In the Church of Reality our Sacred method is the Scientific Method. The Sacred Method is what we use to determine what we believe in. We have our Principle of Scrutiny which requires that we question everything. Our world view is that truth is purified through doubt. That is why we identify ourselves as a Doubt Based Religion.
The Church of Reality would not be the Church of Reality unless we have a strong commitment to the pursuit of reality as it really is. Although we can and will make mistakes in our pursuit of reality we must not compromise our principles and methods that lead us there. There are disciplines that get us to the truth and allow us to continually reexamine what we believe to make sure that what we believe in actually is real. That is why the Scientific method is sacred to us because without the disciplines it requires we could end up just being Followers rather than Explorers.
From Wikipedia:
"Scientific method refers to the body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, identifiable features distinguish scientific inquiry from other methodologies of knowledge. Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to predict dependably any future results. Theories that encompass wider domains of inquiry may bind many hypotheses together in a coherent structure. This in turn may help form new hypotheses or place groups of hypotheses into context.
Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process must be objective to reduce a biased interpretation of the results. Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them. This practice, called full disclosure, also allows statistical measures of the reliability of these data to be established."
People often ask, "Does the Church of Reality" believe in God?" Our short answer is that we will believe in a God if it can be established to be real using the Sacred Method. A God would have to be independently observable by non-believers. So until that happens the answer is no, God doesn't exist. But for those of you who want to change that, there is a process. Prove that God is real using the Sacred Method and we become believers. |
