Renewable Revolution

Letter to a Gaia Person

The Biosphere: A SACRED TRUST

August of 2013

WHD, a Gaia person, wrote to Agelbert the following:

You exemplify what humans are capable of. As does Ashvin. It is mostly the latter that I spar with, and I do so because I believe what I say to be true to myself, that I have faith that it is true, and to offer an alternative viewpoint.

WHD

Thank you, WHD.

There is much good in humanity. Ashvin (a fellow Christian) and I may not put a lot of emphasis on that    but there is altogether way too much evidence that we, as a species, are seriously out of whack with the biosphere. We think it's original sin. I have no idea if the "Eve eating the fruit" thing was a metaphor, analogy, or whatever. I guess I'm not a fundy in that respect. I believe that the biosphere is a sacred trust. I believe it is a fallen biosphere and understand and respect the fact that you don't.

As far as Homo SAP is concerned, I zero in on selfishness and the behavioral science observation that human children are greedy by nature and must be trained to see the benefits of cooperation and altruism. This is not a religious or faith based view by behavioral sciences.

My explanation for this is a fallen nature of which selfishness is just one (though I do think it's the biggy) part of a larger picture.

This is offensive to you because you feel the answer to mankind's disharmony with the biosphere and his fellows is to respect the land as sacred.

But if there is no god and we are simply rogue elements of gaia's immune system giving gaia a form of AIDS by our planetary toxification, it is illogical to expect us to even grasp the meaning of the word "sacred", never mind enabling us to humbly accept that we are only truly functional as tiny symbiotic organisms on a planetary entity.

1. We are big trouble for each other and the biosphere.

2. We MUST revere the biosphere as a sacred trust if we are to function as we were designed to.

3. God designed us that way but somewhere along the way we gave God the finger which resulted in our fallen nature.

4. In our present state, we need God to keep us from extending that "finger" to our fellows and everything around us resulting in our extinction.

5. You feel that requires submitting to a God figure that you don't owe a thing to and that is tied to patriarchal oppression of women, nonsensical ritual and this silly idea that you are doomed without God's intercession to lift you out of the rut of perpetual sin and disharmony from God's garden.

But can we agree that, beyond the obvious "Gaia feeds me so I must tend to what provides for me" stomach pleasing logic of a self aware, selfish being, pretending the land in particular or the biosphere in general is sacred is practically impossible?

If not, please analyze the concept of sacredness and you will see that it is a term associated with something or someone superior to you in every respect; something that requires that you humble yourself before it.

I believe God is sacred. His communication to us may be a bit distorted by our fallen nature but without Him, there is no chance that mankind (as a whole - regardless of the great work of permaculturists like yourself) can live in harmony with nature because of our fallen nature.

We can argue about original sin, the concept of "sin", how did it all begin, why doesn't God get off His fat ass and fix it if He really exists, why is there so much evil in religions if He is behind creating them, etc., but the problem of Homo SAP's violence towards his fellows and the biosphere continues unabated.

Behavioral science has, if anything, made things WORSE by claiming the "selfish gene" gives Homo SAP and "evolutionary advantage". BALONEY!

Science tells us we are fouling our nest and we are doing it because we are so SMART!!?

God tells us we are fouling our nest because we have a fallen nature.

IMHO, only by humbling ourselves before God, accepting we are sinners and doomed to trash the place (and each other) because of our fallen nature and seeking salvation can we learn to RESPECT the biosphere as a SACRED trust.

I just don't see how you can get people to consider the biosphere and this planet as SACRED (a necessary condition for us to be symbiotic with nature) any other way.

God has power over us. Gaia is in subjection to us. What has mankind ever done with something he has in subjection except treat it/they as a slave to ravage at his perverse, selfish, egocentric pleasure? 

sa·cred  adj.

1.  Dedicated to or set apart for the worship of a deity.

2.  Worthy of religious veneration: the sacred teachings of the Buddha.

3.  Made or declared holy: sacred bread and wine.

4.  Dedicated or devoted exclusively to a single use, purpose, or person: sacred to the memory of her sister; a private office sacred to the President.

5.  Worthy of respect; venerable.

6.  Of or relating to religious objects, rites, or practices.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sacred

Self centered, egocentric, selfish beings will never consider anything SACRED but THEMSEVES.