Excerpt #129 from my book, Religion, An Obstacle to Human Progress
Many of us are predisposed as a consequence of our genetics (“hardwired”) and/or our life experiences to think and act in our old, destructive, and unsustainable ways.
This requires unlearning and evolution of thought and behavior, all of which are daunting tasks.
The new way of thinking, the paradigm that seeks to, and must, emerge in our world, is one that requires learning.
What is it that we must learn?
We must learn that we exist as a tiny fragment of an immensely larger interlocking whole in which all of the parts are interconnected and dependent upon each other for survival.
Everything is connected to everything else.
We exist not separately, but in communion with all living things.
Life is an interrelated interdependent phenomenon.
That is the nature of life—the web of life.
That is the nature of the reality in which we exist.
Reality has behavioral demands if we wish to continue to live.
These can be summarized in seven words, which together form three simple rules for living: Be healthy. Be kind. Respect the environment.
These seven words have the power to change life as we know it.
They will change the way that we govern and the laws that we enact.
They will change the way we do business, the products that we create, the services that we offer, how we treat our employees and our environment.
And how we treat each other and how we treat ourselves.
Be healthy.
Be kind.
Respect the environment.
Leaders must model this behavior.
Teachers must teach it.
We must exhibit it.
That is, if we wish to sustain our species and advance our civilization.