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The Linux Penguin symbolizes the Giving of Knowledge
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The Tree of Knowledge represents the sum total of human understanding. Intellectual Tithing is the giving of new and useful information to the Tree of Knowledge. The Tree of Knowledge is what separates us from the animals. We all benefit from the knowledge that has been handed down to us.
Think about it - where would we be today if someone didn't invent the wheel? The person who invented the wheel made a great contribution to the Tree of Knowledge of the human race and helped all of society move forward. If you look around at all the stuff around you - you soon realize that almost all of it was built by other people. As you sit in front of your computer reading this, you are using a device that is the combined work of millions of people and technology that is built on the work of people for thousands of years. All contributing to the Tree of Knowledge which allows us to have things like computers. We are living off the intellectual tithing of others, and we give back to the world by contributing intellectually - by being creative and sharing our creations with the rest of humanity. This helps grow the Tree of Knowledge and furthers us as a species. From this perspective - the human race can be envisioned as a single super being that shares a common mind. And in that respect we all have the opportunity to contribute to that common mind so that our thoughts and contributions will outlive our physical bodies. Contributing to the Tree of Knowledge is probably as close as you get to immortality in the Church of Reality.
Intellectual Tithing is discovering something useful and making your knowledge part of the Tree of Knowledge.
I use the Linux Penguin as a symbol of intellectual tithing because the Linux operating system is distributed under the GNU license and is free to everyone. This software is the work of tens of thousands of people contributing freely to a software tree that everyone on the planet is allowed to use. These people freely give of their intellectual resources to the good of humanity. As you surf the Internet you are hitting servers that are running this free software. |
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What is the different between someone who is into science and someone who practices Realism? There is a lot of difference. There are a lot of people who will state, "Of course I believe in reality, who doesn't?" But - does that make them a member of the Church? No - it doesn't.
To be a Realist and practice Realism requires a greater commitment than just acknowledging that reality is real. The Church of Reality isn't just about what you believe in - it's what you do. Realism goes beyond just giving lip service to reality. To be a Realist you have to dedicate yourself to the cause of promoting Realism, publicly identify yourself as a Realist, and actively participate in growing the Tree of Knowledge. This church isn't about what you believe - it's about what you do.
Realists - and I use a capital R to indicate I use the term referring to church members - are expected to practice the disciplines of the church - which include growing the Tree of Knowledge. This involves such things as original thinking and communicating new good original ideas. It involves promoting the good ideas of others. It involves education, learning, communications, asking the Sacred Question, challenging beliefs on the basis of reality, insisting that decisions be made in a realistic way, contributing to the promotion of Realism, strengthening society through public service, charity, giving, sharing, and taking care of one another. A Realist is expected to be actively Realistic - not passively.
We choose to work to grow the Tree of Knowledge and we choose to work to cause humanity to evolve in a positive direction for a better tomorrow. It is these choices that make the Church of Reality a Religion.
The Tree of Knowledge is the central concept in the Church of Reality. The Tree of Knowledge represents the sum total of all human understanding. We are all members of the human race and we are all bound together as one being through the Tree of Knowledge. It is central to our belief that we acknowledge the reality that we are not - for the most part - separate individuals, in that our lives, our thoughts, our language, what we know, what we do, who we are, are all bound together in a vast matrix of information. And as Realists practicing Realism it is our duty to the Tree of Knowledge to improve ourselves individually, and as members of the human race for the good of all mankind.
The Church of Reality makes the assumptions that if life has a purpose - it is because we give it purpose. That we as a race have made the arbitrary decision to both survive and to prosper. That we choose to become better than we are today. That we should move forward into a better tomorrow. These choices do not come from reality itself. As far as the universe is concerned, we are just a rock in space.
