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Green Messiah
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Green Messiah is a novel by the author Luke Andreski about the genesis of a religion which gives a framework to humanist, anti-materialistic environmental belief. William Tarkovsky, the central protagonist of Andreski’s novel, is profoundly afraid for his children’s future in the face of potentially cataclysmic climate change. Determined to find a way to transform the social processes that he believes are driving humanity towards extinction he is inspired to create a religion - a means of challenging the global polluters from within. New Creationism, the religion that Tarkovsky creates, argues for a radical restructuring of our society - its ‘creation anew’ - along the lines of humanism, sustainability and service. Andreski’s (and Tarkovsky’s) New Creationism states that our existing political structures will be inadequate to protect the future of our species; that other contemporary religions will be unable to preserve humanity in the face of environmental meltdown; and that our values and aspirations must radically change if we are to survive. New Creationism scathingly repudiates our society’s narcissism and selfishness and greed. These beliefs are documented in The Book of New Creation , a work which is distinct from the novel Green Messiah. An extract from The Book of New Creation can be found below. Further detail about both The Book of New Creation and the novel Green Messiah is available at www.greenmessiah.com. ---- The Book of New Creation Time ‘Now is the time to be afraid’ Ordinance the first Now is the time to be afraid The time has come to embrace our fear When animals know fear, what do they do? When animals know fear they run away -or turn and fight We are the turners and the fighters We will face the menace squarely We are strong We will look upon our enemy with wide unblinking eyes We are strong We will overcome this menace that rushes towards us We are strong We will meet our enemy face to face But who is our enemy? What is this menace? From where does it come? Ordinance the second We are the menace We are the enemy The enemy is ourselves Purpose Ordinance the thirty-first We are part of a mission that began when life began, that will not cease until all life ceases. We are a part of the great, thrusting project of evolution, within which we will never be alone, as part of which we have not just one life but a thousand million lives ‘There are dead zones in our oceans’ Ordinance the forty-second There are dead zones in our oceans, expanding with each season and never contracting Ordinance the forty-third There are nil zones of ozone high above our heads Ordinance the forty-fourth The glaciers whose melt-waters feed our valleys and our fields are vanishing while we sleep Ordinance the forty-fifth The ice caps that reject the sun’s heat are melting with the heat of our industry and consumption Ordinance the forty-sixth The permafrost that holds ancient marshland in place is de-frosting and unleashing its contagion Ordinance the forty-seventh The seas that feed and sustain our world are rising and baring their teeth Ordinance the forty-eighth The very air that we breath grows warmer than it should be, grows cold where it should be warm Ordinance the forty-ninth Storms smash our cities, kill our people and destroy our crops Ordinance the fiftieth The species that abut our species are dying all around us Ordinance the fifty-first We are on the brink of the apocalypse Affirmation Courage Ordinance two hundred and twenty-fourth In humanism, sustainability and service we shall find courage. In New Creation the animal in the man is harnessed, the alien is made human, the human becomes keeper of itself In New Creation we are one In New Creation we are strong Affirmation Ordinance two hundred and twenty-fifth Disagree - and you define us Become our enemy - and you will make us stronger Change - and gain meaning Join us - and know purpose Ordinance two hundred and twenty-sixth Self-change is our weapon Self-sacrifice is our weapon Service to our species and service to our world is our purpose Unity and belonging are our strength Imagination and thought are our strength Dedication and commitment are our strength Dedication to humanity and to the service of life everywhere is our strength It is a strength that our enemies cannot understand Ordinance two hundred and twenty-seventh Our enemies will resist us The self-destructive will resist us The greedy and the self-obsessed will fight us But we know who is wrong and who is right, without resorting to fear or superstition And they know who is wrong and who is right, but their perceptions rest upon irrational belief... Ordinance two hundred and twenty-eighth We alone have the strength of true belief, untrammelled by prejudice or parable or myth We alone have the strength of unity and meaning We alone are the adults of our species We alone are wardens to our world They shall want and need and crave and we shall stand before them with a level gaze And if we fall beneath their weapons, we shall fall fulfilled And if they kill us they will succeed in killing only themselves Ordinance two hundred and twenty-ninth Our eyes are the eyes of humans everywhere Our children are their children Our future is their future We will not stand aside and watch their self-destruction We will not appease their societies of superstition or greed We will not abase ourselves before their edifice of wealth We are casting off their shackles of pointlessness Our purpose is irrefutable Ordinance two hundred and thirtieth Disagree - and you define us Become our enemy - and you will make us stronger Change - and achieve meaning Join us - and live forever ---- References ^ Bristol Evening Post, UK, 5th May, 'Is being green the new religion?' ---- Notes ^ 1 Copyright © Luke Andreski 2009. The right of Luke Andreski to be identified as the author of both Green Messiah and The Book of New Creation has been asserted by him. He has given permission for this text from The Book of New Creation to be displayed in this specific entry but not to be reprinted or displayed elsewhere. See Also
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