WEAVING THE CONNECTIONS
The Newsletter of the Center for Women, the Earth, the Divine
Volume 15 Spring-2010 Number 4
From Nation-States to ?
Eleanor Rae
A recent trip to the western coasts of South and Central America began in Lima, Peru, where we had the opportunity to spend an afternoon in the Larco Museum (a wonderful experience that never would have taken place if the National Museum had not been closed for renovations). The Larco opened in 1925 as the work of one individual, Rafael Larco Hoyle, with a collection of 600 pre-Columbian ceramic pieces his father had received from a relative. The collection was housed in an eighteenth century mansion that was built over a seventh century pyramid. It now contains over 45,000 pieces including those from the Moche, Nazca,
Chimu and Inca cultures. It was at the Larco that I first saw displayed, through its archeological findings, the evidence for a civilization in the Andean region that rivaled those we in the North usually think of as the four great cradles of civilization—Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley and, of more recent understanding, that of the Indus River basin and of still more recent understanding, that in the Yellow River Valley in present day China. Until my visit to the Larco Museum, I had associated the Andean region in present day Peru with the Inca Empire, which existed only from 1200 CE until the Spanish conquest in 1533. An introductory time line, however, showed the dates and locations of six periods of civilization that pre-dated the Inca and extended back to 7,000 BC.
As if encountering evidence for a fifth independently arising “cradle of civilization” did not give me enough to ponder, when our journey continued to Mexico we made a stop close to its present-day border with Guatemala, where the Mayan peoples still live today. There we viewed a recently discovered settlement which included small-step pyramids and what is arguably an early version of the now famous Mayan calendar that ends with the date of 2012. With my trip to the ancient Mayan ruins came the specific claim that in Meso-America we today find evidence for yet a sixth “cradle of civilization.” All six civilizations arose independently. In one way or another (such as through warfare or overpopulation), all have transitioned out. Earth, over time, has experienced different forms of “management” which today may be characterized as nation-states. My question is—are we today living in a time when the nation-state is also “transitioning out?” If so, what form of relationship, then, might be arising between the Earth and its members, including the human?
There are clues to what the new Earth-human relationship may look like. For me, one of the most viable is within the bio-regional movement where some are working on the building of a society that would combine whatever gifts the 6000 years of civilization and the 100,000 years of tribal society have to offer. It would also be a fresh creation, a mode of human society without precedent: an ecologically obedient society, a democratic society, a decentralized society, and yet a society of planet-wide scope and responsibility. It would be organized from the grassroots out to the wider scopes. These wider areas could be confederations of the smaller ones, each of which would have a responsibility for all the other smaller scopes of society. These are only hints toward some overall guidelines. The details of making such a society actually work are not yet created, and the number of thorny issues to be resolved is almost boundless. These clues and hints, however, point to the hope of the future as a step-by-step deconstruction of civilization and a step-by-step inventing of a social mode or organization that has never before existed.
Please see p. 3 of this newsletter for more creative ideas on Transition.
Susanne Schaup
Just War Theory
A Commentary
The article on a “Just War Theory” in the last issue of Weaving the Connections triggered many thoughts and emotions for me. For one, I found it hard to blame Barack Obama for not seizing the opportunity to extol the politics of peace-making in a situation of multiple constraints and necessities.
I am convinced that this President wants peace on all fronts. Yet the wars he inherited do not allow him to pull the American troops out of the areas of conflict. The reality is that he cannot make peace immediately, though he most sincerely would; as indeed nobody could.
Under the circumstances, a “Just War Theory” may be the next best thing to a fundamental speech on the politics of peace-making. At least, the six points quoted impose narrow limits on any justification of war. They implicitly condemn wars of aggression, conquest, greed, revenge, or any other evil motivation we can think of. However, even these points are debatable. Applied to a complex and ambivalent conflict, they would be subject to assessment and may be interpreted to serve questionable interests. The problem is that no theory, no matter how well-considered and responsibly stated, will be applicable to all situations. A Just War Theory finds itself in the same predicament as the legal code. Even the best system of jurisdiction can only produce sentences in accordance with the law, which is not the same as justice. Put in another way, there will always be arguments for and against waging a “just” war, as long as war is not banished from the hearts and minds of humanity as a feasible way of resolving conflicts. Our aim can only be to eventually ban all wars, but we are not there yet.
The Bahá’í community, on the other hand, which stands for world peace and the unity of humankind, believes that any violence is wrong, no matter what. The Bahá’í are required by their religion never to resort to violence even to defend their own lives. The reason is the conviction that violence, even for a just cause, does damage to truth. In obedience to this principle, the Bahá’í have suffered persecution in Iran, their country of origin, without resorting to violent means of resistance. Individuals have been tortured and put to death, yet they have not used violence. They believe that there is no just war. Any type of war is tragedy and damages truth more than it can possibly serve justice.
While the Bahá’í continue to pay the price for this attitude in their homeland, they have gained the respect of every country of their forced diaspora. In Israel, former Palestine, where the Bahá’í world center was established from the beginning, they won acclaim for the positive influence of their peace-loving ways within the larger community. They fare well in the Western world, thriving in a liberal, democratic environment. In order to exercise their beneficial influence, they need a tolerant, more or less peaceful setting. They keep out of politics and do not serve in government offices. They do not have to make decisions on war and peace. Therefore, one might say, it is easy for them to not even consider a just war. They work for peace. Their whole lives are a statement of peace, period.
Would Gandhi’s non-violent resistance, his celebrated principles of satyagraha and ahimsa, have succeeded in any other environment but the crumbling British empire in India? Would it have succeeded in Nazi Germany? Would violence have been justified in order to liberate a suppressed people from a despotic and cruel regime?
