Excerpt #119 from my book, Religion, An Obstacle to Human Progress
Today’s world is fraught with peril of unprecedented, if not always visible, dimensions.
Some argue we need a worldwide crisis to ignite our sensibilities and unite us.
But that crisis is in our midst.
It’s a paradox, for coincidentally, we have acquired more knowledge, created more material wealth, and have at our command more technology than ever before.
Each day, we observe the growing chasm between our potential and our reality. Instinctively, we are aware that something is wrong.
Many search in vain for solutions to complex national and international problems that seem unsolvable.
Growing numbers of people seek meaning and purpose in an impersonal world.
As James Reston has noted, there is a growing conviction that “reconciliation among nations, the races, and the diverse political, economic and religious ideologies is unattainable and maybe even impossible.”
After rich experiences in the fields of politics (twice a Congressional candidate), business (entrepreneur) and religion (Harvard Divinity School), among a number of other fields, I find these institutions in which we have organized ourselves (for our survival and security, ironically) to be ultimately dysfunctional and driving humanity toward extinction.
Too much of our politics is an adversarial and foolish indulgence, a zero-sum game or worse, in which time is spent attacking the other party rather than the urgent issues.
And there are many such issues.
Instead, our politics are juvenile and petty, hostile and belligerent, and ugly and . . . corrupt.
Our politics are mostly about the destruction of one’s perceived opposition whether that be an individual, political party, or a nationstate.
Most politicians have yet to figure out—in our heavily populated world fraught with complex environmental, economic, and political perils—that we do not have the time, resources, or energy to fight with each other.
We’ve got severe and complicated problems on this planet that must be addressed urgently in a cooperative and constructive manner.
Too many of our businesses—largely unsustainable—exploit people and our environment.
Life is a far more complex phenomenon than a race to see who can accumulate the most money and things in the least amount of time.
GREED KILLS.