Wednesday 16 January 2013

How do religions deal with destruction of the planet by everyday use of natural resources?

How do religions deal with destruction of the planet by everyday use of natural resources?

Whilst traveling through Romania  and visiting so many monasteries, it struck me how religions have stopped being at the forefront of scientific, moral and indeed political thinking as it used to be in the middle ages , when they were in their renaissance of their studies and teachings.

Most religions have become more obsessed with maintaining the status-quo,  than looking at new ways to transform society to meet the new challenges of today. Indeed it appears that Islam may be the only religion which is keeping pace and therefore attracting an ongoing following by fulfilling some of their immediate needs.

Society at present is in limbo, in that we all know that something is going wrong with climate and the environment of the planet, but despite all the recycling and interest taken by so many bodies, few are convinced that any real meaningful changes are happening that will have a positive impact for succeeding generations.

The religious institutions need to grasp the nettle and really restart their intellectual studies into how to make the world last with man at its helm. Sounds easy in few words, but it really means grappling with all the present institutions that have been built up over the millennia and really look into their effectiveness in managing the global resources on behalf of all mankind.

The present way of tinkering around the edges will not achieve any real results quick enough, and also will result in an ever more divisive world where trust and honour are thrust into the dust cart with all the resulting consequences we are beginning to see already.

Total reform of all local, national and global institutions need to be viewed in the light  enhancing and regaining the trust and honour of all the global citizens and this requires a lot more  transparency in the equality and fairness for all. How can this be achieved ?

This reform needs to simplify and reduce complexity to ensure everyone understands the framework and their individual place within it and also so everyone starts from an equal position.

I believe we have a golden oppoutunity with crissis all around everyone is looking for a solution but no-one is taking up the challange in any serious way. This fundamental rethink putting the planets resiurces at the cetner of any reform so that man can use them without being affraid of all the danerous consequence we have at present with pollution and subsequent climate change.
Also we need to use these resources without harm to all the biological eco-systems in soil air and water.

At present we are destroying our planet without any real regard to future generations and our exploitation of all natural resources which should become the prime source of taxation whilst at the same time remove all existing taxes, providing a real incentive to protect the environment from the design stage to  consumption  whilst also encouraging higher labour useage at the expense of natural resource consumption. 


This needs discussion and figures, modeling and trials, but we are running out of time. So I am calling on all academics, intellectuals, students and professors and most importantly of all realists, to address this problem from a political, religious and social standpoint  ensuring that moral and ethical values are addressed within a framework of mutual equality and fairness for all from whatever position they now hold.

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