Sometimes, it feels like we built the stupidest world possible.
Is natural law the answer?
What time is it?
In the Red Sea, Houthi rebels are harassing shipping lanes and threatening the global supply lines.
In America, Miami is in danger of being washed into the sea in a state where the governor has banned any mention of the climate crisis.
In Russia, a desperate tyrant tries to drive his flailing economy with a war of aggression.
In Middle East, years of refusing any semblance of compromise by either side has led both tribes back into a pointless religious war of bloody attrition.
All of this is against a world in a desperate environmental crisis.
But our concerns and daily course need to reflect our circumstance. We go into debt to buy a car, a house, or an education. We watch golf on TV or ps to Europe under overcrowded and scorched skies. We invest in massive energy-burning technology that serves little purpose beyond distracting us and driving more wealth into the hands of an elite class.
It’s tough to read and I’d love to offer solutions. But I’ve a lifetime of solutions behind me and none of them have overcome the passions of our distractions.
At a time when we are desperate for leaders, we elect leaders who demean us and lie to us, and line their pockets with our wealth. Leaders who use war to divide us and kill us. Leaders who live in a 19th century world filled with 21st century problems.
In a world with abundant wealth and resources people are starving. The internet has become the greatest tool of disinformation in history. Poverty and homelessness define our greatest cities.
The only way out of our morass is a revival of ethics, not religion but the basic principle of natural law.
- Universal Moral Standards that apply to all humans, regardless of culture or beliefs.
2. Inherent rights simply by virtue of being human. These rights are not granted by constitution or government but are intrinsic to human existence.
3. Objective morality from reason and not subject to opinions or cultural variations.
4. Human flourishing and the common good, aimed at fulfillment of human potential.
5. Pursuing the common good through actions and laws to promote justice, peace, and the well-being of the community as a whole.
6. Reason and rationality that emphasizes critical thinking in understanding and applying moral principles.
7. Moral absolutes because some actions are considered morally wrong in all circumstances (murder, theft, rape)
8. Natural Rights such as the right to life, liberty, and property, which are seen as inherent and inalienable.
These are not commandments from a burning bush. They speak to our common humanity. The American republic was founded on the principles of natural law. These laws supersede any superstition or priestly authority that seeks to control us. They are simply ours by virtue of our birth.
Application of these natural laws make a world that stands a chance. The world we built on religious principle and political capitalism is dying. It is not a time of respect and vision. It is a time of fear and the crushing ambition of small-minded leaders.
What choice do we have? It is a time of out-of-time, a call for catharsis, an awakening, a rising.
What time is it? The end times.
