Dear Church of Reality Members,
I have been giving a lot of thought to issues regarding when to speak out against something and when to be silent and I believe that the Church of Reality is a religion that must speak out even if there are risks involved in speaking out. It's interesting that when you write a set of sacred principles that it is in those principles that the answer lies.
The Church of Reality is a religion about reality and if we are afraid to speak the truth when speaking the truth is necessary then what are we? We are nothing. We would be Realists in name only. I believe that true wisdom comes from courage and that since we have a Sacred Principle of Courage that we can not afford the luxury of keeping our mouth's shut while extreme fundamentalism takes control of the world.
I found an interesting web site on Islam that nails it. The scary part is that what they say there is true and one only need to look at the pictures to see that there are states of human deevolution that are worse that extinction. We absolutely must never let a religion like this be allowed to control the world through terrorism. Islam is not a religion of peace and love and one need mot look any farther than their prophet to understand why. What you do is what you believe and all I see from the Muslim world is hate, violence, murder, torture, and they must never be allowed to win.
I was raised Jewish, barely, but one of the things I remember as a child was seeing people with numbers tattooed on their forearm from Hitler's concentration camps, and that is something that stuck with me. We are living in a world where that could happen again unless we Realists commit ourselves to ensuring that we will make sure it doesn't. I'm not prepared to count on the Jews to do that job considering their own problems with violence. And if I don't mention Christians here it's not that I haven't forgot them. They too have lost their minds and are a threat to the future of the human race. We as Realists can not allow either one of them to start world war 3 and wipe out our futures.
Back to Muslims. I found this web site and it moves me.
Especially this song called Islam is not for me:
I personally am strongly moved over issues of the oppression of women. We live in a world where women are taught to be slaves to their Islamic and Christian husbands. The Prophet Mohamed is a child rapist. He married a 6 year old girl, but waited till she was 9 before he "consummated the marriage". I don't care who you are or what time or culture you live in, sex with a 9 year old girl is just plain wrong. It absolutely can not be justified under and conditions that I can think of. but because their holy prophet did it it sets an example that is still being followed today. 9 year old girls are still being raped. Women are still being stoned to death and hanged. Men are being tortured and murdered and over what? That we draw cartoons about the molester? And we are supposed to allow that because of sensitivity to their culture and religious beliefs? I don't think so!
Yes it is true that Muslims have been abused by other cultures. They have been tortured and killed and are angry about it. But as Sam Harris pointed out, Buddhists have also been tortured and killed, but they aren't going around expressing their hatred by the mass slaughter of innocent people. So there is a difference between Buddhism and Islam and Buddhism is clearly superior when it comes to matter of peace. Something that we should learn from ourselves.
I have decided that for myself that I am going to speak out clearly and without fear about the injustices of the world, even if it gets me in trouble. I believe that fear is a luxury that I can not afford and that I am actually serious about our principles and our missions and that we have a duty to transform the world into the proverbial "Garden of Eden" and that I believe that it is achievable.
One think to remember. They are not afraid to call us non-believers infidels and to declare that we deserve death and that we are intrinsically evil, have no value, and that we are going to be punished by burning forever in Hell to pay for the sin of having a wrong opinion abut the existence of the invisible cloud being. So I'm not strongly motivated to respect their religious sensitivities and offend them by suggestion that stoning a woman to death for a chastity violation is barbaric.
I haven't determined how I'm going to proceed but I have decided that the Church of Reality should represent a position of strength and wisdom and that I am not going to let the fear that some crazy Muslim is going to kill me someday because of my cultural insensitivity.
Anyhow - I just felt motivated to say that and if it sounds like megalomania - we'll no one's perfect.
Let us dream the dream of a better tomorrow, and make it happen.
Marc Perkel
First One
Church of Reality
Once churches get hooked on the govrnment money then the government will control the churches. Then when Hillary gets elected we'll see how happy they are after selling their souls to Uncle Sam.
Executive Order: Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security with Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate a national effort to expand opportunities for faith-based and other community organizations and to strengthen their capacity to better meet America's social and community needs, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.
(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Center).
(b) The Center shall be supervised by a Director appointed by Secretary. The Secretary shall consult with the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (WHOFBCI Director) prior to making such appointment.
