religion without communities?
One of the main functions of religion is the satisfy the fundamental human need for belonging and produce an emotion of elevation. Jaakko Wallenius proposes Epicureanism as a “new”, rational religion on his blog
My reponse was:
Christianity (as Buddhism and Islam, too) started out with dropping out into alternative communities and has continued to satisfy the fundamental human need for belonging. Epicureans did have their small communities for 800 years (300 BCE-500 CE) but 21st century Epicureans do not have functioning (NON-virtual) communities, the minimum necessary condition to fulfill the role (=satisfy the need) of a religion. (Democratic/meritocratic egalitarianism does work very well WITHIN closed communities and I do not think that Eism would ever aim at establishing itself as a state religion.)
How about starting a NON-virtual Epicurean community, gather experience, share its learnings?
The discussion on Facebook might produce new insights:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Epicurus/79493658728
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