Sunday, 28 June 2009

Eco-humanism?

If humans have a spiritual core that demands satisfaction in one way or another, how is that core fed at the moment? In the UK the Christian religion seems to be in decline, and though Islam is on the rise it has not yet attained the poition of majority faith. Consumerism was invented in the 1950's by Lebow; he called for the linear of buy-consume-discard to become a ritual. Perhaps consumerism has fed our sprituality in recent decades, but its requirement that the process must go on for ever in orrder to be a market for new production, has meant that it has not and cannot satisfy humanity. "I never realised Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday - what a coincidence!"; this syndrome is resulting in difficulty in understanding our history, art and literature as it is replaced by Lebow's religion. Perhaps the credit crunch is leading to some extent to people realising their need for spirituality and the hollowness of Lebowanism. Perhaps a new eco-ethical humanism can oust consumerism. Perhaps also the old religions could never both satisfy human spirituality and achieve a just sustainability, because they are about worshiping a god or gods over and above the adoration of nature and humanity.

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