Diary of the Church of Reality

Perkel to be Interviewed on Air America Radio

Good news on the radio interviews front. Mike Malloy of Air America Radio has agreed to interview me on Wednesday December 29th at 11:00pm East coast time (8:00 pacific time) about the Church of Reality. I will be on for 30 minutes (15 minutes less commercials) and will be reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners.

You all can tune in to Air America Radio at http://www.airamericaradio.com and listen to it live on the Internet.

I'm hoping that once I'm on this that others pick me up too. These things sometimes snowball. I'm generally very good in interviews - especially on radio where looks don't matter and I can be home in my PJs ranting to the world. And I will get to talk about reality and get people asking the sacred question.

Marc Perkel
First One
Church of Reality

CoR Mailing List Started

This is the first membership mailing of the Church of Reality - the religion I started besed on believing in everything that is real.

If you are getting this email it's because I added you to my Church of Reality mailing list. I'm starting to expand the Church of Reality web site and create some more useful content. If you don't want to be a member of this list - removal instructions are at the bottom of the page.

This list is an announce only list and I will keep the church spam down to a reasonable level.

It's time for me to make the Church of Reality a happening organization. I am still waiting for IRS approval - but the IRS is totally screwed up these days - like all other parts of the government - has fallen to almost dysfunctional. Bush has a lot of the IRS staff chasing terrorist funding and doesn't have the manpower to process not for profit orgs in a timely manner. It will probably take till 2005 before we get an answer on the 501(c)3 status. But - it's time to start moving to make something happen before then.

So - first thing is - spread the word. Here's the link to get people to join the list.

http://www.churchofreality.org/mailman/listinfo/membership

Feel free to pass this around and post this link on your web pages. I want to get as many interested people as possible.

With the election this year I am particularly frustrated with how much the masses can be persuaded to ignore reality. One of the goals of the Church of Reality is to raise reality to a higher level of consideration. Reality has become unimportant in the world and America has turned it's back of reality. I want to start a revolution to bring back reality into the daily lives of people and get them to ask the sacred question - "Is this Real?"

To that end this list is the first step in making that happen and the first mission is to grow this list. So - anything that any of you can do to help will be appreciated. After all - if they take away reality - what do we have left?

If for some reason any of you who I put in this list initially wants to unsubscribe - the information below will remove you from the list.

Thanks in Advance
Marc Perkel

IRS Approval Status

I talked to the IRS a few days ago about the approval process of this church. It's at the bottom of a pile in Washington and it will probably be 3 to 4 months before it gets looked at.

The guy I talked to was very nice and very frustrated. He said they have never been this backed up before. Some of it has to do with these new 527 political organizations that they have to process. And they are taking IRS staff and using them to audit not for profits to see if they are linked to terrorism. So - if you're just a church looking to get your approval - you're screwed.

So - the bottom line is - we are going to have to wait and let the process play out. But - I don't think we are being treated any more unfairly than anyone else. After all - the rest of the government is becomming more dysfunctional every day - so it doesn't surprise me that the IRS is having problems as well.

As to tax status. If this church is approved then the tax exemption status goes bech to the day we applied - which is December of 2003. So - anyone who donates money will be OK if the approval goes through. But - if it doesn'y go through - they didn't say they would lose the exemption - but that's kind of murky - and I would guess that it's likely you would. I think the issue as to wouldn't being that the process of approving me was so long that time is a factor - but I'm no expert on this. Bottom line is - if you give to the Church of Reality now - do it not counting on the exemption.

Having said that - it's time for me to stop waiting and get on with the process of building this organization. I need to accept that I have to transition into doing this full time not and get prepared for this to be my new gig. So - I just have to figure out how to start and move past doing what I would rather do - be a computer geek.

I have a plan in the works and I will soon post it here.

New Church of Reality Logos

OK - I have some new logos that have been submitted to become the Church of Reality logos. Looking for some feedback on what people think.

The halo image is very powerful. A halo is a symbol that says this object is holy - or scared. Which is what the Church of Reality is all about. So - "R" stands for reality - then the Halo over the R means Reality is Holy. Or in this case the belief in reality is holy. The dharma of the Church of Reality is to make Reality sacred. Thus putting a halo on reality symbolizes the purpose of the Church.

People have asked me - "Why are you degrading reality down to a religion?" And I can understand that. In pure science it doesn't matter if this planet gets sucked into a black hole or not. But we have made a subjective call that our survival is better than our extinction and that the progress of man towards a better understanding of reality is something that is important to us. Because this decision is subjective - it is a religious decision. It is what we choose to believe in. So we make reality a sacred thing and it forms the basis for our religious identity. We are Realists - practicing Realism - asking the sacred question - "What is Real".

The symbol - a halo over an R is something that I like. It's simple so people can draw it on things to compete with the cross and the cressent that other religions use.

I'd like to get some feedback on this and see what others think of the logos and if you have and better suggestions - let me know.

IRS is having a hard time deciding

I called the IRS yesterday and apparently they are having a hard time deciding whether or not to recognize the Church of Reality as a real church. I applied for 501(c)(3) status on December 3rd 2003 and it's not 8 months into a process that normally takes 3 months.

All I know at this point is that it stumped the normal process and that it has been sent to Washington where it is sitting in a queue waiting to be assigned to someone. And they have no idea at all when it will be processed. There is no one to call and no one to email about this. So - if you are the IRS and you are reading this - email me with a phone number and lets talk about whatever issues have you confused. I think you should at least let me know that's going on.

