Frequently Asked Questions
My vision of this thing, Earthchurch, is that it fills the role of a church in
peoples lives. Ideally, churches play a social, a therapeutic, and an
educational role. The church teaches moral and ethical philosophy. The
church provides help to those in need. The church provides a listening ear to
troubled people. The church provides a place where you can meet people, both
new ones and familiar faces. (Of course, not every church does all of these
things well.)
So I would like Earthchurch to do those things, but without a requirement to
believe in old myths, pretending that they are true. In place of a god to be
worshiped we have the actual earth. We won't actually worship the earth, but
we will appreciate her, respect her, try to protect her, and try to understand
her. I don't want to imply that the earth is a goddess, nor a sentient being,
although some people may believe that. The biological earth is a physical
reality. It consist of trillions of living organisms that fill the air, the
soil, the oceans, lakes and rivers, and the land. These organisms, including
man, depend on other organisms for their survival. None of them can survive
alone. In our case, we need other organisms for food. Even though we produce
our food on farms, these farms depend on soil microorganisms and earthworms.
Most crops also require pollination by bees. The bees and the earthworms
depend on yet other organisms, and so on.
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Earthchurch would have a lot in common with the Unitarian church. The main
difference is our focus on environmentalism. There will be a difference in
style, since Earthchurch is a product of the 21st century. The Unitarian Church
evolved gradually from a liberal protestant church over a 200 year period. Earthchurch
and the Unitarians are natural allies that share the same general goals.
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Yes. We won't tell anyone what to believe. You may believe in Gaia as
goddess, or in Jesus, or Jehovah, or whatever. However, there are some
religious beliefs that are not compatible. You must be tolerant of the
beliefs of others. You must be in favor of protecting the earth.
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We have spiritual views, but we don't insist on any particular viewpoint.
Our members differ in their views on this issue. Many of us feel that no one knows
anything about this beyond their own personal experiences. These personal experiences
should be respected. Meditation may be a way to have some contact with whatever lies
beyond science and reason. (There is also a blog article - use the BLOG button on the main page. It's in Sept. '07.)
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Of course they will be welcome, as long as they can accept that others may
disagree with them.
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They are probably not welcome because we want to do good (see next question).
I'm assuming that Satanists don't share that viewpoint, and are not tolerant
of others. I'm also assuming that a Satanist would be disruptive, intolerant
and a trouble-maker. If a Satanist shows up that can get along fine with
the local group, and not interfere with our goals, then he/she would be
welcome.
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"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
The earth is our home, care for it.
Experience is the best teacher; science is organized experience.
Do what's right; avoid what's wrong. (What is actually right or wrong is a
subject for endless debate, but the golden rule, above, takes care of most
practical cases.)
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Woody Allen famously said "90% of life is just showing up". If you join a
mailing list I would like you to thoughtfully read the mail, and perhaps
occasionally post a response. If there is a local group in your town, I
would like you to attend the meetings. You don't have to give money. You
don't have to sell raffle tickets nor cookies. We will have environmental
projects; you won't be pressured to participate in them, but you will be
welcome to if you so choose.
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Yes. Earthchurch will be created and run by the members. The intention is to
have democratically elected leaders. The process itself will be created by
the members.
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I had a successful career in engineering, science, and computer software. For
four years in the 70's I was on the biology faculty at San Diego State
University. I taught and did research in ecology. I have a doctorate in
Engineering Science. That's the formal or academic part. In the other
direction, I was immersed in the human potential movement for over a decade.
This involved encounter groups, meditation, EST, Zen, oriental philosophy,
hippie stuff, communal living, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
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I'm doing this because, once the idea got into me, I felt that I had to try.
You see, I am convinced that we are all in serious trouble long term,
because the earth really is in danger. It's not so much global warming that concerns me, it's
pollution and deforestation and mass extinctions. These, along with
global warming, endanger the entire human race. The danger is not this week
or even this year, but it is within your lifetime, and that of your children
and grandchildren.
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Democracy and non-profit are important in my conception here. I'm not seeking
to make any money; In fact I expect to donate money. Earthchurch will be run
by the members. The structure and organization will be decided by the first
group of people that put it together. After that it will be subject to
evolution based on voting by the membership.
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No. Our members will not subjected to coercion. They are free to come and go
as they please. They will not be pressured to make financial contributions.
We are more likely to be considered mainstream since we don't expect to have
any weird beliefs or practices.
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No. Earthchurch should have a general preference for non-violence.
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You would be a member of a community. You would feel accepted and loved. You
could learn about the biological earth. You could participate in environmental improvement projects. You could have fun. You could meet
new friends and visit regularly with old friends. You could be inspired.
I don't want Earthchurch to be boring, and I want to attract young people as
well as mature people. I want Earthchurch to be fun. We should have music,
parties, dancing, comedians, etc. :) We should have inspiring speakers.
Our education function would include lectures/discussions about science and
especially about the biological earth. Also, information to help each person
achieve their individual potential, "to be the best that they can be".
It may be a while before we achieve all of that, but you can help build
Earthchurch so that it can reach these goals. I don't personally know how to
achieve all of this. The members of Earthchurch, working together, can build
progress toward these goals.
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Yes. At the moment we need a webmaster, web designer, writer/historian, and a
graphic artist. We will eventually need musicians, composers, comedians,
motivators, lecturers, poets, counselors, lawyers, managers, custodians,
barbecue organizers, ..........
Every member can help build Earthchurch just by telling their friends about it.
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This page last updated October 15, 2007