Merriam-Webster defines religious as "relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity".
I am indeed faithfully devoted to an ultimate reality. That reality drives me every day. The main difference of course is that my ultimate reality is, in fact, very real. It is based on evidence, on scientific fact, on undeniable truth. It is not based on myth, legend, or interpretation of what a small number of people may have written at some point in history about their take on the world.
My ultimate reality is that I am part of something bigger, something connected, something living. Some call it Pachamama, some call it Mother Earth, there are many other names for it. A key lesson I learned while spending time deep inside Brazil's Amazon Rainforest is that everything on Earth is connected. If you mess with one thing, you mess with everything. Those who deny this are heretics, as the Church would call them.
Organized religion throughout history has only been used to control and exert power, to dominate and exploit. Yet, I embrace some of their structure. They speak of many rules to follow and live by. They speak of dire consequences and reckoning for those who do not follow the rules. They speak of eternity, of things that are set for the rest of time.
I believe in those things. I believe in rules that need to be observed. Rules like the laws of biology, and physics and chemistry. Rules like not poisoning the air and water that sustain life. Like not destroying ecosystems that sustain life. Like not cutting off food chains that are life itself. Like not forever altering the chemistry of our atmosphere and oceans. Or willfully driving entire species to extinction, causing entire ecosystems to collapse.
I believe in the consequences of these rules not being followed. I believe in the Hell that our world can become. I believe in retribution too. Noah's flood as a result of humanity's sins doesn't seem so far fetched - we have a lot of scientific evidence that this is coming. Pachamama is not vengeful, she acts very predictably. Just like if I stick my hand in the fire I know exactly what to expect as a result.
Within religion there is often a message of hope. A message of redemption - change your ways and good will follow. I believe in that too. The science shows us clearly what we can do now to start slowing, halting and ultimately reversing the damage we've been inflicting on our Mother Earth. This hope is full of opportunity, as embracing a more sustainable approach to our world can unleash a new era of connectedness, solidarity and consciousness about our place in our world and our place in history. We are mere visitors, entrusted for a very brief moment by our elders to look out for future generations.
I am hopeful, but not naive. Many others - including many who embrace a different form of religion while ignoring all its teachings - are still pushing us in the wrong direction. Faith and hope alone will not suffice. Action is needed.
I am faithfully devoted to an ultimate reality. This reality is the only truth I know. And it guides me. I guess I am therefore deeply religious.
