Iceland to build first temple to Norse gods since Viking age

That sounds like the Unitarians. At least all the ones I've met.

The thing is you don't have to decide there isn't a God, you don't have to change your religion at all, if you have any, to be a good person. We see a very vocal minority who are so loud, obnoxious and get so much air time we think there are a lot of them. I choose to believe there are far more good, moderate and reasonable religious people than there are idiots I see plastered on TV spouting nonsense. Being a good person is not connected in anyway with belief. Christianity already made a new branch to handle all the branches http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nondenominational_Christianity

> Without getting into a 'does God exist debate' it would be interesting if people who were, for example Christian, that decided there was no God took the good parts of the religion (peace, forgiveness, some of the rituals etc.) and created a branch of it.

Without getting into a "does God exist debate", I think there is considerable evidence that the inclusion of the belief in the existence of God and other similar aspects of religion that are distinct from (but part of the justification for) the behavioral elements you call "the good parts" are an important part of the memetic glue that holds the whole structure together.

But, sure, you see things a lot like that in, say, some Unitarian Universalist groups, and even some overtly atheist groups who have similar practical morality to what you call "the good parts" of Christianity, and consciously have adopted ritual structures mirroring those of Christian Churches -- without God -- as ways of maintaining community and venues for organizing charitable, etc., work.

You describe pretty much most Christians thoughout Scandinavia. Not that they believe God to be non-existent, but that the metaphysical question of existence is pretty much dead and without practical interest. Lutheran Christianity unifies not by blind faith but in your actions.

>if people who were, for example Christian, that decided there was no God took the good parts of the religion (peace, forgiveness, some of the rituals etc.) and created a branch of it. Maybe it's already been done?

This is a decent summary of Unitarian Universalism. Also, some groups of Quakers lean heavily in this direction. There's still some mysticism there around "being held in the light" and "moved by the spirit" but people seem to mostly mean that metaphorically and don't talk much about God or the Bible.

Freemasonry? I knows it doesn't exactly fit your proposed requirements, but its not totally a wrong answer?

If you're willing to twist the list of "good parts" possibly into an unrecognizable controversial form, there's always prosperity gospel. Most people might not think they're selecting the good parts, but the PG participants obviously disagree.

Another interesting area research along the lines you're discussing would be Buddhism in general and specifically the somewhat heretical writings of Stephan Batchelor.

This is exactly what several flavors of secular humanism have tried, but it turns out, without the cultural and memetic stickyness, these things don't become popular. You can have a personal ethical system without a pretend religion. I don't see how this is in within anyone's interest or time. That said, I've seen things like a very liberal interpretation of buddhism take this kind of role. Mostly, it seems, for the benefits of meditation, but this is a small movement. I'm not sure where millenials will fit into all this, but they are even less religiously affiliated than gen-x, which is a good sign, imo.

Personally, if I had a choice, I'd love to see things go towards a more decentralized role (personal and private spirituality) than yet another centralized role like organized religion, even if some new "ethical" religion takes over. I do sometime fantasize about some new spiritualism that's outcome based, but once more than x amount of people are involved, then politics takes over and any ethical integrity is lost.

As a recent dad, I have found no real replacement for all the religious holidays part of my culture. How do you replace Christmas? How do you handle relatives asking when you will baptize your baby? My non-religious wife and I take a hybrid role where we'll celebrate certain things for the sake of family, but won't do others like baptism. I think shopping around for one of the more 'less religious' religions is just a waste of our time and a disservice to our kids. I'd rather teach my kids the history, criticism, and the folly of organized religion than shove them into one my liberal values will tolerate. Dragging them to a Universal Unitarian service just seems to be kicking the can down the road.

As other comments in this thread have pointed out, Unitarianism is one such project. For a very different perspective read what some neoreactionary bloggers have written about repurposing Christianity as a founding myth to fuel a form of traditionalism compatible with a high-tech society. In this society you wouldn't necessarily have to believe in the myth to follow the rites and take part in the festivals, the benefit being the creation of a sort of a lowest common denominator of cultural unity (compare to Shinto in Japan). Unfortunately, I don't know of any master-post overview of their writing on the matter and I am not equipped to summarize it better than I already have.

For general design considerations for a "post-rationalist, post-nihilist" religion, however, I recommend http://www.moreright.net/postrat-religion/. I think you will find some insight in it regardless of what your politics are. I especially like the idea of a "Truth-Myth barrier".

Without the mysticism, it holds little appeal. Even those people who enjoy ritual often need the thrill of mysticism to goad them into performing those, at least until it becomes habit/tradition.

It's already happening. I for example, consider myself a kind of atheist-catholic, and I'm not the first one. I go to church (not every sunday, but now and then), go on missionary trips and participate in a local community. It is not easy, as almost everyone does believe in God. But my friends are supportive, and I do get to debate once in a while and is all fun. Plus, I really dig Jesus ethics.

Isn't that what Buddhism, Confucianism, Zen and other East Asian philosophy-religions have always been about? A focus on ethics and the human condition without [too much] deity worship?

That's more or less my own belief system. I've hypothesized that concepts like God and angels and Heaven and such were likely meant to be metaphorical when they were first conceived, rather than literal - manifestations of certain Jungian archetypes or tropes or however one endeavors to categorize collectively-understood concepts.

I was raised Mormon. The Bible, Book of Mormon, etc. still live in my bookshelf alongside my most treasured books on science and computer programming - partly because of the significance they had on my upbringing and family identity, and partly because one does not have to believe the stories within them literally in order to benefit and learn from them.

In this regard, "holy" scripture is less of a strict historical record (though there are some elements of that as well, embedded within the fanciful depictions thereof) and more of an equivalent to Aesop's fables - stories which were meant to educate, and to convey abstract concepts difficult to succinctly and effectively communicate without such fanciful metaphors.

Consider the ancient Greeks and Romans... There was no Book of Zeus that the priest would read from every Sunday, the gods were useful metaphors for repeating patterns in history and human nature, and they didn't really care what you actually believed. Then along came the Christians and it wasn't enough for them, that you participated in the public rituals, you had to believe too. The Romans were perfectly happy to let people they conquered or otherwise incorporated into the Empire to do as they pleased, exchanging gods and legends willy-nilly. Judaism was fine with the Romans. That put the Christians and the Romans on a collision course. So I see this as a return to the old ways.

I know a few people in Jewish culture that feel this way.

Interesting that you mention the maypole. In the Caribbean the tinier islands(The Grenadines) that still follow some older European customs burst out the maypole for weddings and in other festival seasons.

I had no idea the use of the maypole was quite so widespread - I thought it was a particularly English thing. I've never encountered any reference to them here in Scotland.

Actually, pagans (at least some) celebrate jól during the solstice (december 21). Christianity plus the Gregorian calendar moved it 4 days to late.

Not to mention the Avengers movies.

What TV series?

Vikings, the TV series, has nothing to do with Iceland.

So it has not boosted our national pride. The thing is that the 'Ásatrúarfélagið' has always been quite visible over here. I've always seen it as a "rebel"-religion over here.

EDIT: after writing this I realize your comment was probably sarcastic :)