Self-sacrifice is the key to saving planet
YOU often see banners reading “climate change, systems change” meaning that, to seriously tackle climate change (or chaos) and its ominous threat to life on earth, we must embrace fundamental systems (or lifestyle) change. That is, serious analysis and positive proposals for change must include study of life’s RPC&G: religion, politics, constitution and governance.
Forever a preacher, I’ve often
advised youngsters that their religion should be what they wish as their long-term vision (1,000 years ahead, maybe) of human life on this planet. A thorough study of all world religions shows that, apart from any worship related to personalised idolatry and its assumption of god(s) in human form, nearly all religions are based on, and promote, the idea of self-sacrifice and material poverty to harmonise with nature and others as our ultimate way of life.
In this, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, etc, are all classic examples, via the Sermon on the Mount (blest are the poor, woe betide the rich), seeking ‘Nirvana’ or ‘nature’s way’, and Islamic Ramadan’s fasting.
The obvious ‘big question’ is: how on earth did we let global and national capitalism, based much upon greed and self-indulgence, make the public-private (or leftright) divide become so heavily in the lap of private/individual wealth and obscene inequality?
So our big green aim – to answer the vital big question of how to save ourselves and life on this planet from looming climate and ecological catastrophe – is simple: reduction, reduction, reduction – the first ‘R’ of the infamous 3Rs that came from the first Earth Summit in Rio 1992 and its Local Agenda 21.
Yet all we hear from this capitalistdriven Government, and even some ‘supposed’ socialist opposition, is a never-ending thirst for more, more, more – more growth, more jobs, more prosperity... even endless ‘Green’ growth! This anti-religious death wish for humanity must stop right now before it’s too late.
Politics is the short-term (one to 10 years, maybe) year-to-year struggle along the so-called tunnel of life, to try to achieve gains towards your religious ‘utopia’, but in both religion and politics it must be remembered that real daily action in self-sacrificial achievement always speaks louder than fanatical worship of personalised idols.
Alan Debenham
Taunton, Somerset