For Survival of Planet Earth

There are inherent values to guide human behavior that are essential for human survival on planet earth.

That is a strong sweeping statement.  I wish to unpack it . . . notice there is no mention of God in the statement.  It does not mean that God has been rejected or left out; it means the statement is applicable whether or not one holds a belief in God.

First let me make a statement about God, as I understand it.  When you think about a consciousness (God) that created life, the world and this vast wondrous universe you necessarily realize it is so beyond our capacity to grasp that you have to know that no group of people—no church, no nation; not theologians nor agnostics--can define or explain the phenomenon, so those insisting they know all the answers and have the right formula are wrong.

From that starting point, I say we can take some tentative steps toward recognizing what a creator (if there was one) who brought forth this beautiful delicately balanced world and life, would want from those creatures displaying the marvelous human quality of reflective awareness (reasoning).  It would surely be to appreciate the wonder and continue to create and flourish, not destroy it all.

Next statement I would make concerns inherent values . . . every society since the beginning of time—no, rather let me say since the beginning of reflective awareness—has looked beyond the immediate seeking answers.  Answers to ‘what is the best way to capture the game?’  ‘How should we protect ourselves?’  And ‘what is out there bringing this all about?’  They come to different answers but the quest is universal.  The desire to know and to understand is simply a part of being human.  In that desire to know and understand, if we look, we will find ways of being that support life and ways that oppose it.

Once we didn’t know how to extend communication beyond speech and writing; now we have phones and computers to instantly convey information.

Once we had only horses, oxen, elephants and camels to transport our goods and us; now we have cars, trains and planes for that.

Once we gave consideration to only ourselves, our family and our nation to prosper; but now we must look beyond that and realize we are one world and we have the ability to destroy it . . . and our lack of foresight has allowed that to become a real threat.

We have thus far ignored looking deeply into ethics and values, but now it is incumbent upon us if we are to avoid self-destruction.

About 125 years ago all the world religions began to dialogue, seeking a common core of values. In 1993 The Parliament of World’s Religions, after years of work, produced the document Toward a Global Ethic that was signed by 200 representatives of all world religions.  That document has been translated into nearly all languages and is available on the Internet.

The fact that all religions could come to an agreement, looking beyond their differences and see that we are all interconnected by common values is amazing!  Our humanness is supported by shared inherent values recognizable by our reflective awareness.

The 5 fundamental ethical demands are:

1.    Commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life.

2.    Commitment to a culture of solidarity and just economic order

3.    Commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truth

4.    Commitment to a culture of equal rights for all races and genders

5.    Commitment to a culture of sustainability and care for the earth

Only when we come to recognize the truth and necessity of these principles can we step back from the impending disaster we are now faced with.

If there is a God (and I believe there is) I think that God would care less about how people pray or if they pray at all, so much as about how they live their lives in accordance to a moral and ethical order, how they cared for and sustained this wonderful life-giving planet, and how they finally learned to love their neighbor as themselves.

I encourage readers to search the Web for Toward a Global Ethic.

Of Human Progress

There is meaning to life.  Throughout time consciousness is expanding toward a goal and humanity is progressing.  Most human progress is so gradual it goes unnoticed in day-to-day affairs.   Some even argue there is no progress—but if we make it a point to look carefully at where we are now as compared to where we have been the picture changes.

Let’s begin with considering that in primitive man, the earliest signs of awareness and consciousness were directed toward nature and survival.  His identity was not personal but rather as part of a tribe or clan wherein all outsiders were considered ‘enemy’.  At what point was there a growing longing for ‘something more’?  We can’t see back that far but get hints from stories and myths carried forward in the oral tradition (such as Gilgamesh and various Creation stories). 

Then a phenomenon occurred during the first millennium BCE, roughly between 800-200 BC, there was a change in human consciousness throughout most of the inhabited world.  It was the period of time in which rigid and closed tribalism gave way to dynamic human interaction that became civilization as we know it.  That period is now called the Axial Age, so named by the philosopher Karl Jasper in 1870 as that period represents a pivotal change in human thought with the birth of philosophy and all major religions.  Jasper wrote: “The spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently in China, India, Persia, Judea and Greece.  And these are the foundations upon which humanity still subsists today.”

