Finding a better path through alternative thinking
and the untapped powers of intuition

Aaltuit is an evolving religion founded in 1998 in Hawaii. The name derives from "Artisans of Alternative Thinking and Intuition." Aaltuit draws its beliefs from many philosophies and religions both ancient and more recent. Aaltuit is characterized by a strong belief in optimism, free thought, free expression, individuality, pluralism, non-linear insights, and a reasoned search for truths. While Aaltuit is a non-Christian religion, there are certain Judeo-Christian influences. Aaltuit embraces a devotion to the same principles of freedom, reason and tolerance that is a long-established tradition of the Unitarian Universalists. In fact, Aaltuit beliefs embrace all the important Unitarian Universalists humanist principles. On the other hand, we find little use for bibles or prayer or other traditional religious trappings of any of the many Christian faiths. The Aaltuit religion incorporates both the principal elements of (1) Humanism, a "rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion" [Frederick Edwords] and (2) Pantheism, a belief that the universe and nature are divine and inseparable from ourselves. The Aaltuit religion is less anthropocentric than mainstream Humanism but we also advocate a more balanced perspective than the sometimes ecologicocentric Pantheists. Besides the melding of Humanism with Pantheism, the Aaltuit religion, like some eastern religions and new age philosophies, believes that one can feel more "at one with the universe" or "enlightened" using a number of techniques, some of them controversial, intended to strip away the layers of [often negative] abstraction between oneself and nature. Nondirective primal activities such as music, meditation, etc. that tend to bypass our disconnect with ourselves and to cut through our spiritual clutter are an important part of Aaltuit religious experience. The Aaltuit religion is relativistic. Far from the fixed black and white edicts and views of traditional and many non-traditional religions, Aaltuit paints a dynamic universe of ideas with subtlety found in an infinite rainbow of fluid strokes, finding truths in both shades of darkness and of light. While acknowledging the possibility of absolute truths, we believe that man acts unwisely and often dangerously when he assumes he has either the wisdom to know or to interpret absolute truths for himself or others, particularly in the realm of behavior, morals, ethics or religion. Aaltuit beliefs reject any insistence upon absolute moral or ethical "laws" in deference to reasoned, contextual principles. Aaltuit encourages religious and philosophical diversity and skepticism. At the same time, we are also concerned with being so skeptical that one ignores the wonder and possibilities beyond one's current understanding and comprehension. The Aaltuit religion applauds objectivism but also recognizes its limitations. It is certainly our belief that there is more to the universe than mere matter and mechanics even if not proveable by any objective means. The Aaltuit religion affirms that the universe is self-existing and was not created. It not only accepts evolution as fact but as a natural and positive experimental phenonemon. We should strive to emulate the inherent power of experimentation found in evolution for improving society and for the longterm betterment of mankind. By better understanding the processes of evolution we can see that we should not find fault in our imperfections. To the contrary, in the longer view, the totality of our uniqueness and imperfections ensures both our survival and our longterm growth as part of this wondrous universe. Bob Carroll, co-founder