But - the Church of Reality believes - through the Tree of Knowledge, that humanity as a race has made a choice to evolve in a positive direction. We as individuals and as church members stand for the principle that we want a better tomorrow; and that we want to know the truth. That we want to have a better understanding of who we are, why we are here, and why there is something rather than nothing. And it is our Dharma as Realists practicing Realism to ensure that humanity goes in that direction - forward - known to us as the Sacred Direction. It is this choice that we make that establishes the doctrine of the church.
To that end it is our discipline, our dharma, to make it our purpose, and to actively work to achieve the goals of the church. And in order to achieve this end - we create the Sacred Principles that form a practical foundation to achieve this purpose.
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The Church of Reality is unlike most other religions. The Church of Reality is a forward looking religion that envisions a better future than we have today. Realism is more than just believing in what's real - it's a commitment to the truth and reality the way it really is.
But the Church of Reality goes far beyond just believing in what's real. We are Explorers who actively seek out knowledge. And to do that we explore the understanding of understanding. We take on the big questions in life. Especially the Sacred Question - "What is Real?"
The belief system is based on the positive evolution of the human race. That it is the Tree of Knowledge - the sum total of all human understanding - that separates us from the animals. We believe that our understanding of reality is what defines us as a species and that we improve ourselves through the discovery of knew things.
The Church of Reality is more than just a static science book. It's more than just a declaration that reality is real. It is a commitment to a process of learning and to the greater community to create the environment in which learning can occur. It is to accept responsibility for our choices as a species and realize that we can control our destiny and choose our future. We choose to believe that what the human race becomes is important, and that we should apply the principles of Realism to our decision making process.
We explore ethics and morality and law and justices. We explore the questions about what is the best way for people to live. What is right and wrong? What is morality? What Sacred Principles can be declared as universal concepts. We seem to exist - therefore - what are we going to do while we are here?
Reality tells us that this planet is a spec of dust in the universe. There are 100 billion trillion galaxies and there are billions of stars in each one. We are but a spec of dust in the universe. We live for merely a moment of time. We are born, eat, reproduce, and die. This is science and this is reality.
The Church of Reality goes beyond mere science. Science just give us the bleak facts, but the Church of Reality adds color and depth to these facts. It adds the perspective of who we are and what we should do now that we exist.
We are here. We may be insignificant but this is our planet. We are individuals, yet we are connected to each other through the Tree of Knowledge. As individuals we would be no different than most other animal life on this planet. But we as a species have a common knowledge base that makes us a sort of a group life force. Just as bees are individuals, they are also part of a hive. And the bee can't survive without the hive. It can be accurately viewed that the hive is itself a life form made up of bees just like the bee is a life form made up of cells.
The Church of Reality is more than just believing in what's real. It's the exploration of reality by humanity as a whole and a personal commitment to the disciplines of pursuing the truth.
We too are parts of a greater life form. We have communities, countries, religions, political parties, and ultimately, we are one species. The entire human race is part of a "super being" that contains vast stores of information that we all rely on. Almost everything we do is related to things that came from other people. I created nothing in the house I live in. Very little in the world could be considered uniquely mine. This church itself - although it is "my idea" is really less that 1% mine. It is built on our common knowledge. I use language to describe it - words that came from other people. Einstein is long dead - but I can talk about Relativity because his knowledge is preserved. His ideas were built on mathematics that he was taught that was discovered by other people. He built his theories on the foundations of those who came before him.
Thus - the Church of Reality is more than just reality - it's the dharma of reality realizing itself. It is reality becoming self aware through our act of exploration. It is reality exploring itself through us. It is us - on this planet - with nothing else to do but to expand what we are as a species - as a super being - and to grow that into something better.
Pure reality doesn't care about us. If this galaxy exploded today it would take 2.2 million years before anyone in the next closest galaxy even saw it - assuming that there were anyone there to see it in the first place. But in going beyond pure cold reality the Church of Reality makes certain assumptions that gives reality a religious context. We are exploring reality from the human perspective. We have a will to survive and to grow. We have our selfish perspective that our little speck of dust in the universe is valuable to us and that our survival is important to us, and that our exploration and understanding of the universe is important to us.
