and even though the Bush Supreme Court continues to subvert our Constitution,
and even though Cheenie continues to insist he is a law unto himself,
and even though the police in New York continue to harrass teenagers,
and even though prosecutors continue to suppress evidence to convict the innocent,
and even though genocide continues in Africa and other places,
and even though journalists continue to be murdered in Russia,
and even though women continue to suffer genital mutilation and worse in primitive and not-so-primitive societies,
and even though children continue to be kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery in Asia and elsewhere,
and even though millions of children in America do not have health insurance,
and even though this list of atrocities could continue on and on,
and even though we ourselves continue to do little to oppose these evils*,
still Nature, be it mindless or God-mindful,
continues to unfurl on this Carolina morning.
___________________
* Grateful acknowledgment to my friend Tom Sheepandgoats, who recently reminded me that we individuals play our own part in opposing or failing to oppose evil:
"Two religions in Nazi Germany comprised 90% of the population. If even one of them (and certainly if both) had taken the same stand Jehovah's Witnesses took, Hitler would have gone down in history as a flailing, disruptive madman who wrought relatively little harm. If religion is maneuvered into atrocities by cynical people, as opposed to taking the initiative themselves...well, I guess that's a little better. But only a little. In such cases, religions have not committed a crime of commission. But they've committed a crime of omission, and the end result is pretty much the same.
"Religion should make one a decent, better, more peaceable person. If it does not, then one might reasonably ask: what good is it? Those atheists have a powerful point, in my opinion. Only problem is they paint with too broad a brush and throw the baby out with the bathwater."
I've added to my list of links (on the sidebar to the right) one to Tom's excellent web log, "Sheep and Goats."
Peace Moristotle,
ReplyDeletePerhaps nature being God mindful (never mindless) is telling us something about the potential for beauty, harmony and tenderness? Contrasted against some of the evil unleashed by the baser side of humanity, it should really be a starting point for reflection for our own potential (?)
I too would prefer that Nature be God-mindful. I acknowledged the alternative (that it might be mindless) only because I do not know.
ReplyDeleteHmm, your affirming definitely that it is mindful ("never mindless") reminds me of something you've said before, about making a choice whether to believe or not, meaning that in this instance I have the option of giving up my skepticism with respect to whether Nature is mindless or mindful and believing (whether I know or not) that it is God-mindful. Believing in that way, I would at least experience Nature differently, perhaps more immediately (because less mediated by skeptical thoughts!).
I think I'll experiment with believing that, Maliha. Thanks for giving me the idea!
One thing I will look for the experiment to throw some light on is just what Nature might be telling us by contrasting its beautiful, harmonious renewal to the base evil of humans.
Hmm, but is Nature doing the contrasting? I'm the one that wrote the post and sat the list of atrocities side-by-side with my photograph. Is Nature (even mindful Nature) making a contrast at all? There's more here than meets the eye. But isn't there always?