A friend asks "What's the best alternative to a church that doesn't stymie self expression and freedom of thought?"
I'm a fan of the Church of the Sword:
"Their hymns are called “jams,” and in the case of the July 12 service, for lack of instruments, it was a reading from a manual on safe food preparation set to bongo drums. Their communion was hard cider, during the Ritual of Disobedience, which became a tradition after they held an early service in an East Concord park that forbade alcohol, cigarettes and firearms. “We had all those things,” Bloom said.
“We only have one ritual that we borrowed from the established religious organizations, and we call it begging for money,” Bloom said as he produced a pail to serve as a collection plate.
At the end, there’s the Ritual of Pie, a tasty signal that the service is ending. In this case, the pie took the form of small, round lemon and raspberry tarts.
“Other religions transform wine and grape juice and bread into flesh and blood, we transmute other baked products into pie,” Light said.
But above all, there’s the Ritual of Combat. It’s a series of sword fights with foam-covered weapons. Everyone at the service participates in at least one bout, and if they don’t, they’re tagged anyway in the ceremonial “slaughter of the innocents.” The most challenging feat on the way to becoming a pastor is to win six of 10 duels with fighters hand-selected by the pastors."
http://reason.com/blog/2015/10/14/does-a-religion-need-to-worship-a-suprem
Their statement of beliefs:
"Members of the Church of the Sword come from many faiths. We do not believe that any one religion holds a monopoly on the truth, nor do we believe that the universe IS fully knowable. We do not require members to believe in a god or gods, nor is such belief a hindrance to membership. We believe in life-long learning, self-ownership, and independent thought. To this end we encourage the acquisition of skills that permit the individual to live in co-operation with other individuals."
http://www.churchofthesword.org/cots/
I'm a fan of the Church of the Sword:
"Their hymns are called “jams,” and in the case of the July 12 service, for lack of instruments, it was a reading from a manual on safe food preparation set to bongo drums. Their communion was hard cider, during the Ritual of Disobedience, which became a tradition after they held an early service in an East Concord park that forbade alcohol, cigarettes and firearms. “We had all those things,” Bloom said.
“We only have one ritual that we borrowed from the established religious organizations, and we call it begging for money,” Bloom said as he produced a pail to serve as a collection plate.
At the end, there’s the Ritual of Pie, a tasty signal that the service is ending. In this case, the pie took the form of small, round lemon and raspberry tarts.
“Other religions transform wine and grape juice and bread into flesh and blood, we transmute other baked products into pie,” Light said.
But above all, there’s the Ritual of Combat. It’s a series of sword fights with foam-covered weapons. Everyone at the service participates in at least one bout, and if they don’t, they’re tagged anyway in the ceremonial “slaughter of the innocents.” The most challenging feat on the way to becoming a pastor is to win six of 10 duels with fighters hand-selected by the pastors."
http://reason.com/blog/2015/10/14/does-a-religion-need-to-worship-a-suprem
Their statement of beliefs:
"Members of the Church of the Sword come from many faiths. We do not believe that any one religion holds a monopoly on the truth, nor do we believe that the universe IS fully knowable. We do not require members to believe in a god or gods, nor is such belief a hindrance to membership. We believe in life-long learning, self-ownership, and independent thought. To this end we encourage the acquisition of skills that permit the individual to live in co-operation with other individuals."
http://www.churchofthesword.org/cots/