The Task of Theological Humanism
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synergy between habitat destruction and climate change may well usher in the sixth extinction spasm in the Earth’s long history, the first for which humanity bears responsibility. 1
The endangerment to human life is no less real and pressing. The hideous and ongoing violations of human bodies, especially women’s and girls’ bodies, around the world takes many forms. Rape, human trade (mainly children), sex tourism, honor killings for the violation of (patriarchal) sexual
codes, and the fact of the global spread of HIV/AIDS testify to the many ways human flesh is demeaned and destroyed and the integrity of people’s lives violated. Insofar as basic and natural goods are necessary conditions for any other goods humans can and might pursue, then forces that threaten
them endanger the future.about care for the earth and the human body. At worst, the religions too often picture the physical world as the domain of death and sin that must The world’s religions have at best an ambiguous record in their teachings
be escaped, by (say) enlightenment from karmic cycles, or as a means to heaven through salvation. In these outlooks, reality is enfolded in a vision of divine power or ultimate reality which can demean the domain of goods and thereby threaten the possibility of a livable and sustainable future. The
origin and destiny of the world, it is believed, is “in the hands of God” or under some logic of karmic cycles which can relieve the demand of human responsibility for protecting and sustaining finite life.A popular criticism of religion is usually leveled against the monotheistic
faiths. Based on a reading of the creation story in Genesis, a male creator God supposedly rules like an ancient despot and demands that human beings subdue and exploit the earth. This idea of God, it is argued, forms the back-ground to the ecological crisis and the development of technology in the
Western world. To be sure, the idea of a heavenly deity who has little regard for earthly matters is deep within the monotheistic religions. Yet to reduce those religions to this idea is obviously a distortion of the monotheistic reli-gions, not to mention bad biblical studies and theology. (^2) Still, forms of
hypertheism threaten fragile basic goods.demeaned bodily existence and also legitimated the unjust treatment of human bodies. Virtually every religious community has tragic and sad lega-This is also true of human bodies. Too often, the world’s religions have
cies of sexual abuse. Some conservative religious communities want to deny lesbians and homosexuals a range of civil liberties, and in other cultures traditional religious practices (cutting; female circumcision; marriage cus-toms) contribute to the spread of diseases. Additionally, the prohibition of