Exploring the modern day humanocentric wordview, exposing the corruption of mainstream 'environmentalism' and 'sustainable' technologies and offering some wisdom from our ancestors for the path ahead
I have not read it thoroughly, and I will re-read it many times because there’s so much great information in here, and also so thorough. But as you say, not comprehensive even still. Just want to make one point, and it makes me wonder, because Colonialism, greed, and anthropocentrism are definitely root causes to the evil, but it was a certain brand of Christianity that came in and was used as a justification. Later that changed to something else. And even amongst the gilded sects of Christianity such as the Jesuits, there were individuals who really did care about the culture and the people, and who also helped preserve parts of the culture and language, by doing the good work to connect with the locals. And I also wonder, if it was not European, a.k.a. Roman catholic driven Christianity, would it have been a different approach to the humanity aspect? I say that, because there are many places in the world, where native people are being crushed, when in particular, or the Palestinians, or the Armenians, who are very old or ancient people, and largely Christian in the case of the latter especially , and they are being subjugated by other religious belief system that claims superiority as a justification to destroy them.
I think the assault on the good humans and the people who live close to their lands and buy their land, is still in full swing, and perhaps even more exacerbated these days. All over the world. And now there is a new assault on the land in North America, which is egregious and highly toxic, damaging for a long term. Perhaps it’s time to bring the buffalo back, as a natural solution, giving and living for the land first, and March back against tyranny.
Thank you very much for this, just some thoughts to share that came up as I got through most of it. I will share this and discuss with friends. 
First of all, thanks for reading part of my article and taking the time to share your thoughts.
I think it is important to point out that much of what is taught in books, by preachers and in institutions now are things that would make Jesus of Nazareth ashamed. When I speak about "christianity" in my article above I am not talking about the teachings of Jesus, I am talking about the twisted, institutionalized, dogmatic, humanocentric concepts that are pushed forward by humans that are either ignorant, or intentionally twisted the original teachings so that they could manipulate and control other humans.
Let us start by defining Christianity in the context of how I am using the word.
In the way in which I see its institutionalized expression manifested today, I would say it is a dogmatic belief system that is the result of many centuries of the “Chinese whispers” effect (as in the concepts, ideas and actions carried out in the name of “Christianity” are so far removed from the teachings of the supposed originator of said belief system that I think if Jesus was alive today and saw what has been (and continues to be done) in his name, he would not be very happy at all.
First of all, Jesus did not start the Christian religion, and never intended for any religion to be formed in his name. The truth Jesus embodied and demonstrated has universal relevance and significance, regardless of any individual’s religious, spiritual or philosophical tradition or background.
Constantine the 1st played a central role in altering the translation (and adding complete fabrications) into the biblical texts related to this discussion. This was about manipulating the story of the life of Jesus to be more easy to swallow for humans as it is flattering to the ego to imagine God as a human being just like us (this was done for other reasons as well). After that detrimental alteration to the story of the life of Jesus was made other detrimental alterations took place.
Modern Christianity mostly revolves around the teachings of Saint Paul, and not Jesus. The central creeds of Institutional Christianity contain little or no teachings of Jesus.
Christianity is not the fault of Jesus.
Jesus and Paul would have not gotten along well, and Jesus would have been dismayed by many of the concepts that Paul devised. No other individual shaped the Jesus story that morphed into orthodox Christianity more than Paul.
Western Christianity is Pauline. Paul wrote his letters before the gospels were written, and likely influenced the synoptic gospel writers. Jesus would likely be dumbfounded by the mythology and theology that got attached to his name.
One thing Paul did very successfully, was lock in the idea of atonement and bloodshed as salvific. The Jewish sacrifice of the lamb became the model for the Roman execution of Jesus who became the “lamb of God,” who died to take the rap for the sins of all humankind. The earliest followers of Jesus did not go about making crucifixes. The first carved cross doesn’t appear until the 7th century. In essence, Paul the prime architect of Christian doctrine, turned Christianity into Cross-tianity.
I see great value and benefit to the biblical stories about the life and teachings of Jesus and the emergence and evolution of Christianity. However, in my view, it cannot be properly understood and appreciated without taking into account the factors that influenced and shaped it.
Paul’s letters in the New Testament were basically responses to questions and concerns that the earliest Christian communities posed to him, trying to sort out their beliefs and practices.
You might ask, “Who died and made Paul pope?” Doesn’t matter, Paul found himself in the regrettable situation of being the expert on how to do Christianity. Keep in mind, Paul did not do this in a vacuum. He had been influenced and conditioned by his own previous religious training, and would have drawn upon these and other factors as the raw materials from which to devise his theology. All things considered, I doubt any of us would have done any better. A lot of Paul’s insights and ways he put things together have great value in different ways, but the fact that we assume that Paul was somehow channeling God in his ideas and writings is our fault and not his.
It makes complete sense why Paul did what he did, and he should not be faulted for this. The burden is on us to apply critical thinking and a thorough investigation of the historical, cultural and personal factors that influence and shape all religion, including Christianity. A basic principle of this mindset is “consider the source,” which says that it is wise to consider all the factors that would have impacted and influenced the information and views presented by a particular source, in this case, Paul. Since Paul is the most influential figure in the conception of Christianity and Christian doctrine, it’s wise to understand Paul in this sense. One can appreciate the contribution of Paul without deifying his writings.
I find it curious that practically every creed of the Church, whether the early ecumenical creeds, the Roman Catholic creeds or the Protestant creeds are statements that outline the theological positions and doctrines of the Church, but hardly have any of the teaching of Jesus in them.
A person doesn’t have to be a Paul-hater. He was doing the best he could. We should have compassion for Paul. How would Paul have known that scratching out letters to help sort out the challenges and problems of the early church were somehow going to be turned into the infallible Word of God for all humankind. That’s on us, not him. Paul did the best he could given the circumstances and where he was at in his own spiritual journey and evolution.
One should look upon Christian theology with some skepticism given that you can’t hardly find Jesus anywhere in it. We painted Jesus white and dressed him up in Christian theology, but the brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew who turned religion on its head, got lost some 2,000 years ago on the dusty roads of Nazareth.
Well, I’m still re-reading this reply and the article that prompted the conversation. Firstly, thank you for this thorough response, taking the time to reply to my rudimentary concerns. There’s a lot to digest and my ingestion takes time.
I know that everything you have described here, while not novel for me, requires me to analyze my own tribal notions. I’m on page with the corrupt elements of Christianity, the religion, and any other institutional dogma-based system - there have been many throughout history, perhaps less in the spotlight now. I suppose my concern was particularly superficial in that looking at certain parts of the world I’ve come to the conclusion that of all the belief systems at present, at least the major ones, Christianity has offered someplace for humanity to expand into a better place, allowing for individualism, self-criticism and analysis. There are very few “religions” that have a history of theological analysis and philosophy that constantly discuss the workings that make up the religion, even if these are sometimes based on dogma, and might be deemed useless, even by myself.
I believe that because of Jesus as an example, held by individuals to work toward a cleaner soul, and not the lamb of god revisionist version, Christians have something on offer, putting aside the gruesome misuse and abuse of it by power structures that wield it as a sword. It’s about the humility by which certain questions carry themselves, and not the “lazy” Christianity, about which I one hundred percent agree with you. (The phrases “God willing” or “God-fearing” are rejected by my own vernacular. I also realize that I am clinging to some aspects of it for a number of reasons which I am still defining for myself. One of these is that I always tend to side with the underdog, and nowadays, as in it’s germinal period of pagan persecutions, it seems Christians are under attack, particularly by what I feel are more nefarious belief systems that use the same reasoning and methodology as you described above.
As human beings, we always use certain systems that are available to us, or offered by tradition to try to work things out, I believe the Hindu version of that is called Maya. I used to not bother calling myself a Christian, but I realized that one has to belong to some group even as a default. I am not married to this concept, but perhaps I have chosen sides in order to help defend something I think might be worthwhile. I may also be shallow in this surmise. I’m working on it.
Thank you for defining your meaning behind the terminology, I understand and respect that. I suppose I’m a little guarded and defensive about it these days, but I see you understand where I’m coming from. And the nuances therein.
My own version of spirituality has always been to dismiss the dogma and the Indoctrination that always seemed obvious to me. Instead, I look at the intention behind human attempts to grapple with reality, and unfortunately, this is often blurred to the point of brainwashing in many cases, so that reality becomes a movie, as is the term people like to use these days . In no way am I lost or captive in the movie; in fact, nowadays, I pretty much walk right by the cinema and don’t bother even romanticizing about it.
