February 6, 2009

Choose your God wisely

Around 2,750 B.C.E., in Babylonia, as the world’s earliest

Civilization was just arising, people’s gods helped

Them accept their inevitable mortal fate as humans.

Thus, when the young, half-divine King Gilgamesh,

Afraid of death after his friend’s untimely demise,

Sets out to find Uta-napishti, the immortal sole survivor

Of a great flood (the Deluge), so as to obtain for himself

The secret to eternal life, he is humbled and thwarted.

At the boundary between the world of mortals and

The eternal realm of Uta-napishti, Shiduri, goddess

Of wisdom, warns Gilgamesh:

“The life that you seek, you never will find.

When the gods created mankind,

Death they dispensed to mankind.

Life they kept for themselves.”

Later, Uta-napishti himself echoes Shiduri’s message.

After a long journey full of trials, Gilgamesh recognizes

The futility of his quest for transcendence. He returns

To his home, in Uruk, re-awaked to life in the here and now:

“He came a far road, was weary, found peace.”

The unity of humans and nature is fundamental and

Inescapable. Celebrate the life that you do have – its

Joys, its losses, its wonder, and its limitations, including

The limitation of death. Hope is immanent in life itself.

Two and a half millennia later, in 250 B.C.E., the Epic of King

Gilgamesh would still be treasured, continuing to focus attention

On the only reality we have – that of the present moment.

Such was the spirit of first permanently settled human society.

(Noble 2005, summarized in Hall 2008a, pp. 1-2).

But around 1,750 B.C.E., about one millennium after King

Gilgamesh’s plea, the people of Israel opted for a new god.

Abraham, from Harran, Mesopotamia, patriarch of the

Israelites, hears a god who orders him to “Go forth!” –

Leave your home, and I promise you great things.

God would bless Abraham and his tribe, make them

Be respected, and give them power over others:

“Go forth from your native land,

And from your father’s home,

To a land that I will show you.

I will make of you a great nation,

Bless you, and make great your name,

That it may be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

And curse those who curse you.

And through you, shall bless themselves

All the communities on earth.”

Abraham accepts the bargain. He takes leave of all

He knows as a native in an advanced civilization,

And, as a stranger in other lands, wanders blindly

Toward a destination both unknown and unknowable.

The attention of humans has shifted from the present

To the future – the Promise. More subtly, a force

Outside human agency now controls human history.

The new god, not humans, will guide human destiny.

Eventually, the promise would include a “Promised Land,”

Understood either concretely, as divine land, or, as by Christians,

A “Heaven” – a transcendental, divine space. Eventually

Also, anyone with sufficient faith, could be among the chosen.

Henceforth, hope would reside not in life, but in the Promise.

(Noble 2005, summarized in Hall 2008a, pp. 3-8)

Today, nearly four millennia after Abraham’s travels,

His new god holds sway over Western Civilization,

And it is increasingly dominating all of humanity.

In 2009, giving his inaugural address,

President Barack Obama, of the United States,

Like Abraham, feels called upon by God:

We are chosen:

“This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.”

Our Ancestors set forth:

“For us [our ancestors] packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life . . . This is the journey we continue today.”

We are blessed:

“Let it be said . . . that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter, and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

“God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.”

Time leads to the “Promised Land”:

“The time has come . . . to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation – the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to purse their full measure of happiness . . . The risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things . . . have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”

“We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth.”

“So let us mark this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled.”

(Hall 2008b, p. 59)

Ah!, but here is the rub. It is not only in Abraham’s god that

We trust, it is also in a whole set of other disembodied

Abstractions, reified concepts divorced from their roots in

Place, time and social life. Interpreting these as transcendental

Holders of the Promise, we assume that they have power over

Our destiny and defer to them. A vicious cycle is established.

The more we defer, the more indeed they control us. Ethereal

And undefined, these ideas seem vehicles for the promise to

Make our lives better – perhaps even, if we have enough faith,

Make us almost immortal, almost omnipotent, almost omniscient.

We look at human affairs as partly controlled by

Forces outside human intention and consciousness.

Our faith is in god-surrogates, not in other humans.

A few examples of where we put our faith:

“Technology”:

President Barack Obama, 2009:

“We will . . . wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories” (Obama 2009, Inaugural Speech, quoted in Hall 2008b, p. 60).

