TRIBES

Tribes  We advance technologically with relative ease but not so socially, politically, or intellectually. There continues to be enormous inequities and extraordinary amounts of violence in our world. We war with each other in every way conceivable. We destroy our environment and deplete our resources. Why is that? We don’t drive around in vehicles that [...]

Genetic Religious Programming

“Religion evolved as a process analogous to the natural selection that produced us and every other living species. Religious belief may now be deeply programmed in our DNA. This may have happened because, at one time, such beliefs provided a survival advantage for the people who had such coded information in their genes.

Worldwide Conflict

We have given gods great powers. We say they are omnipotent, meaning that they are all-powerful; omnipresent, meaning that they exist everywhere; and omniscient, meaning that they have all learning and knowledge. These stories have caused great worldwide confusion and conflict. And wars. Sixty-six percent of our wars have been fought over these stories. We [...]

We Are In Trouble

     Humorist Will Rogers once quipped, “We sew wild oats six days a week. On the seventh, we pray to our religion for crop failure.” The problem is that our prayers have not been and will not be answered. Our “wild oats” have taken root. We have grown many problems and have created a destructive [...]

POPULATION

It took from the emergence of modern humans, about 100,000 to 150,000 years ago in Africa, to the year 1800 for us to reach a population of 1 billion. The industrial age kicked in and we added 600,000 people from 1800 to 1900. Then something extraordinary happened. Something that will likely never again occur on [...]

Modern Man

About five to six million years ago, the succession of species that gave rise to us separated from the succession that led to the apes. As Robert Greene, author of “The 48 Laws of Power,” noted, “We want to believe we’re descended from angels when we’re descended from primates.” From a common ancestor, the apes [...]

BEGINNINGS

Our universe began with a violent Big Bang 13.75 billion years ago. Since then, violence has continued uninterrupted. Our planet, formed 4.56 billion years ago, is warmed by the nuclear explosions of hydrogen and helium gases that comprise our sun.  Everyday all life forms struggle, often violently, to survive and reproduce. Day in and out, [...]

Opportunity And Responsibility

In summary, we must understand that these three foundational relationships are sacred. They must be honored. To do so is not easy. In the economy and culture in which we live, great attention and diligence are required to remain healthy, be kind, and not harm our environment. There are many among us who do not [...]

Relationship With Our Environment

In a word, our relationship with our environment is about respect. We live on a planet soaring through space. We call this spacecraft Earth. It is a spacecraft (Earth) within a spacecraft (solar system) within a spacecraft (Milky Way galaxy), as I noted earlier.

Relationships With Others

In a word, our relationship with others is about kindness. Too often, we act only in our perceived self-interest. We feel that if we do not look out for ourselves, who will? In an interrelated world, we are obliged also to look beyond ourselves. In the Talmud, Rabbi Hillel wrote, “If I am not for [...]