I can gratefully say that I am a student of yours, because I am in a place where I have opened myself to learning , and even unlearning so much.
I’m also very impressed by the breadth of your knowledge and the eloquence by which you convey and explain your thought and conceptualizations.
It’s a gift, and much appreciated.
At the moment, I’m still stuck on all you’ve offered in the article about anthropocentrism, as well as this message string, and I’m hoping to absorb it before moving on to the other articles and book you have produced since. It has provided and afforded me an important sounding board to flesh out a few of the key ideas I’m currently grappling with.
Christian missionaries/governments (and the soldiers that backed them up) do not have a very good track record when it comes to applying the actual concepts that Jesus attempted to share with the world.
The torturing, raping and murder of indigenous peoples (by people claiming to be Christian) occurred all throughout history but I feel it is worth re-iterating that this pattern of appalling abuse continued in what is now called “Canada” up until very recently within the concentration camps that our government euphemistically called “residential schools”. Though in those instances, the torture, rape and murder specifically targeted indigenous children, with the abuse and murder being directly carried out by mentally deranged Priests and Nuns (that ran the torture centers and concentration camps called “residential schools”). Specialized RCMP were sent by the government to kidnap the children from their parents to take them to these facilities, but the Nuns and the Priests were the ones that ended up doing most of the raping, mutilating and killing.
Thus, in my opinion, whether or not we can identify pockets of good, selfless, humble, tolerant and compassionate Christians in the ocean of anthropocentrically motivated, hubristic and mentally stagnant ones is a moot point. The point is that the distorted dogmas that make up the Christian belief system are selfishly centered around humans, they outsource duplicitous behavior to some scape-goat character (that literally looks like a goat-man) and they are dogmas that feed into complacency, stagnation and laziness.
We have all been conditioned (by governments, corporate propaganda and religious propaganda) to latch onto the comforting (and infantilizing) idea that someone other than ourselves is going to solve our problems for us. This has never been true and it never will be true.
Many people are attracted to interpretations of the bible which say it is a story about good guys and bad guys (and they are of course one of the ‘good guys’). In the story they perceive they have (and will have) a similar role to a spectator watching a sporting event. The story tells them all they have to do is sit around and pledge loyalty to the “good guys” and one day their champion will appear and make the bad guys go away and give them a ticket to a fancy four season resort in the clouds. They feel no need to take action to make the world better in the here and now, after all, why bother when ‘judgement day’ is coming and the bad guys will be held accountable then? Why bother doing the hard work when someone else is going to do it for us? So in essence, they have been told a story that they are on the winning side, and they can just sit back and enjoy the show, sound familiar?
If the stories we have been told (and/or the stories we tell ourselves) promote stagnation, I would suggest that if we want to have a world worth living in and gifting to future generations, we should begin telling new stories about what it means to be human and what the meaning of all this is.
There is no elected official, institution, politician, guru, priest, revolutionary, savior or any other external force or individual who can do this for us. Engaging in life on Earth is a voluntary journey that each of us chose willingly. The Creator of all things respects our choice to be here and our free will. We did not come here to see a dramatic dualistic showdown happen and applaud the ‘good guy' for vanquishing the bad guy (from a distance as a spectator). No, each and every one of us (whether we are currently consciously aware of this fact or not) came here to co-author the story. That means no-one else is going to do the hard work for us (not a savior, rebel leader nor a politician) we came here to do that work of transforming this world ourselves.
While I personally do not resonate with religious dogmatic belief systems, I respect that each individual must find their own path to remember who they are as a spiritual being, know the divine and engage with the Creator of all things, and perhaps, for some, religion is the path that works for them.
Though I see much truth and wisdom to be gleaned in the teachings of courageous and selfless human beings like Jesus and Siddhartha Gautama, I do not subscribe to any one religion as I feel dogma has a way of becoming a stagnant medium that limits one on a path to perpetually learn and hone one’s ability to be of greater service to God, one’s community and the living Earth. Thus, I personally prefer a path that one might describe as Spiritual Autodidacticism ( https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/spiritual-autodidacticism ) over following the belief systems that have been laid out by other humans but I also accept that there are many ways to know God and embark on the path to spiritual growth.
I would never judge you or any other person describing themselves as Christian based on the duplicitous, degenerative and nefarious behavior of other humans that also claimed to be Christian (some of which I described above) in the past but I would also caution against trying to preserve the idea that part of modern day Christian institutions and dogmas can be saved or reformed to serve some beneficial purpose. If you look at history, the over all track record is clear, the proof is in the pudding. This of course applies to many dogmatic religious belief systems (and the institutions and psychopaths that rose up around them) and not solely Christianity.
For me, Nature is part of Creation, and thus I feel that a forest or a garden resonates more with me as a place connect with the Creator of all things than any manmade structure or institution ever could be. Nevertheless, I know that some prefer a cathedral or a monastery and I do not claim that my way to connect with and know the divine is better than theirs. Thus, I advocate for embracing the animate worldview and for each individual to make the choice to nurture 'the garden within' via embarking upon their own unique path to remember who and what they are as a conscious being and to connect with the Creator of all things in their own way.
Thank you for the evocative poem Frances. I hope my Druidic ancestors are smiling each time I plant a tree and each time I thank the Earth when she feeds and heals me.
You don't know how much your article touched me. From 2013 - 2016 I was on Anti-Fracking Camps in the UK. The bloody Roman centurions were brutal and we were sprayed by obedience freaks with mush for brains. Lots of my anti-fracking mates have died since then... they succumbed to emphysema, heart attacks and cancer.
We fought, tooth and nail to keep the Frackers out of England. The Mikmaq sent us a flag in solidarity and we flew it at every camp. We were with Standing Rock in spirit and we have helped as much as we could by using our social media clout to raise awareness of the pipelines. I founded Anti Fracking International on Facebook and that is still running under the wing of a good friend, since I was de-platformed from there.
I went on the radio and told the world that all Big Oil & Gas installations are radio-active and proved it with follow up articles which went viral.
I went to Romania to help them begin their fight against the frackers and I kept liaison with Australia when the frackers were threatening the wild places and the water sources.
It has been a decade of fighting for the rights of nature but I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel yet. So onwards, Gavin. Whatever it takes! xx
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done (and continue to do) to stand up for Mother Earth, to defend her body and in doing so doing a great service to both our human family, and our more than human family.
I am grateful to know that courageous peaceful warriors like you walk this Earth.
Yes, onwards to the path to bringing transparency to the wounds and onward to the path to healing.
Harsh realities are required to wake up the recently red pulled. 'Saving biodiversity' is being used as a weapon. Sadly, saving and protecting biodiversity is all that actually matters, ever, period.
I appreciate you reading what I put together and taking the time to share your thoughts.
I recently updated the article with more history on colonialism (from recent history) and info on how Elon Musk has been involved in supporting a "Lithium Coup" in Bolivia recently.
Courtesy and consideration. Where art thou? Thankyou Gavin. I am greatfull for your work. My greens are now a ' weed' salad, as ingestions and excretions so are my writings a reflection of both. Is a bee's poo sweet?
This post sickened me to the core and yet I came away at peace! That's because I was thoroughly shocked and mortified about the Buffalo war, the lithium mining and the ridiculous wokey green bollox agendas sweeping through all our lands. However, the stories about the ancient Celts and their Ogham language (which I will one day be studying through my online course with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. I'm at Bardic level and will study for Ovate next, which includes the Ogham work) and ended with the beautifully optimistic video from Charles Eisenstein, which, thankfully gave me hope for humanity, if we be but grateful for a start. Thank you for your thought provoking words.
Thanks for the heartfelt comment. I am so glad you were able to come away from reading this grounded in the hope of learning from our ancestors to find a better path forward.
Here is a link to a fun Ogham script translator website I found that you might enjoy playing with https://ogham.co/
I would value any insights you could share relating to Druidic wisdom as you move along in your education in their ways. Please feel free to share anything you feel is pertinent in the comments section here as you go :)
Nice job here Gavin. I wish I had time to write the manifesto comment that it deserves, because the topics touched on have been in my wheelhouse for decades now.
I like the way you transparently tackled your own hypocrisy in being a witting or unwitting accomplice to all this wrongness, for we all are, as I am now typing in to the Moloch "User Interface"!
I often wonder - when it comes down to it - what is more important to humans (our kind of humans, at least, if you understand me) : to do good or to be included? The "elites" love to subvert and weaponize these attributes, as we've seen both of late as well as in the historical experience.
