Religion and Environmentalism - (quickie)

Actually, what am I talking about? The religious should be the MOST environmentally concerned. 

If there IS a god, a divine creator of the world for us all to live on, what will he say to you when you die having spent most of your life screwing up the planet he made for you? How do you think that will make him feel?

I reckon he's gonna be pissed. 

Atheism and Environmentalism

I don’t know why this has taken so long to dawn on me, but I think I just realized why I have such a problem with religious belief (particularly the idea of an afterlife). It treats this life as a trial run; some kind of proving ground, less important than an eternity after we’re dead.

That sounds bad enough to me, particularly when the religion you are a part of (usually a product of your place of birth and indoctrination during childhood – not exactly profound) expects certain ways of thinking and acting. Think of the friendships and experiences you could miss out on if you have to live by ancient “rules” or only do things that are expected of you. How about the great friend you could have had but were prevented to because they were gay, atheist, Hindu, etc. etc.? We’re already onto a loser, in my opinion. And it’s not even that trusting “faith” over evidence (leading to bad decision processes) is deemed as a virtue that’s the problem. Or the idea that ancient wisdom is somehow better than current understanding based on careful consideration of observations and new data using better tools.

It’s the fact that with the promise of an afterlife, this life, this time, and this universe is deemed less important. Now I hear some of you saying “So what? Each to their own - as long as they're not hurting others, leave them be”. But this is a mistake. If this world (the only one we currently know of that can actually support us) is all we have, then even one person seeing it as relatively unimportant is EXTREMELY dangerous. Why would someone care about looking after the earth if they honestly believe that the rapture is coming for them and theirs within their lifetime? Why worry about the long term effect of your actions if it doesn't matter because god will sort it all out afterwards?

There are people in charge of technology, substances and processes that are killing the planet and many of us are living unsustainably (TRANSLATION: that means we can’t go on living in this way. Not that we shouldn't, but that we CANNOT). There are people in charge of weapons of mass destruction. There are whole populaces who subscribe to the same beliefs that condemn yours and are taught that it is their duty to convert you to their way of thinking or to somehow stop you. A belief that this world will come to an end (and soon) hardly leads these people to live in a way that looks towards the future, and holy books that require a disbelief or distrust of science in general will stop vital information from getting through. 

With such a high percentage of the population considered religious (even in developed countries) who presumably believe in an all powerful creator who is looking after them, it is no wonder that we find it so difficult to get people really interested in thinking of the effect we are having on our planet. 

This scares me. This is the only home that we have ever known. Our inaction as a species is being exacerbated by the continued proliferation of poorly based beliefs that treat this life as a practice, and this planet as a proving ground. I honestly fear for my children, and their children. This is one of the reasons I speak out against religion, and why even “moderate” religious people really need to look at the way they evaluate information and the importance they place on this life and this place. 

The only life and the only home we are SURE that we have. 

Burglary analogy for lack of belief. @godiscosmos

listen to ‘Burglary analogy for lack of belief. @godiscosmos’ on Audioboo

Waiting for the "Uh-oh..."

So, as a thirty-something dad who works full time and does some other stuff that uses my remaining free moments, I've become a tad insular. My days tend to consist of waking up (not having had enough sleep), going to work, driving home, playing with my daughter, putting her to bed, throwing some food down my face and then crashing out into bed. Aaaaand... repeat. 

Now this is fine - I don’t feel like I’m necessarily missing out on anything. I love my family and have some excellent friends. But I realise I don’t get put out of my comfort zone anymore, and I don’t meet new people. My thought for the week, however, is whether some of this is my own doing. I realise that I've become exceedingly private and don’t put myself out there. I’m still pleasant and sociable to people, but don’t make any particular effort to make new relationships. 

People in the UK seem to do this as a matter of course. I know (very superficially) my neighbours on each side of my home but move two doors away in either direction and I wouldn't recognise the people living there from a choice of one. That’s weird, isn't it? I spend all my time when I’m at home within ten metres of these people. We live, breathe, eat, drink, laugh and sleep together, within speaking distance, and each has no idea that the other exists. 

Some new neighbours moved in across the road recently, and came round to introduce themselves to the whole street, house by house (something I've never experienced before). They even had a house warming party that they invited everyone to. I made a pact with myself to go and had a very pleasant time when I did despite noticing how few of the street actually made the effort to turn up. Since then my family and I have been getting on well with them and I hope we can be good friends. But I find myself waiting...

... for the “Uh-oh...”

The "Uh-oh..." could come at any point and from any direction. It could be when the conversation turns to politics, religion, ethics, music, parenting, driving - anything. What if it turns out we disagree massively on a particular issue? What if they turn out to be steadfastly homophobic, aggressively racist, or fundamentally religious? How would we traverse these issues without it getting weird? How would I break it to them that, potentially, the "Uh-oh..." could be a deal breaker and we have to stop hanging out? 

I think this is why most of us keep to ourselves - to avoid this potential issue. Or, (more worrying), is it just me? I realise that I do this all the time. And it's getting to the point when I refrain from letting people in just in case this occurs. Which is insane. So - I'm going for it with this lot. There's nothing so far that gives me cause for concern. Let's just see how it goes.

It's going to be hard not to be on the lookout, though...