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Most significant examples of explicit attempts to develop open source religions are Internet based and thus recent phenomena, with the exception of many forms of Wicca , especially Eclectic Wicca , which, while not technically Open Source, are similar in spirit. DIFFERENCES WITH TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS Another specific advantage claimed for some open source religions (e.g., Yoism , which also claims to be "the world's first open source religion") is that it breaks the link between "birth location happenstance" and belief. As has often been noted, the vast majority of people believe in the religion they were "born into." While it is not claimed that open source religion would completely mitigate parental impact on the development of a child's beliefs, it is claimed that the very nature of an open source system of belief would make local religions more ecumenical and open to ideas from all over the world. The principle espoused is twofold: One, an open source religion taught to a child would, by its open source nature, almost always include ideas that came from outside of the local community. Two, in the act of "indoctrinating" a child into an ''open source'' religion, the child would simultaneously be taught that truth is not fixed or beyond improvement with ideas from others. These ideas are expressed in the writings of Yoism, in which they claim that their version of open source religion ::''...endeavors to harness the power of Internet communication to cultivate and develop the most thoughtful, meaningful, and moving religious inspirations that have ever existed. No longer must humanity be chained to the limited beliefs found in the neighborhood of each individual's birth and growth. The Internet enables a spiritual community to form in which the best in human thought and insight can be available to everyone, wherever they live.'' (from the Yoism website) ::''Yoans don't bind their allegiance to any spiritual figure, such as Jesus, Mohammed, or Buddha. Instead, their sense of authority emerges from within the group in the form of voting, consensus building — what they call "open source religion." Everyone in the group has a chance to propose ideas about Yoism, as it is called. If ideas get voted in, they become inscribed in the Book of Yo, the movement's core teaching'' (Matt Gunderson, ''The Boston Globe'', January 11 , 2004 )hgfhgfh hr7456 HISTORY Yoism was launched as an open source religion in the mid-1990's. Around 2001, Yoans began to explore ways to modify the Wikipedia model of collaborative editing in order to apply it to religious Meme system development. This resulted in their collaboratively developed Book of Yo and the Yoism website. In late 2005, Yoans began setting up a version of the Book of Yo for editing using the MediaWiki software. Around that same time, in 2001, Douglas Rushkoff organized the first Reboot summit that took place in 2002. "The object of the game, for me, was to recontextualize Judaism as an entirely Open Source proposition ," (Rushkoff [http://www.newzionist.com/?p=77]). The publication of Rushkoff's book, ''Nothing Sacred: The Truth about Judaism'', in 2003 spawned the creation of the Open Source Judaism movement. Open Source Judaism, in turn, has spawned other open source projects, such as the [http://www.opensourcehaggadah.com/aboutus.php Open Source Haggadah]. LIMITS As with all open source projects, there are limits to the decentralization of control. Linux and the Wikipedia , two of the most successful open source projects, have " Benevolent Dictators " ( Linus Torvalds and Jimbo Wales ) that can make decisions in times of intractable conflict and who control the general direction and parameters of the project. Another way to think about the apparent contradiction between controlling limits within an open source project, is to consider the inevitability that any project have some defining form which is not subject to open source modification. The open source aspect of the project can only occur within the boundaries defined by the open source immune aspects of a project. Examples of such non-modifiable aspects of open source projects are the mediums employed (Linux is software and will never be a narrative text-based project, as compared to Wikipedia) and the defining open source nature of the projects (neither can become closed source, proprietary projects without breaking down). Just so, some open source religions have overarching contextual themes that are beyond open source modification. For example, a project aimed at creating an open source Judaism has different unmodifiable constraints than one focused on creating an open source theology of the Gospels (see External Links, below). USAGE NOTE The term "Open Source Religion" is also used to refer to the fervor of practitioners within the open source software movement. While this could be developed into a spiritual/religious practice, thus far this has not occurred and the two usages of the phrase should not be confused. EXTERNAL LINKS Examples of Open Source Religion
Published references to Open Source Religion
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