You Can’t Fool Mother Nature
- Article Published At:
- Rutland Herald
- Date of Publication:
- August 12th, 2023
You Can’t Fool Mother Nature Alan Betts 8/12/23
The purpose of this commentary is to discuss the takeover of the climate system by the living Earth, colloquially known as Mother Nature, in response to the refusal of global societies to significantly reduce the burning of the fossil fuels that are driving the extreme climate change destroying life on Earth. So it covers issues beyond the conventional science perspective. In 1976, I realized we were heading for a climate disaster because humanity and our leaders did not accept responsibility for the Earth. I was told to do what I was paid to do, and let those in charge make decisions despite their ignorance of the complex climate system. So, in parallel with my climate research career, I restructured my life, bought land in Vermont and built a passive solar house with a few solar panels. Then in 1980, I posed the question: “How do we merge science with wisdom?” I was sent to Tiruvannamalai in southeast India. To my utter surprise, as I sat in a meditation room upon arrival, the Creator took me through my whole life to show me it was all known to her — leaving me ecstatic and transformed.
I will start by reviewing four keys for understanding the living Earth in human terms. First, let us shift to a more colloquial image and say “Mother Nature is taking over the climate system” to protect life on Earth, because our global economic system has refused to act wisely and do this. Of course, Mother Nature, the Creation and concepts like Gaia are just different human labels for the common reality that we need to understand deeply. The Indigenous concept of Mother Nature has an advantage over other human labels for the Creator because it is understood clearly by local communities. It has another huge advantage that it is free of the male chauvinism that has been dominant for thousands of years, and has contributed greatly to the exploitation of people, the planet and the current destruction of life on Earth.
The second is that, for European culture, the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD was critical. The Roman Catholic Church was created to meet the needs of the Roman Emperor Constantine for male human power for warfare and over women, Indigenous people and nature. Constantine insisted that the Aramaic gospels of the Indigenous Aramaic-speaking teacher Yeshua (whom we know as Jesus) be destroyed, because they referred to the birther of the cosmos and the creation — a female concept. The original Aramaic gospels have only recently been retranslated. The male Catholic priests worshiped a male god safely removed to heaven, so he would not interfere with their human power. Indirectly, the priests ruled societies and influenced the rise of science for more than 1,500 years. Christianity split into many groups, but almost none understand how Yeshua as an Indigenous person chose the truth of Mother Nature over (male) human power. In the present era, Pope Francis understands many of these issues, and has pushed successfully for wise strategies on global climate change, and apologized for the abuse of women by priests.
The third is that the Indigenous world view which understands Mother Nature takes precedence over amoral capitalism. Of course, this is why European and North American societies tried so hard to stamp out Indigenous thought, and suppress the culture. For many centuries, Catholic priests supervised the killing of millions of Indigenous people, both to seize their land, and perhaps because they feared the Indigenous teachers, who had a better understanding than they did of the teachings of the Indigenous Jesus. Last year, Pope Francis visited Canada to apologize for the church’s role in running residential schools for more than a century. Indigenous children were forcibly taken from their parents, forbidden to speak their own language, and abused in an attempt to destroy their Indigenous heritage. On a more humorous note, there are three groups of Indigenous people across Canada, who are associated with three sets of grizzly bears that have not interbred in the past thousand years. Scientists are puzzled how this is possible. But the Indigenous people laugh. They are “our bears” — we have been together through the seasons for a thousand years.
The fourth is the powerful concept that it is the “truth that set us free” to act on behalf of the Creation and Mother Nature. We attribute this deep understanding to the Indigenous Aramaic teacher Yeshua. He had an intimate connection to the Creation, so the Jewish and Roman authorities had to kill him, since his deep understanding was a threat to their male human power. However, it is important to understand that the overt takeover of the climate system by Mother Nature is not a religious issue. It is just the reality of the entire web of life and the Creation here on Earth that Yeshua understood so well. However, this truth is still today a direct threat to human power over nature. We believe we are the “only” intelligent species and that we are “in charge,” when, in reality, we are the only species on Earth that does not listen to, or communicate directly with, Mother Nature, even though we could. Our society tries to hide the fact that “business as usual capitalism” is destroying the climate system and life on Earth for profit. So Mother Nature, which is far more powerful than we are, appears to be taking over on behalf of all of life on Earth. Living with webs of lies, very few in our world can face the truth.
This Figure (not published by the Herald- download article) frames this clash of irreconcilable realities between Mother Nature’s powerful perspective and the 45 years of criminal behavior by the capitalist ‘Fossil Empire’. My web-site alanbetts.com/research has detailed examples and reference
Fig 3 Simplified
Clash of Realities
Mother Nature
Indigenous world
Preserve web of life
She is the Truth that sets you Free
Power unlimited
Join her: she can help you
Capitalism/Fossil Empire
Human/natural resources
Exploit people and the Earth for profit
Maximize $ profit
Use money and lies to bribe & control
- "We're in charge"