Karen Armstrong thinks of the change in terms of religion. I am not sure her concept of religion corresponds to those of the people in China, India, Greece and Israel during the Axial Age. I find that she includes both ethics and theology in her definition, and I might separate the two.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" seems to me an ethical concept.
Armstrong was asked in the program I heard whether today might be similarly an Axial Age, and responded that she thought not. I am not sure that she is right. We are certainly facing rapid social change and the conflict of the last century was greater than ever in human history so there are conditions that might tend to force rethinking.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Helsinki Accords, the Geneva Convention all indicate advances in our thought leading to more humane treatment of people. UNESCO was created to help build the defenses of peace in the minds of men. There is an effort to promote inter-religious dialog and a dialog among civilizations to promote peace and understanding. Maybe we are making changes which in the future will be see as a turning point in history in which people came to a more humane way of thinking about and acting toward each other.
I hope so! Merry Christmas!
2 comments:
I find it hard to believe that these various cultures were completely independent of each other however we certainly are closer as a world now (communications wise) than ever. I hope humankind does survive these "teenage" years and moves into a new age of cooperation and mature treatment of each other and our planet earth (before it is too late!)
I too hope that humankind matures and moves into a new age of cooperation and mutual respect. Thank you for your message Dr. Mauro.
Happy New Year, and for those of you who start the new decade in 2010, happy new decade!
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