That in itself seems curious . . . there was no intercommunication between these remote areas, yet it was almost as if it were ‘time for humanity to wake up’.  What caused the awakening? . . . the seed to break out of its shell, the butterfly to emerge from its chrysalis? . . . Clearly the time had arrived!  Was it the invisible hand of God guiding humanity to the next step needed for civilization to emerge?  Or was it simply what was required by the circumstances of having become more densely packed?  Or was it individual persons thinking more deeply about the ‘something’ of their longing?  Or was it all of that together?  Whatever the forces at work, it happened; there was a consciousness change that brought deep questions, a searching for meaning and the discovery of selfhood apart from ‘tribe’.

Now, lets look at what might be considered human progress.  It is easy to acknowledge technological advances—things that didn’t exist but once discovered changed humanity and the world:  the humble loom, printing press, steam engines, the sewing machine, electricity, telegraph & telephone, airplane, computer . . . all introduced by the human.

Those are things produced by human ingenuity and are readily accepted as examples of progress because of the direct benefit they give.  The human progress is less obvious, moves at a slower pace and is resisted because it comes at a cost and demands change.  But we can chart its progress:  Where there was once unrestrained use of brute force to overpower neighboring territories to rape and plunder and lay claim . . . that mitigated to a less obvious conquest mentality of explorers planting a national flag and ‘claiming’ a newly discovered ‘primitive lands’, pushing back or enslaving the natives . . . which changed again with developed nations ‘colonizing’ territories, treating the natives a bit more kindly and ‘civilizing’ them while harvesting whatever valuable resources the land had to offer (not exactly embracing humanitarian compassion but baby steps to ‘less cruel’) . . . and now, colonization is frowned upon and technically abandoned in the 20^th Century—the increasing respect for human rights shows advancement.

Social change is slow and hard fought but when evaluated through the eye of justice, and given time, we come to the right conclusion.  Slavery was an institution since the beginning of time, yet in the mid-1800, following a bloody war it was finally acknowledged by society that slavery was incompatible with civilization.  That view, however, did not extend to discrimination which took another 100 years to reach public awareness as unjust and was overthrown without violence by way of peace marches led by Martin Luther King Jr.  There is so much more yet to be done but this gives evidence to humanity’s progress.  In one of Dr. King’s inspiring speeches he spoke these words:  “The Arc of the Moral Universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  That is the nature of human progress—humankind choosing to move toward Justice, Truth and Love is the expansion of consciousness.

Other examples:

            --endorsing education for all, not just the privileged

            -- realizing an obligation to care for the sick and wounded

            -- philanthropic concern for those in need

            --the UN formulating the Declaration of Human Rights

            -- using diplomacy and striving to end war

These give evidence to human progress—to become less cruel and more compassionate, to move toward positive values . . . it will never be complete and never absolute but progress is measured by humans collectively choosing for the good.

The God We Need

In my previous entry here (America in Crisis 7/16/17) I began with the statement: “We need God”, and went on to say: “not as interpreted by specific religions”.  That is not to suggest institutional religions are without value, for institutions are a necessary part of civilization.  All institutions are human constructs, bringing frameworks of order to society.  “Religion” is the name given to the larger category of ways that focus on how we are to relate to God.  Each specific religion has designated ways to worship involving rules and demands.

God does not demand, God only invites—as Jesus demonstrated.  God is beyond human comprehension, yet so often religions assume to know the unknowable.  A ‘god concept’ symbolizes our unknowing; a formless nameless way that leaves institutional demands behind and is focused on those qualities we believe to be ‘of God’ as we understand God to be.  We have come to believe God’s qualities to be Truth, Justice, Compassion, Mercy, Love and all goodness.  That is the God we need.

In a prior entry here (God Search 6/28/17) I wrote of humankind’s insatiable desire for ‘something more’.  We need hope we need purpose and meaning.  A god concept carries the highest values we wish to embody.  We need reminding of them.  Without a means of calling those values to mind, they recede from our awareness.  As a nation we have retreated not only from religion, but also from our fundamental values.  In stepping back from involving God in our daily lives we’ve lost sight of truth, honesty, compassion and goodness.

Our last election process was an embarrassment of insults, lies and slanderous innuendoes—for the most part we didn’t raise objections, we just shrugged and looked the other way. 

We’ve made a collective mistake in backing away from God and we are suffering the consequence by now finding our government in turmoil.

