I've been pondering religion a lot lately, what with all the kerfuffle over "Intelligent Design" (on that subject, you only need to read one thing: this).
Joel Makower's latest references an article by Worldwatch Institute Director of Research Gary Gardner called "Hungry for More: Re-Engaging Religious Teachings on Consumption." The idea, from what I can gather, is that all the world's major religions contain moral teachings against over-consumption and economic injustice -- and faith communities need to rediscover and embrace these teachings as they try to deal with a world in which "mass consumerism in wealthy countries has already broken the ecological bank."
To which I say: good luck.
I suppose there's no sense being coy about my distaste for religion (though I should stress that it's my own personal hangup, not representative of Grist or of the environmental community as a whole). But as far as I can see, religion in America -- ubiquitous though it may be -- is fairly toothless in terms of challenging people and getting them to change their behavior. The religion I see is either the "moderate" kind that's mainly devolved into a glorified self-help program or the "extreme" kind that mainly serves to offer its adherents objects of hate and derision (e.g., gays).
Gross oversimplification, yes. But still, the chances of religion in the developed world emerging as a genuine force in opposition to conspicuous overconsumption strike me as roughly nil.
But that's not my point.
I wanted to say a word about materialism. Gardner references the Buddhist attitude of "detachment, a sharp contrast to the frenzied grasping for stuff that often characterizes non-Buddhist societies."
I think this somewhat imprecise. One of the professors I used to study with, Albert Borgmann, wrote several excellent books about (among other things) the fact that, for all their vaunted materialism, modern Westerners seem to have very little appreciation for material. Objects are almost entirely opaque and disposable. Where things were once hewn out of wood and metal, now we encounter nothing but shiny digital interfaces hiding workings underneath of which we know nothing.
In fact, we seem to have a thoroughgoing disrespect for material. We care nothing for it.
What's striking about the "frenzied grasping for stuff" is not the stuff but the frenzied grasping. We seem perpetually unfulfilled, convinced that just a slightly bigger house or faster car or more flattering pair of jeans or higher-capacity mp3 player (ahem -- I'm done now, hon, promise!) will fill the holes inside us.
I don't write this off to simple greed. And though there is an advertising industry devoted to stoking and exacerbating these feelings, I don't think it could create them from whole cloth.
Why the perpetual, gnawing sense of dissatisfaction?
Gardner (maybe even Joel, I don't know) might say it's a spiritual lack that could be addressed by religion.
I disagree. I tend to look toward more prosaic, worldly explanations. What do people need? A sense of purpose, security, and community; to be loved by a circle of family and friends; physical health.
It's a bitter irony that our pursuit of the transient pleasures of consumption pushes us into lifestyles that make the things we really need more and more remote.
There's more to be said about this, of course, but the annual Grist picnic starts in just a few minutes, so I gotta run!
Comments
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Bart Anderson Posted 5:59 pm
17 Aug 2005
What's striking about the "frenzied grasping for stuff" is not the stuff but the frenzied grasping. We seem perpetually unfulfilled... Sounds like what the Buddhists call "hungry ghosts" -- they eat and eat but are never satisfied.
What do people need? A sense of purpose, security, and community; to be loved by a circle of family and friends; physical health. I think many religious people would agree with you that THESE are the important things, not material goods and status. (And fundamentalism to the contrary, one's particular theology is not that important.)
I noticed when I was involved with leftism, that those activists with a religious background were better balanced, less prone to righteousness and paranoia. I found myself attracted to Quakers, Unitarians and Buddhists in the mold of Thich Nhat Hanh. But I also found that once I had opened up to religion, I began to understand and like people of other faiths as well.
One of the writers on religions -- was it Huston Smith? (Religions of the World)-- said that having a feeling for religion is like having an ear for music, that it can open up a world of teachings and traditions, of new experiences and understandings.
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greenlagirl Posted 3:42 pm
18 Aug 2005
I wonder if the "frenzied grasping" has to do not so much with spiritual lack as with a sense of purpose that's been warped by a capitalist culture -- one that defines you, and encourages you to define yourself -- by what you own. Or more to the point, by what you own as seen and interpreted by other people. Most people don't just want a higher-capacity mp3 player -- they want others to see that they own a higher-capacity mp3 player. Or Nike Shox. Or maybe, for Grist readers, a Toyota Prius.
Not that I have anything agains Priuses -- I wish I could afford one. But I wonder if it's possible to move toward a society where one's sense of identity is not so dependent on the evaluation, recognition and approval of others...
http://greenlagirl.blogspot.com/
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Pandu Posted 5:11 am
19 Aug 2005
Of course, that conception entirely misses the point of religion, but one should not expect average people to easily understand the inconceivable reality that exists beyond their empiric jurisdiction. In Bhagavad-gita (7.3), Krishna informs Arjuna, "Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." Unless a person actually knows God, it is practically impossible to successfully abandon selfishness, which extends up to the desire for salvation.
Dave said, "What do people need? A sense of purpose, security, and community; to be loved by a circle of family and friends; physical health."
Ultimately these things cannot help. A sense of purpose? Every created thing must be destroyed. Security? Health? Same problem. Community, family, and friends? See below.
Our faults are our selfish interests, which couple with our deep feeling of identification with our gross and subtle material bodies. Each of us has a strong drive to satisfy ourselves, and we make different varieties of arrangements in the form of communities, nations, etc., to satisfy our material needs. Yet we remain perpetually unhappy because of a constitutionally incompatible arrangement. Spirit is compatible with spirit, and matter with matter; yet we are spiritual beings trying to enjoy material nature, and incompatible situation. This situation can never be satisfying any more than finding a pot of gold in a dream. Because we are eternal spiritual persons, whatever enjoyment we feel in our connection with matter is temporary and illusory. Because of this illusion, we are unable to control our desires, unable to understand our relationship with God, and our situation will gradually become more unbearable until we are forced to realize that there is in fact no real happiness in our association with material nature. God is withholding His opulence from us so that we will wake up from this bodily identification. Therefore the only solution is to somehow awaken our dormant love of God, the ultimate goal of life. Hare Krishna.
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Paul Kuchynskas Posted 10:31 am
19 Aug 2005
think God intoxication (Using god as a drug),
even if God's love (defined by who & what?) is
an ultimate goal of life (a la the Chanting of Hare Krishna, endlessly)is anyone's meaningful solution either.(My apologies to the nuances of
Pandhu, but I think he sets up a needless and false interpretation of Spirit/Matter dualism.
I think the best insight is that we actually as
a culture have little understanding and regard for the air, water, earth and sunlight that we
share. That, and $2.00 will get me on the NYC
Subway, I know. Hey! Now, that's a novel idea!
Revive railroads in the USA, and solve a whole lot of suffering! God's love, in the form of relief for masses of people!!! Wow what a concept!
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Pandu Posted 1:18 am
23 Aug 2005
Ultimately everything is spiritual; however, experientially, God's energies exhibit different qualities. Those that manifest unlimited freedom and variagatedness are called spiritual, and those that are restricted in various ways are called material.
Regarding the endless chanting of Hare Krishna, spiritual activities are everlasting and joyfully performed. (http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/9/2/en) I find this Hare Krishna chanting to be ecstatic beyond description.
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accel2 Posted 12:26 am
04 Oct 2005
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