World Pantheist Movement
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The World Pantheist Movement (WPM) is an organization of people associated with pantheism, a philosophy which asserts that spirituality should be centered around nature. It claims membership in many countries. Some critics claim that the WPM is "atheism for nature-lovers," while the WPM itself insists that their woldview, while "compatible" with atheism, encompasses much more than atheism alone. Although generally considered a successful organization, the WPM has experienced some opposition in pantheist circles, with some former members departing to form groups of their own.
The World Pantheist Movement schismed from the Universal Pantheist Society (UPS) in the mid-1990s, eventually building an organization with a membership considerably larger than that of the UPS.
Both of the major pantheist organizations are controversial among people who have strong feelings about the term 'pantheism', reflecting the fact that there are differences within pantheism itself, a term which is necessarily broad in scope. The WPM approach can be specifically referred to as naturalistic pantheism, which many consider to be distinctly different from classical pantheism. Naturalistic pantheism is generally less focused on the term "god" and is more accepting of the controversial idea that atheism and pantheism are compatible. This approach is not universally accepted, although in practice, it has attracted a considerable number of new self-declared pantheists in recent years.
See also
External link
- World Pantheist Movement (http://www.pantheism.net/) official site