The importance of faith/belief statements:
We feel that every denomination, para-church organization, religious group, and religious web site should consider creating a statement of belief or faith and displaying it prominently. This is particularly important among Christian groups who may use the term "Christian" to refer to only the Roman Catholic Church, or only to Evangelical Protestantism, or to the full range of Christian denominations and beliefs, or to some other subset of the religion. Quite often, when we visit a Christian web site for the first time, we have to search around among its articles to find out exactly what Christian belief system they follow and promote on their web site.That said, the following is our attempt at a statement of belief. Please be sure to read the footnotes at the bottom of the essay because they include some important qualifications and exceptions.
OCRT Statement of Belief:
We are a multi-faith group. As of mid-2011, we consist of one Atheist, Agnostic, Christian, Wiccan and Zen Buddhist. Thus, the OCRT staff lack agreement on almost all theological matters, such as belief in a supreme being, the nature of God, interpretation of the Bible and other holy texts, whether life after death exists, what form the afterlife may take, etc.We do believe:
 | In the inherent worth of every person. People are worthy of respect, support, and caring simply because they are human. Unfortunately, we have not reached a consensus on when human life, in the form of an ovum and spermatozoon, becomes a human person with civil rights including the right to live. On this matter, our lack of agreement on when personhood begins mirrors that of society at large. |
| In working towards a culture that is relatively free of discrimination on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, physical disability, language, age, body shape, etc. |
| In the value of the human person. We oppose the use of torture and cruel or unusual punishment including the death penalty. |
| In the importance of democracy within religious, political, and other structures. |
| In the separation of religion and the state; and the freedoms of speech, association, and expression. 1 |
| That freedom of speech is one of our most important rights. This includes the freedom to compare the beliefs of faith groups with each other, with the findings of science, and withinformation from other sources. It also includes the freedom to criticize faith and other groups when they harm others. |
| That the systems of truth that we have studied on the topics of morals, ethics, and religious belief are often considered absolute within various religions and secular belief systems. However, they are obviously relative because they vary greatly from one culture, religion, and time to another. 2 |
| In the generally positive influence that most religions have had on their followers and on society. 3 |
| In the importance of individual believers detecting evil influences and policies that currently exist within their chosen faith group, and strongly advocating for their correction. If change is impossible, we feel that they should consider withholding financial support or leaving the group. 4 |
| In the importance of education. We believe that people are not truly educated unless they have studied the world's major religions and ethical systems. They need to learn of both the good and evil impacts that each has had on society throughout history. They need to be taught skills at analysis and "baloney detection." 5 |
