Temple Of Reason

The Temple of Reason is the Chapter that represents what is commonly referred to as the Skeptic Community. The Chapter looks to the Order of Skeptics and Theists for its founding and had its beginnings in the late medieval period.
Drawing together several dissident groups of free-thinking theology, Skeptic Adepts wove them together to form a pan-national Chapter that represented all those who sought the Truth on their own, outside the bounds of any official religion or dogma.
Status: Active.
== Facts: ==
-The Temple names itself in honor of all those men and women who decided to stand for their own wits instead of simply accepting dogmatically what someone else told them.
-The Temple operates across the world today and is in fact gaining momentum. The last hundred years has been a veritable golden age for the Chapter as it has seen its ranks swell with those who have become disaffected by the larger, more rigid Tribes, or have simply decided to seek out God through nature.
-The God of the Temple of Reason is the God of Nature, the God of the Philosophers, etc.
-The Temple of Reason is more than just a 'temple' in name only, the Chapter stylizes itself as a religious brotherhood. Except it has no 'official' scripture, dogma, priestly class or claims to sole Divine revelation. It is truly a Temple, but one dedicated to Reason and not superstition.
-The Temple of Reason clearly places the individual above the group, and that has benefited it tremendously. The Chapter has produced top-rate artists, philosophers, scientists and statesmen of every kind. But they do suffer from internal schism - the problem with the three camps of Skepticism is that, because there are so many wildly different theologies under that banner, it's sometimes hard to organize and rally the troops.
-The Temple has increased its strength with every major jump in society's level of technology. The birth of the Internet has been no different - today, members of the Chapter can now be associated with any Temple, no matter how far away they may physically be from it. Where once individuals had to go to places of learning and education to encounter members of the Temple, today they merely need to do a little digging online.
== Camps Of Skepticism: ==
The Temple of Reason is divided into four major camps. These Camps are important because they represent the three major division in the wider skeptic society in the world. Depending on which Camp an Adept hails from will determine much about their character, especially their priorities and how they fit into Adept society.
-Agnosticism = Probably the largest sector of the Temple of Reason's membership, the Agnostics are Adepts who have a vague idea in some kind of Supreme Being but out of a sense of practicality refuse to bind themselves to any concrete dogmatic statements. Agnostics don't claim to know what's going on and they are fine with that. Unfortunately, that lack of definitiveness makes it hard for them to organize around any shared ideas, so they are also the least organized of the major Camps within the Temple.
-Atheism = Atheists are actually Materialists, people who believe that matter is all that exists. These Adepts recognize a Supreme Being (otherwise they wouldn't be Adepts) but they believe that everything, even the creator of the universe, is ultimately nothing more than matter. Atheists tend to be passionate about spreading their message, so they are often the best organized and most driven of the Camps. Unfortunately, they also tend to be the most zealous of the Camps, often times a little too zealous. Some Atheists have advocated for 'war' with the other Ecclesiastical Chapters, especially those of Abrahamic origins.
-Deism = Deists believe that God exists, and they are open to the immaterial as well. However, they believe in the "Clockmaker God," the idea that God 'wound up' the universe like a clock piece and then left it to run on its own. Deists adhere to the teaching of Non-Interventionism which states that God is uninvolved and may even be removed from our universe. Deism makes for a great mental position to hold, but the idea of an absent God is a boring one in the long run and so the Deist Camp tends to stagnate. This isn't always true, since there are some causes which Deists are very passionate about (ie, the progress of Science), but it is the personal weakness of this particular Camp.
-Theism = Theists believe in God, are open to the immaterial, and they reject or do not strictly believe in Non-Interventionism like the Deists do. They tend to be open to spirituality and even some (often watered down) versions of mainstream religion. Theists are often passionate and well organized thanks to their personal convictions. Unfortunately, because of their closeness to established religions, they are often viewed as turncoats by the other Camps.
== Opposition To The Ecclesiastical Orders: ==
To put it simplistically, the Temple of Reason spends much of its time opposing the 'excesses' of the Ecclesiastical Orders. The run-away authority of the Fundamentalists, the destructive zeal of the Crusaders, the machinations of the Priests... These are the abuses of religion on society which the founders of the Temple stridently opposed.
It should be pointed out that one of the Temple's two co-founding Orders, the Order of Infinity, is itself numbered among the Ecclesiastical Orders. It should be remembered that Theists are a diverse lot, with some of them originating from within established religion, and many others of their Order originating from alternative forms of religion.
Consequently, while the Temple of Reason may oppose the Ecclesiastical Orders, they champion and recruit heavily from the Natural Orders. Indeed, ToR can be thought of as a manifestation of the alliance between the Natural Orders.
Category:Temple Of Reason
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