How to Invent a Religion - Malcolm Collins | Maiden Mother Matriarch 107
Sep 18, 2024
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Malcolm Collins, a pronatalist campaigner and co-founder of the Collins Institute, dives deep into the complexities of modern religion. He discusses the alarming drop in religious adherence and its effects on fertility and mental health. The conversation highlights the need to evolve traditional religious structures to meet contemporary values while empowering children with critical knowledge. They also tackle the intersection of modern sexuality and religious teachings, proposing a re-evaluation of these doctrines to enhance intergenerational understanding.
The decline of traditional religions contributes to social issues like the fertility crisis and mental health problems in contemporary society.
Malcolm Collins advocates for a new religious framework that integrates empirical understanding with community values to address modern challenges.
The importance of adapting religious practices to embrace technology is emphasized, as outdated methods risk community extinction amidst societal pressures.
Deep dives
The Crisis of Religion and Society
The discussion highlights the declining adherence to religions and considers how this secularization contributes to social issues such as the fertility crisis and mental health problems. It critiques the abandonment of time-honored religious practices, viewed as essential for personal discipline and societal cohesion, which once served as a form of 'mental hygiene'. The guest argues that indulgence in every emotion and the dismissal of self-denial practices lead to adverse consequences on mental well-being. The rise of secular ideologies, alongside a societal detachment from religion, raises alarm about potential long-term repercussions for fertility and mental health.
Reinventing Family Religion
The conversation delves into the efforts of the Collins family to create a new religious framework tailored to modern society that emphasizes fertility and community values. By analyzing traditional religious structures, they identify gaps in their efficacy in contemporary contexts and seek to build a system that resonates with current social realities. This innovative approach diverges from established religions not simply in adaptation but in grounding their beliefs in empirical understanding and the importance of community bonds. Malcolm Collins emphasizes the necessity of this reinvention to ensure resilience against the high rates of deconversion encountered in younger generations.
Three Types of Religious Systems
The discussion outlines three core religious categories: polytheism, mysticism, and monotheism, each characterized by distinct belief systems and societal implications. Polytheism is marked by elaborate cosmologies and obligations to deities, mysticism involves beliefs in interconnected realities, and monotheism emphasizes a single, ineffable God guiding humanity. The distinction between these religious forms fosters an understanding of how they each cultivate societal norms, including fertility rates, communal cohesion, and interactions with technology. Engaging with these classifications allows for deeper insights into the contemporary challenges faced by traditional religions.
Cultural Autonomy and Technological Impact
The conversation highlights the importance of maintaining cultural autonomy against the backdrop of competing technological advancements and societal pressures. It argues that communities reliant on outdated practices risk becoming extinct unless they integrate technology into their belief systems. This perspective inspires a call for communities to adapt to modern realities while preserving their core values in order to thrive amidst a rapidly evolving cultural landscape. By emphasizing the need for a symbiotic relationship between religion and technology, the speaker underscores the potential dangers of technophobia in the long run.
The Role of Education in Religious Continuity
Addressing the challenge of intergenerational deconversion within religious families, the discussion promotes the idea of an educational framework that fortifies cultural beliefs through knowledge. The Collins family has established their own school designed to empower their children with understanding and reasoning, equipping them to navigate societal changes. This model aims to fill knowledge gaps and reinforce the importance of tradition, while preemptively addressing inevitable challenges related to sexuality and scientific inquiry. The approach reflects a proactive stance to explicitly prepare children against ideological shifts that threaten familial and cultural continuity.
My guest today is Malcolm Collins: pronatalist campaigner, co-founder (along with his wife Simone) of the Collins Institute, and author of many books, including 'The Pragmatist's Guide to Crafting Religion.' We spoke about religion – why so many religions are haemorrhaging adherents, the elements that a religion needs in order to survive and spread, and…
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