Pope Francis resurrects
Man devised religions to conquer nature -1
Pope Francis resurrects
Pope Francis’ recent encyclical on man and nature relationship has attracted considerable attention in many quarters. No one has said, “It’s too late.” For me it is difficult to accept: “It’s never too late”. The significance of the document lies in the fact that for the first time a pontiff, head of the world’s most powerful and the best structured religious order, has expressed on this subject. Why did it take over two thousand years for the Christian church to contradict the book of Genesis in which God decreed man’s “dominion” over the Earth, and hence exploitation of its resources for our own needs? It is definitely too late. The earlier message of Saint Francis of Assize soliciting Christians to respect the entire creation and to protect our environment has long been forgotten.
The Christian religion and the cohort of other big religions still have a grip on and rule the minds and spirits of almost all peoples of the world. They have not used their pulpits to impress upon peoples that the human being is an element of nature, God lives in nature, and Nature is God and Nature should be revered and conserved. In the https://bigbangyoga.org/en/2015/01/07/new-god-big-bang/ of this website (para. 4.8) written a decade ago I expected the then new Pope would take the lead in this vital issue because he did show some inclination towards nature.
For Pope Francis to say “I think we have exploited nature too much,” is too weak and too late because the world knew it a long time ago and our modern prophets (ecologists, environmentalists and climatologists) have proclaimed it loud and clear. Then he says, “Thanks be to God that today there are voices, so many people who are speaking out about it.” Surely, these are not religious voices seeking action.
The Pope has upset many powerful multinational and national enterprises. They are afraid that the followers of his church will listen to his message and possibly take action. They need not worry because religions are in an infernal swirl; the chance of their getting together is remote.
Other nature-based religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism have little impact on their adherents because they have become fossilized in ritualized adoration. The followers of Islam have been to this day preoccupied with recovery of their religious and political dominance. Safeguarding nature is not yet on the agenda.
What a formidable transforming synergy it would be if all religious factions joined Pope Francis and used their pulpits to enlighten the masses on what the modern prophets have convincingly revealed about our Nature, the real God! No prayer or God has so far succeeded in preventing social and ecological calamities. Is there any chance of an “ecological revolution” to take place without religions taking the lead and rewriting the sacred books?
