We ought to be afraid. Facing the Future - not a conference

In the last census the largest group in the question about religion were the “Nons” - the non-believers, the people for whom religion had no relevance, and no part in their lives. It is not surprising to me. The trouble with religion is that it keeps on getting fossilised in ways of thinking that are no longer appropriate, and adapted to the needs of the powerful and rich.

Climate breakdown is forcing us all to re-think our lives, lets take a minute to re-think religion. Wikipedia defines the word religion as: “a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and practices”, that's just where we are, abandoning single use plastics, rethinking our western diet, re -use, reduce, repair. It goes on .. “morals, world views”, if that is not where we are then where are we? “Texts”, we started with Rachel Carson and Silent Spring, texts influence us right up to Greta Thunberg's address to the UN – “How dare you”. “Sanctified places”, how about the still untouched parts of the Amazon? “Prophecies, ethics and organisation that relates humanity to spiritual elements”, which is itself defined as “a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, a universal human experience - something that relates to us all”.

So maybe we can see that XR and Transition, green thinking, green economics, might all be grouped into a definition of a sort of religion, but what then, is this just a pedantic, intellectual exercise? I think not, I think that there is value in pausing in the urgent task of saving humanity from itself, to think about what we have learnt.

We ought to be afraid, mankind is poised on the verge of catastrophe, but there is joy in what we are doing. Why is that? I suggest it is because we are coming together, we are acting together, educating each other, feeling for each other, supporting each other. We are not alone.

We are clear. We are not being swayed by the practicalities. We know that continual growth is a dream that has turned into a nightmare. We are prepared to accept that doing the right thing might cost us, and why not, if we are the privileged have we not the privilege of sharing? If every human has the same rights, the same value as any other, then the logic of that understanding is that we have to work for equality of opportunity, we have to respect others, we have to be honest to others, we have to equate our well being with theirs. We have to simplify our lives and our demands on others and the planet.

We are individuals with talents and strengths and weaknesses, we are individuals that are part of a community, but more we are part of community. For me that is religion, we are prepared to give and receive, we are open to others, their benefits and their needs. We are practising loving our neighbour.

Peter Hussey
26/09/2019