Harvard University Biologist, Edward O. Wilson, 2002:

“Science and technology, combined with a lack of self-understanding and a Paleolithic obstinacy, brought us to where we are today. Now science and technology, combined with foresight and moral courage, must see us through the bottleneck [of population growth and limited resources] and out” (Wilson 2002, p. 22).

“A growing Economy”:

President Barack Obama, 2009:

“The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth” (Obama 2009, Inaugural Speech, quoted in Hall 2008b, p. 60).

Doug Henwood, Editor of the Left Business Observer, 2009:

“We need to invest for the long term, in ways that can really transform the American economy and lay the groundwork for a future form of healthy growth, [invest] in something that would not only help save life on the planet but would actually create new industries and with it, the possibility of generating some serious, long-term economic growth” (Henwood 2009).

“The Market”:

Economist Adam Smith, 1776:

“By directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, [the individual] intends only his own gain, and in this, as in many other cases, he is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention” (Adam Smith 1776, quoted in Hall 2008b, p. 35).

President Barack Obama, 2009:

“The power [of the market] to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched . . . ”

“. . . but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control – that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous” (Obama 2009, Inaugural Speech, quoted in Hall 2008b, p. 60).

“Science”:

The American Heart Association, 2008:

As of 2008, the American Heart Association had bestowed its “heart-healthy” seal of approval on such edible food-like substances as Lucky Charms cereal, Cocoa Puffs cereal, Trix cereal, Yoo-hoo lite chocolate drink, and Healthy Choice’s Premium Caramel Swirl Ice Cream Sandwich (Pollan 2008, p. 156).

The United States Food Industry, 2008:

As of 2008, in the United States, 17,000 new food-like products were being marketed every year (Pollan 2008, pp. 133 and 147).

The United States Chemical Industry, 2006:

As of 2006, in the United States, 90,000 industrial chemicals were being marketed without restrictions – 85,000 of these never having been tested for harmful effects (Cox 2008, p. 151. Schwartz-Nobel 2007, p. xviii).

Other ideas, suitably de-contextualized, similarly assume

The function of autonomous forces inevitably carrying us

Toward a (materialistic) Millennium. Adam Smith’s

“Invisible Hand of the Market” is only one of many.

“The March of Civilization,” “Free Trade,” “Development,”

“Globalization,” “Progress,” “Modernization,” “Innovation,”

“The Laws of Economics,” all are conveyer belts to redemption.

This, while

Humanity is even now exceeding its ecological limits by 39 percent (Redefining Progress 2006-2008, summarized in Hall 2008b, p. 41),

60 percent of the planetary ecosystems are being degraded or used unsustainably (United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005, summarized in Hall 2008b, p. 41),

By the year 2100, high global temperatures will cause a 30 percent decline in primary food crops, engendering food shortages in areas now home to half the world’s population – not even taking into account the decreased water availability due to these high temperatures (Battisti et al 2009, summarized in NewsFeedResearcher 2009, pp. 1-3),

During the past 50 years, human activity has shifted the Earth’s cycle of seasons to two days earlier (Stine et al 2009, summarized in Eurekalert 2009, p. 1),

The Living Planet Index, a measure of the Earth’s biodiversity, is declining at the rate of 3 percent a year – a halving of the planet’s biodiversity every 24 years (Wilson 2002, p. 42. Hall 2006, p. 31),

The loss of forest during the past 50 years is one of the most profound and rapid environmental changes in the history of the planet (Wilson 2002, p. 58),

Humanity is now appropriating 40 percent of the planet’s organic matter produced by green plants (Wilson 2002, p. 33),

One quarter of the world’s mammals and birds are threatened with extinction (Heinberg 2007, p. 110),

During our lifetime, humanity will have used half of the planet’s non-renewable resources (Heinberg 2007, p. 159),

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, are at the highest level recorded during the 400,000-year span for which estimates can be made. Throughout this span, carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere and temperature on the surface of the planet have fluctuated in lockstep manner (Wilson 2002, p. 67),

In order to preserve a planet similar to that to which life has adapted and on which civilization has developed, humanity must forthwith decrease atmospheric carbon dioxide from the current 385 parts per million to a maximum of 350 parts per million (Hansen et al 2008, pp. 217-231),

If it is to live on its fair share of the Earth’s bio-capacity, the United States must decrease its footprint by 86 percent – this is a 4 percent decrease per year for 40 consecutive years (Cox 2008, summarized in Hall 2008b, pp. 42 and 53),

In Western United States, global warming is causing old-growth forest trees to die at twice the rate they were dying 20 years ago. The high tree mortality threatens to turn old-growth forests from carbon sinks into carbon sources (United States Geological Survey 2009, summarized in the Washingtonpost.com 2009, p. 1).

