Monday, November 23, 2009
If We Can't Reduce Consumption
When we talk about conditioning and consumption, I wonder to what extent and how fast we might be able to drastically reduce conspicuous consumption before we bury ourselves in garbage. An environmental crisis is developing so fast that, it seems to me, we need to rapidly work toward drastically reducing global population. Although I believe Buddhism takes a very strong anti-abortion position I think there is also room for pro-choice. I don't want to focus on abortion, though, since so many unwanted pregnancies could be avoided. But, I truly believe that the fate of humanity lies in finding a global population level that has a sustainable and harmonious life style. The higher the population, the lower the consumption needs to be in order to stay in balance. I haven't seen any writing on Buddhism and Family Planning. I have heard criticisms of China and Japan linking them with Buddhism, "China has forced abortions" and "Japan has the highest abortion rate in the world." Although China and Japan have large numbers of Buddhists, their abortion practices are certainly not based on any Buddhist teachings.
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During our Recycling Committee meeting yesterday, the following ad was airing on the Super Bowl:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq58zS4_jvM
See what your reaction is... I definitely got a laugh. (If the link doesn't work search for "green police" on YouTube.)
Dear Rev. Don,
ReplyDeletePlease post info about the Eco-Sangha:
Buddhism & Sustainability Conference.
So glad you will be presenting. Congratulations!
-John Malcomson
Dear Rev. Castro:
ReplyDeleteI thought of you when I caught a part of a program on KUOW2 today, called Tapestry. The topic was about religion and being green. It was very interesting. I thought I'd share it here in case you had not already heard about it.
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/
Sunday, April 25 & Thursday, April 29
The Goddess and the Green Man
The Green Man
The Green Man
In the old pagan religions, everything had a soul. “In antiquity,” wrote the historian Lynn White, “every tree … every spring … every stream … every hill … had its own guardian spirit.”
White suggested that when Christianity supplanted paganism, “Dominion” over the earth was the order of the day. And we’re living with the result. Pollution, deforestation, climate change, extinction. But there are those who believe that if religion was part of the problem, it can also be part of the solution. Freelance journalist Johnny Keogh visited several sites in Toronto where religion and ecology are coming together. On this week's show, you'll hear his documentary, Sacred Ground.