A Sermon
26 Nov '17 16:09Brothers and sisters, a mere two hundred years of industrial society has been sufficient to bring the world to the brink of ecological destruction. The signs of the coming apocalypse are everywhere to see: global warming, super storms, rising sea levels, droughts, enormous wildfires, pollution, habitat loss, accelerating species extinction, all coupled with an unsustainable human population growth. Indeed, the anthropocene is shaping up to an epoch of destruction not seen since the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. But there are two differences between that event and our current situation. The first is that we know it's coming. The second is that we have the ability to stop it from happening. At least in theory.
It seems abundantly clear, though, that mankind's major religions, which were founded by pre-industrial societies, are wholly incapable of addressing the looming crisis. They have done nothing to stem the tide of ecological destruction. It also seems clear that sweeping the old religions away in favor of an unfettered science isn't going to produce any better results. Science, as an amoral institution, has played a leading role in bringing us to the brink of ecological ruin. And as long as science continues to dance to the tune played by global capitalism, it will continue to facilitate that ongoing destruction. The false prophets of progress continually assure us that we will innovate our way out of the crisis, but their prophesies become more and more implausible with each passing year.
What is needed is a new religion. A religion that isn't continually at odds with science. A religion that meshes seamlessly with scientific knowledge, while steering science away from being the willing accomplice of ecological destruction. That religion, brothers and sisters, is pantheism. Only a religion that holds the universe, and especially the earth, to be sacred can provide the moral foundation to enable mankind to alter the destructive path to which global capitalism has hitherto bound us. Only pantheism can provide the moral underpinning for science to say not merely what can be done, but what ought to be done. Only pantheism can jolt us from our long slumber to realize that pollution, mountain top removal, fracking, and a host of other extractivist assaults upon the earth are all blasphemies that can no longer be tolerated. When that day arrives we can begin to alter our path away from the looming ecological apocalypse. But time is short, brothers and sisters. We need to quickly realize that what we do to the earth, we ultimately do to ourselves.
It seems abundantly clear, though, that mankind's major religions, which were founded by pre-industrial societies, are wholly incapable of addressing the looming crisis. They have done nothing to stem the tide of ecological destruction. It also seems clear that sweeping the old religions away in favor of an unfettered science isn't going to produce any better results. Science, as an amoral institution, has played a leading role in bringing us to the brink of ecological ruin. And as long as science continues to dance to the tune played by global capitalism, it will continue to facilitate that ongoing destruction. The false prophets of progress continually assure us that we will innovate our way out of the crisis, but their prophesies become more and more implausible with each passing year.
What is needed is a new religion. A religion that isn't continually at odds with science. A religion that meshes seamlessly with scientific knowledge, while steering science away from being the willing accomplice of ecological destruction. That religion, brothers and sisters, is pantheism. Only a religion that holds the universe, and especially the earth, to be sacred can provide the moral foundation to enable mankind to alter the destructive path to which global capitalism has hitherto bound us. Only pantheism can provide the moral underpinning for science to say not merely what can be done, but what ought to be done. Only pantheism can jolt us from our long slumber to realize that pollution, mountain top removal, fracking, and a host of other extractivist assaults upon the earth are all blasphemies that can no longer be tolerated. When that day arrives we can begin to alter our path away from the looming ecological apocalypse. But time is short, brothers and sisters. We need to quickly realize that what we do to the earth, we ultimately do to ourselves.
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