BASIC BELIEFS

Planetarians realize that if there are 1,000 religions each claiming sole possession of metaphysical truth, then at least 999 of them are wrong, and that the benefits and rewards of subscription to a particular religious tradition (sense of belonging, connection with God, knowledge of an afterlife, moral code, etc.) apparently occur whether the religion is actually divinely inspired or not.

Planetarianism therefore subscribes to a determinedly concrete philosophy. Concepts that cannot be proved in a scientific sense are deemed beyond the sect’s realm of speculation, although if verification becomes possible, adherents are encouraged to revise doctrine to include the findings. Souls, angels, messiahs, purgatory, limbo, magic, Satan, reincarnation, karma, extraterrestrials, divine judgement, ghosts, spirits, curses, heaven, hell and the like are therefore absent from the sect’s concerns. Planetarianists believe that such speculation, which inevitably comes in the form of unverifiable revelation, only serves to divide the religions of the world, and that without them, adherents to most faiths could agree quite easily on the majority of their moral doctrines.

Planetarianism does not require belief in God or gods, and adherents are skeptical about prayer as a means of effecting outcomes. Members are instead encouraged to join planning and zoning commissions, run for political office, enter government service and join activist organizations such as the Sierra Club.

The advisability of personal behavior or collective enterprise is judged primarily on its ecological sustainability. Those actions which are known to imperil the ecological balance on earth are to be avoided whenever possible. It is understood that in seeking to fulfill this principle, we may have to accept a lower standard of living.

Water conservation is accorded a particularly high level of priority. Those actions and projects which imperil the supply of water or divert the natural flow of water are viewed as especially heinous.

Sect members adamantly oppose the idea that human beings occupy some special position apart from the rest of the animal kingdom in the eyes of God. To that end, they have drawn up a pair of opposing lists: That Which is Uniquely Human and That Which is Not Uniquely Human (see Canon)