Monday, August 3, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

net.religion

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Texts

A Call to Religious Unity — The Baha'i FaithAn early internet introduction to Baha'i theology, presenting Abdu'l-Baha's teachings on the search for truth and the unity of religion, posted to net.religion in November 1984 by Verbus M. Counts of AT&T Bell Labs.Adventure in Freedom — An ECK PoemA short devotional poem by Grant Rostig (Fortune Systems) on the ECK path — soul travel, the MAHANTA, Light and Sound, and SUGMAD. Companion to his prose introduction to ECKANKAR. September 1984.Deities and the Divine — Buddhism, Taoism, and the Pagan WayEllen Perlman's 1985 theological reflection on non-theistic traditions and the Pagan understanding of the divine as immanent — a direct challenge to the Western assumption that religion requires a supreme external deity.God and His Manifestations — The Baha'i Doctrine of Progressive RevelationVerbus Counts explains the Baha'i principle of progressive revelation, presenting Baha'u'llah's teachings on the unity of divine messengers from Krishna to the Bab, with scripture passages on the oneness of God's revelators.Introduction to net.religionA source-critical introduction to the net.religion Usenet shelf: a curated doorway into early general online religious argument, pluralist self-presentation, minority-tradition explanation, philosophy, testimony, and esoteric practice.Islamic Mystics — The SufiA practitioner's introduction to Sufism — the mystical tradition of Islam — with aphorisms and poems by Ibn el-Arabi, Rumi, Attar, Saadi, Hakim Jami, and Abdul-Qadir of Gilan.Meditation and Ritual in the Pagan Path — A Practitioner's AccountEllen Perlman describes Pagan practice in 1984: altar work, eclectic meditation, Goddess theology, and coven life, preserved as a substantial practitioner account from early Usenet.New Age Digest #1 — On the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the PentagramTim Maroney's May 1985 digest for the net.religion.newage mailing list, containing his detailed practitioner's commentary on the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.Other Spiritual Paths — Paganism and the Case for Religious DiversityA UCLA computer scientist and feminist practitioner reflects on her journey through Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, and yoga before finding a home in Paganism — a 1984 argument for spiritual pluralism in net.religion.Pagan and Wiccan Books — An Annotated Reading ListAn October 1984 annotated bibliography of Pagan and Wiccan books, compiled by Ellen (UCLA CS Dept.) and posted to net.religion before alt.pagan existed.Some Personal Thoughts on Coming to Know GodA personal account of spiritual transformation — from Catholic childhood trauma, through breakdown and pastoral counseling, to a faith rooted in love rather than fear — posted by a DEC employee to Usenet in 1985.Soul Travel and SUGMAD — An Introduction to ECKANKARGrant Rostig's 1984 practitioner introduction to ECKANKAR theology: the SUGMAD life force, the planes of existence, and the science of soul travel.The Cosmological Argument — On First Causes and the Limits of PhysicsA NASA researcher's account of how the First Cause argument became his last refuge of faith at 13, and why it ultimately points beyond science to metaphysics — written for Usenet in 1985.The Net.Religion Survey of 1984 — Who Reads This Group and What Do They BelieveResults of an early survey of religious beliefs on Usenet: 36 respondents to a questionnaire posted on net.religion in early 1984.The New Witchcraft — A Defense of Contemporary PaganismA November 1984 defense of modern Witchcraft by UCLA computer scientist and practitioner Ellen, responding to charges of fraud and revisionism with historical argument and personal testimony.The Oneness of Mankind — A Baha'i TeachingVerbus M. Counts presents Baha'u'llah's vision of human unity and 'Abdu'l-Baha's second principle from Paris Talks — early internet Baha'i teaching from AT&T Bell Labs, January 1985.The Resurrection of Christ — A Baha'i InterpretationVerbus M. Counts shares 'Abdu'l-Baha's answer from Some Answered Questions on the spiritual meaning of Christ's resurrection — neither body nor tomb, but the revival of a living Cause among steadfast disciples.The Song of the Reed — Three Poems by RumiThree poems by Jalaluddin Rumi, shared on net.religion in August 1985 by a University of Vermont student: The Song of the Reed, Mystics Know, and No Monkery In Islam.The Ten Oxherding VersesA 12th-century Zen Buddhist teaching sequence on the path to enlightenment, posted to net.religion in November 1984 by Steven L. Aldrich of AT&T Bell Labs.The Way of Zen Druidism — On Syncretistic FaithChuq Von Rospach describes his personal syncretistic path — Zen, Celtic Druidism, Taoism — and the philosophy of non-striving that transformed his life.The Yezidees — A People Between Satan and ParadiseLaura Creighton's 1985 account of Yazidi theology from the UTZOO archive — the worship of Melek Taus, the name taboo, and the Gnostic connections of a persecuted Near Eastern people.