(c) The Department shall provide the Center with appropriate staff, administrative support, and other resources to meet its responsibilities under this order.
(d) The Center shall begin operations no later than 45 days from the date of this order.
Sec. 2. Purpose of Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services.
Sec. 3. Responsibilities of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In carrying out the purpose set forth in section 2 of this order, the Center shall:
(a) conduct, in coordination with the WHOFBCI Director, a department-wide audit to identify all existing barriers to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the delivery of social and community services by the Department, including but not limited to regulations, rules, orders, procure-ment, and other internal policies and practices, and outreach activities that unlawfully discriminate against, or otherwise discourage or disadvantage the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in Federal programs;
(b) coordinate a comprehensive departmental effort to incorporate faith-based and other community organizations in Department programs and initiatives to the greatest extent possible;
(c) propose initiatives to remove barriers identified pursuant to section 3(a) of this order, including but not limited to reform of regulations, procurement, and other internal policies and practices, and outreach activities;
(d) propose the development of innovative pilot and demonstration programs to increase the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in Federal as well as State and local initiatives; and
(e) develop and coordinate Departmental outreach efforts to disseminate information more effectively to faith-based and other community organizations with respect to programming changes, contracting opportunities, and other agency initiatives, including but not limited to Web and Internet resources.
Sec. 4. Reporting Requirements.
(a) Report. Not later than 180 days from the date of this order and annually thereafter, the Center shall prepare and submit a report to the WHOFBCI Director.
(b) Contents. The report shall include a description of the Department's efforts in carrying out its responsibilities under this order, including but not limited to:
(i) a comprehensive analysis of the barriers to the full participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the delivery of social and community services identified pursuant to section 3(a) of this order and the proposed strategies to eliminate those barriers; and
(ii) a summary of the technical assistance and other information that will be available to faith-based and other community organizations regarding the program activities of the agency and the preparation of applications or proposals for grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and procurement.
(c) Performance Indicators. The first report shall include annual performance indicators and measurable objectives for Departmental action. Each report filed thereafter shall measure the Department's performance against the objectives set forth in the initial report.
Sec. 5. Responsibilities of the Secretary. The Secretary shall:
(a) designate an employee within the department to serve as the liaison and point of contact with the WHOFBCI Director; and
(b) cooperate with the WHOFBCI Director and provide such information, support, and assistance to the WHOFBCI Director as requested to implement this order.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented subject to the availability of appropriations and to the extent permitted by law.
(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 7, 2006.
PRESS RELEASE:
Contact: Marc Perkel - marc@perkel.com
Release Date: 03-10-2006
Church of Reality Challenges other Religions on Morality
The Church of Reality today issues a challenge to other religions on the issue of ethics and morality. We live in a world where the hatred among religions grows daily between Christianity and Islam and the time has come to put a stop to it. Both sides claiming the superior moral position and to represent the word of God while taking up arms and going to war with no concern for the costs to civilization and the future of the human race. Both religions claim divine inspiration from the same source but as an outside observer we do not see it. We believe that what you do represents what you believe and if you are dishonest and you are violent then that is what you are and that is what you believe.
Both religions claim to be a religion of peace yet neither side has not the will nor the divine inspiration to make peace happen. If your religions truly have divine inspiration and guidance then one can only conclude that your gods are failures. On the other hand if your gods actually do represent love and peace then your religions do disservice to your creator.
It is logical therefore t assume that the superior religion would be the one who wins based upon the nature of the gods that you believe in. Therefore our challenge is, show us your God through you and show you are the true voice of the master by winning through peace and not by war. According to your own holy books when you turn to war over peace and when you put hate before love you are violating the very core principles that you claim that God stands for. Therefore you can not win a religious war by doing the opposite of what you claim God wants you to do.
We in the Church of Reality are Atheists. We look at your behavior and we conclude that if a God does exist that you are not in touch with it. We are committed to believing in whatever is real. We would believe in God if God were real. Your religions claim that you have a personal relationship with God and that you communicate with God directly and that God transforms you into something that reflects its nature. So we say, show us the fruits of that transformation. We ask you if your God is powerful enough to erase the hatred from your heart and to bring peace through each of you and to stop the violence. If your God is so weak that his followers can't stop killing, then you aren't going to convert and Realists to your religions.
