Reality based morality is not so black and white. It takes hard work to figure out what is right and wrong. It would be nice if the world was simple and there was a rule book and the rules were simple and everyone agreed on what the rules are. If only it were so, but it isn't. If you look at "Thou Shalt Not Kill" it seems easy enough to understand on the surface but then you get into the exceptions. For example it is accepted that you can kill in self defense. If someone is coming to kill you and you kill them defending yourself, that's OK. But what about war? Well, if the war is justified and you are defending your good and wholesome society from the evil aggressors, then it's self defense.
But what if the moral justification for the war is questionable? Suppose your country is the aggressor. Suppose your leader lied to get your country into the war and the war is unjust. Are you a murderer if you are in the army of a country that is on the wrong side of moral justification? In the Church of Reality you are. Just because you are a member of a group that does something evil doesn't absolve you from personal responsibility. Our morality is reality based. And there is such thing as right and wrong without an omnipotent rule maker to dictate what that is.
One of the greatest concerns of people of faith is that they think that if there is not God that right and wrong goes away. But it does not. The Basis for Church of Reality Doctrine is that we exist and we want to evolve forward in what we call the Sacred Direction. Our assumption is that we are a society and that we wish to improve ourselves and live happy, healthy, and stable lives. We are all here together on this planet and we want to have peace, be fair, and make progress. To that end we have developed the Sacred Principles which form the basis for which right and wrong are tested. These principles include ideas like Positive Evolution, Exploration, Freedom, Peace, Justice, Inclusiveness, Scrutiny, Humility, Wisdom and Personal Responsibility.
The reality is that life is not simple and life is not black and white. Morality isn't always certain. There are circumstances where something that is generally considered wrong is not wrong depending on the circumstances. A person can steal food to feed their starving family for example. A police officer accidentally makes a mistake and shoots the wrong person. Sometimes things are justifiable under the circumstances. Rules often have exceptions and what is law doesn't cover all circumstances. That is why most nations have juries that have the power to override the law and decided that even though a person broke the letter of the law that they don't feel that justice will be served by applying the law to a particular case.
Two very important sacred principles in the Church of Reality are Scrutiny and Wisdom. Scrutiny involves the Purification of Truth allowing us to correct our mistakes and improve our sense of right and wrong. Wisdom involves putting forth the effort to think things through. What is important in the Church of Reality is accuracy. We want to figure out how to do it right. If we are already doing it right then maybe we can do it even better. We look at what is working and what isn't and try to improve ourselves.
Morality is an important part of the Church of Reality. That's why we ask The Sacred Moral Question so as to make the issue of right and wrong important and that it is considered in processes that involve law and justice. We are not a bunch of selfish heathens who believe that "anything goes" and "do whatever you want, nothing else matters". We believe in a strong society where we all benefit from being part of the community. To be part of society you have rights and freedoms because you respect the rights and freedoms of others.
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