Heads up: this post isn't about Australia or about living in Brisbane. It's about creation and humanity and possibly God too.So the internet is all a'buzz about the "impending Rapture" (7 hours and counting here in Australia!). Who's going, who's staying, who's partying, who's looting. I don't subscribe to the brand of Christianity that waits for a Rapture. I think the Kingdom of God is already here whenever a heart re-connects to the Divine and remembers its essential holy nature.
I was also listening to some podcasts yesterday (they're my reward for a long week of work) about creation and evolution and vegetarianism and the planet and love and all that happy hoo-hoo. I found myself reflecting on an essential conflict in the way we view our role in this creation -- are we a natural part of the creation (just like trees and the oceans and baby seals) or are we a separate thing from the natural world?
The thing that makes me sigh is this:
"Environmentalists" (at their extreme) treat humans as a parasite upon the perfection of creation. They treat humans as not an equal part of creation with everything else. They treat humans as separate from creation.
Those "humans uber alles" types (often religious, also often in the extreme) do the same thing. There's creation and then there's us standing on top of it (probably with our hands on our hips, chest out, and maybe a superhero cape a'flutter behind us), master of all, with "dominion" over everything. We and creation are two separate things, in opposition to each other.They posssess the same worldview -- separation between creation and humanity -- for different reasons but with similar results: they're not getting anywhere productive with the rest of us.
What if -- and I know it's a stretch for some people -- we're only a part of creation? After all, we're made from the same storehouse of raw materials as the stars and dandelions and the platypus. We're just another mammal. We're not on the top, we're not on the bottom, and we're not a tick attached to the ass of Mother Nature. We're equals with all the rest of it (even the dandelions).
It's an integrated whole. We consume resources, as does every other part of creation. We kill things, as do many other parts of creation. We create waste, as do most processes. We're self-centered, as is the rest of creation (what, you think the bears are worried about the destiny of the salmon?).Can we be permitted to love creation without hating ourselves? Can we honor ourselves without demeaning creation? Does it always have to be hierarchical -- one better, one worse; one on top, one underfoot?
If there's no God and creation occurred out of some natural explosive process, then we're a right and proper part of that. If there's a God and it's all an extension of His will and desire, then we belong here too. Either way, there's no separation.
OK, what about all the "destruction" we've wrought? We create havoc and destruction because we think we're separate from creation. Blame who you want but when you understand yourself as part of the whole, it's a lot harder to f**k it up.
But first, the two (or more) sides to the debates about creation need to quit setting humanity apart. Us and the ducks (and dirt and seaweed and and lichen) are in it together.
And that's what we need to be teaching and we need to be learning. Nothing good, productive, or useful has ever come from self-hate or self-aggrandizement. Until the two sides get there, we're not going anywhere useful.
I like this column a lot kiddo, and I agree with you. I do try to think about my choices in the context of the whole a fair amount. Sometimes I don't because I am human.
ReplyDeleteYou know that some people talk about human imperfection and nature's "perfection" so let's drop that too. We are all just part of a messy whole and let's try to do the best we can. Let's also not assign blame, stupidity or perfection to the acts of other creatures. Let's try to be more open to trying to understand their communication, because they are all communicating!