The Church or Reality exists for the pursuit of the understanding of understanding. We exist to pursue the answer to the Sacred Question - "What is Real?" This church isn't about what you believe in - it's about what you do. To be a member of this church is to commit to the doing of the doing. You have to walk the walk and talk the talk. The Church of Reality is about being real - not pretending to be real because reality looks cool. It's not about being a poser and fake being real. The dharma of the church is to actually be real.

Although we don't go from door to door asking people if they know Darwin and saying Darwin loves you, one of the sacred missions of the Church of Reality is to spread the idea that reality is important and that it is something that shouldn't be ignored. As Realists practicing Realism we benefit in growing our church by attracting others who may not be church members, but have embraced the concept of being realistic and are interested in what is real. It is one of our goals to raise awareness about reality and the importance of including reality in our daily lives and to make people aware of the pitfalls of ignoring reality.

So - how do we do this? There are many ways, but there are a few obvious places to start. As the First One I will start the process and list some specific objectives of the Church of Reality. The list will grow - but it will form an outline for the kind of thinking that defines the dharma of the church.

Some of the Sacred Principles use our Sacred Terminology. The reader will better understand the principles by reading the Terminology first.

The name of the church is a message in itself. In the Church of Reality - the name says it all. We are a church based on believing in everything that is real. Therefore the first goal of the church is to expose most everyone on the planet to our name. It is our goal that everyone has heard the name, "Church of Reality" and at least has some vague idea that it is some kind of church that is based on the idea of believing in everything that is real.

The reason this is important is because if people are aware that the Church of Reality exists, it immediately causes them to ask the sacred question, "What is Real?". It causes them to wonder, "Is my religion real? Do I believe in things that are real? Do I believe in things that are not real? How do my beliefs compare to reality the way it really is?" This raises the importance of reality in the minds of the individuals who make up the world.

From the perspective of the Church of Reality - reality isn't given enough importance in society. Reality is often ignored or deliberately obscured. Most of the people of this planet believe in some form of mythology that has no basis in fact. None of the religious choices include believing in what's real. There is a vacuum out there for knowledge of reality the way it really is. So many people who are being forced or brainwashed into living the lie who are waking up and saying, "Wow! - Reality .... What a Concept!"

In the spirit of the Principle of Positive Evolution and to grow the Tree of Knowledge, it is our dharma to make the world a better place to live in. The quest for knowledge is a shared experience with each individual building upon the work of those who came before them. We form a collective mind that is based on the work of those who came before us and we contribute to toady's knowledge in the hope that knowledge will continue to grow in the future. We realize that in order to grow we need to take care of the basics of life and to take care of each other in a healthy productive society. It is therefore the dharma of the Church not only to pursue the understanding of reality the way it really is, but to create the kind of environment where that is possible.

A world of happy people who are well fed, who have access to education, to justice, to medical care, to housing, and all the other needs of basic living are more likely to grow the Tree of Knowledge than those who are oppressed, poor, hungry, sick, and homeless. We believe that people are better off building computers than fighting wars. So - making the world a better place is a necessary part of the understanding of understanding and it is why we encourage people to become /root and do tech support for the human race.

Sharing and growing the Tree of Knowledge is one of the goals of the Church of reality. One way to do that is to host free online education on a variety of subjects. Entire online courses will be donated free of charge and the peoples of the world will be allowed access to the education free of charge. The smarter people are - the better they can explore reality together.

We want to attract the best teachers and the best programmers to create an interactive online school in order to deliver quality education to a huge number of people. In traditional classroom settings, a good teacher is limited by physical constraints to a small number of students per year. It also requires people to be in the same space and time location. An online school would break these barriers and allow an unlimited number of students in any location at any time to receive a quality educational experience which combines the best of a team of teachers and other professionals to deliver education efficiently and effectively.

Classes will be available under the GPL license which requires that anyone who improves the course has to contribute the improvements in the course back to the maintainers who created it. This will help ensure that the classes will grow in both numbers and quality.

The School of the Church of Reality will be available to public and private schools as well as for home schooling. Anyone of any age in any location will be able to learn. And - this will give people more of an opportunity to become educators. After a teacher retires, they can contribute a lifetime of teaching to the public and their knowledge and experience will be passed on long after they are gone.

What is right and wrong? What is the right system of laws that protect the freedom of the individual and the security of the individual from those who would hurt others? What do we do with criminals? How do we ensure the justice process to be abuse free? These are questions we ask in our pursuit of the understanding of understanding.

In order for a person or a group of people to pursue reality they must have the freedom to do so without the fear of persecution. In the past great people have been jailed or murdered for truths we take for granted today. And in the future we will look back and see that the jailing of Jack Kevorkian for relieving the suffering of dying people was no different that Galileo being jailed for suggesting the world was round, What things are holding us back today from exploring reality as it really is? To that end we strive as a church to explore ethics and justice so that the great minds of our time can contribute to the tree of knowledge and make this world a smarter place to live in.

There are thousands of religions that believe in a wide variety of different things. But which religion - if any - is the true religion? Who has it right? Are the Christians right? Are the Jews really the chosen people? The Muslims? Hindus? Buddhists? Mormons? Hare Krishnas? Or - there is us - the Church of Reality. But are we real or have we become corrupted like all the other religions have? I of course believe that my religion - reality - is the real religion. And I do have an advantage that a religion based on believing in everything that's real - and it doesn't get more real than reality. But - how do I know that this church isn't itself corrupted and has degenerated into an oppressive cult that uses reality as a brand name the same way the Justice Department uses the word "justice"?