So - the Church of Reality isn't just science. It adds the element of humanity. It presumes that we are important to us and that growing is a good thing and that annihilation and extinction is a bad thing. In the universe itself there is no good and bad. There are just rocks bumping into each other and stars exploding. But Realism goes beyond that in that it's about us. Realism isn't just understanding - it's about people understanding together. And since our understanding is collective in nature - Realism is about community, ethics, morality, law, justice, freedom, responsibility, and all of the social issues necessary for the exploration of reality as it really is. The Church of Reality is about us. It is about who we are, where we are going, and how we are going to get there.
Understanding doesn't exist in the vacuum of outer space. Understanding requires an understander, one who understands. There has to be something or someone out there that is doing the understanding. Where does understanding occur? Is it in the mind of the individual? Only partially. Most of understanding is a community effort. I come up with a brilliant idea - the Church of Reality for example. But my idea is based on things I learned from society. So - what do I do with my brilliant idea? I tell other people. I post it on the Internet. I share the idea. If I don't share the idea then the idea dies. Knowledge doesn't live in the vacuum of space - it lives only if it is passed on and stored; it only lives if it becomes part of the Tree of Knowledge. It only lives if our ideas merge into the oneness of human understanding. Only in this is it that who we are - from an intellectual perspective - survives our physical existence.
The Tree of Knowledge goes beyond the sum total of the minds of human beings. Long ago this was not the case. People had to teach knowledge to other people and all knowledge was stored in the minds of those currently alive. If knowledge wasn't passed on verbally, or was not accurately remembered, it was forever lost. Eventually humans discovered writing and knowledge could be stored in books. Inventions like the printing press and transportation made the storage and communication of knowledge far better allowing the Tree of Knowledge to grow more quickly. Now we have telephones, television, radio, computers, and the Internet that have greatly advanced the processes of storing and communicating ideas.
These new tools add to the sum total of human understanding. The Tree of Knowledge goes beyond the sum of all the living brains on the planet. It now includes all books, computers, tape recordings, and communication systems. And it includes the societies that support the technology, who has access, and who can use what. All this adds to who we are as the "understander" of understanding.
Thus - it is the premise of the Church of Reality that there is a super being that is made up of all of us and our devises for the sharing and storing information. It is our premise that we are all part of this vast network of people and machines, and that we are all members working together as one race to improve ourselves. We are the Tree of Knowledge just as bees are a hive. And the hive is not just the some of the bees - but it is the hive structure itself and it is the honey.
And just as the hive includes the honey, the Tree of Knowledge includes not only the people, but also our houses, roads, bridges, airplanes, cars, computers, networks, books, countries, governments, religions, schools, hospitals, communication satellites, money, power distribution, dams, lakes, boats, trains, trucks, the things that make life work for us. And we are all part of that from the smallest villages to the vast cities.
But - who controls the super being - or does it control us? By the way - I am not referring to God here. Who decides what will be next? The premise of the Church of Reality is - we do. We believe that we as individuals can make a difference. Will our future be happy and prosperous? Or - are we heading for ultimate destruction or a hideous future where we become slaves to the machines we build - assuming the machines don't exterminate us. Some religions envision Armageddon. What will our future be and who will decide it?
The Church of Reality takes the position that our future depends on individuals making the right choices for the right reasons. We believe that we are ultimately responsible and are for the most part in control of our future. We believe that it is our responsibility to be responsible. It is up to us to decide how we are going to make decisions. To decide that we have an obligation to choose to choose rather than let things just happen. And that the process of making those choices should be done based on reality and not mythology. We believe that if we choose wisely were are far more likely to have a better tomorrow than if we choose poorly.