I have some concerns about the "special treatment" of our application. First - the IRS isn't supposed to make decisions on what is believed as long as the members sincerely believe in it. And - our Realists do sincerely believe reality is real. So it makes me wonder if they are thinking that we need to worship a mythological diety in order to be a religion. In other words - does the government require a religion to believe in the invisible guy in the sky? Well - I storngly suspect that if we did we would already have church status.

Officially the Church of Reality doesn't take a position on the existence of God. If God comes out of hiding and shows up somewhere in a public place then we will believe in him. Assuming that God is omnipotent and therefore can appear if he choses to - and he doesn't appear - that means that he wants to be hidden. It really is that simple. And who is God hiding from? Perhaps he is hiding from Realists like myself. And if God doesn't want people like me who are committed to logic and reason to find him - them I must be fulfilling God's will to not find him.

So if believing in reality doesn't meet the IRS requirements for a religion then it seems that in order to be a religion - you have to believe in a mythical diety. You have to give up reality to be a religion. I would think that other religions would have a problem with the idea that they are government certified because their beliefs are not real.

But - perhaps it's that the IRS can't distinguish between the Church of Reality and science. There is a big difference. In pure science it doesn't matter if the human race survives or not. In science - the universe is stars falling into black holes and rocks in space colliding. But we in the Church of Reality have made an arbetrary decision that our understanding has value and the the positive evolution of humanity and our survival is important. We have made arbetrary decisions separating right and wrong - good and bad. And that's what makes us a religion. In pure science there is no good and bad. Our seccess or our destruction is equal. It only matters if we give value to something and that's what the church of Reality does.

The Church of Reality also provides a moral framework for society and principles for which to judge our conduct. These principles set goals and establish the sacred direction - forward - as being better than backwards. It creates a religious identity for Realists to describe to people of other religions what their beliefs and values are.

So - I say to the IRS - we are as much or more of a religion than any other religion and that we deserve recognition as such.

Still no word from the IRS

Still waiting for the IRS to make a decision about if they consider the Church of Reality a real church. It's supposed to take 3 months and now it's 7 1/2 months and no word. Last time I called the IRS person said they were behind and didn't know when they were going to catch up.

I'm beginning to wonder if they are giving Christians preferential treatment and staling on non-christian applications. Something funny is going on at the IRS. Does anyone out there have any information on why they might be taking so long?

No word from the IRS

The process was supposed to take 3 months. It's now 7 months and I'm beginnig to wonder if they don't get around to approving non-christian churches these days. Makes me wonder if I were a church that worshiped Jesus if I would have an answer by now.

In theory the IRS isn't supposed to take a position about what the religious nelief is. But what they say they do and what they really do may be two different things. Especially when we have an anti-reality president in the whitehouse who is trying to force everyone to turn Christian.

IRS Tax Status

I called the IRS today to find out what's going on and they said that it takes longer to process these days that it used to and that 4-6 months can be expected. It's been 6 months so I should hear something soon.

My Trademark on the Church of Reality has been initially approved and I just have to send in the final paperwork.

Putting Together a Plan

I'm working on a plan for the Church of Reality once we get our 501c3 tax exempt status. I am in the process of creating ideas to attract donations in order to get this church off the ground.

The first goal of the church is to get the name out there. And that can be done with advertising. So - I will be looking for donations targeted at this purpose. The plan will be to buy advertising efficiently in a way that exposes the public to the church name. The name is itself a message. The ads can be very short and targeted. The basic message will be:

1. Church of Reality
   
2. Slogan - "Welcome to the Real World" "If its real - we believe in it!"
   
3. http://www.churchofreality.org
   

To get the name out there is step one because it causes people to think - which is a good thing. it causes them to ask the Sacred Question - What is Real? And - causes them to wonder if their religion is real. It makes reality more imporetant. It introduces the reality factor - that things should be real. It is a very important first step.

Over the next several weeks I hope to get the ad copy produced. I'm working on the church symbol - which is likely to be a rip off of NASA's symbol. But it is a public symbol and NASA is about exploration - which is what the Church of Reality is about. So we honor NASA by using it's symbol.

Get back on point - I'm thinking about a multimedia campaign based on funding - I hope to buy radio spots - some print ads - billboards - and perhaps with the right funding - TV spots.

I want the name Church of Reality to become a household word. I want everyone in America and much of the word to have heard the name - have some vauge idea that it is a regigion based on believing in reality - and get people to ask the sacred question. And it would change the future of mankind to just get it to that point.

So - this is project number one. I am looking for Maintainers to make this happen. If you fund this - you will go down in history as the person(s) who made it happen. That's as close to immortality that I can offer - but unlike some religions - its a real offer.

So - I am looking for donations and ideas. I want to start with this project and I need a crew. So - who wants to get in on this?

I have Applied for IRS Tax Exempt Status

Well - I should have posted this almost a month ago but I have sent in the paperwork for my IRS 501c3 status. It cost quite a bit to apply. Had to fork over $500. But - I'm hoping it will be wortg it in the long run. Hopefully the IRS will figure out this is a real religion and not require me to believe in something fake like God in order to take donations.

I'm hoping to have something going by March or so. It takes 90-120 days I hear for the paperwork to go through.

I'm trying something a little new here. I'm going to start audio blogging. Here is my forst Sermon on filling out the IRS forms and how it benefited the Church of Reality to have had to do this.

Making Progress towards 501(c)3

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.