Climate Revelations

An atheist concludes that he can't talk about climate without talking about God
by Auden Schendler
Published in the January/February 2009 issue of Orion magazine

We can intellectualize the need for action all we want, but in my experience, in the end our motivation usually comes down to a cliché: our kids and, for want of a better word, our dignity. The journalist Bill Moyers has said, “What we need to match the science of human health is what the ancient Israelites called ‘hocma’—the science of the heart. . . the capacity to see. . . to feel. . . and then to act. . . as if the future depended on you. Believe me, it does.”

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This piece echoes some of our earlier discussions here; thank you to my friend Todd, who brought it to my attention.

What we mean, so far, by "sacred"

Sometimes we mean ideas or items defined by culture as "sacred" but without significance beyond that.

Sometimes we mean that the sacred is revealed to us by personal, subjective experience.

Sometimes we wonder if there isn't some essential universal quality of sacredness which exists without reference to what we do —or don't— posit or believe.

What causes us to believe something is sacred?

On what basis do we deny that the sacred is anything more than human credulity?

Is there any single idea or object or phenomenon which we might all agree is sacred?

What do we mean by "sacred"?

As far as I know, I have no particular answer in mind. What do you think?