire for individual self-expression. (We rank with Scandinavia on that scale.)
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Team members did point out real dangers in throwing open the doors of religious tradition. For instance, more than a few people asked: If our Ultimate Source is open to everyone's interpretation, then how can we trust that the timeless tradition won't change?
So, what do you think? Is it valuable? Would you try it? How is it different from the conversations we are having here? What would be your hope and your fear from such discussion?