Unlimited Pathways was an idea created in 2000 by the current creator and maintainer, Mora Zoranokov, aka Solitia, and her friend Krystel L Madison, aka Zoomphy, now deceased. The pair maintained that many different paths were diverged from one another out of fear and contempt. Once the paths were made human for them, people would stop being afraid and offer other opinions and voices and ask intelligent questions.

Originally begun as a mailing list with their friends from all over the country, the project was begun. Krystel hosted the site under the name of Whooperdingles and everyone joined for comraderie.While some of us were of the same religion, we were of different sects of that religion and some of us were from a different faith altogether. Yet we all managed to get along together, hold conversations about our beliefs and morals and very rarely did we ever argue and never resorted to name calling or threats. We found it enjoyable to be in one another’s presence and sharing differing ideas and viewpoints. It was a wonderful utopia of ideas and thoughts and we could accept one another without having to be part of their religion, even adopt parts of their religious practices into our own.

So happy were we with our newfound fellowship, we naively believed everyone would want to share this brand of understanding. So many people and television programs espoused the beliefs of unity and diversity and acceptance and we believed we were practicing this ideal. We wanted to be part of the new generations who brought together these paths to enlightenment and sought others who would prescribe to our beliefs. Trying to share this idea with the outside world met with dissention. Many told my Christian friend she was no longer Christian if she even listened to the ideas of other religions. The Pagans met with much Christian bashing when the subject was broached. For religions who preached “love one another” and “acceptance and love”, they didn’t seem to want any part of being helpful to one another and bettering the world, regardless of race, creed, religion, gender or sexual preference.

Later a website was begun and many people showed interest with contributing articles and classes they had written, sharing a different look on their lives and environments. For awhile we stuck primarily to a website and a mailing list for those who were accepting to come together and chat with one another, share beliefs and just have a good time being in the company of those who understood not everyone had to tread the same path to enlightenment. It became a burden trying to educate people who clearly did not want to be educated and blocking or banning them, only to have them come back to the list under another screen name and start the same problems all over again. From there a real life group was begun, now titled Unlimited Pathways, and began drawing people from all over the US and Canada. Again the venture failed due to one person maintaining the website and many others not knowing what kind of content to post, the site fell to the wayside. The real life meetings ended with those who sought to bring down the group due to disagreements with the host and her belief in showing all paths, not just those everyone was comfortable with. The site sat dormant, the mailing list was hacked and destroyed and the real life group disbanded. The website was eventually taken down due to lack of interest in 2002. Solitia, discouraged, had all but given up on her ideas. It was clear that many people just were not ready to be as accepting as we were.

Something I couldn’t wrap my brain around was why it was such a strange idea to have many different faiths sharing beliefs. One would think that being knowledgeable about other religions and finding your true place where you were comfortable and fulfilled would be a benefit. I tried asking those who were aggressive in their tactics and met only with the same answers of being evil or crazy or several other terms that weren’t as flattering. I turned to my friends and many of them responded with the same puzzlement as I had. The only person who could offer a succinct answer was my friend Kat. She stated, “Everyone wants their religion to be "right" and a lot of people feel that if it doesn't work for everyone, it can't be the right path for them, too. So, instead of accept that people are different; they seek to wedge everyone into their set of beliefs so that they can feel vindicated. They want their religion to be the ONLY religion so they don’t have to be faced with a choice.” It seems to tie into the whole “herd mentality” that everyone has to be the same. It is the same mentality that drives people to strive for mediocrity and those who are truly talented and gifted are left behind and driven away from leading great lives because they, like most others, want to find a sense of acceptance and, instead, find scathing remarks and people tearing down their ideas. Many people follow the same line of reasoning that I did and take down their groups that promote honest to goodness diversity and acceptance in favor of the groups who pretend at the idea.

Unfortunately, many of the members were not open minded enough to allow certain subjects while asking for acceptance themselves of other ideas some found controversial. While the subject was not failed, it was something that fell to the wayside during school and other activities that took prescedence over online chattering. It stayed true in the hearts of both Zoomphy and Solitia with Zoomphy continuing with her Whooperdingles and Solitia taking a detour to sort herself out. I decided that just because the many didn’t see the points I was making were true, those who were searching for the same “something” we were offering would find home with others of like mind and service. I reopened Unlimited Pathways as a website once again and allow those who would shout the ideas from the mountain tops, yet would attack a small group of likeminded individuals for practicing their beliefs would soon hang themselves and the truth would shine through.

Krystel Madison died in January of 2005. The idea did not die, however, and Solitia continued her work in drawing many paths together, rekindling the idea of Unlimited Pathways in a second generation website. This website barely gained ground and still exists on its home on Angelfire. Eventually coming to the conclusion of a Wiki to draw paths together, Solitia began the Unlimited Pathways Wiki on September 11, 2007. This way as others would leave, still others would join. It seemed like the perfect solution to her conundrum of how to be inclusive while still monitoring content and not having to do everything one handed.

Unlimited Pathways isn’t about everyone believing the same thing, it is about accepting the truths that are inherent in each of us and presenting them not as what is right for the whole, but for what is right for the individual. It is about accepting other’s beliefs as being valid for them, even if they are not your own. Unlimited Pathways is about finding peace within yourself and a willingness to share those beliefs with others as a beacon of light, not a blusterous foghorn. It is about being a shining example of what humanity should be and working to bring that ideal about not by badgering others into compliance, but by showing them through example. As the infant needs to be shown how to walk, the intolerant need to be shown acceptance. These are the beliefs on which Unlimited Pathways was founded, what means to those who prescribe to the belief and what we attempt to show every day.

Welcome to Unlimited Pathways. May the vision live on!