In order to choose wisely we have to be able to know how to be wise. We need to explore better ways of doing things and have some principles as to what better is. We need a sense of community and of purpose. The Church of Reality provides purpose to reality. The purpose is the Dharma of the Church to do the doing and know what needs to be known. In order to guide us, we create the Sacred Principles that define the concepts for which the Church of Reality is guided. These principles define our purpose and our method for achieving that purpose and provide a framework to accomplish the dharma of the church - which is the pursuit of reality by the human race. |
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One definition of a religion is: "System of beliefs and practices concerned with sacred things and or symbols uniting individuals into a single moral community."
Religion is a statement of one's identity and one's belief system and how one evaluates truth. It is about one's morals and ethics and one's community. How one evaluates right and wrong; to identify with a religion is to associate oneself with a common world view shared with others of the same religion. In society, it identifies you in the larger culture of people who care about those sorts of things.
The Church of Reality gives Realists a religious identity.
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. It gives people an idea of what deities you do or don't believe in. What rituals you practice. To be associated with a religion is to make a statement about who you are, what your values are, what you are committed to, and what you care about.
You don't need to believe in a deity or the supernatural to be a religion. All that is required is to share a common world view and doctrine.
I am a Realist. I believe in Reality the way it really is. I practice Realism. I try to live my life in a way that is as realistic as possible. I make my life choices based on what is really real. I seek to know the truth about the way things really are. I commit to the purpose of furthering knowledge and uncovering the truth. This is who I am and in becoming a member of the Church of Reality I am making a statement to the greater community that I agree with and identify with this world view. That by having the Church of Reality as my religion that is (or will be) commonly known, I can state that I am a Realist and have others understand what that is. That's why it is important to establish reality as a religion and give identity to those who share our common world view the same way that other religions give their world view a public identity. |
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I - Marc Perkel - First One of the Church of Reality - came up with the idea of the Church of Reality on November 7th 1998 and registered the domain name "churchofreality.org" the next day. The idea came from discussions about atheism and agnosticism and the idea that there were a lot of people, including myself, that these terms failed to really apply to. Yes, I am an atheist, but that's not a religious affiliation. I was not a member of "The Atheist Church". Atheism spoke about what I didn't believe, not what I did believe. I could be identified as a "scientist" but that was more of a job title than a world view.
If not for Reality, I wouldn't be here.
Would my religious affiliation then be "nothing" or no religion? Perhaps that was closer, yet it didn't really express what it was that I did believe. I believe that the universe was created some 15 billion years ago in something that we describe as "The Big Bang" and that the earth is a speck of dust in the universe and that life evolved here into what we are now. I also believe in society, right and wrong, codes of ethical behavior, the concept of morality and wisdom, and that these concepts can exist in the absence of an omnipotent father figure who supposedly produced a "holy book".
Among all the thousands of religious choices, shouldn't reality be included?
Therefore - the concept of "no religion" implied that religion was something that I didn't care about; as if the realm of belief wasn't important to me. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yet there was no religion that was remotely close to what I did believe, leaving me and people who think like me in a state of limbo. We believe strongly in reality and want to understand reality the way it really is - but there is currently no religious identity associated with that - and it occurred to me to start the Church of Reality as a way to give Realists an identity and an organization dedicated to the pursuit of Realism.
As I wrote web pages for the Church of Reality web site, 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, you had to believe in things that aren't real. I had the idea that there would have to be rituals involved or that I would have to define reality and then later learn I was wrong. I thought that I would be severely limited in terms of a religious identity in that I could only incorporate undisputed universal truths into the belief system. But that's not the way it is. As I continued to write and explore, the ideas crystallized and I realized that a Church that believes in Reality not only can be as complete and full as any other religion, but even fuller - because after all - it doesn't get any more real than reality. |
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Newsflash |
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The IRS has approved the 501(C)3 tax exempt status of the Church of Reality. |
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Please link to us, discuss us in online forums, and blog about us. Every time anyone thinks about reality the world becomes a little smarter.
Spelling and Grammar errors? spelling@churchofreality.org - please identify page and location in the page of the error.
The Church of Reality is a non-prophet organization.
"RealityŽ" and "Church of RealityŽ" are registered trademarks of the Church of Reality.
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