I did not manage to see all of the harrowing documentary on the Tsunami on BBC television last night. In one respect I was relieved as the content was so sad, but one thing overall came over very clearly, and that is that no matter our religion, culture or degree of intellectualism – all human beings share the need for a myth to make sense of our part in the world. I use the word, myth advisedly for it seemed to me that the story of the world as a tree shaken or tilted by bad spirits made for a coherent statement of cause and effect which actually saved a whole tribe on a remote Indian Ocean island. They had no religious writings, only an oral tradition passed on from generation to generation; they did not question, they simply accepted their story. We may feel superior in our “knowledge” and Yes, in the so-called civilised west, we need our scientific rules and logic and explanation, yet we are the ones who are responsible for global warming and environmental pollution on a massive scale.
I am led to ask whether we would dare to claim superiority after all?