Honesty, integrity and sincerity should be the first consideration when selecting a president.  Without taking into account principles of Truth and Justice to guide us, we chose as candidate and then elected a monumentally unqualified man to lead the country—the one who shouted the loudest!  The issue is not about the party he belongs to but about the character of the individual.  His dishonesty, lack of integrity and excess egotism were on display throughout the campaign and yet he was elected.

This crisis is not just about our government it is about our souls.

From my first blog entry of 8/19/13 here are the final lines from my poem

                                                                ‘Un-named God’

- - -

But you are the un-named God

The soul-giver

I know you by your absence

When we turn from you

We dispossess our souls

soon to discover

             we are the hollow men.

Without you we cannot save ourselves

                                             from ourselves.

  Only in your presence do we partake of the mystery,

                                        Only in your presence do we reach beyond ourselves,
                                        Only in your presence do we find fulfillment .

America in Crisis

What is my bottom line?  What is it that I will continue to defend after all else fails?  It is the simple statement: ‘We need God.’  I’ve heard it said that if there wasn’t a God, we’d have to create one.

We need God, not as interpreted by specific religions which are often overlaid with human images that serve their own advantage, but the fundamental ‘god concept’ that points to the values of goodness, truth and moral order—without that we cannot build a just world.

In searching to understand life we often rely on symbols to relay complex concepts.  Symbols reach beyond the limits of words, going deeper into the unconscious; their disavowal can damage the psyche.  The Statue of Liberty speaks to us of America, a flag identifies a nation, and a god concept—the symbol for a God beyond our knowing—represents ultimate values. 

When America’s founding fathers were forming this nation they freely spoke of God; even our money carries the motto ‘in God we trust’.  Sometime in the 20^th Century we began to retreat form associating with God.  In today’s world we are prohibited from praying in schools or public assemblies and visual references to God have been removed (i.e. the 10 Commandments in courtrooms and Christmas nativity scenes on public greens).  That sends the message—intended or not—that ‘things of God are to be avoided’.  By outlawing references to God we have lost sight of the positive values that a god concept represents, so our children grow up without a frame of reference focused on the good, the right, the just and moral values.

Turn back to the statement ‘if there wasn’t a God we’d have to create one’—isn’t that what we’re doing in our pursuit of human rights?  We (but not all) have thus far recognized that we must abolish slavery; grant full personhood to all apart from race, gender, creed etc.; we also recognize that the sick and injured are to be cared for, not ‘abandoned to fate’; that education be available to all; and those in need be helped to find the way to self-sufficiency . . . these humanitarian concerns arise from what has always been of concern to religions in their seeking for God, these choices are examples of the god concept at work—freed from the limitations of individual denominational restrictions.  We recognize them as core values.  In effect, as we accept them, we are ‘creating God’ within ourselves—and God is OK with that!

With this last election our nation has taken a backward step to further retreat from God.  If we look we can see a major turn has occurred, away from humanitarian concerns, toward corporate interests.  I understand that economics, industrial and national interests also require attention, but not ‘instead of’, ‘more than’ and ‘at the expense of’ humanitarian concerns.  And so many of Trump’s executive actions have more the flavor of vengefulness than concern for public welfare, especially withdrawing from the Paris Accord and canceling the clean air act.

In this backward step, another danger has surfaced.  The current political entanglements involving Russian meddling in our election process is not a ‘small thing’, a ‘nothing’ to be swept under the rug so we can go on to ‘real problems’—this is a major crisis America faces.  There is something very wrong here when our election process is under attack, and this administration sees no cause for alarm!

This Friday (7/14/17) I watched The News Hour on PBS.  In the discussions they touched on several issues including the administration’s disparaging of the US Intelligence agencies, their repeated attack on the news media accusing it of ‘fake news’, and the latest disclosures in Donald Trump Jr’s emails with focus on his utter disregard for the seriousness of the situation; he offers no apology, shows no regret, brushes it off as ‘nothing’ because ’nothing came of it’, gives no evidence of having overcome any scruples and sees nothing wrong.  This points to something sinister we saw earlier in the campaign when the drive to win obscured human decency.  I quote David Brooks (NY Times columnist) . . . “this is a zone beyond any ethical scruples, it all about winning.”  He also quoted someone whose name I didn’t catch, but I offer it as something to ponder: “If you make losing a sin, you make cheating a sacrament.”