The Church of Reality hereby asks the sacred question to all other religions and to ourselves and to everyone as individuals - is your religion real? Are your beliefs real? Did the things you believe happened really happen? How do you know that you are not living a lie? If I put you in a room with people from 10 other religions, can you articulate to these other people an objective reason that your religion is more real than their religion is? Do you even believe that your beliefs have to be real? Or - are you comfortable with the idea that it doesn't matter if what you believe is real or not?

Everyone believes their religion is real. But how do you know that you're not just brainwashed? How do you know that your core beliefs aren't just one big scam? When you look at other religions you shake your head wondering how people could possibly believe in them. When they look at your religion they think the same thing. When I look at both of your religions I think the same thing. But what about my religion? Everyone believes in their own religion. So then - why is your religion real?

One of the core reasons that this church exists is that there are too many religions and cults and other belief systems that have no connection to reality whatsoever. This leads to people behaving in ways that are harmful to the human race. For example - on 09-11-2001 hijackers hijacked 4 planes and crashed them into buildings for religious reasons. They believed that they would be rewarded by God with 70 virgins. Is there belief based on reality? I would hope not - otherwise - God is really weird. We look at this thinking that those Muslims are irrational, but Christians believe that God had to have his son murdered to prove some symbolic point about salvation and that belief is every bit as weird to me as crashing planes into buildings.

If these beliefs were put to the "is this real" test then maybe these guys wouldn't crash planes into buildings. Maybe Christians wouldn't be looking forward to the destruction of the world and take responsibility and help make our speck of dust in the universe a better place to live. Maybe people would quit wasting massive amounts of resources trying to create a fantasy world that gives them the illusion of security and self importance and redirect that effort towards making our real world a better place for all to live in.

Many religions are little more than a money scam. Religion is used to trick people and play upon their fears and hopes in order to control them. Billions of people are being duped into believing things that are totally baseless. This puts a huge toll on society and is costly not only to the believers themselves, but to society as a whole.

Almost everyone would agree that most religions fit into this classification. In fact - most people would say that about almost all religions but their own. Most people think they believe in the "True" religion and that their beliefs are real. But are they? I challenge everyone who reads this to ask the question, "How do I know that what I believe is real? How do I know I'm not being fooled like billions of other people?" To get people to ask the question - "Is my religion real?" is a goal of the Church of Reality and it applies especially to the Church of Reality itself. Because if the Church of Reality isn't about reality then it fails in it's mission.

One of the greatest strength and weaknesses of the human race is the ability to rely on others to store information for us. Our brains can not hold everything we need to know to survive individually and we rely on others to figure things out for us. When we drive our cars on the streets we trust that the people who do the traffic lights have it figured out and we stop for red lights and go for green lights. Because of this trust and reliance on others, the human race has developed far beyond other life forms on this planet. But - there is a down side to this interdependence. What if the information we rely upon is wrong? What if people take advantage of us by making us rely on wrong information? How do we know if the common knowledge is real or fiction?

What makes people believe in things that are irrational? What flaws does the human brain have that can be exploited and how do you protect yourself and your family from being exploited? How does brainwashing work and how can you tell if you are the one brainwashed? How do I know that my religion, political party, or my country isn't a cult? How do I know if I'm being exploited? How can I determine if something is true or a lie?

Mental manipulation is common. It's rather easy to create a religious experience and make people believe that God is talking to their heart and that they should start forking over vast quantities of money in order to save their eternal soul from the fiery pits of Hell. In order to pursue reality the way it really is we should understand how people obscure reality and manipulate people and trick them. By understanding these tricks and educating others we can free people to explore reality the way it really is. It is therefore important that understanding of cults become a Church of Reality project so that we can prevent the cults from further taking control of the world.

To explore reality the way it really is and to develop an understanding of understanding we need to develop our minds to their fullest potential. Without good mental abilities we can not fully explore reality the way it really is. Often people become mentally lazy or form bad thinking habits or fail to get a good education. Some people actually believe that it's not OK to be smart.

In the Church of Reality - being smart is a good thing. Or more specifically - becoming smarter is a good thing. Not just to improve ourselves - but to improve the world around us - because it's easier to be smart if you live in a smart society. It is therefore the dharma of the Church of Reality to increase the IQ of the human race.

Not everything in a religion is about belief. Churches provide a framework on how to live. Not only what is right and wrong but also what to do on a day to day basis, a framework for living if you will. And Churches provide a support mechanism for their members and to provide charitable services for the greater community. It also provides a sense of community for its members so that people can socialize and exchange ideas. This community is both online and local. We need to have places for people to meet and activities for people to do together.

Community support is also an important task for the Church of Reality. When members of the community fall on hard times then members of the church need to form a support infrastructure to care for and comfort individuals in need. When people become ill they need to be cared for. We need to comfort the dying. To help resolve issues in relationships before they lead to divorce. To help families come together to raise and educate children. To help people deal with their emotional problems. And to do all this and other things like it in a way that promotes a good quality of life - social justice - and become the kind of community for which people can be proud of.