Because if we were truly willing to withdraw consent, we would walk away, cut the cable, turn off the switch, and stop feeding the beast. We know this intellectually (some of us do at any rate), but it would mean severing ourselves from the "Body", the mass of "other humans" who are all participating, reluctantly or enthusiastically, in the destruction.
I think, after much deliberation and reflection, it will take something bigger than us to make that Cold Turkey decision for us. For now we will, as humans do, rationalize and take half-measures and do what we can under the circumstances.
Meanwhile, you may wish to include these in your post or just regard them if you have not yet:
1) Schooling The World: The White Man's Last Burden by Carol Black et. al. 2010
Your astute observations and poignant descriptions of the prevalent mentalities in our modern society drive home the importance of planning for a more comprehensive 'cutting of the cable' in my life in the near future.
I especially found the part where you wrote "all participating, reluctantly or enthusiastically, in the destruction." to be apt and moving.
With regards to your reflections about how it will "it will take something bigger than us to make that Cold Turkey decision for us", you may be right, at least with regards to the vast majority of "us". I do know a few people that mustered the courage to cut the cable cold turkey, but they are a rare few, and they usually do it via the partnership that is born of two with a great love for each other, the wilderness and those who have equally developed skills to thrive off grid.
It feels not only pertinent to our discussion but also to the post above as it is about how Canada "Criminalizes Dissent". The episode focused on that farce of a "commission report" that the corrupt Canadian government/judicial system just released regarding the use of the Emergency Act to crush the peaceful protestors in Ottawa (which basically served to set the precedent that martial law and tyrannical de-banking tactics are ‘totally normal and justified’ for weaponizing against peaceful protestors).
In one exchange I was discussing the concept of "populism" with a fellow Corbet Report Subscriber and inquiring as to whether or not he thought that what he was describing as populism was inherently anthropocentric. Here is a link to the particular comment I am about to quote: https://www.corbettreport.com/canada/#comment-147407
"..the sideline sitting, smart phone notification checking, screen scrolling, amazon package buying masses, I am not so sure about the morality/logic of their aggregate/average priorities. I do think they are capable of shedding the programming and addictions to embrace and nourish the intuitive capacity, capacity for compassion, curiosity and love they were born with, but I do not know what will break the spell so that the de-programming and healing can begin.
I have a feeling it may require the total collapse of civilization and a great many people having all the centralized corporate/government systems and centralized industrial infrastructures they had come to depend on (being spoon fed homogenized corporate goo like little baby birds) imploding in order to break the spell. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the population will be capable of surviving such a wake up call currently.
Well, that is my cue to get back to helping those who are willing to reconnect with the Earth so that they can be able to survive such a thing if is happens (and perhaps more importantly to help them dissolve the anthropocentric delusions that brought us to where we are today so we can leave this world a little bit more free, verdant and beautiful for those that call this place home after we are gone)."
And with that, I think that is indeed my cue to get back to helping those who are willing to be able to provide for themselves and their loved ones in a way that gives back to the living Earth.
I will check out the links, thank you again for the thoughtful and candid comment my friend, your presence is always appreciated.
Thanks my friend, I appreciate you taking the time to write me, I will get back to you asap, just tryna smooth out the final details for publishing my book right now.
btw - I updated the article above with new intel I gathered on Musk's involvement in the lithium pillaging in Bolivia and info on the intended Cobalt, Lithium and Tantalum mines that corporations intend to have in Northern Ontario and Quebec. If their plans go forward, the Boreal Forest is gonna be scalped, blown to pieces with explosives, grinded into rubble and poisoned with a stew of toxic chemicals (the results will contaminate both James Bay and Lake Superior (which feeds into all other great lakes).
Gavin, you are such a kindred spirit. Beginning with always referring to our Mother Earth as "she," not "it." I read through this once and will return to watch the videos later. Written with unabashed truth in all its ugliness. I'm going to go walk in the woods and clear the grief from my heart after reading this. I am so ashamed of the human race. xo
Thank you for recognizing the spirit and conscious mind of our Mother Earth and our fellow non-human beings.
I also felt great grief learning of these things. It was painful doing the research to be able to write this article but I want our human family to be able to heal fully and in order to do that I feel we need to take a brutally honest look at the hurt that has been inflicted thus far. I updated the article yesterday with additional historical info on what I describe as "the continuity of colonialism" in North America as to provide an opportunity for an even more holistic healing for those willing to honestly look at the wounds that have been inflicted so we can formulate a salve to begin the healing process.
It is like Charles said in that video I linked ("TO BE AT HOME IN THE WORLD") where he talked about the addict hitting different depths of despair as if the universe and spirit is asking "are you done with this yet?" and how he described that we are being offered "deepening loss" and being asked "have you had enough yet? Are you ready Humanity, to embark upon the return journey?".
I feel like our modern western consumeristic, materialistic, corporate propaganda immersed and high tech addicted culture has created many ways to insulate hearts and minds from receiving the message of the deepening loss as we have industries that have masterfully outsourced that loss onto people in remote regions and far away lands so that those in the cities can live in bubbles, with their addictions insulated from the pain being inflicted on Mother Earth and our fellow beings. The above article was my attempt to do my own small part to pop that bubble, so that healing can begin.
I know that people like you feel the hurt I describe keenly as you care deeply for the living planet and our fellow beings so thank you for looking at the realities I exposed honestly and with your heart wide open. For in doing so, I believe you begin to embody a much needed medicine for our human family.
Thank you for reading and for the heart felt comment my friend <3
I know the feeling, Gavin, and it seems cruel that those of us who have such empathy for our Mother should have to talk/write about such things. But, like you, I feel the responsibility to try and "pop that bubble," as you say.
I just shared your post on our town's local Google Group after someone wrote a post about the marvels of AI. I had removed myself from the group because the animosity and divisiveness are too great for my energy to handle right now. But I jumped in on this one and offered your post as an antidote to the direction our world is headed with AI. I hope they read it. xo
Thank you very much for sharing this on that google group, who knows, perhaps the truth of the pain these technocratic fantasies are causing the Earth will manage to wake up some of the people that are enthralled by transhumanism in such groups up, offering them a path to reconnect to the living planet that sustains them.
I find that most people that deify/idolize AI are atheists that are afraid of death (due to their misconceived ideas about that process being final) and they think that these learning machines and their various manifestations will somehow allow them to cheat death.
Others seem to have fallen onto the well worn path of humans proclivity to look for savior figures (outsourcing their responsibility as a conscious being to shape our shared future to some external individual, institution or technology that they hope will do all the work for them and 'make everything better' while they just cheer from the sidelines). Musk seems to be one of the central individuals pushing forward the "Bright Green Totalitarianism" (as Frances Leader aptly described it) which I outlined in my post above. Many people seem to want to believe all his fun sounding PR hype about "innovation", "exploration" and being a "fun tony stark style billionaire that is gonna sell people a ticket to cheat death through brain chips and brain uploads". I do not know what to do for people that are lost down that path of lies and false hopes (aside from but continuing to offer them an open hand and show them that Mother Earth also offers them an open hand).
Well said, Gavin. It is sad, indeed. And yes, I think that fear of death is such an underlying cause for so many things. It surely was a driving force during the whole PLandemic.
Following up on my post on the Google Group - some of the townspeople met for a discussion on AI led by a man who lives in this sleepy little town with only one flashing traffic light. Evidently, he was bragging that he knows B. Gates and Elon Musk.
He was talking about a machine that soon everyone will have access to that will eliminate the need for teachers and artists of all kinds - he said there would be no more writers, musicians, or artists. No need for them whatsoever because everything would be in this machine. I'm paraphrasing here. My friend and her son, both professional musicians, were there on team humanity. When she asked him, "so humans will not be necessary?" he replied, "That is correct. That's when the movie will end." How chilling is that?
Like you, Gavin, I will continue trying to be a good steward of Mother Earth and hope that those who don't see her beauty and the gifts she bestows on us will somehow see the Light. 🌎 💚
Wow, I added your post to one I wrote yesterday. People need to believe that we are not in a "All for one, one for all society." - The Three Musketeers https://denutrients.substack.com/p/illumi-who
Thanks for reading. Yes, it made me cry too, though I choose to see those tears as beneficial as they offer a means to cultivate compassion and courage to prevent that kind of behavior in the future. Thank you for caring enough to feel for our fellow beings and face the truth even though it is not pretty.
Oh, I'd never even thought about putting that kind of thought on tears! Beneficial tears... what an excellent way of thinking about it. I just DO it, lol. Thanks for that!
