Ask, and you shall receive. A few months ago I wrote "Wanted: a religion that reflects reality." Recently someone left a comment on that post pointing me toward The Church of Reality.
It's worth browsing around. I like the tagline, If it's real, we believe in it! Also, We are realists practicing realism, winning souls for Darwin!
Welcome to the Church of Reality. Welcome to the Real World. That's our church greeting. Thank you for visiting our web site. If you are frustrated with the current state of the religious world and looking for some sanity, you came to the right place. The Church of Reality is a positive force for change and you can be part of it. You can help make it happen. There is a lot of material here. We hope you will invest the time to read it.
The Church of Reality is a religion based on the practice of Realism, which means believing in everything that is real. Our motto is, "If it's real, we believe in it." Since no one knows all of reality, the Church of Reality is a religious commitment to the pursuit of reality the way it really is. We think about thinking. We wonder about wondering. We try to understand the understanding of understanding. We are Explorers, not followers. The phrase "What is Real?" is our Sacred Question and the word "Reality" is our Sacred Message. We talk about reality, think about reality, and aim to make reality more important in society.
My first question, of course, was "What does the Church of Reality consider reality to be?" I haven't done enough exploring on the site to answer this query conclusively. The FAQs offer up some statements that make good sense, though.
You say you believe in real reality. How do you know your view of reality is real?
We don't. Our claim to believe in reality the way it really is, actually is a goal. As we all know, no one knows everything about reality. So the Church of Reality is really a religious commitment to the pursuit of reality the way it really is. What we do is make reality important in our personal lives and to raise the importance of reality in society.
An important concept is that there is no "our reality" that the Church of Reality believes in that is either right or wrong. Our church doesn't usually declare what is real and what isn't. Our religion is a commitment to pursue reality wherever that leads us. So there is no "our reality" to get wrong. We are more properly judged in respect to whether our pursuit of objective reality is genuine. So – if we took a position on something and you can show us we are wrong, we are committed to changing our minds.
What about personal reality? Isn't everyone's reality different?
There's one's own personal perception of reality, and there is one's personal life and thoughts. But then there's the "real world" or objective reality that we all live in and share. If reality was all personal, then perhaps the universe was created on October 10, 1955 – the day I was born – and the universe will end the day I die. Maybe the world is just an illusion and that you all don't really exist? Maybe my brain is in a jar in a laboratory somewhere and this all is just a computer generated illusion – that some day I'm going to wake up and be back home on my own planet and this all will be nothing more than a dream.
One illustration I like to make about personal reality and objective reality is this: suppose that a Buddhist who has a personal relationship with God and a Christian who has a personal relationship with God both jump off the Golden Gate Bridge at the same time, both believing that their God can make them fly. Which one will hit the water first? (In a vacuum)
Becoming a Realist involves giving up some of your personal beliefs and personal realities because real reality is different and the Church of Reality is about the way it really is – not what you want to believe in.
I also liked how the Church of Reality looks upon politics. Amen! to the following.
Different religions have different world views and our world view is Reality. We want to inject reality into the political process. Reality is our Sacred message. We want our leaders to take reality into account when making decisions that affect all of us. We want to make reality important in society. We want our science classes to teach our children about reality. We want people who propose projects to ask, "is this really going to work?" We want real solutions to real problems. We are a culture of thinkers who are not satisfied with sound-bite politics. We want to see a plan and we want the plan to be a realistic plan. We want our nation states to make sense. So as realists we take a position, as a church and as individuals, to influence nation states toward real solutions to real problems.
Another great thing about the Church of Reality is that its founder, Marc Perkel Rantz, has applied to get a religious exemption for the use of marijuana by church members.
Sadly, the application initially was denied, but it is being appealed. I can prophesy that if Rantz succeeds in his legal action, Reality will bless him with a large number of new devotees.
He deserves to win the case. After all, who can argue with this reasoning?
The Church of Reality is the first case that the DEA processes under
the new rules set out by the Supreme Court in 2006. Unlike other
religious use of marijuana cases the Church of Reality is a real
religion that wasn’t concocted for the purposes of getting around
marijuana laws. The connection between the church of Reality and Pot is
that the founder was stoned when he came up with the idea and is often
stoned when writing the Church of Reality doctrine. Other than that –
the Church of Reality is about reality and is dedicated to the
evangelizing of the importance of making reality part of your life.
If there are any attorneys reading this, listen up:
The Church of Reality is currently looking for assistance and ideas for
those who are versed in first amendment law and paralegals to help do
research to prepare briefs. People with such skills should contact Marc Perkel. This is also under reported news so spread the word.
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“Becoming a Realist involves giving up some of your personal beliefs and personal realities because real reality is different and the Church of Reality is about the way it really is – not what you want to believe in.”
But then…
“The Church of Reality is a religion based on the practice of Realism, which means believing in everything that is real. Our motto is, ‘If it’s real, we believe in it’.”
So its still okay to “believe” as long as we believe in what they believe in. Still a belief system. Is this a joke? Can’t be bothered reading it all, sounds like nonsense. Who really knows if reality is really real. lol
Jen, reality isn’t a belief like other beliefs. Reality is a demonstrable belief.
You proved this by leaving a comment via your computer that accessed the Internet. You believed that this was possible, and it was! Congratulations, you’re a certified member of the Church of Reality.
If you believe that reality is nonsense, then you also believe that your everyday experience is nonsense. How nonsensical is that?!
I don’t think reality is nonsense, I just don’t like having a fixed belief in anything including so called reality.
I suppose one would think science confirms reality, yet science is also very human and continually evolving, therefore our ideas of reality are always in a state of flux, everything is impermanent and constantly changing including our day-to-day reality.