It is time to stop hoping for the Promise.

Only devastation is on the horizon.

We must re-take control of our destiny –

Ours and that of our Earthling-mates.

Loka anandah samadhi sukham

(One self-aware person gives bliss to the whole universe)

[Vasugupta (860-925 C.E.)].

References

Battisti, David et al, 2009. Published in Science, January 9. Summarized in NewsFeedResearcher, 2009. “Study warns of dire overheating of Crops, Food Crisis by 2100.” January 9. The study was done by scientists at the University of Washington and Stanford University. Battisti is at the University of Washington. The area studied includes all of Africa, from southern United States to southern Brazil and northern Argentina, and from northern India-southern China to southern Australia. This area is currently inhabited by 3 billion people – half the world’s population. (The study was also summarized in Free Speech Radio News, January 23, 2009).

http://www.newsfeedresearcher.com/data/article. Accessed February 6, 2009.

Cox, Stan. 2008. Sick planet – corporate food and medicine. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto.

Hall, Francoise,

2006. “Our physical Environment, our Capacity to understand, our Morality, and our Spirituality.” November 24 (95 pages, unpublished).

2008a. “The Myth behind corporate Globalization.” June 1 (58 pages, unpublished). This is based on David Noble. 2005. Beyond the Promised Land – the movement and the myth. Toronto, ON, Canada: Between the Lines.

2008b. “Capitalism – the Poverty-culprit and the Eco-culprit.” December 30 (67 pages, unpublished). This is based on Stan Cox. 2008. Sick planet – corporate food and medicine. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto.

Hansen, James et al, 2008. “Target atmospheric Carbon dioxide – Where should Humanity aim?” Open Atmospheric Science Journal, Vol. 2 (October 15).

http://arxiv.org/abs/0804.1126. Accessed February 8, 2009.

Heinberg, Richard. 2007. Peak everything – waking up to the century of declines. Gabriola Island, B.C., Canada: New Society.

Henwood, David, 2009. Interview, Free Speech Radio News. January 23.

http://www.fsrn.org.

Pollan, Michael. 2008. In defense of food – an eater’s manifesto. New York, N.Y.: Penguin.

Schwartz-Nobel, Loretta. 2007. Poisoned nation – pollution, greed, and the rise of deadly epidemics. New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s.

Stine, Alexander et al, 2009. Published in Nature, January 22. Summarized in Eurekalert, 2009. “Earth’s Seasons now arrive 2 Days earlier, UC Berkeley, Harvard Researchers report – Summer’s Peak Temperature and Winter’s extreme Low have shifted with the Cycle of Seasons.” January 21. The study was done by scientists from the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. (The study was also broadcast by Free Speech Radio News, January 23, 2009).

Eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-01/uoc—esn012009.php. Accessed February 6, 2009.

United States Geological Survey (USGS), 2009. Published in Science, January 22. Summarized in

Washingtonpost.com, 2009. “Old-growth Forests dying off in U.S. West. January 22. (Steven Reinberg). The areas studied were 76 forest stands, each 200 or more years old, in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Southwest British Columbia, Canada. (The study was also broadcast by Free Speech Radio News, January 23, 2009).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/22/AR.html. Accessed February 6, 2009.

Vasugupta (860-925 C.E.). This is Shiva Sutra No. 1.18. The Shiva Sutras (Aphorisms of Shiva), consist of a collection of 78 aphorisms which would provide the foundation for the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism spiritual mysticism. They are attributed to the sage Vasugupta, a resident of Kashmir, who, according to one legend, saw the aphorisms (sutras) in a lucid dream (knew them by direct realization). The Sutras reiterate the Vedic view of consciousness.

http://www.beezone.com/SivaSutras/sivasutras.htm. Updated July 22, 1997. Accessed February 8, 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_Sutras_ of_Vasugupta. Updated November 15, 2008. Accessed February 8, 2009.

Wilson, Edward O. 2002. The future of life. New York, N.Y.: Random House/Vintage.

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