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The Principle of Personal Responsibility |
The Principle of Personal Responsibility is the recognition that how we behave personally affects who we are as a species and how the Tree of Knowledge will evolve. We can choose to live our lives in a manner that is beneficial to society or to live in a way that is detrimental to society. What is good for humanity and what is bad for humanity is - like everything else - subject to debate and exploration. As a church we ask the question - "What is moral? What is right and wrong? What is good and evil?" These are questions that we ask as explorers in the pursuit of the understanding of understanding and to know the meaning of meaning.
We recognize that the concepts of good and bad exist and sometimes they are clear and sometimes they are not. But as individuals we recognize that if we are going to grow the Tree of Knowledge that we have to evolve in a positive direction and that our personal behavior makes a difference. As members of the church we choose to strive to do what is right.
The Church of Reality is more than just being on a membership list. It is not a title but a way of life. To be a realist individuals must perform the dharma of the church. Membership is a series of acts and the acceptance that what we do in life matters. In the living of our lives our conduct reflects our moral code that is to be judged against the Principle of Positive Evolution and if what we are doing is moving society in the Sacred Direction. Thus - as individuals we take responsibility for our decisions and are committed to pursue a life that is constructive rather than destructive. And that the pursuit of perfecting society and behaving in a manner to promote the growth of the Tree of Knowledge constitutes the basis for a moral code under which we can all live together in peace and harmony to allow people to flourish individually and as a species.
The Principle of Personal Responsibility recognizes that what we do as an individual matters. Everyone affects the Tree of Knowledge in some way. We recognize that people have the ability to choose and that different choices have different results. Self improvement often requires change and the pursuit of reality, the way it really is, often has a price. And to pursue reality often involves taking control of our personal lives and affirmatively determining the direction our limited existence will take; to decide what we will become rather than be driven by the circumstances around us. Although we often have little control of what hand life deals us, we choose how to play the hand we are dealt. We choose to be good upstanding members of society working towards moving mankind in the Sacred Direction.
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