Mystical Ponderings of an Atheist: Death
By Allana Taylor
One day I will die, awake
and fall upward.
I will reach out to touch as I descend through my soul.
I will fall.
Descending straight through you, mother, filtering my time’s relevance.
– Kyle Taylor, 2011
A dear mentor of mine once told me that I often sound more like a mystic than an atheist. I have embraced this observation and in many ways I define my religious identity as a ‘mystical atheist.’ This means, simply, that I find myself struggling with many of the same questions that entangle my theistic counterparts.
Just as there are certain challenges to asking these questions within the framework of a particular religious tradition, there are numerous challenges to asking them as an atheist. In both cases, there are many shortcomings in the proposed answers. And, so far, neither the standard theistic nor atheistic answers feel emotionally or intellectually satisfying.
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Spring 2013 Call for Contributors is Here!
By Honna Eichler, Managing Director of State of Formation
The 2013 Spring Call for Contributing Scholars is now open! You are invited to nominate yourself or an emerging scholar! Nominate yourself or someone you know!
Over the past two and a half years, emerging religious and ethical leaders from around the country and the world have engaged each other and readers by sharing their stories and views on State of Formation. Conversations once dominated by established leaders are now readily embraced by the up-and-comers, and accessible to contributors from many different moral, faith, political, economic, and social backgrounds. Currently, the site garners over 150,000 views per year.
State of Formation is a community conversation between young leaders in formation. Together, a cohort of seminarians, rabbinical students, graduate students and the like – the future religious and moral leaders of tomorrow – will work to redefine the ethical discourse today, particularly as it is used to refract current events and personal experiences.
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Strangers in an All Too Familiar Land
By Nic Cable
I spent the last two weeks in a land named holy by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, seeking peace, understanding, wholeness. My travels took me through countless narratives, religious expressions, political stalemates, cultures, and the lives of people who reside at the center of all that is holy about this part of the world. This was my first time to Israel and Palestine, yet my journey was marked by a chronic sense of déjà vu.
The goals of this trip were multiple, but included learning about the history of this part of the world, the unfolding religious traditions that respect this space, and to understand in greater clarity the complexities involved in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is not an easy one to solve or it would have been solved by now. Sure, fingers could be pointed to figure out who is to blame, but as one young activist suggested, there are no clean hands.
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Call for Nominations
Please nominate a colleague, student, or friend to become a State of Formation Contributing Scholar! |
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