This I Believe

THIS I BELIEVE: THE SEARCH

Like many, I have struggled since childhood with the concept of right and wrong. At first, the answer seemed simple: the right things were things Mother and Father said were right, and the wrong things were things they said were wrong. But then I realized that they were doing a lot of the things they said were wrong.

I pondered, asked questions, read. I studied history and geography, for that which was fundamentally right would be right no matter the time and place. I examined many cultures, looking for a common theme that would tie the threads of the riddle together. At university I delved into the awesome complexity that was genetics, searching among the convoluted strands of DNA for some hint of the absolute. I studied the origins and structure of law, and I learned that rules of law are not about right and wrong, for right and wrong vary with culture. Instead, laws enabled one element of society to impose its will on another, or to cause society to go only in certain directions; and nearly all relied on religious concepts to support their claim of rightness. It was time to ask God.

I soon learned that finding God, let along speaking to him, was problematic. Like laws, there were many religions, all with different philosophy, dogma, and rules, and all by humans and for humans. I was forced to the conclusion that organized religions, like laws, were human constructs. The message they taught was not universal, or even consistent. The real answer would be so basic it would not have to be taught. I knew this instinctively, the way I knew there must be an answer.

I felt like a single cell trying to comprehend the elephant of which it was a part. Seeking perspective, in my mind’s eye I backed away until my house became a city, then a state, and then a nation. I noted that each stage, each layer, had its own set of laws that set it apart from the others; but none were universal. Finally I watched the Earth itself recede, further and further, until I saw only a beautiful blue-green sphere, hanging in space, alive. I felt like that single cell, regarding the elephant at last.

I gazed at the earth with new eyes. I saw complex systems at work, plankton and forests producing oxygen and carbon dioxide, cooling, regulating, maintaining balance, keeping the Earth alive. From this perspective, I saw the Earth as a single organism.

And the answer I’d been seeking so long became clear to me. It was simple, as I’d known it would be. That which keeps the organism alive is right; that which harms it is wrong. It holds true for men, for insects, for ferns and algae. It leads to a rule so universal, so fundamental, it is instinctive to nearly every species on Earth: don’t foul the nest.

And so I am an environmentalist, green through and through.

This I believe.