Editing Stranger in a Strange Land (section)

===Church of All Worlds===
A central element of the second half of the novel is the religious movement founded by Smith, the "Church of All Worlds", an initiatory [[Western esotericism|mystery religion]] blending elements of [[paganism]] and [[Christian revival|revivalism]], with psychic training and instruction in the Martian language. In 1968, [[Oberon Zell-Ravenheart]] (then Tim Zell) founded the [[Church of All Worlds]], a [[Neopagan]] religious organization modeled in many ways after the fictional organization in the novel.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cusack |first=Carole M. |date=2009 |title=Science Fiction as Scripture: Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and the Church of All Worlds |url=https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/LA/article/view/5002 |journal=Literature & Aesthetics |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |issn=2200-0437}}</ref> The spiritual path included several ideas from the book, including [[polyamory]], non-mainstream family structures, social libertarianism, water-sharing rituals, an acceptance of all religious paths by a single tradition, and the use of several terms such as "grok", "Thou art God", and "Never Thirst".

Heinlein objected to Zell's lumping him with other writers such as [[Ayn Rand]] and [[Robert Rimmer]]; Heinlein felt that those writers used their art for propaganda purposes, while he simply asked questions of the reader, expecting each reader to answer for him- or herself. He wrote to Zell in a letter: "... each reader gets something different out of the book because he himself supplies the answers. If I managed to shake him loose from some prejudice, preconception or unexamined assumption, that was all I intended to do."<ref>William H. Patterson Jr., 2014, ''Robert A. Heinlein In Dialogue with His Century'', Vol. 2,  pg. 597</ref>

Though Heinlein was neither a member nor a promoter of the Church, it was formed including frequent correspondence between Zell and Heinlein, and Heinlein was a paid subscriber to the Church's magazine ''[[Green Egg]]''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} This Church still exists as a [[501(c)(3)]] recognized religious organization incorporated in California, with membership worldwide, and it remains an active part of the neopagan community.<ref>{{cite web|title=What is the Church of All Worlds?|last=Iacchus|first=(CAW Priest)|website=Church of All Worlds|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125052344/http://www.caw.org/index.php?module=Pages&func=display&pageid=3|archive-date=25 November 2011|url=http://www.caw.org/index.php?module=Pages&func=display&pageid=3|access-date=24 February 2009}}</ref>