We seek renewed reverence for the biosphere as
the ultimate context for human existence....
We seek renewed reverence for the biosphere as
the ultimate context for human existence....
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The Pantheist as Futurist
by Harold Wood from Pantheist Vision, Vol. 1, No. 5, November-December, 1980
The heart of Pantheist philosophy is a belief in the sanctity of Nature. This means that we hold reverence for the inconceivable evolutionary processes that created us; for the unfolding of the stars in the Universe and the life on our home planet Earth. In short - we put our faith in our Creator - meaning not only all past events and shapes and patterns, but also the now , for Creation is a continuing process and exists within us and around us this very instant. We, and the world in which we live, are on the verge of becoming something else. Man is a part of the creative processes which the Pantheist calls "God". We are an envelope addressed to the future. This is true for the atoms that compose our bodies, and for the biological information contained in our genes, and for the ecological and cultural heritage we leave behind us. Someday perhaps, we will refine our being to remove many of the frailties of humanity, to become a creature that has learned to live at peace with itself and the Universe of which it is a part. Mankind has always sought to transcend itself; creating from within this creature of tomorrow, a creature that can expand and grow under the light of its own nature, in the beauty of its own consciousness, in the correctness of its endeavors and in the fullness of life. Just as mankind is an evolving being, so our concept of ethics has changed. Where once brotherly love extended no further than a family or clan, and even today rarely spans to the whole of humanity, Pantheist prophets such as John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Joseph Wood Krutch have proclaimed the extension of ethics to other living beings. Pantheist ethics stress the need to enlarge the boundary of our concern. According to Aldo Leopold, "The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively, the land... A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such." But we might ask whether even this vision is sufficient. Life is a becoming as well as a be -ing. Today, persons such as Margaret Mead and Garret Hardin have advocated yet another extension of ethics: to the future. According to these thinkers, we have an ethical obligation to future generations. We must plan, according to Margaret Mead, for the sake of our children's children's children. Obviously, such an ethic requires radical changes in society's dealings with its members and with the land-community. To fulfill this new ethic, we need to recognize that we have a duty to not only that which created us, but to what we ourselves create. The ultimate creativity of the Universe sparkles more brightly because of the flashings of electricity in the cells of man's brain. But before we choose the products of human toil, we must choose our dreams and values, for some of our creations serve them, while others make them impossible. In the final analysis, the creation to which we must dedicate the most attention is: ourselves. The French social philosopher Condorcet (1743 -1794) said, "Nature has assigned no limit to the perfecting of the human faculties... the perfectibility of man is truly infinite." It is our selves that should be the canvas of our artistry, and by perfecting humankind we will seek to enhance the welfare of all that lives, today and Tomorrow.
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