Gavin, you blame the 'Europeans' but it wasn't really. 2,000 years ago the Romans enslaved all of Europe and although it appeared that their Empire fell, it actually relocated, rebranded and continued. Britain was a wildly forested and Celtic place until the Romans began chopping down the trees to build their roads. They enraged the local tribes and were sacked in Colchester and London by Boudica of the Iceni and many tribes who aided her. We Brits have been under the Roman yoke ever since and, by proxy, so have all the 5-Eyes countries and many others which were and are plundered by the Black Nobility descendants of the Roman Senate.
I wish more people understood this history and would help us to overthrown the Roman Empire which still rules via the City of London, the Vatican and Washington DC.
ps I wrote you a poem expressing this sentiment, I added it as a comment here. I hope you like it.
I should have worded my post above more clearly. I was not saying that people of a specific geographic origin or genetic lineage are to blame for the savage colonial pillaging (which began centuries ago on the continent some call Turtle Island, and continues in various forms to this very day). Rather, I was attempting to explain how the dominant belief system (that was/is anthropocentric, hubristic and mechanistic) which guided the actions of those that came to this continent was a central driving force in the dehumanization and genocide of the local population and the re-defining of the natural world as not being sacred, but rather just a collection of "resources" to be had for he who wielded the biggest stick.
The physical/genetic origin of the people that had embraced humanocentrism and hubris is irrelevant as far as I am concerned, it is the mentality that drives such people that is the sickness that eats away at the Earth like a cancer.
I do appreciate your exploring the continuity of that anthropocentric and hubristic worldview all the way back to the Romans. The story of their hubris is evident when one learns to read the landscape, the soil and the ecosystems (or lack there of) in the places that used to be thriving elements of the Roman Empire. There is a great book called "Dirt : The Erosion Of Civilizations" that outlines the archeological evidence which demonstrates how the degenerative agricultural practices of the Roman empire played a central role in their militarism and eventual downfall. Essentially their decision to choose an adversarial and in fact parasitic relationship with the living Earth, resulted in their demise. Much of western civilization is currently following in the Roman empire's footsteps.
I appreciate you shining some light onto my usage of a term that could be seen as implying that geographic origin and/or genetic lineage can be used to trace the source of the depravity I outline in the article above.
Thank you again for the poem and for highlighting the cost of the hubristic and anthropocentric worldview by exploring the history of my Celtic ancestors (and the Romans) in your excellent comments.
I am slammed right now, in my real life, hahaha, and so just picking a very few random comments to read... This one of yours is one of them. And... Well Said! And I agree.
I've had the view that the Roman Empire was a horrible, horrible influence on all Human life, and we are still living in its influence, hugely. Okay, popping out again...
And if I'm understanding the guy Lee Merritt is interviewing, it's not even the "Romans," maybe, but the Kazarians? (Is there an "h" in there? Can't rememble.) Or do I need to go back and listen to Part I again? lol
I remember you talking about this like, a year ago? Maybe not that long, but I tend to remember generalities much better than specifics, usually...
Roman Senators and their families, who escaped from burning Rome in 455AD and hid in the mosquito infested swamps, now known as Venice, employed and married Khazarians over the centuries. So it is both. I call them the Black Nobility, or the Predator Class. Clif High, the guy in the video calls them the Khazarian Mafia.
Wow I will probably cross post this. You sure are speaking my language! It shocks me how few people are making these basic existential connections that seem so blatantly obvious and so obviously crucial. The Buffalo!
Traditiuonal Ecological Knowledge is what provided for the vastness of human adaptation throughout the world. I have worked just a handful of times with Ali Meders-Knight who is bringing back traditional fire management practices to northern California, and I seriously learned more in one day with her than in two permaculture design courses and years of trying to implement the concepts. Permaculture takes such knowledge and generalizes it into principles that then get taught on an abstract level and takes years to sort out. In TEK, you gather in a group and do a couple of fun simple things together, and you realize you have just demonstrated 15 permaculture principles and stacked a hundred functions with tangible results like helping an edible landscape regenerate from nearly barren rocks.
The diversity of experiences I have had with indigenous ceremonies also testify to the vast wisdom of traditional cultures in allowing for manifestations of healing that a western mind would have a hard time imagining. Rain dances, or Curings as they are known, are no joke, and are but one example of what is possible through group intention and prayer, rhythm, drum, dance of bare feet on the Earth, and I don't even know what - staying true to ancient ways of managing self-organizing systems of energy flow and resonant field generation?
What I do know is that there were some 500 nations here each with their own particular medicine ways, and those I have been involved with taught me more than all my church days about what it truly means to be human on this Earth. And these ways have not been lost - they have been heroically preserved throughout generations of genocidal pressures also beyond most westerners imaginations. These technologies if you can call them that, including TEK, are in my mind our best hope for regnerating the Web of Life from the poisoned nub it is being brought down to. The only other thing I would add is in line with the major other point of your essay and that is befriending the other relations and their wisdom on this Earth, the power of our many relations in animal, plant, microbiota, and especially the fungi kingdom who were found even surviving inside the destroyed Chernobyl reactor. They will surely be our allies in regenrating living ecosystems as they were so central in past global extinctions when after 90+ percent of life was destroyed, they began again.
May we work together to pass something on to future generations. I just reached out to Lyla June Johnston, by the way, to thank her for her recent talk and offer whatever I might toward evolving of TEK networks forward. So yes, count me in, and shout it from the rooftops. I am an organic farmhand and local food donations organizer in rural Indiana, as well as a qigong teacher, bard, group facilitator, and so on. We are hosting a seed exchange this weekend - heirlooms encouraged! And if there are ways we might collaborate, let me know!
FYI - I updated the article above with new intel I gathered on Musk's involvement in the lithium pillaging in Bolivia and info on the Cobalt, Lithium and Tantalum mines that corporations intend to carve out in Northern Ontario and Quebec.
If their plans go forward, the Boreal Forest is gonna be scalped, blown to pieces with explosives, grinded into rubble and poisoned with a stew of toxic chemicals (the results will contaminate both James Bay and Lake Superior (which feeds into all other great lakes).
It's a continual battle for me to wrap my brain around the Sheer Evil of these people... WTAF.
I do believe what you're saying, simply because it sounds like the kind of thing they are happy to do! It makes my heart hurt for the Earth and the living beings of all sorts that are suffering because of this psychopathology... How long, how long, before we can stop them???
That is so great to hear you had a chance to learn from some hands on TEK experiences with traditional fire management practices. I agree with regards to the abstract nature of many permaculture education experiences. I have also sometimes noticed that certain permaculture programs offer practically no acknowledgement of the original roots of where many so called permaculture practices came from (which was TEK rooted in the ancient traditions of many indigenous cultures).
I am glad you pointed out the power of working with our fungal allies by noting their ability to remediate ecosystems contaminated with ionizing radiation. I feel like there is so much untapped potential for incorporating fungi into food forest designs as well.
That is awesome you reached out to Lyla, I hope you find a way to interface as I feel she has some really important ideas and perspectives that can serve to enrich not only the human world but our relationships to our fellow non-human beings in the communities we are a part of as well.
I am grateful to hear you are involved with seed exchange events, perhaps we could to a seed trade some time :)
I really appreciate the heartfelt and detailed comment. Thank you for sharing your passion for protecting and regenerating the body of our Mother Earth and taking steps to heal our fragmented human family.
Here is the second part of my response, hope this clears up a few things.
https://soberchristiangentlemanpodcast.substack.com/p/gavin-response-part-2
Thanks for taking the time to share another response to express your thoughts. I`ll listen when I have time and get back to you.
Sounds good Gavin. Look forward to your response. Diversity of ideas makes us all stronger.
the lithium mines are the same colors....as the Ukranian flag...wow....life don't lie.
That is interesting, I had not noticed until you said that but the flag does have similar colors.
I have not read it thoroughly, and I will re-read it many times because there’s so much great information in here, and also so thorough. But as you say, not comprehensive even still. Just want to make one point, and it makes me wonder, because Colonialism, greed, and anthropocentrism are definitely root causes to the evil, but it was a certain brand of Christianity that came in and was used as a justification. Later that changed to something else. And even amongst the gilded sects of Christianity such as the Jesuits, there were individuals who really did care about the culture and the people, and who also helped preserve parts of the culture and language, by doing the good work to connect with the locals. And I also wonder, if it was not European, a.k.a. Roman catholic driven Christianity, would it have been a different approach to the humanity aspect? I say that, because there are many places in the world, where native people are being crushed, when in particular, or the Palestinians, or the Armenians, who are very old or ancient people, and largely Christian in the case of the latter especially , and they are being subjugated by other religious belief system that claims superiority as a justification to destroy them.
