People and Planet

People and Planet -- unprecedented change   Blog #1 August 12, 2010

For many years I have been writing either in print or online about people and planet issues.  I thought it was time to redo some of what I have written and add to it as well.  The writing evolved under a number of titles.  But the goal was to give a brief overview of developments that have relevance for us particularly in seeking solutions for pressing people and planet problems. 

My motivation for doing this was that as a Catholic Christian I felt that I might be of some help to some people in sharing some of my life experiences.  Little did I dream that in the telling, my own religious belief system would change significantly.  My work in nursing and health and my husband’s work as a professor of philosophy gave me an access to reading a variety of sources from books, journals and other resources.  This privilege shaped my goal to work on people and planet issues in a new way.  In responding to Rosemary Radford Ruether’s recent talk that was put online by The Progressive Catholic Voice, I had no idea that I would end up having my own blog!  What a privilege.

When I started writing in 2006 for the online NCRcafe (The National Catholic Reporter), the title of my contribution was a New Search for Ultimate Reality.  The lead question that I posed was: Is Christianity the beginning and the end of humankind’s search for the ultimate meaning of life?  Or, is it a link in the chain of evolution of humanity’s search for Ultimate Reality?  I continued by saying that my intent was to explore what good thinkers are saying.  This does not mean that these thought-providers are infallible (surely not), totally correct necessarily, and certainly not the last word.  No, rather, they take their place with appropriate background and in good faith to contribute to humankind’s search for truth and understanding.  The relevant sources that I give are for anyone who wants to delve deeper into the issues.  Some of these sources can be purchased, borrowed from the library, or found online.  My hope is that those who post in response will opt for a constructive contribution for all readers at large.  We represent some of those seeking solutions for pressing people and planet problems. 

I began as follows.  According to Loyal Rue, Religion is not about God: How spiritual traditions nurture our biological nature and what to expect when they fail (Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick NJ: 2005), the Axial Age religions appear to have run their course.  Rue says that the Axial Age began about the 6th century B.C.E.  Its influence is with us to the present.  For now we can speak of it as “the age that transformed the psychological and social organization of the human species.”  As I understand, the Axial Age is one indicator that perhaps Christianity is a link in the chain of evolution of humanity’s search for Ultimate Reality.  Notice Rue speaks of “the age that transformed the psychological and social organization of the human species.” And he speaks of how spiritual traditions nurture our biological nature and what to expect when they fail, in his title.  This captures a major part of his thesis: success and failure.  Why the positive, why the negative?

More later.  Marie.