We in the Church of Reality also believe, "By their fruits you shall know them." So if you are filled with the spirit of the Lord then lets see if you can shine the light of God's peace and love and end the wars.
Marc Perkel
First One
Church of Reality
Letter to the Editor
There is no longer a reason for people to sign up for the military to defend America's freedom. Now that Bush has signed the Patriot Act we no longer have any freedom to fight for.
From the town where I used to live, Springfield Missouri, the home of the Patriot Act, is this report from TV station KY3 abut bank spying. I call Springfield Missouri the home of the Patriot Act because that's where John Ashcroft and Roy Blunt are from and the headquarters of the Assembly of God Church who all want total government control of everything. Here's the story:
SPRINGFIELD -- The revised Patriot Act just passed by Congress has provisions that might bring your banking practices under scrutiny. The checks you write and the deposits you make are all are under a microscope as a way to try to keep America safe from terrorists.
"We're automatically at high risk,” said Empire Bank vice president Cindy Harding, a fraud investigator.
Banking with a federally insured bank means you're now being monitored under the Patriot Act.
"Everybody in southwest Missouri, in Springfield, in Christian County, is considered high risk because it’s designated like that by the feds for drug trafficking,” said Harding.
Under the new Patriot Act, Harding says, most banks will have to have one person working full time to monitor customers and their money.
"They risk assess all of our customers as to what is the likelihood they could be involved in terrorist financing and money laundering,” she said.
Each and every customer will be classified based on his or her perceived risk threat: low, medium or high risk.
"Then we have to monitor everybody’s accounts to make sure they stay within the bounds of what was determined would be normal activity,” said Harding.
Certain companies and certain people will draw more scrutiny.
"Any cash intensive business, restaurant, convenience store, gas station," she said. "Doctors, lawyers, Accountants."
If a large amount of cash appears in an account, or a large amount of money is moving through an account, that could trigger concern
"If we can't determine why, we're required to fill out a suspicious activity report," said Harding.
That report contains a customer’s personal information and what he or she is suspected of doing. The bank is also forbidden under the Patriot Act to tell a customer that he or she was flagged. The information is then turned over to federal investigators.
In this monitoring, you can look at banks as the middlemen. They're being monitored, too.
"The feds look at us,” said Harding. “They’re monitoring everyone's activity."
Letter to the Editor
Today marks the passing of Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher Reeve who played Superman in the movies, but who real story started years later when a horseback riding accident left him paralyzed. Yesterday she died of lung cancer at the age of 44.
Dana and Christopher Reeve leaved behind a story of love, loyalty, courage, and taking adversity and turning it into advantage. They took a situation that might otherwise have been a tragedy and used it to bring them closer to each other and to be an example of not only recovering but thriving. Together they raised awareness of the plight of the paralyzed and formed an organization to fund research and became a voice for promoting stem cells as a way to regenerate spinal nerve tissue.
Although Dana and Christopher are gone as individuals their work and their foundation live on. Their legend is part of the Tree of Knowledge and they live as an example of what people can accomplish in the short amount of time we exist in reality. Their lives inspires us to live the kind of lives worthy of being remembered. Their accomplishments are not only still alive, but they leave something for the rest of us to build upon. Their lives so us that even in the absence of an afterlife that we are not without some measure of immortality. All of us have the opportunity to leave behind part of ourselves if we choose to live the kind of life worth remembering as Dana and Christopher have.
Letter to the Editor
I agree with the Governor of South Dakota when he says, "In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society." What I don't agree with is that a fetus is a member of society. The legislature of South Dakota is insincere and is acting out a fetus fetish to make themselves feel morally superior rather than focusing their scarce resources on child care for working mothers, education, and medical care for children. The worst kind of morality is faked morality and I am wholly unimpressed. Religions people who merely pose as moral to make themselves feel self important drive people away from religion.
Letter to the Editor
The State of South Dakota has passed a law that prohibits all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest. What this means is if a woman is raped she is forced by the State to bear the child of the rapist against her will. And this is touted but South Dakota as "moral"? I don't think so. Some of us have a different standard of what is right and wrong and my values say that it is fundamentally wrong to force the victims of rapists to bear the children of their attacker.