I think the assault on the good humans and the people who live close to their lands and buy their land, is still in full swing, and perhaps even more exacerbated these days. All over the world. And now there is a new assault on the land in North America, which is egregious and highly toxic, damaging for a long term. Perhaps it’s time to bring the buffalo back, as a natural solution, giving and living for the land first, and March back against tyranny.
Thank you very much for this, just some thoughts to share that came up as I got through most of it. I will share this and discuss with friends. 
Greetings Saro!
First of all, thanks for reading part of my article and taking the time to share your thoughts.
I think it is important to point out that much of what is taught in books, by preachers and in institutions now are things that would make Jesus of Nazareth ashamed. When I speak about "christianity" in my article above I am not talking about the teachings of Jesus, I am talking about the twisted, institutionalized, dogmatic, humanocentric concepts that are pushed forward by humans that are either ignorant, or intentionally twisted the original teachings so that they could manipulate and control other humans.
Let us start by defining Christianity in the context of how I am using the word.
In the way in which I see its institutionalized expression manifested today, I would say it is a dogmatic belief system that is the result of many centuries of the “Chinese whispers” effect (as in the concepts, ideas and actions carried out in the name of “Christianity” are so far removed from the teachings of the supposed originator of said belief system that I think if Jesus was alive today and saw what has been (and continues to be done) in his name, he would not be very happy at all.
First of all, Jesus did not start the Christian religion, and never intended for any religion to be formed in his name. The truth Jesus embodied and demonstrated has universal relevance and significance, regardless of any individual’s religious, spiritual or philosophical tradition or background.
Constantine the 1st played a central role in altering the translation (and adding complete fabrications) into the biblical texts related to this discussion. This was about manipulating the story of the life of Jesus to be more easy to swallow for humans as it is flattering to the ego to imagine God as a human being just like us (this was done for other reasons as well). After that detrimental alteration to the story of the life of Jesus was made other detrimental alterations took place.
Modern Christianity mostly revolves around the teachings of Saint Paul, and not Jesus. The central creeds of Institutional Christianity contain little or no teachings of Jesus.
Christianity is not the fault of Jesus.
Jesus and Paul would have not gotten along well, and Jesus would have been dismayed by many of the concepts that Paul devised. No other individual shaped the Jesus story that morphed into orthodox Christianity more than Paul.
Western Christianity is Pauline. Paul wrote his letters before the gospels were written, and likely influenced the synoptic gospel writers. Jesus would likely be dumbfounded by the mythology and theology that got attached to his name.
One thing Paul did very successfully, was lock in the idea of atonement and bloodshed as salvific. The Jewish sacrifice of the lamb became the model for the Roman execution of Jesus who became the “lamb of God,” who died to take the rap for the sins of all humankind. The earliest followers of Jesus did not go about making crucifixes. The first carved cross doesn’t appear until the 7th century. In essence, Paul the prime architect of Christian doctrine, turned Christianity into Cross-tianity.
I see great value and benefit to the biblical stories about the life and teachings of Jesus and the emergence and evolution of Christianity. However, in my view, it cannot be properly understood and appreciated without taking into account the factors that influenced and shaped it.
Paul’s letters in the New Testament were basically responses to questions and concerns that the earliest Christian communities posed to him, trying to sort out their beliefs and practices.
You might ask, “Who died and made Paul pope?” Doesn’t matter, Paul found himself in the regrettable situation of being the expert on how to do Christianity. Keep in mind, Paul did not do this in a vacuum. He had been influenced and conditioned by his own previous religious training, and would have drawn upon these and other factors as the raw materials from which to devise his theology. All things considered, I doubt any of us would have done any better. A lot of Paul’s insights and ways he put things together have great value in different ways, but the fact that we assume that Paul was somehow channeling God in his ideas and writings is our fault and not his.
It makes complete sense why Paul did what he did, and he should not be faulted for this. The burden is on us to apply critical thinking and a thorough investigation of the historical, cultural and personal factors that influence and shape all religion, including Christianity. A basic principle of this mindset is “consider the source,” which says that it is wise to consider all the factors that would have impacted and influenced the information and views presented by a particular source, in this case, Paul. Since Paul is the most influential figure in the conception of Christianity and Christian doctrine, it’s wise to understand Paul in this sense. One can appreciate the contribution of Paul without deifying his writings.
I find it curious that practically every creed of the Church, whether the early ecumenical creeds, the Roman Catholic creeds or the Protestant creeds are statements that outline the theological positions and doctrines of the Church, but hardly have any of the teaching of Jesus in them.
A person doesn’t have to be a Paul-hater. He was doing the best he could. We should have compassion for Paul. How would Paul have known that scratching out letters to help sort out the challenges and problems of the early church were somehow going to be turned into the infallible Word of God for all humankind. That’s on us, not him. Paul did the best he could given the circumstances and where he was at in his own spiritual journey and evolution.
One should look upon Christian theology with some skepticism given that you can’t hardly find Jesus anywhere in it. We painted Jesus white and dressed him up in Christian theology, but the brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew who turned religion on its head, got lost some 2,000 years ago on the dusty roads of Nazareth.
(continued..)
Well, I’m still re-reading this reply and the article that prompted the conversation. Firstly, thank you for this thorough response, taking the time to reply to my rudimentary concerns. There’s a lot to digest and my ingestion takes time.
I know that everything you have described here, while not novel for me, requires me to analyze my own tribal notions. I’m on page with the corrupt elements of Christianity, the religion, and any other institutional dogma-based system - there have been many throughout history, perhaps less in the spotlight now. I suppose my concern was particularly superficial in that looking at certain parts of the world I’ve come to the conclusion that of all the belief systems at present, at least the major ones, Christianity has offered someplace for humanity to expand into a better place, allowing for individualism, self-criticism and analysis. There are very few “religions” that have a history of theological analysis and philosophy that constantly discuss the workings that make up the religion, even if these are sometimes based on dogma, and might be deemed useless, even by myself.
I believe that because of Jesus as an example, held by individuals to work toward a cleaner soul, and not the lamb of god revisionist version, Christians have something on offer, putting aside the gruesome misuse and abuse of it by power structures that wield it as a sword. It’s about the humility by which certain questions carry themselves, and not the “lazy” Christianity, about which I one hundred percent agree with you. (The phrases “God willing” or “God-fearing” are rejected by my own vernacular. I also realize that I am clinging to some aspects of it for a number of reasons which I am still defining for myself. One of these is that I always tend to side with the underdog, and nowadays, as in it’s germinal period of pagan persecutions, it seems Christians are under attack, particularly by what I feel are more nefarious belief systems that use the same reasoning and methodology as you described above.
As human beings, we always use certain systems that are available to us, or offered by tradition to try to work things out, I believe the Hindu version of that is called Maya. I used to not bother calling myself a Christian, but I realized that one has to belong to some group even as a default. I am not married to this concept, but perhaps I have chosen sides in order to help defend something I think might be worthwhile. I may also be shallow in this surmise. I’m working on it.
Thank you for defining your meaning behind the terminology, I understand and respect that. I suppose I’m a little guarded and defensive about it these days, but I see you understand where I’m coming from. And the nuances therein.
My own version of spirituality has always been to dismiss the dogma and the Indoctrination that always seemed obvious to me. Instead, I look at the intention behind human attempts to grapple with reality, and unfortunately, this is often blurred to the point of brainwashing in many cases, so that reality becomes a movie, as is the term people like to use these days . In no way am I lost or captive in the movie; in fact, nowadays, I pretty much walk right by the cinema and don’t bother even romanticizing about it.
I can gratefully say that I am a student of yours, because I am in a place where I have opened myself to learning , and even unlearning so much.
I’m also very impressed by the breadth of your knowledge and the eloquence by which you convey and explain your thought and conceptualizations.
It’s a gift, and much appreciated.
At the moment, I’m still stuck on all you’ve offered in the article about anthropocentrism, as well as this message string, and I’m hoping to absorb it before moving on to the other articles and book you have produced since. It has provided and afforded me an important sounding board to flesh out a few of the key ideas I’m currently grappling with.
Thank you so much!
(continued from above..)
Christian missionaries/governments (and the soldiers that backed them up) do not have a very good track record when it comes to applying the actual concepts that Jesus attempted to share with the world.
