Mystrikast

Duncan McDonald

Discover Mystrikism: a rational, sensible, naturalistic alternative to religion. Each episode explores core principles, non-theism, and our reverence for the infinite unknown, while savouring secular moments of awe, our naturalised "spirituality". Learn to think like a scientist, live justly, and marvel at reality.

  1. 1d ago

    Mystrikast — The Naturalism of Mystrikism

    This episode takes a deeper look at The Naturalism of Mystrikism - not as a dry philosophical label, but as a full way of seeing, knowing, and living. Mystrikism is grounded in naturalism because natural explanations keep earning their place. They can be tested, challenged, corrected, and used. They help us investigate further. Supernatural explanations, by contrast, have a long habit of stepping in where knowledge is missing, then quietly retreating once better natural explanations arrive. We explore four kinds of naturalism and how they fit together. First, metaphysical naturalism: the view that nature is not just one layer of reality, but reality itself. If something affects the world, then in principle its effects should be open to investigation. Second, methodological naturalism: the working discipline of science. Doctors look for infection, inflammation, injury, genetics, psychology, and environment - not curses. Meteorologists study pressure systems and satellite data - not angry rain spirits. This approach works because it gives us tools that reduce suffering and improve prediction. Third, epistemological naturalism: the idea that knowledge comes through natural means - observation, testing, reason, memory, language, shared evidence, and correction. A feeling can be powerful. A tradition can be meaningful. But neither becomes true just because it feels deep or has been around for a long time. Fourth, ethical naturalism: morality rooted in the realities of living beings. Mystrikism does not claim moral rules are written into the universe like cosmic commandments. Instead, moral aims come from sapient minds, and once those aims are chosen - reducing harm, supporting flourishing, protecting trust, caring for sentient life and ecosystems - we can use evidence to judge what actually helps or harms. The bigger point is that these four forms of naturalism do not sit separately. They form one coherent worldview: reality is natural, knowledge must answer to evidence, ethics must answer to real consequences, and meaning can be found without appealing to anything supernatural. And far from making life dull, this makes reality more intimate. We are made from the same natural processes as stars, oceans, forests, animals, and every living thing around us. Mystrikism’s naturalised “spirituality” - or Aweism - lives right there: not above the world, but within it. No supernatural appeal is needed. Reality is enough.

    26 min
  2. May 14

    Mystrikast — What Are Gods?

    A Mystrikal Take on One of Humanity’s Most Persistent Superstitions. This episode begins a 12-part Mystrikal analysis of the god concept, and the first move is deliberately unsexy: define the term. Because most “god debates” collapse not from a decisive victory, but from the fact that nobody agrees what “god” even means, and the definition quietly mutates whenever pressure is applied. We lay out a broad, comparative definition of “god” (covering everything from personal creator-gods to abstract ultimates and symbolic language), then contrast it with the narrower classical-theistic “God” targeted by a lot of Western theology, the omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, worship-demanding, prayer-answering kind. That distinction matters because a vague “something beyond” doesn’t magically become the specific deity of someone’s childhood religion. From there, we follow the Mystrikal method: conceptual clarity, evidence standards, and philosophical hygiene. We talk about why unfalsifiable claims aren’t serious explanations, why prayer and miracle claims should leave detectable traces if they’re real, and why the problems of evil and divine hiddenness hit hardest against the “perfectly loving, all-powerful” God claim. Importantly, this isn’t about stripping life of meaning. Mystrikism argues you can keep the human goods religion often provides, community, ritual, grief-support, moral seriousness, and “spirituality”, without pretending supernatural claims have earned their authority. Awe stays. Mystery stays. What doesn’t stay is special pleading. The Mystrikal stance, in one line: we don’t claim to know no gods exist, we claim god propositions haven’t met the standards required for belief. Because we provisionally do not know, we provisionally do not believe.

    52 min
  3. Jan 13

    Mystrikast — Mindset Not Membership

    The Union of Mystriks has been rethinking belonging — and the conclusion is surprisingly simple: Mystrikism works better as a mindset than a membership. This episode walks through the shift away from formal enrolments and toward an “open source” alternative to religion: no initiation, no obligation, no conversion performance. If you want to identify as a Mystrik, you can. If you don’t, you can still use the tools, borrow the principles, and walk alongside for a while — or forever. Engagement is customisable, voluntary, and pressure-free. We explore Mystrikism as a practical, naturalistic life philosophy: reason + compassion + curiosity + justice, grounded in evidence, and still rich in “spirituality” through awe (stars, storms, forests, music, the whole goosebump catalogue) — without any supernatural claims to defend. Then we get concrete: everyday kindness that isn’t performative, learning from mistakes without shame, intentional “awe pauses,” and using science to steer moral action by outcomes. It’s head and heart working together, without pretending they’re enemies. Finally, a necessary caveat: openness doesn’t mean moral mush. Mystrikism stays voluntary and non-coercive, but it doesn’t shrug at cruelty. When someone persistently causes harm or pushes deliberate deception, justice comes first — and that’s where Principled Disgust lives: firm, evidence-based moral opposition without dehumanising hatred.

    20 min
  4. Jan 5

    Mystrikast — The Beginnings of the Union

    This is the messy beginnings of Mystrikism and the first sparks of what later became the Union of Mystriks. I grew up with religion as background noise: Bible stories in school, weddings and funerals, and the occasional childhood bargain-prayer (“help me now and I’ll be good forever”… yeah, nah). Then, almost by accident, books cracked my head open — I read The Lord of the Rings to impress a girl, the girl disappeared, but the curiosity stuck. From there, it zig-zags: teenage atheism as rebellion, a later plunge into serious New Age “woo” (including some painfully cringe moments), then the hard swing into militant anti-theism, then finally a calmer landing in secular humanism… which still didn’t quite feel like a complete framework for living. Because atheism and agnosticism are about one question — gods and knowability — but they don’t automatically hand you meaning, ethics, identity, or that natural, goosebump-y sense of awe people often call “spirituality.” So I tried to build something: a syncretic, naturalistic worldview grounded in the self-correcting methods of science and the power of compassion. Truth as provisional (best current approximation, always updateable). Ethics that care about reducing suffering across life and ecosystems. Awe that’s fully naturalised, no supernatural add-ons. And then the Union idea clicked: sceptics and non-believers are often scattered, while superstitious ideologies tend to be cohesive and organised. The Union of Mystriks is the attempt to change that dynamic — shared principles, shared growth, shared momentum — aiming for a rational, ethical, awe-filled future that stays anchored in reality. https://www.mystrikism.org https://www.facebook.com/groups/1782830925522213/ https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/mystrikast/id1848253540 mystrikism@pm.me

    8 min

About

Discover Mystrikism: a rational, sensible, naturalistic alternative to religion. Each episode explores core principles, non-theism, and our reverence for the infinite unknown, while savouring secular moments of awe, our naturalised "spirituality". Learn to think like a scientist, live justly, and marvel at reality.