Torn between theory and reality, what are we to do? What are we to believe? I am not pleading for compromise. I believe in upholding the idea of peace as fervently as we can, and to try to manifest it in our personal lives, which may be far more difficult than to discuss a just war theory. Working out and implementing, in whatever ways, methods of peace-making is a blessed endeavor. At the same time, existing realities must be considered. The truth is not in theory, though we need it as a guideline. Human action can reflect truth only, it seems to me, by trying one’s utmost to approach the ideal of peace within the limited possibilities of a given situation.
There is another thing we can do. If we believe in the invisible power of thoughts, we can invest the decision-makers, such as the American President, as well as his opponents, with our thoughts and prayers for guidance, for the strength and courage to achieve peace at last. We can send this kind of energy around the world and embrace it ourselves.
Associates of C:WED:
Eleanor Rae, Ph.D., founder
Anne Andersson, editor
Giles E. Rae, publisher
Representatives at the United Nations:
New York: Alayne O’Reilly, Ph.D.
Kathleen Quain
Vienna: Susanne Schaup, Ph.D.
Mission Statement
The Center for Women, the Earth, the Divine is dedicated to exploring the parallels that exist between the imaging and treatment of women and of the Earth, and how our images of the Divine are related to these parallels.
We began by exploring these relationships within the context of our own tradition— the Christian. While we continue our exploration in this tradition, we have also engaged people of other traditions such as the Buddhist, Goddess, Hindu, Indigenous, Jewish and Muslim. Our work is made available through talks, workshops, writings and retreats. The immediate purpose of the Center is educational, while the ultimate goal is the healing of the Creation.
The founder of C:WED is Eleanor Rae, Ph.D., author of Women, the Earth, the Divine, President Emerita of the Network Alliance of Congregations Caring for Earth and founder of the Earth Values Caucus at the United Nations and Founder/President of the Hutchinson River Restoration Project..
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What is Earth Asking of Us?--a Question for Transition Times
From the Genesis Farm Newsletter—a Learning Center for Re-Inhabiting Earth
This is always a guiding question for us here: What is Earth asking of us? Last year we expanded our part of the Great Work into the Transition movement, an international grassroots effort formed out of an urgency to move communities from oil dependency to community resilience in the face of Peak oil, climate change, and economic instability. This question has moved us into a deeper commitment to the Transition movement.
We have been inspired and galvanized by a gathering of Transition leaders here at the Farm early in December.In collaboration with Transition Colorado, we hosted this three-day meeting. Michael Brownlee and Lynette Marie Hanthorn, co-founders of Transition Colorado—the first Initiative in North America, issued the invitation to 25 people who are active in the movement in this country, and 17 people responded.
The invitation for this gathering described its purpose as “a beginning dialogue” and “collaboration” for considering what the movement should be and how it should proceed within a North American context. Transition Initiative leaders attended from six states. Two of the Farm’s Board members attended, as well as the executive director and a board member of Transition U.S. The authors of two books significant to the movement also joined us: Carolyn Baker who wrote Sacred Demise: Walking the Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization’s Collapse, and Tom Atlee, author of Reflections on Evolutionary Activism: Essays, Poems, and Prayers from an Emerging Field of Sacred Social Change.
This question—What is Earth asking of us?—emerged in the conversation on the second day, and moved the group into a sense of deeper listening and humility. One of the three small working groups focused on “Connecting Transition and the Great Story” and asked what the Transition movement would look like if the evolutionary story of the Universe were integrated into its focus. After a process of reflection and conversation, the energetic report from the group to the gathering was clear: Earth was asking that its story be made integral and visible as context for the Transition movement. At the gathering’s final reflection, one person said “We so need to bring the New Cosmology into the movement.”
Our next steps have been to make this connection in several new programs. A course for those who have participated in Earth Literacy programs will help integrate Transition movement understandings into their work. Since Permaculture principles offer practical ways for people to live in a mutually-enhancing way with nature, it is important to connect this movement more closely to Transition. A Permaculture design certification course will be offered which will empower participants to incorporate these design principles not only into this land, but to the places where they live as well as into the social structures embedded there. Also a workshop will connect Permaculture ethics and principles more fully into Transition thinking and practice. Developing healthy and sustainable Transition work groups will be the focus of another program, within the context of understanding Earth’s evolution as ‘emergent.’ And finally, the Introduction to Transition three-day program will be offered again in the spring and fall.
We are developing this new work with the close collaboration of Transition Colorado and the Permaculture Network of NJ, as well as with support from our ongoing network of friends, neighbors, and nearby organizations, and with the enthusiastic involvement of our Genesis Farm Board of Trustees. Most of all in this new phase of our work, we seek the blessing of the community of all life here at the Farm.
(For complete program information, visit the Genesis Farm website at: www.genesisfarm.org.)
Animal Bill of Rights
I, the undersigned American Citizen, believe that animals, like all sentient beings, are entitled to basic legal rights in our society. Deprived of legal protection, animals are defenseless against exploitation and abuse by humans. As no such rights now exist, I urge you to pass legislation in support of the following basic rights for animals:
ü THE RIGHT of animals to be free from exploitation, cruelty, neglect and abuse
ü THE RIGHT of laboratory animals not to be used in cruel or unnecessary experiments
ü THE RIGHT of farm animals to an environment that satisfies their basic physical and psychological needs
ü THE RIGHT of companion animals to a healthy diet, protective shelter, and adequate medical care.
ü THE RIGHT of wildlife to natural habitat ecologically sufficient to a normal existence and a self-sustaining species population
ü THE RIGHT of animals to have their interests represented in court and safeguarded by the law of
The above is a copy of a petition originally submitted to the 101st United States Congress.
4/22/2010
