Autism and Spirituality

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Are there any aspie Thelemites? I've done a little bit of reading on Alister Crowley's philosophies and I find them to be quite interesting, though a lot of the really esoteric stuff is hard to understand. LaVeyan Satanism (NOT to be confused with theistic satanism i.e. actually worshipping Satan) and Buddhism intrigue me too, and so do chaos magick and Wicca to a smaller extent.

I was born and raised Russian Orthodox. I lived for a few years in a monastery in my early twenties. Once I realized I pretty much believed nothing like the church or the people around me, I left. Though the silence and simple life style was enjoyable. These days I consider myself an Apatheist.

I wrote about this in my book, in a chapter titled "An Uncommon Perspective on Religion." In my case, I was raised Roman Catholic, converted in a Pentecostal church and got my BA in Bible & Theology from a Pentecostal Christian liberal arts college. I eventually got disillusioned with what I saw as hype and fakery, and made my way into mainstream, "megachurch" evangelicalism for well over a decade. Over time, I gradually found myself drawn to classical Reformed (aka "Calvinistic") theology. Today I belong to a Presbyterian (PCA) church, although I'd be equally at home in a Reformed Baptist environment.

My pursuit of religion has always been primarily a pursuit of doctrinal truth, although in my Pentecostal days there was a strong experiential element, too. Today I place little stock in experience. I remember The Onion writing a satirical piece about a minister who was "religious, not spiritual." That might, at least on some level, be true for me. I can say that I am most definitely not a fan of mysticism, which - as far as I can tell - ultimately obviates all theological distinctions.