The torturing, raping and murder of indigenous peoples (by people claiming to be Christian) occurred all throughout history but I feel it is worth re-iterating that this pattern of appalling abuse continued in what is now called “Canada” up until very recently within the concentration camps that our government euphemistically called “residential schools”. Though in those instances, the torture, rape and murder specifically targeted indigenous children, with the abuse and murder being directly carried out by mentally deranged Priests and Nuns (that ran the torture centers and concentration camps called “residential schools”). Specialized RCMP were sent by the government to kidnap the children from their parents to take them to these facilities, but the Nuns and the Priests were the ones that ended up doing most of the raping, mutilating and killing.
Thus, in my opinion, whether or not we can identify pockets of good, selfless, humble, tolerant and compassionate Christians in the ocean of anthropocentrically motivated, hubristic and mentally stagnant ones is a moot point. The point is that the distorted dogmas that make up the Christian belief system are selfishly centered around humans, they outsource duplicitous behavior to some scape-goat character (that literally looks like a goat-man) and they are dogmas that feed into complacency, stagnation and laziness.
We have all been conditioned (by governments, corporate propaganda and religious propaganda) to latch onto the comforting (and infantilizing) idea that someone other than ourselves is going to solve our problems for us. This has never been true and it never will be true.
Many people are attracted to interpretations of the bible which say it is a story about good guys and bad guys (and they are of course one of the ‘good guys’). In the story they perceive they have (and will have) a similar role to a spectator watching a sporting event. The story tells them all they have to do is sit around and pledge loyalty to the “good guys” and one day their champion will appear and make the bad guys go away and give them a ticket to a fancy four season resort in the clouds. They feel no need to take action to make the world better in the here and now, after all, why bother when ‘judgement day’ is coming and the bad guys will be held accountable then? Why bother doing the hard work when someone else is going to do it for us? So in essence, they have been told a story that they are on the winning side, and they can just sit back and enjoy the show, sound familiar?
If the stories we have been told (and/or the stories we tell ourselves) promote stagnation, I would suggest that if we want to have a world worth living in and gifting to future generations, we should begin telling new stories about what it means to be human and what the meaning of all this is.
There is no elected official, institution, politician, guru, priest, revolutionary, savior or any other external force or individual who can do this for us. Engaging in life on Earth is a voluntary journey that each of us chose willingly. The Creator of all things respects our choice to be here and our free will. We did not come here to see a dramatic dualistic showdown happen and applaud the ‘good guy' for vanquishing the bad guy (from a distance as a spectator). No, each and every one of us (whether we are currently consciously aware of this fact or not) came here to co-author the story. That means no-one else is going to do the hard work for us (not a savior, rebel leader nor a politician) we came here to do that work of transforming this world ourselves.
While I personally do not resonate with religious dogmatic belief systems, I respect that each individual must find their own path to remember who they are as a spiritual being, know the divine and engage with the Creator of all things, and perhaps, for some, religion is the path that works for them.
Though I see much truth and wisdom to be gleaned in the teachings of courageous and selfless human beings like Jesus and Siddhartha Gautama, I do not subscribe to any one religion as I feel dogma has a way of becoming a stagnant medium that limits one on a path to perpetually learn and hone one’s ability to be of greater service to God, one’s community and the living Earth. Thus, I personally prefer a path that one might describe as Spiritual Autodidacticism ( https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/spiritual-autodidacticism ) over following the belief systems that have been laid out by other humans but I also accept that there are many ways to know God and embark on the path to spiritual growth.
I would never judge you or any other person describing themselves as Christian based on the duplicitous, degenerative and nefarious behavior of other humans that also claimed to be Christian (some of which I described above) in the past but I would also caution against trying to preserve the idea that part of modern day Christian institutions and dogmas can be saved or reformed to serve some beneficial purpose. If you look at history, the over all track record is clear, the proof is in the pudding. This of course applies to many dogmatic religious belief systems (and the institutions and psychopaths that rose up around them) and not solely Christianity.
For me, Nature is part of Creation, and thus I feel that a forest or a garden resonates more with me as a place connect with the Creator of all things than any manmade structure or institution ever could be. Nevertheless, I know that some prefer a cathedral or a monastery and I do not claim that my way to connect with and know the divine is better than theirs. Thus, I advocate for embracing the animate worldview and for each individual to make the choice to nurture 'the garden within' via embarking upon their own unique path to remember who and what they are as a conscious being and to connect with the Creator of all things in their own way.
You strode into my ether and breathed it in.
You saved it in a sacred place deep within.
You took my heart and many ancestor tears,
And splattered them on the page full of dreaded fears.
You saw my tribe painted in woad,
Fighting for trees, streams and toad.
You cried when the Roman sword came down,
Upon my broken skull and frown.
I've died a thousand deaths since then.
Among warrior souls like sheep in a pen.
But still I make the battle cry -
Die damned Romans, die, die, die.
I wrote this for you. The Celts of Britain salute you through the ages, can you feel them smile?
Thank you for the evocative poem Frances. I hope my Druidic ancestors are smiling each time I plant a tree and each time I thank the Earth when she feeds and heals me.
That's the spirit.... xx
You don't know how much your article touched me. From 2013 - 2016 I was on Anti-Fracking Camps in the UK. The bloody Roman centurions were brutal and we were sprayed by obedience freaks with mush for brains. Lots of my anti-fracking mates have died since then... they succumbed to emphysema, heart attacks and cancer.
We fought, tooth and nail to keep the Frackers out of England. The Mikmaq sent us a flag in solidarity and we flew it at every camp. We were with Standing Rock in spirit and we have helped as much as we could by using our social media clout to raise awareness of the pipelines. I founded Anti Fracking International on Facebook and that is still running under the wing of a good friend, since I was de-platformed from there.
I went on the radio and told the world that all Big Oil & Gas installations are radio-active and proved it with follow up articles which went viral.
I went to Romania to help them begin their fight against the frackers and I kept liaison with Australia when the frackers were threatening the wild places and the water sources.
It has been a decade of fighting for the rights of nature but I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel yet. So onwards, Gavin. Whatever it takes! xx
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done (and continue to do) to stand up for Mother Earth, to defend her body and in doing so doing a great service to both our human family, and our more than human family.
I am grateful to know that courageous peaceful warriors like you walk this Earth.
Yes, onwards to the path to bringing transparency to the wounds and onward to the path to healing.
Much love and respect from Turtle Island.
Thankyou Gavin.
Harsh realities are required to wake up the recently red pulled. 'Saving biodiversity' is being used as a weapon. Sadly, saving and protecting biodiversity is all that actually matters, ever, period.
I appreciate you reading what I put together and taking the time to share your thoughts.
I recently updated the article with more history on colonialism (from recent history) and info on how Elon Musk has been involved in supporting a "Lithium Coup" in Bolivia recently.
Courtesy and consideration. Where art thou? Thankyou Gavin. I am greatfull for your work. My greens are now a ' weed' salad, as ingestions and excretions so are my writings a reflection of both. Is a bee's poo sweet?
This post sickened me to the core and yet I came away at peace! That's because I was thoroughly shocked and mortified about the Buffalo war, the lithium mining and the ridiculous wokey green bollox agendas sweeping through all our lands. However, the stories about the ancient Celts and their Ogham language (which I will one day be studying through my online course with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. I'm at Bardic level and will study for Ovate next, which includes the Ogham work) and ended with the beautifully optimistic video from Charles Eisenstein, which, thankfully gave me hope for humanity, if we be but grateful for a start. Thank you for your thought provoking words.
Hey Ingrid
Thanks for the heartfelt comment. I am so glad you were able to come away from reading this grounded in the hope of learning from our ancestors to find a better path forward.
Here is a link to a fun Ogham script translator website I found that you might enjoy playing with https://ogham.co/
I would value any insights you could share relating to Druidic wisdom as you move along in your education in their ways. Please feel free to share anything you feel is pertinent in the comments section here as you go :)
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Nice job here Gavin. I wish I had time to write the manifesto comment that it deserves, because the topics touched on have been in my wheelhouse for decades now.
I like the way you transparently tackled your own hypocrisy in being a witting or unwitting accomplice to all this wrongness, for we all are, as I am now typing in to the Moloch "User Interface"!
I often wonder - when it comes down to it - what is more important to humans (our kind of humans, at least, if you understand me) : to do good or to be included? The "elites" love to subvert and weaponize these attributes, as we've seen both of late as well as in the historical experience.
