earth and we are not superior to the other species on earth. The truth is that God made every creature in Its Image, and meant for men to share the earth with each other and with nature. When we understand this we will not destroy nature for profit or be insensitive to the rights of others. And we will not permit men to hoard mountains of wealth while others live in hunger and poverty.
The last thing Elizabeth said to me was that man does not have to go through all the suffering that Edward and Exellon told me about: We can change the world today, and not wait until we are pushed to the edge. She said to do this we must recognize that our mythologies—science and Christianity—are the main cause of our difficulties: A new mythology is needed to allow man to bridge the distances he has created between himself, God, and the world.
Appendix
Letter From The Earth
I am Gaia, your mother, and I have feelings and rights as you do. I give of myself freely, but you may not own me. I belong to all my children.
In your race to conquer the world, you trampled on the rights of native people. You looked down upon them, yet they understood these important truths your culture denied: That the gods dwell within nature. That man is part of the earth. And that man must share this planet with other forms of life.
When men understood these truths, they lived in harmony with the world. They identified with a storm, a tree, or an animal they had killed. They believed the earth was sacred and abuse of nature was a violation. And they accepted death when their time came, because they knew death was necessary to make room for new life.
At the beginning of your Judeo-Christian civilization you attempted to separate man from nature. You said the world was evil, and man must overcome it. You chose to believe that God made you the lord of the earth. And you decided the earth could be the possession of whomever could capture it and hold it by force. You named this idea “might makes right.” It was incorporated into your property laws, and grew into a heartless economics you call capitalism.
You think you have found justification in nature for capitalism, for your scientists tell you that the species alive today are alive because they are the best competitors. Your scientists call this idea survival of the fittest, and use it to explain their theory of evolution.
The theory of evolution is wrong. The law of the jungle is not survival of the fittest, nor competition between species or individuals. The law of the jungle is cooperation within the web of life. The mouse in the cat’s paw does not begrudge the cat its meal, for the mouse understands it will live through the cat. The cat knows it must die someday too, and that it will become food for others.
It is only man who does not understand the purpose of death. It is only man who kills for sport. It is only man who has hunted animals to extinction. Survival of the fittest is your rule, not mine.
The final outcome of your experiment—to see the result of pretending you are not my children—should now be quite clear to you. You are on the road that leads to the end of life as you know it. It is not too late to get off this path, but time is running out.
You are not the first men I have known. Civilizations more advanced than yours I have cared for and watched die. Others have prospered here and moved onto new planetary systems where I am now the legendary home. If you should destroy your world, I will survive, and mutant species will arise whom I shall love as much as I loved you.
Visions Of A Renewed America
I had a dream in which two heroes from our past spoke about their fears and hopes for the future of America. First I heard the man who led America through its darkest hour.
Abraham Lincoln scratched his beard, cleared his throat, and began: “In my Gettysburg Address I asked whether a nation ‘conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition
The last thing Elizabeth said to me was that man does not have to go through all the suffering that Edward and Exellon told me about: We can change the world today, and not wait until we are pushed to the edge. She said to do this we must recognize that our mythologies—science and Christianity—are the main cause of our difficulties: A new mythology is needed to allow man to bridge the distances he has created between himself, God, and the world.
Appendix
Letter From The Earth
I am Gaia, your mother, and I have feelings and rights as you do. I give of myself freely, but you may not own me. I belong to all my children.
In your race to conquer the world, you trampled on the rights of native people. You looked down upon them, yet they understood these important truths your culture denied: That the gods dwell within nature. That man is part of the earth. And that man must share this planet with other forms of life.
When men understood these truths, they lived in harmony with the world. They identified with a storm, a tree, or an animal they had killed. They believed the earth was sacred and abuse of nature was a violation. And they accepted death when their time came, because they knew death was necessary to make room for new life.
At the beginning of your Judeo-Christian civilization you attempted to separate man from nature. You said the world was evil, and man must overcome it. You chose to believe that God made you the lord of the earth. And you decided the earth could be the possession of whomever could capture it and hold it by force. You named this idea “might makes right.” It was incorporated into your property laws, and grew into a heartless economics you call capitalism.
You think you have found justification in nature for capitalism, for your scientists tell you that the species alive today are alive because they are the best competitors. Your scientists call this idea survival of the fittest, and use it to explain their theory of evolution.
The theory of evolution is wrong. The law of the jungle is not survival of the fittest, nor competition between species or individuals. The law of the jungle is cooperation within the web of life. The mouse in the cat’s paw does not begrudge the cat its meal, for the mouse understands it will live through the cat. The cat knows it must die someday too, and that it will become food for others.
It is only man who does not understand the purpose of death. It is only man who kills for sport. It is only man who has hunted animals to extinction. Survival of the fittest is your rule, not mine.
The final outcome of your experiment—to see the result of pretending you are not my children—should now be quite clear to you. You are on the road that leads to the end of life as you know it. It is not too late to get off this path, but time is running out.
You are not the first men I have known. Civilizations more advanced than yours I have cared for and watched die. Others have prospered here and moved onto new planetary systems where I am now the legendary home. If you should destroy your world, I will survive, and mutant species will arise whom I shall love as much as I loved you.
Visions Of A Renewed America
I had a dream in which two heroes from our past spoke about their fears and hopes for the future of America. First I heard the man who led America through its darkest hour.
Abraham Lincoln scratched his beard, cleared his throat, and began: “In my Gettysburg Address I asked whether a nation ‘conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition
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