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Frequently Asked Questions about
Mission of Reason
Q1. What does Mission of Reason™ do?
A. Mission of Reason™ (MOR) is a diverse group of
people with diverse interests, who have a common
interest in the promotion of reason in personal lives and
society in general. Based on our Mission and specific
aims, MOR promotes the use of reason through
resources on this website, through MOR Chapters,
humanitarian efforts, special interest groups, the Citizens
of the World club for kids, and other activities
Q2. What is Reason?
A. Mission of Reason™ isn’t trying to promote any
particular rigid style of reasoning. We use the common
understanding of the term that generally means
methodically considering things without demanding a
preconceived result, but instead trying to work towards
better understanding and therefore better decisions. It is
in one way the opposite of rationalization, which is just
using argument to defend a point that one is unwilling to
fairly question but wants other to believe. Reason is also
in a way the opposite of fundamentalism, in which people
assert that there are fundamental assertions that we must
just “accept as true” without understanding and that the
only way we can do this is to mentally force ourselves to
believe uncritically. Usually in fundamentalism there is
some authority that we aren’t allowed to critically examine
telling us what to think. Reasoning can be done alone,
but it is tangibly seen and developed through the social
interaction we use to resolve disagreements in perception
and expectations. That process is initiated when
someone is skeptical (again, just the ordinary use of the
word) of an idea and wants an explanation to understand
it more before agreeing or disagreeing. This interaction
includes a coming to consensus of common methods of
investigation that include stating what is not acceptable
(fallacies of argument), developing systems for
corroborating evidence, refining testing practices, and
the like, all of which we are constantly trying to improve.
MOR doesn’t claim that reasoning can help people find
some abstract “absolute truth” but it does promote the
active use of reasoning as a way to help us resolve
differences and clear up misconceptions. It helps us
think better as individuals, as societies, and as a planet.
Q3 What about emotions?
A. Reason is not a suppression of emotions, but our
conscious method of resolving different emotions, habits,
assumptions, memories, and desires. Intuition is the
subconscious method for doing that, and plays an
integral part in our daily lives too, but we should choose
reason whenever possible to move decision-making from
the subconscious to the conscious, where that process
can be evaluated and improved in a self-aware way. In
social decisions, reason is preferable to other emotionally
charged methods of resolving decisions, like intimidation,
rumor, peer pressure, insistence of authority or other
irrational methods of persuasion. MOR provides an
emotionally enriching environment in which to nurture
rational, effective, and personally fulfilling mental habits.
Questions about MOR from people who study the
history of philosophy:
Q4. Isn’t Mission of Reason™ just promoting the
type of dialectics that is often associated with
authoritarian and oppressive regimes?
A. No. What MOR is promoting is open and reasoned
thinking, which is the opposite of an authoritarian and
closed society. While a huge amount of rationalization
been written in dialectic form to justify authoritarian
regimes, open and reasoned consideration is what
exposes such things for what they are. Hegel’s efforts to
define and control a German fatherland spirit in support
of his royal benefactor is one authoritarian
rationalization. Plato’s Republic, used to justify the brutal
methods and ideologies that his uncle (one of the 30
tyrants) tried to use to overthrow democracy in Athens, is
another. MOR is not for these or any type of systems
that rely on unaccountable quasi-magical “forms,”
“essences,” or “spirits”, nor is it for demands that some
people have unquestionable authority over others. MOR
is not for any system that relies on insistence alone or
only a history of previous demands to promote “values,”
“beliefs,” or “identities.” MOR is for the opposite, for
skeptical criticism of ideas, for an open and inclusive
social discourse, and for a humane and egalitarian
respect for every member of society. To support people
in taking personal responsibility in this community, MOR
supports methods of reasoning that can help people
resolve complex social issues, develop personally
empowering perspectives, and differentiate valuable
knowledge from propaganda. In this way MOR is
encouraging methods that can help safeguard against
authoritarianism and oppression across a broad diversity
of social environments. Without mutually working to
develop sound methods of communication, assessing the
quality of information, and fairly resolving issues, we
sacrifice even an attempt at sound judgment regarding
the latest battle cry, marketing ploy, or threat of the day.
As diverse societies and traditions come together, this
becomes even more important. Humanity, in our age of
globalization, needs sound tools of reasoning to help us
resolve differences, develop a common vocabulary of
understanding, and empower people with methods to
effectively apply their traditional inheritance to the
modern world.
Questions about MOR from people concerned
about religion:
Q5. Is Mission of Reason™ a religion?
A. No, Mission of Reason™ is a Colorado non-profit
corporation, a movement made up of people interested in
using reason as the basis for personal perspective and
societal policy. It does not require the belief in any
ideology. It is an inclusive organization rather than
exclusive.
Q6. Is Mission of Reason™ against religion?
A. There are many types of religions, and Mission of
Reason™ is not against religion in general. It is against
the use of religious beliefs and traditions to circumvent
open, skeptical, and rational thinking or reasoned
decision making. Mission of Reason™ has a special
interest group (Interpreting Our Culture SIG) that is
actively involved in learning about various religious and
cultural traditions, and finding ways of bringing the fruits
of these traditions into positive and rational use in our
modern global society.
Q7. Can I join Mission of Reason™ if I am in a
religion?
A. Yes, Mission of Reason™ membership is open to all
people interested in becoming more reasonable,
wherever you are starting from. Our goal is to encourage
people to become more reasonable. MOR chapters are
set up to provide a place for reasonable people to share
in a nurturing community without the need for professing
allegiance to an ideology, but people who are looking to
become more rational about their ideological convictions
are always welcome.
Reason™ is a non-profit corporation of the state of Colorado, U.S.A.
Text and images falls under the copyright of the author when indicated.