Because if we were truly willing to withdraw consent, we would walk away, cut the cable, turn off the switch, and stop feeding the beast. We know this intellectually (some of us do at any rate), but it would mean severing ourselves from the "Body", the mass of "other humans" who are all participating, reluctantly or enthusiastically, in the destruction.
I think, after much deliberation and reflection, it will take something bigger than us to make that Cold Turkey decision for us. For now we will, as humans do, rationalize and take half-measures and do what we can under the circumstances.
Meanwhile, you may wish to include these in your post or just regard them if you have not yet:
1) Schooling The World: The White Man's Last Burden by Carol Black et. al. 2010
https://youtu.be/UAGTaC2yGFQ
(Sorry for the YouTube Links, couldn't find it elsewhere)
2) Filmaker's Website: http://carolblack.org/schooling-the-world
3) Willie Dunn: The Ballad of Crowfoot (National Film Board Canada)
https://youtu.be/l-32jc58bgI
4) "There You Go" - Survival International
https://youtu.be/uFU2iQcFv7U
Greetings my friend
Your astute observations and poignant descriptions of the prevalent mentalities in our modern society drive home the importance of planning for a more comprehensive 'cutting of the cable' in my life in the near future.
I especially found the part where you wrote "all participating, reluctantly or enthusiastically, in the destruction." to be apt and moving.
With regards to your reflections about how it will "it will take something bigger than us to make that Cold Turkey decision for us", you may be right, at least with regards to the vast majority of "us". I do know a few people that mustered the courage to cut the cable cold turkey, but they are a rare few, and they usually do it via the partnership that is born of two with a great love for each other, the wilderness and those who have equally developed skills to thrive off grid.
I was just having an exchange on The Corbett Report website that relates to this which I would like to share. https://www.corbettreport.com/canada/
It feels not only pertinent to our discussion but also to the post above as it is about how Canada "Criminalizes Dissent". The episode focused on that farce of a "commission report" that the corrupt Canadian government/judicial system just released regarding the use of the Emergency Act to crush the peaceful protestors in Ottawa (which basically served to set the precedent that martial law and tyrannical de-banking tactics are ‘totally normal and justified’ for weaponizing against peaceful protestors).
In one exchange I was discussing the concept of "populism" with a fellow Corbet Report Subscriber and inquiring as to whether or not he thought that what he was describing as populism was inherently anthropocentric. Here is a link to the particular comment I am about to quote: https://www.corbettreport.com/canada/#comment-147407
"..the sideline sitting, smart phone notification checking, screen scrolling, amazon package buying masses, I am not so sure about the morality/logic of their aggregate/average priorities. I do think they are capable of shedding the programming and addictions to embrace and nourish the intuitive capacity, capacity for compassion, curiosity and love they were born with, but I do not know what will break the spell so that the de-programming and healing can begin.
I have a feeling it may require the total collapse of civilization and a great many people having all the centralized corporate/government systems and centralized industrial infrastructures they had come to depend on (being spoon fed homogenized corporate goo like little baby birds) imploding in order to break the spell. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the population will be capable of surviving such a wake up call currently.
Well, that is my cue to get back to helping those who are willing to reconnect with the Earth so that they can be able to survive such a thing if is happens (and perhaps more importantly to help them dissolve the anthropocentric delusions that brought us to where we are today so we can leave this world a little bit more free, verdant and beautiful for those that call this place home after we are gone)."
And with that, I think that is indeed my cue to get back to helping those who are willing to be able to provide for themselves and their loved ones in a way that gives back to the living Earth.
I will check out the links, thank you again for the thoughtful and candid comment my friend, your presence is always appreciated.
Tried to reply to this comment but substack mandates brevity, so check your email. Neo.
Thanks my friend, I appreciate you taking the time to write me, I will get back to you asap, just tryna smooth out the final details for publishing my book right now.
btw - I updated the article above with new intel I gathered on Musk's involvement in the lithium pillaging in Bolivia and info on the intended Cobalt, Lithium and Tantalum mines that corporations intend to have in Northern Ontario and Quebec. If their plans go forward, the Boreal Forest is gonna be scalped, blown to pieces with explosives, grinded into rubble and poisoned with a stew of toxic chemicals (the results will contaminate both James Bay and Lake Superior (which feeds into all other great lakes).
Thanks. No rush, no worries. I think I owe you a response to a couple of emails that have been languishing in my inbox for far too long now.
As for your update above - I am wordless. And devastated.
Gavin, you are such a kindred spirit. Beginning with always referring to our Mother Earth as "she," not "it." I read through this once and will return to watch the videos later. Written with unabashed truth in all its ugliness. I'm going to go walk in the woods and clear the grief from my heart after reading this. I am so ashamed of the human race. xo
Thank you for recognizing the spirit and conscious mind of our Mother Earth and our fellow non-human beings.
I also felt great grief learning of these things. It was painful doing the research to be able to write this article but I want our human family to be able to heal fully and in order to do that I feel we need to take a brutally honest look at the hurt that has been inflicted thus far. I updated the article yesterday with additional historical info on what I describe as "the continuity of colonialism" in North America as to provide an opportunity for an even more holistic healing for those willing to honestly look at the wounds that have been inflicted so we can formulate a salve to begin the healing process.
It is like Charles said in that video I linked ("TO BE AT HOME IN THE WORLD") where he talked about the addict hitting different depths of despair as if the universe and spirit is asking "are you done with this yet?" and how he described that we are being offered "deepening loss" and being asked "have you had enough yet? Are you ready Humanity, to embark upon the return journey?".
I feel like our modern western consumeristic, materialistic, corporate propaganda immersed and high tech addicted culture has created many ways to insulate hearts and minds from receiving the message of the deepening loss as we have industries that have masterfully outsourced that loss onto people in remote regions and far away lands so that those in the cities can live in bubbles, with their addictions insulated from the pain being inflicted on Mother Earth and our fellow beings. The above article was my attempt to do my own small part to pop that bubble, so that healing can begin.
I know that people like you feel the hurt I describe keenly as you care deeply for the living planet and our fellow beings so thank you for looking at the realities I exposed honestly and with your heart wide open. For in doing so, I believe you begin to embody a much needed medicine for our human family.
Thank you for reading and for the heart felt comment my friend <3
I know the feeling, Gavin, and it seems cruel that those of us who have such empathy for our Mother should have to talk/write about such things. But, like you, I feel the responsibility to try and "pop that bubble," as you say.
I just shared your post on our town's local Google Group after someone wrote a post about the marvels of AI. I had removed myself from the group because the animosity and divisiveness are too great for my energy to handle right now. But I jumped in on this one and offered your post as an antidote to the direction our world is headed with AI. I hope they read it. xo
Thank you very much for sharing this on that google group, who knows, perhaps the truth of the pain these technocratic fantasies are causing the Earth will manage to wake up some of the people that are enthralled by transhumanism in such groups up, offering them a path to reconnect to the living planet that sustains them.
I find that most people that deify/idolize AI are atheists that are afraid of death (due to their misconceived ideas about that process being final) and they think that these learning machines and their various manifestations will somehow allow them to cheat death.
Others seem to have fallen onto the well worn path of humans proclivity to look for savior figures (outsourcing their responsibility as a conscious being to shape our shared future to some external individual, institution or technology that they hope will do all the work for them and 'make everything better' while they just cheer from the sidelines). Musk seems to be one of the central individuals pushing forward the "Bright Green Totalitarianism" (as Frances Leader aptly described it) which I outlined in my post above. Many people seem to want to believe all his fun sounding PR hype about "innovation", "exploration" and being a "fun tony stark style billionaire that is gonna sell people a ticket to cheat death through brain chips and brain uploads". I do not know what to do for people that are lost down that path of lies and false hopes (aside from but continuing to offer them an open hand and show them that Mother Earth also offers them an open hand).
Thanks for the thoughtful comment my friend. <3
Well said, Gavin. It is sad, indeed. And yes, I think that fear of death is such an underlying cause for so many things. It surely was a driving force during the whole PLandemic.
Following up on my post on the Google Group - some of the townspeople met for a discussion on AI led by a man who lives in this sleepy little town with only one flashing traffic light. Evidently, he was bragging that he knows B. Gates and Elon Musk.
He was talking about a machine that soon everyone will have access to that will eliminate the need for teachers and artists of all kinds - he said there would be no more writers, musicians, or artists. No need for them whatsoever because everything would be in this machine. I'm paraphrasing here. My friend and her son, both professional musicians, were there on team humanity. When she asked him, "so humans will not be necessary?" he replied, "That is correct. That's when the movie will end." How chilling is that?
