Why the Church of Reality
Several people have asked me the question since I started the Church of Reality about why does Reality need a religion? What is the diffeerence between the Church of Reality and science? I'm also filling out my IRS 501c3 forms and having to answer that to the IRS. So ....
Here's why Reality should be a Religion.
Don't forget to donate.
The Principle of Activism and Maintenance
Often societies deteriorate because good people stand by idly and let bad things happen. To do nothing and allow something to happen can often be as bad as causing it to happen. Everything needs maintenance in order to preserve what has been accomplished. There are times when we can not stand by and allow things to go in the wrong direction. Really is something that is actively pursued and it requires some effort not only to pursue it - but to maintain the systems that allow it to be pursued. We are therefore committed to being actively involved in moving forward and to prevent those who move us backward from succeeding.
The Principle of Wisdom
The Principle of Wisdom is a personal commitment to not only working towards becoming smarter - but also wiser. Wisdom is the ability to arrive at the truth in spite of influences that would lead to the wrong conclusion. To be wise it to develop methods of extracting the truth against adversity.
We recognize that much of what we are taught is not true and that we become comfortable with our erroneous knowledge. We also recognize that there are complex emotions and expectations of society that pressure one's mind into fooling itself. We recognize that there are people in the world who are not very honest who would use deception and illusion and abuse logic in order to get people to believe things that aren't true. But in spite of this - we are committed to extracting the truth and learning methods that allow reality to be known even in adverse circumstances.
To be wise it to have a highly disciplined mind a strong commitment to the truth. It represents not only personal skills, but also a strength of character to be able to face reality as it really is. It is to be a responsible person who can see past the confusion of the moment and to grasp the big picture. Wisdom requires strength of will, courage, discipline, humility, and commitment. Wisdom is something that is learned and everyone can become wiser than they are now.
As members of the Church of Reality we honor wisdom and we commit ourselves to becoming wiser personally and supporting the principle that we, as a society, are better off by elevating the status of Wisdom. And as individuals we should be asking ourselves and asking of other people, "Are we being Wise? Is there Wisdom here?"
It was 5 years ago that the Church of Reality was born. At first it was just a humorous idea. I registered the domain name and started building the web site. As I wrote a lot of ideas came together. At first I wasn't sure that it would ever be a "real" religion because - like most people - I had the idea that in order to be a religion that you had to believe in things that aren't real. But that's not the way it is.
Religion is a statement of your identity and your belief system and how you evaluate truth. It is about your morals and ethics and your community. How you evaluate right and wrong. To identify with a religion is to associate yourself with a belief system. In society, it identifies you in the larger culture of people who care about those sorts of things.
Religious identity is important in society. Many wars are fought over religious issues - my God is stronger than your God. People want to know what religion you identify with so they can evaluate your moral code.
But - what of those who have no religion - or - not organized religion that matches their belief system? What is their religious identity? Are they a "nothing"? And what does that say about them. To be an Athiest is not a religion. An Athiest is merely someone who does not believe in God(s). So - what of someone who believes in reality? There is not church for them - until now.
The Church of Reality goes beyond a mere title. As I wrote about the Tree of Knowledge and Intelectual Tything and created the Order of Root and wrote the Sacred Principles it became apparent that I could in fact create a religion based on reality and perform the mission of being a religion without putting limits on reality and declaring arbetrary truths that become carved in stone and hold reality back from progressing.
The belief in Reality and the Practice of Realism is as rich and full as any other religion. It is unique and it is forward looking and it requires personal responsibility. It has all the elements of every other religion and then some. And I look back and I look forward and I think that this is an important step forward and a contribution to religious choice.
I'm making progress towards becoming an "official" church. I've filed for a trademark on the name "Church of Reality". I get an EIN number - which is like a social security number for corporations, and I've filed my Articles of Incorporation and got my California Not for Profit status.
A million forms and a million fees. The paperwork never ends. Getting close to filing the IRS forms, trying to get the web site in good shape, and come up with the fees. It's costing me about $1000 in fees. I have some volunteers, Debora Pierce and Robin Gross who are helping me with the work.