We live on an extremely improbable planet. No other planet in our solar system has the potential for sustaining life. None has water, supportive atmosphere, habitable temperatures, crust and other conditions in combination that might give rise even to primitive life. We have them all and more; a life-friendly habitat giving rise to life's masterpiece, mind.
Given the rarity of life-supportive planets, it is worth considering the wonderful, improbable combination of circumstances that surround us. That can be done by imagining our planet lacking those circumstances one at a time.
Imagine where we would be and how we would live: if trees had not evolved in the plant kingdom, if iron and other metals had not accumulated in convenient deposits, if carbon fuels had not accumulated in deposits, if the majority of microbes were pathogenic rather than innocuous or beneficial, if any element of the periodic table were far less abundant on earth or totally lacking or were much harder to get, if key elements lacked their properties, eg if calcium, carbonate and phosphate did not make such wonderful solids, if earth's surface weren't protected from the sun's particle wind by a magnetic field. It is extremely improbable that earth has every good thing that could possibly be.
These things and mind should evoke awe in everyone who considers them. Could that awe be the basis of a modern religion? Could mankind embrace earth and mind as objects of devotion, inspiration, care, wonder, responsibility, passion, stewardship, sacrifice, contentment, music, satisfaction, support, development? What form would such a religion take? Who would be its prophets? Would such a religion be something like a study of ethics, leading to active concern for our co-inhabitants and future inhabitants of the earth regardless of tribe? I question whether the Abrahamic religions can evolve to be good stewards of earth and mind? They are all replete with tribalism, which limits application of the golden rule in all dimensions.
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2 comments:
"Could mankind embrace earth and mind as objects of devotion, inspiration, care, wonder, responsibility, passion, stewardship, sacrifice, contentment, music, satisfaction, support, development? What form would such a religion take? Who would be its prophets?"
It sounds like you're defining a host of existing religions, old and new, from Hinduism to Discordianism.
Sorry, not Discordianism. A much better fit is Church of All Worlds.
To quote from wikipedia, "The Church of All Worlds (CAW) is a neopagan religious group whose stated mission is to evolve a network of information, mythology, and experience that provides a context and stimulus for reawakening Gaia and reuniting her children through tribal community dedicated to responsible stewardship and evolving consciousness."
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