Senator Ted Stevens had no trouble getting 250 million approved to build a bridge to nowhere in Alaska. What do you want to bet that getting 250 million to replace the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota will be far more difficult.
Letter to the Editor - Tell me if I sound pissed off!!
Some people object to the words "Under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance but tonight find the words "Liberty and Justice for all" even more offensive. Tonight Congress voted away our liberty so they could start their summer vacation without delay. They voted to let Bush spy on us without a warrant.
I am disgusted on a level I've never experienced before. Please quit calling America a free nation when we give up our freedom by voting it away. I feel as if I should burn a flag but I question if the flag it worthy of burning because it no longer stands for anything. Our soldiers in Iraq are not even dying for the illusion of freedom anymore. We are a nation of dishonest cowards.
I have to ask the question, if the Democrats can't stand up to Bush how the hell are they going to stand up to terrorists? Bin Laden is free and we aren't. The terrorists are laughing at us tonight. They say they hate us because we're free. That reason is now gone.
Letter to the Editor
Today Bush ordered Congress to stay in session till it passes a new spying law because the secret FISA court ruled Bush's secret spying illegal. Just what we need - more Bush spying! Congress should do the same thing to Bush that Bush did when Congress issued subpoenas - ignore it. Hopefully the Democrats won't be stupid enough to give Bush more powers.
I am confused about the bridge collapse in Minnesota because it just doesn't make sense to me that the whole thing just fell down instead of just one section. For the whole thing to just fall down like that makes the thing that the whole thing was rotten or rusted out or something. Logically if there were a single failure then just a section of the bridge would have fallen. For it all to go down just doesn't make sense to me.
People often ask me what it is that's different about the Church of Reality. The answer is, we are dedicated to real reality, the one true reality. What reality is the one true reality? It's the real reality, the reality that really is real. It is the some total of everything that actually exists. No reality but reality.
In contrast, most other religions are polyrealistic. They believe in multiple realities. Realities that can only be experienced by emotions generated by the imagination. They are taught to turn their back on what they call the "material world" which is associated with being evil and believing instead in the "spiritual world" and other worlds of the imagination.
But there is only one true reality and that reality is the sum of everything that actually is real. Polyrealism is a cheat. It like saying that there are other realities that aren't part of reality and because they are part of a "different reality" you can't prove they don't exists because they are untestable. They call this "faith" but in that context it's really a call to reject reality. To accept faith is to turn your back on the real world and put your imagination ahead of existence. To be a Realist is to turn your back on your imagination and put reality first. And that's what makes the Church of Reality different from all other religions.
I've made some new videos that I uploaded to You Tube and Google Video. As usual they are crudely produced. Just me and my web cam but I think they get the point across.
The Faith Paradox
Monorealism
And - my rant on global warming and population control.
More are coming.
Working on some new terminology. Monorealism is the belief in one reality. That all things that are real are part of reality and that anything that isn't part of reality is not real. In contrast monotheists and polytheists tend to believe in "other realities" which are "outside" of the world of science and are experienced through emotions generated by the imagination. Our "world" includes "everything that is real" and excludes everything that is not real. We may not know what is and isn't real but our position is that whether or not we know it's status, that everything that is real is real and everything that is not real is not real. There are no other states where something is real in "another world" or in a "different reality". Our definition of reality would include all other realities that are actually real.
Monorealism also accepts the Sacred Principle of Scrutiny in that we apply the principles of science to determining what is and isn't real. We might believe something is true that we can't prove because we don't know everything. But if we believe in something it's because we have a reason to believe it's real. it's because we have some evidence, or a theory based on logic, or some mathematical model where at least the math works (string theory).
Monorealism excludes faith in that everything we believe in is subject to scrutiny. We have accepted that if we are proven wrong that we will change our minds. Faith excludes scrutiny and if you accept something based on faith then you are expected to continue to believe it no matter what.
Realists experience the world through understanding. We rely on logic, reason, wisdom, and scrutiny as the foundation of our beliefs. In contrast beliefs that require emotions and the imagination are not considered to be reliable.
We are monorealists who believe in monorealism because of our monorealistic point of view. Who likes this idea?
I also want to throw out another term I call "The Faith Paradox". Two people from two different religions are in a room who both believe different things that are mutually exclusive. That can not both be right, but they can both be wrong. both have accepted their position based on faith which can't be questioned. You are a realist listening to the claims of these two people. How do you determine who is correct?
For example, many Christians claim that you can only get to Heaven through Jesus. Muslims claim that you can only get to Heaven through Mohamed. Since both used the word "only" they are mutually exclusive. Since both want to convert me them how do I determine which one will get me to Heaven, if there even is Heaven?
The question really is - which one is real? How do we determine that using faith. Do we wait for the deity to speak to our heart (ie. use our emotions and imagination)? But both of these people did that can came to conflicting conclusions. One or both perhaps were influenced by Satan. But since each religion has a billion people then at least a billion of them failed to get accurate information using faith as a tool to determine reality. As an outside observer I would have to conclude that if I made my decision based on faith that there is at least a 50% chance that I will be wrong.
So - how does one determine the truth between two conflicting world views based on faith? Perhaps both people could pray to their deities and then have a contest with swords and the one who is victorious is the one with the stronger deity? But they've been running that test for centuries and the results are inconclusive. So what is left? The only way they can really determine who is correct is to turn to reality.
If one can prove scientifically that they are right then they win. But anything proven scientifically is part of the real world, the physical universe that does not require faith. So if people who have conflicting faiths want to determine what is real then they have to come home to reality.
So - let's just skip the faith crap and start with reality? Ultimately they have to come to us bacause reality isn't something that you can ignore forever. Reality doesn't go away when you stop believing in it. Faith is like kicking a rock and imagining that you are punishing the rock when you are only hurting your own foot. It's not about what you believe in, it's about what's real. Ultimately is about the one reality that we all share. That's why I'm a monorealist.
Marc Perkel
First One
Church of Reality
"We believe in the one true reality!"