Social Change & Religious Diversity
At the time of writing this, there are no federally recognized accreditation boards that oversee seminary education in non-traditional religious paths. Further there are no accredited seminaries offering extensive and depth studies in non-traditional religious paths at any leading colleges and universities within the United States. When courses are offered in non-traditional neo-pagan based beliefs, they are typically viewed as curiosities or as an attempt of the program to illustrate religious tolerance. The widespread absence of academic studies reflects a deeper issue that persists in the United States of religious intolerance and the disenfranchisement and inhibition of Earth-based practitioners to overtly express their beliefs, easily find fellowship and community, and gain access to the wider academic discourse and social structures of privilege. In this fashion, Ocean Seminary College seeks to empower women and men with non-traditional Earth-based and mystical beliefs through affiliation with a rigorous and scholarly program, the conferring of advanced degrees, a firm access to a community of like-minded individuals, and the skills negotiate the public life to become advocates for social change in their community.
Linked with the goal of aiding in the liberation of Earth-based religious practices from stigma and prejudice, are the related themes of equality among living beings on Earth. As such, students of this seminary are expected to actively engage in the promotion of equal rights among all. In order for any religious faith to be recognized and accepted, it must be nested within a culture that increasingly values all members without prejudicial and institutionalized fears. In this fashion the success of true equality among the stigmatized members of our society, is intimately related to the success of religious freedom and right to education and worship.
