Aired 24 December 2019 – 5:00 PM EDT
Interview with Michael Dowd, Eco-Theologian and Author of “Thank God For Evolution”
“The most dangerous predator on Earth, “Humanisaurus Wrecks” is on the brink of extinction.” — Swami Beyondananda
Sometimes I think we have created the political polarization and paralysis, the toxic culture wars, the fixations on “the pedophile elite”, and the arguments about how many sexes there are, so that we can distract ourselves from the elephant and donkey in the living room – what scientists are calling the Sixth Great Extinction.
The foreboding symptoms include climate chaos that seems to be spiraling out of control, dying oceans, societal unrest, and species loss. And at the top of the endangered species list, whether we accept it or not, is our own species. And yet we want to imagine that life will go on “as usual.”
Meanwhile, the two sides have retreated to their respective corners and are indulging in the two drugs more popular – and dangerous – than the opioids: Hopium and Deniatol. We have one force strung out on hopium – hoping that technology will save us, and another addicted to Deniatol, denying any problem exists. And many of those who have been addressing the issue for decades have all but given up.
My guest this week on Wiki Politiki, Michael Dowd offers a way through and past the denial and despair with a powerful re-frame he calls Post Doom. Writes Michael:
Doom is the mid-point between denial and regeneration…with or without us.
Post-doom is what opens up when we remember who we are, accept what is inevitable, honor our grief, and invest in what is pro-future and soul-nourishing.
A post-doom heart and mindset means living, loving, and relating honorably with full awareness that …
- There are dimensions of abrupt climate change beyond human control.
- Our ecological predicament encompasses all aspects of life.
- Climate is not our biggest problem; overshoot is (climate chaos is but a symptom).
- Human-centered measures of progress and wellbeing are ecocidal and self-terminating.
- Human-centered technology and the market are false gods, creating hell on Earth.
- The extinction of Homo colossus (rapacious industrial humanity) is both inevitable and necessary.
- The extinction of Homo sapiens this century or next cannot be ruled out.
Rev. Michael Dowd is a bestselling author, eco-theologian, sustainability activist, and TEDx speaker whose book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by 6 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum. Michael and his science writer, evolutionary educator, and eco-centric activist wife, Connie Barlow, have spoken to some 2,700 groups throughout North America since 2002. Their work provides audiences with applications of evolutionary and ecological wisdom that break through the confusions of these rapidly shifting times. Michael’s passion and legacy work is most fully expressed in his recent sermons, his 2019 video discussion course, Pro-Future Faith: The Prodigal Species Comes Home, and new podcast: “Post-doom: conversations exploring overshoot grief, grounding, and gratitude”.
If you’re ready to move past despair, denial and false hope, please tune in.
To find out more about Rev. Michael Dowd and his sobering yet heartening Post-Doom vision please go here.