If this is where we are, America is indeed in crisis.

A Voice To Be Heard

In the 1980’s Carol Gilligan, a professor at Harvard University, wrote a book titled: In a Different Voice.  The book made a lasting impression on me and inspired the poem that follows.  The book title points to the differences between how men and women encounter the world.  She noted that virtually all information “has implicitly adopted a male perspective as the norm”.  She calls for the inclusion of 'a different voice'.  Since that time efforts are made by some to include female references, but the mere inclusion of ‘she’ and ‘her’ misses the point.  The point is that throughout history, up until the 20^th century, even in developed countries, women were excluded.  They had no say in government or business; often no rights of ownership or inheritance; were excluded from higher education thus skilled occupations; and surely, all meaningful involvement in religious ritual was forbidden to women—save as passive recipient.

More than just a ‘place at the table’, Gilligan’s thesis is that women had no influence in shaping decisions that ruled their lives—their collective voice was silenced.  Nations were formed, laws were enacted, customs adopted, history written while for the most part women were invisible—even in the Bible only fathers were mentioned in lineage.  She makes a strong case for the fact that our development has been handicapped by silencing the voice of half of humanity.

Throughout the ages it has always been 'common sense’ that males and females see and explain life and the world differently—and too often women’s differentness has been judged as inferior and wrong.  Research in psychology affirms measurable differences between the sexes.  Studies of the play among young children show that boys are drawn to competition while girls more readily choose activities of cooperation.  Among adults given the task of solving a dilemma, the male approach is more legalistic and directed to finding an efficient solution.  A female approach is more global, taking into consideration surrounding circumstance and concern for the people who will be affected by the choice made.  Men mainly show concern for the ‘outside’ (the specific outcome) while women show equal concern for the ‘within’ (the relationships and feelings).

Each perspective emphasizes different values (what is thought to be of greater or lesser worth).  Value choices are not easily altered, there is resistance and denial.  In a one-dimensional world there are only two choices: yes or no, good or bad, right or wrong.  We no longer live in a flat world, we live in a multi-dimensional reality full of complexities—but old prejudices are hard to overcome.  Some voices urge us to hold on to them, but the day of white-male-supremacy is past.  Our world is in crisis; we must listen to all reasonable voices.  

* * *

HEAR ME

I am Woman, hear me oh Man!

You have intercourse with life from the outside,

            I from within.

You know only half of the reality that is

            --as do I.

Rigid and absolute, your aim is to impose and control;

Yielding and accommodating, mine is to accept and adapt.

You fear that I will limit your fecundity

            your self-serving pleasure pursuits

And so it is, for I seek compassion and understanding

            and protection for my vulnerability.

What you fail to know--for you know only half of reality--

            is that there is pleasure of a different kind as well as wisdom

            in my experience of life and living.

What you have demonstrated to me--for you have been in charge--

            is that your outside knowing, adventurous to be sure,

            is empty and meaningless without my insights!

You’ve insisted upon leading--your power and logic made it seem right--

            but narcissistically you fell in love with your own reflection

            and forgot to keep my voice alive with your love...

            instead, you asked of me only that I serve and service you

            --forgetting you know only half of reality.

Learn from me, not in a subservient way, but as an equal

            and we will both be enriched.

                                         - - -

Your vital virile outside knowing has changed the face of the earth

            you’ve built and discovered and re-created...

But without the within, it is all empty, hollow, meaningless

            --and above all infinitely dangerous!

You disdainfully dismiss what I have to contribute

My accomplishments seem mundanely simple and unimportant.

I cannot do what you have done

Your achievements are in fact glorious!

You infuse, you initiate, you achieve

            --but you also rape and plunder,

            immediate gratification and conquest is your goal.

Your arrogance is your curse

            because you won’t admit what you don’t know

            or can’t do alone.

You don’t nurture and sustain the developing potential

            you don’t watch and wait and hope for the promise to come

            --that is my task.

You know only half of the reality that is!

Would that you look at me...

            but you only glance at my form

Would that you listen to me...

            but you only scoff at my awarenesses

Would that you learn from me...

            but you only yawn at my wisdom.

Look at me and see me,

Listen to me and hear me,

Understand me and learn from me,

I am Woman, hear me oh Man