Jen, I agree. And so does the Church of Reality. Perhaps you have forgotten the church quotes that I included in this post. Excerpt:
“An important concept is that there is no ‘our reality’ that the Church of Reality believes in that is either right or wrong. Our church doesn’t usually declare what is real and what isn’t. Our religion is a commitment to pursue reality wherever that leads us. So there is no ‘our reality’ to get wrong. We are more properly judged in respect to whether our pursuit of objective reality is genuine. So – if we took a position on something and you can show us we are wrong, we are committed to changing our minds.”
This sounded appropriately flexible, open-minded, and scientific to me. It’s a reminder that there is indeed such a thing that we call “reality.”
Yes, the contours of reality are constantly changing along with new information and fresh experiences of the cosmos. But what unites us as human beings is our shared perception of a common reality.
It’d be so lonely to be off in our own lonely individualistic world. This is what psychosis is, to a large extent — the antithesis of spirituality, union, love, commonality, togetherness. Reality is what makes all that possible. Absent a shared reality, we’re all loners. Which doesn’t strike me as appealing.
I think it rather sad that people have to belong to a church or group to have a shared reality to experience spirituality. This is a kind of crutch that people seek from a church. It takes guts to step outside the square and understand and experience a different kind of reality.
btw, thanks for the inference of psychosis: “a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired contact is lost with external reality”. I’ll have to rush off to some shrink now I suppose…
i’m with Jen on this one, sounds like a lot of nonsense to me.
why would one want to create a religion out of reality? bonkers.
science is evidence-based reality, belief does not enter into it.
George, one thing that I liked about the Church of Reality is that it emphasizes the positive side of atheism. Meaning, atheists and agnostics don’t believe God exists. That’s a negative. The flip side is embracing reality. Wholeheartedly, enthusiastically.
I don’t see the Church of Reality creating a religion any more than this blog is. It’s just a creative way of pointing out that we all feel a need for a philosophical foundation or support of some kind, so why not make that reality?
lol Brian you seem to be more positive, its a bit too ephemeral and contrived for me.
i;ve never been a fan of religion, and its worst aspect is its interpretations, i dont particularly want to believe in a religion or why someone would want to fit reality into the religion as opposed to say philosophy for example. in fact, what least appeals to me about religion is its manmade constructs and interpretations.
I prefer open thought without any doctrines.
Also to me the simple meaning of religion is a belief and this does reality a disservice, since reality is at least to a sense observable and evidence-based, indeed science is how we sort out what is actually real. there is no religion that is evidence-based, in an objective sense.
George, I see the Church of Reality as a serious satire. It uses religious language to make some important points in an entertaining fashion. I like how it is pro-science and anti-dogma. As noted before, there is nothing wrong with a religion except the religious aspect of it.
My blog isn’t a church, but I have “church” in its title. Similarly, the Church of Reality grabs people’s attention with its title. At least, it makes me think about what is worth worshipping, and what isn’t. Here’s another quote from the web site:
———————
“The Church of Reality is a very different kind of religion. A whale, for example, is a mammal, but it looks like a big fish. Similarly the Church of Reality is a religion, but it looks like Atheism, Humanism, and Science. In order to understand Realism you have to throw out your preconceptions about religion. Just as a whale is a mammal without fur, we are a religion without faith and dogma.
This religion was invented from scratch as a natural religion making a commitment to reality as it really is. Like Seventh Day Adventists the name is the predominant feature of the religion. The purpose of the Church of Reality is focused on the understanding and the pursuit of reality itself. It is a reality based religion.”
i think your form of satire, a quick play on words for the title, is more acceptable = whereas others seems to have gone into overkill mode on every topic imaginable, almost seems that they take their doctrines a bit too seriously.
not my cup of tea. it perhaps appeals to ppl who want to have a religion of sorts, i dont. i equate religion with belief and faith, and tho they say they wish ppl to step away from preconceived meanings, religion has a very simple meaning to me and its not a positive one because it relies on faith.
But sure you seem more open to its message. Looked like reams of waffle. Who decides what their reality is? Sure sure everyone goes their own path.
i dont subscribe to the idea that science is a belief system, it is the only system of knowledge of reality based on objectively observable evidence, not belief or faith, that is the realm of religion.
i dont want to muddle Darwin with souls in a metaphoric or satirical sense or have his theory preached as dogma – it is a scientific model of evolution based on available evidence – which if it is refined will be done so based on the evidence.
No religion offers evidence-based reason of any kind, so trying to fit evidence-based reality in with a religion seems completely misguided.
how do i join the church and get a certificate it seems very interesting and a thing to do.
I am a 5th grader as a 5thh grader i think my reliougion is very important to me.i hope the Pope would fianaly let woman be a prist. this is like back ago when women can ONLY do this and,women can ONLY do this.I belive it would be much nicer if a 5th grader had said this
TONY NGUYEN from weber ele. in houston tex 2013
Don’t be annoyed Tony
You are right that this attitude towards women is a mistake
but
also a proof of ignorance!
There are many women in that organization, much (w)holier than those priests
But whatever truth is left in that organization this pope
made a big step in the direction of God
which Himself = Love, which is for humans COMPASSION
TO START WITH THE ANIMALS
Love without second thoughts multiplies itself in us
The only stuff doing that when you give it away and you are left with more
and even exponentially so , . . which comes out in “Heaven”
( heavenly state of mind )- ( like a Crush )
–
I think most readers here will agree !
I AM CURIOUS ABOUT WHEN POPE
FRANCIS WILL SAY THAT HE IS A VEGETARIAN
LIKE SAINT FRANCIS
ps
5th grade ? – What age is that ??
777
George
You are 100% right
It would be insane and degrading if an Almighty
would possibly be trapped in an objective system
For proof of the subjective google
hinessight+77+vivaldi
777