Part of the feminization of the West is the elevation of the planet Earth into a Mother Goddess.
And in the post-Christian West, where Christian values and themes get transmuted into progressive secular terms by anti-Christians --funny how that happens-- we have happily moved beyond feeling guilt over our sins, which caused the death of Jesus and which would be finally dealt with by the world-destroying Second Coming. Instead, new priests and prophets tell us to feel guilt over our consumerisms, which are causing the death of Mother Earth and which will be finally dealt with by the world-destroying Global Warming.
The Old Testament panoply of laws about separating the clean from the unclean now shows up in the devotions and regulations of recycling, separating out paper, plastic, metal and organics so that they can be offered up in sacrifice at the Temple, uh, I mean, the Recycling Center. Fasting becomes Reducing Your Carbon Footprint. Indulgences become Carbon Credits. Sacred garments of modesty and sanctity are now sold in Berkeley boutiques specializing in organically raised cotton. The Bishop of Rome is replaced by the Unsuccessful Candidate for President in 2000. And despite any evidence to the contrary, the Articles of EcoFaith and the Rule of the Devout Life are clear. Ask anyone in Northern California. Or pretty well anywhere where Blueness reigns.
You get the picture.
From a Jungian viewpoint --one shared by no Jungian I know, by the way, since they've pretty well all converted to Mommy Worship-- this is another illustration of the archetypes of the collective unconscious, the universal themes and shapes which Homo Sapiens always uses to interpret reality. From the viewpoint of a weary, somewhat curmudgeonly --but still pretty damn cute-- almost-post-gay rightwinger, it's another instance of "Same Ol', Same Ol'".
A mischievous and wisely observant friend who works in a large government recyling facility...oh, wait, no....a community college... told me that after a sabbatical away, he discovered that all the folks who had been on the Diversity Committee before the summer had now migrated to the Sustainability Committee. The Faithful are nothing but faithful, even when they're fickle.
Personally, even if I don't practice it much anymore, I prefer the Old Religion.
2 comments:
I swear it was a mistake.
I put "green" compost-ables in the "blue" recyclable receptacle. And, I used the Lord's name in vain. (This part wasn't a mistake.)
Now that I've confessed, where to go for forgiveness?
Altar'd boy:
I used to forgive people for a living, but alas, I had to retire from that trade.
And this is a different religion in which I am not credentialed.
I suggest that you find some middleaged woman with grey hair that has been left to grow too long in defiance of the ageism of our patriarchal society, who also wears a cotton ethnic jacket and has look of both outraged self-righteousness and zen-like concern for humanity and indeed all living things on the planet.
Confess to her. Ask her forgiveness.
If you survive the encounter, get back to me.
If not, can I have your stereo?
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