Like you, Gavin, I will continue trying to be a good steward of Mother Earth and hope that those who don't see her beauty and the gifts she bestows on us will somehow see the Light. 🌎 💚
Wow, I added your post to one I wrote yesterday. People need to believe that we are not in a "All for one, one for all society." - The Three Musketeers https://denutrients.substack.com/p/illumi-who
Thanks Jennifer!
I updated the post yesterday to provide more historical context on the various manifestations of colonialism (up until present day).
Great. I need to make a compilation health tip video. People want to kone what to do.
I have such a yearning for this kind of knowledge and ... life.
Thanks for this!
The buffalo slaughter makes me cry.
Thanks for reading. Yes, it made me cry too, though I choose to see those tears as beneficial as they offer a means to cultivate compassion and courage to prevent that kind of behavior in the future. Thank you for caring enough to feel for our fellow beings and face the truth even though it is not pretty.
Oh, I'd never even thought about putting that kind of thought on tears! Beneficial tears... what an excellent way of thinking about it. I just DO it, lol. Thanks for that!
Gavin, you blame the 'Europeans' but it wasn't really. 2,000 years ago the Romans enslaved all of Europe and although it appeared that their Empire fell, it actually relocated, rebranded and continued. Britain was a wildly forested and Celtic place until the Romans began chopping down the trees to build their roads. They enraged the local tribes and were sacked in Colchester and London by Boudica of the Iceni and many tribes who aided her. We Brits have been under the Roman yoke ever since and, by proxy, so have all the 5-Eyes countries and many others which were and are plundered by the Black Nobility descendants of the Roman Senate.
I wish more people understood this history and would help us to overthrown the Roman Empire which still rules via the City of London, the Vatican and Washington DC.
ps I wrote you a poem expressing this sentiment, I added it as a comment here. I hope you like it.
Thank you for this illuminating comment.
I should have worded my post above more clearly. I was not saying that people of a specific geographic origin or genetic lineage are to blame for the savage colonial pillaging (which began centuries ago on the continent some call Turtle Island, and continues in various forms to this very day). Rather, I was attempting to explain how the dominant belief system (that was/is anthropocentric, hubristic and mechanistic) which guided the actions of those that came to this continent was a central driving force in the dehumanization and genocide of the local population and the re-defining of the natural world as not being sacred, but rather just a collection of "resources" to be had for he who wielded the biggest stick.
The physical/genetic origin of the people that had embraced humanocentrism and hubris is irrelevant as far as I am concerned, it is the mentality that drives such people that is the sickness that eats away at the Earth like a cancer.
I do appreciate your exploring the continuity of that anthropocentric and hubristic worldview all the way back to the Romans. The story of their hubris is evident when one learns to read the landscape, the soil and the ecosystems (or lack there of) in the places that used to be thriving elements of the Roman Empire. There is a great book called "Dirt : The Erosion Of Civilizations" that outlines the archeological evidence which demonstrates how the degenerative agricultural practices of the Roman empire played a central role in their militarism and eventual downfall. Essentially their decision to choose an adversarial and in fact parasitic relationship with the living Earth, resulted in their demise. Much of western civilization is currently following in the Roman empire's footsteps.
I appreciate you shining some light onto my usage of a term that could be seen as implying that geographic origin and/or genetic lineage can be used to trace the source of the depravity I outline in the article above.
Thank you again for the poem and for highlighting the cost of the hubristic and anthropocentric worldview by exploring the history of my Celtic ancestors (and the Romans) in your excellent comments.
I am slammed right now, in my real life, hahaha, and so just picking a very few random comments to read... This one of yours is one of them. And... Well Said! And I agree.
I've had the view that the Roman Empire was a horrible, horrible influence on all Human life, and we are still living in its influence, hugely. Okay, popping out again...
And if I'm understanding the guy Lee Merritt is interviewing, it's not even the "Romans," maybe, but the Kazarians? (Is there an "h" in there? Can't rememble.) Or do I need to go back and listen to Part I again? lol
I remember you talking about this like, a year ago? Maybe not that long, but I tend to remember generalities much better than specifics, usually...
Roman Senators and their families, who escaped from burning Rome in 455AD and hid in the mosquito infested swamps, now known as Venice, employed and married Khazarians over the centuries. So it is both. I call them the Black Nobility, or the Predator Class. Clif High, the guy in the video calls them the Khazarian Mafia.
Ah, this does make my brain Leggos click. ;) Thanks!
Wow I will probably cross post this. You sure are speaking my language! It shocks me how few people are making these basic existential connections that seem so blatantly obvious and so obviously crucial. The Buffalo!
Traditiuonal Ecological Knowledge is what provided for the vastness of human adaptation throughout the world. I have worked just a handful of times with Ali Meders-Knight who is bringing back traditional fire management practices to northern California, and I seriously learned more in one day with her than in two permaculture design courses and years of trying to implement the concepts. Permaculture takes such knowledge and generalizes it into principles that then get taught on an abstract level and takes years to sort out. In TEK, you gather in a group and do a couple of fun simple things together, and you realize you have just demonstrated 15 permaculture principles and stacked a hundred functions with tangible results like helping an edible landscape regenerate from nearly barren rocks.
The diversity of experiences I have had with indigenous ceremonies also testify to the vast wisdom of traditional cultures in allowing for manifestations of healing that a western mind would have a hard time imagining. Rain dances, or Curings as they are known, are no joke, and are but one example of what is possible through group intention and prayer, rhythm, drum, dance of bare feet on the Earth, and I don't even know what - staying true to ancient ways of managing self-organizing systems of energy flow and resonant field generation?
What I do know is that there were some 500 nations here each with their own particular medicine ways, and those I have been involved with taught me more than all my church days about what it truly means to be human on this Earth. And these ways have not been lost - they have been heroically preserved throughout generations of genocidal pressures also beyond most westerners imaginations. These technologies if you can call them that, including TEK, are in my mind our best hope for regnerating the Web of Life from the poisoned nub it is being brought down to. The only other thing I would add is in line with the major other point of your essay and that is befriending the other relations and their wisdom on this Earth, the power of our many relations in animal, plant, microbiota, and especially the fungi kingdom who were found even surviving inside the destroyed Chernobyl reactor. They will surely be our allies in regenrating living ecosystems as they were so central in past global extinctions when after 90+ percent of life was destroyed, they began again.
May we work together to pass something on to future generations. I just reached out to Lyla June Johnston, by the way, to thank her for her recent talk and offer whatever I might toward evolving of TEK networks forward. So yes, count me in, and shout it from the rooftops. I am an organic farmhand and local food donations organizer in rural Indiana, as well as a qigong teacher, bard, group facilitator, and so on. We are hosting a seed exchange this weekend - heirlooms encouraged! And if there are ways we might collaborate, let me know!
FYI - I updated the article above with new intel I gathered on Musk's involvement in the lithium pillaging in Bolivia and info on the Cobalt, Lithium and Tantalum mines that corporations intend to carve out in Northern Ontario and Quebec.
If their plans go forward, the Boreal Forest is gonna be scalped, blown to pieces with explosives, grinded into rubble and poisoned with a stew of toxic chemicals (the results will contaminate both James Bay and Lake Superior (which feeds into all other great lakes).
It's a continual battle for me to wrap my brain around the Sheer Evil of these people... WTAF.
I do believe what you're saying, simply because it sounds like the kind of thing they are happy to do! It makes my heart hurt for the Earth and the living beings of all sorts that are suffering because of this psychopathology... How long, how long, before we can stop them???
Hey Michael
That is so great to hear you had a chance to learn from some hands on TEK experiences with traditional fire management practices. I agree with regards to the abstract nature of many permaculture education experiences. I have also sometimes noticed that certain permaculture programs offer practically no acknowledgement of the original roots of where many so called permaculture practices came from (which was TEK rooted in the ancient traditions of many indigenous cultures).
I am glad you pointed out the power of working with our fungal allies by noting their ability to remediate ecosystems contaminated with ionizing radiation. I feel like there is so much untapped potential for incorporating fungi into food forest designs as well.
That is awesome you reached out to Lyla, I hope you find a way to interface as I feel she has some really important ideas and perspectives that can serve to enrich not only the human world but our relationships to our fellow non-human beings in the communities we are a part of as well.
I am grateful to hear you are involved with seed exchange events, perhaps we could to a seed trade some time :)
I really appreciate the heartfelt and detailed comment. Thank you for sharing your passion for protecting and regenerating the body of our Mother Earth and taking steps to heal our fragmented human family.
Much love and respect from Ontario