Religious belief can be a marvelous thing, It can give strength in times of trouble, comfort in times of grief, and direction in times of confusion.
It can also be the source of unspeakable hubris.
My own beliefs do not hew to the traditional, although I am convinced that what we see in the here and now is only a minuscule portion of a much greater reality. I do not believe that we are a species specially favoured by God, nor do I subscribe to the anthropomorphic notion of deity. I do believe that we live in a universe of potential, a potential expressed through the mechanism of evolution which I see as an ultimate expression of the transcendent. Sadly, it seems we have squandered that potential.
No one can know the ultimate truth, but it is those who claim such knowledge that I regard as especially dangerous. Those who see humanity as the supreme expression of creation often fail to approach that belief with humility, instead embracing a hubris suggesting that our 'dominion' (not stewardship) over the rest of nature comes with special entitlements. Consider where that has gotten us: wars, crusades, jihads, genocides, environmental degradation and destruction, overpopulation and climate change.
All of which calls for a reality check. And who better to provide it than the late, great George Carlin, an unsparing critic of arrogance, entitlement and presumption. His take on the Earth is both sobering and instructive, and should give the smug some pause, if only they come down from their certitude. I especially like his reflection on our serendipitous appearance and development on this planet.
If you are pressed for time, I recommend especially the insghts Carlin offers in the first five minutes of the following:
Years ago Lovelock used his Gaia hypothesis to depict humankind as a virus or bacterial infection. As our numbers expanded, the Earth sickened and then developed a fever, a heating, that killed off the pestilence, us.
ReplyDeleteJudeo-Christian tradition taught us that humans have dominion over the Earth and all its creatures, that God created them specifically for us, our comfort and enjoyment. Look where that notion has brought us.
We have now grown the economy far beyond the limits of our environment, our biosphere. We have defied ecological gravity through some amazingly sophisticated conjuring tricks, starting with the Green Revolution, that are now failing us to the point where we're warned there is about 60-years of arable farmland remaining to us. Sixty years.
I am reminded of a terrible, grainy, black and white news film shot in the 30s. A US Navy dirigible was landing. Sailors streamed out to grab the mooring lines. A gust of wind sent the airship skyward. Most of the sailors released the lines but a handful clung on until they were too high to survive the fall. One by one they slipped off the lines. Is that the fate we've bequeathed to the generations that will follow us?
As I have indicated before, Mound, I am both pessimistic about the future and disgusted the way we, as a species, have ruined things and will take no instruction on how to mitigate (if indeed that is still possible) the damage we have done. When or if our species dies off, somehow I don't think, in the greater scheme of things, it will be that big a loss at all.
DeleteMalthus spoke only the rational truth it seems. Not that the concept was hard to figure out because I did before I ever heard of the man. And surely I wasn't the only one.
ReplyDeleteSo it was obvious to me at age 13 even as we learned about the Green Revolution and how we'd beaten the odds through the power of chemistry.
All we did was stave off the end for a while, allowing ever more people in a semi-starved state to enjoy the act of procreation until there was no room nor sustenance for anyone or anything anymore.
BM
An accurate assessment of the our collective shortsightedness, BM. I am also reminded of how so much of the world was appalled by China's 'one-child' policy. Nowadays, it seems especially prescient.
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