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Are you already a Realist? |
Realism is a natural religion which means that you might already be a Realist without knowing it by name. This is different than fiction based religions where the fiction would never occur naturally. For example, if you never heard of Jesus you would never be a Christian. To be a Christian you have to be told the story of Jesus. And what kind of Christian you become depends on which version of the story you hear.
In contrast Realism is based on reality. So people who are in touch with reality would come to very similar conclusions. In fact, if independent realists see reality different than the Church of Reality does, it is time to investigate if something is wrong in the church. At least - that applies to church doctrine.
The Church of Reality is also a social institution that is based not just on reality itself, but that is about people and how people relate to reality. Pure reality cares nothing about the human element, but the Church of Reality does. In addition to pure science we are a community. So there is more leeway in how community is implemented. The hard science isn't there to guide us about what social aspects are right and wrong, and what variation there is between different cultures or different kinds of people with different preferences. The way Realists choose to live in San Francisco is likely to be different than the way people choose to live in Mexico City. So different people may find their way to reality naturally but through different paths.
The Church of Reality tries to encompass all the common elements of Realism that everyone would come to naturally, yet be flexible enough culturally to adapt to the human elements of variation between people and cultures. At the same time the Church of Reality has to be careful not to overstep it's bounds and cross over into areas that invade personal freedom or stifle healthy diversity. We also need to be mindful to stay focused on our Sacred Missions and make sure that reality is never forgotten in the Church of Reality.
As a natural religion we have a lot of people contact us saying, "I'm already a Realist." and that is very true. We are glad to find people who are already Realists and to welcome them to our community. We are also glad when realists say that we are right on track in doing it right, and because of our Sacred Principle of Self Scrutiny, we welcome the criticisms of natural realists who see flaws in our organization and point them out to us. We welcome natural realists to our church.
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Church Membership 
