Ethics (3)
ENIGMA
By John McConnell
Founder of Earth Day
We face in life the enigma of chaos and order, good and evil, love and hate, harmony and discord, music and noise, the beautiful and the hideous. While we may not yet explain the reason for the enigmas in mind and matter, we can seek to choose attitudes and actions that will favor what is best.
Altruism, or divine love, is acknowledged to be the greatest wisdom. Our scientists have proven that chaos cannot produce order. Since in the midst of the chaos in the cosmos there is ever evolving beauty, order and life, there must be a God somewhere -- a great God of ultimate love and wisdom.
Human history provides evidence of this love at work. The major religions of every culture acknowledge the importance of the Golden Rule. While most followers of world creeds often fail to practice love in their actions, their teachings include honesty, compassion and justice.
Love has opened prison doors. Love can set humanity free.
A difficult problem is the needed focus in every major creed on the ultimate mysteries of life -- who, what or where is God, the nature and destiny of the soul and life after death. Differences in these matters is the source of most religious conflict. In extreme cases it has led to violence and war -- a denial of basic religious values.
While there must be an answer to these questions and searching for the answer is to be commended, our differing creeds are based on hypotheses which cannot be scientifically proven. I don't have a video tape of what is happening in heaven. Arguments for reincarnation or nirvana are based on intellectual arguments without scientific proof. Psychic phenomena cited as proof can have many alternative explanations.
What we can agree on is the here and now. To avoid collapse of civilization we must come together on the common ground where we agree -- leaving room for disagreement on other matters. Our creeds require faith in the unseen and result in differences. To save our planet we must now come together, in spite of our differences. In a common effort we must choose attitudes and actions based on values we share and physical facts with which we can agree.
We agree our planet is home for the whole human family. We agree we have only one Earth, a miracle planet of natural wonders now endangered by human folly.
The best solution to Earth's enigma is to assume our duty to act as Trustees of Earth, recognizing our rights and responsibilities. Mutual Earth Trustee efforts in ecology, economics and ethics will foster nurture of nature and fair benefits for all.
In this Grand Global Effort a person's Earth Trustee deed will reflect in the here and now the value of his or her creed. And together we can save our planet.
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