THE UNEXAMINED ASSUMPTIONS

(Source: Laudato Si Symposium)

In our action-oriented culture, when we see something is wrong, the immediate reaction is often
to rush in to try to do something, to “fix” it. But if we try to change our behavior without becoming aware of
the root causes of our conduct, it probably won’t be long before we’re doing the same thing over again, in
a different way!

“…inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage, we are called to acknowledge

“our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation (Pope
Francis LS 8)

How did an intelligent, well-meaning species who for the most part only wanted to make the world
better and more secure for their children, end up in such condition? What could possibly explain how we
got in our current predicament? How did we get here?
“The great work of our times, I would say, is moving the human community from its present
situation as a destructive presence on the planet to a benign or mutually enhancing presence. Its’s that
simple.” (THOMAS BERRY)

“Although it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures,
nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given
dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures. This implies a
relationship of mutual responsibility between human and nature.” (Pope Francis. LS 67)

According to Thomas Berry, our industrial age could be characterized as a period of technological
entrancement in which our obsession with progress has us marching towards an ill-defined magical
paradise somewhere in the future—a future in which we have mastered the Earth and everything on it –
without limits.
In modern society, many of us believe that our job as “smart shoppers” is to get the highest level
of comfort and convenience at the lowest possible price. We assume that when we buy something, the
price we pay reflects the full cost of making it.

Since the market tends to promote extreme consumerism in an effort to sell its products,
people can easily get caught up in a whirlwind of needless buying and spending. (Pope Francis.
LS 203)
Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, above all when few people are capable
of maintaining it, can only lead to violence and mutual destruction. (LS 204)

We’re interdependent, and that interdependence flows at many levels: It’s spiritual; it is
psychological; it is economic. The notion that we can exist and prosper just individually based purely on
what we do and what we earn is a rather new notion in history, and it doesn't work.

The mindset which leaves no room for sincere concern for the environment is the
same mindset which lacks concern for the inclusion of the most vulnerable members of society.
(Pope Francis. LS 196)

“When you say you’re going to throw something away, where’s “away”? There’s no such thing. And
where “away” actually is social justice issues and environmental justice issues. Every plastic bag, plastic
cup, plastic to-go container—that is the petroleum complex in Africa, Ecuador, Colombia, Alaska, you
name it. Every paper bag, paper plate, paper napkin—that is a forest. Everything that is called waste or
disposable is the ways in which we are saying that it is acceptable to throw our planet and its people
away.
 Disposables are one of the huge magnifiers of how we've lost our connection to the sacred. We just
take it for granted that we're going to go to the coffee shop and get coffee that came from an exploited
community somewhere where a forest was destroyed for a monoculture, put it in a paper cup that used to
be a forest, put a plastic lid on top of it that used to be an indigenous community somewhere in a beautiful
area, drink it, and then throw it away where it goes back and pollutes a nature community or a human
community at the end.” (JULIA BUTTERFLY)

“The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.(LS
21)
“These problems are closely linked to a throwaway culture…” -Pope Francis- (LS 22)

The dream of the modern world is constructed almost entirely out of assumptions that have simply
been accepted for generations.

And, over time, these assumptions have become part of the fabric of society, profoundly embedded
in our institutions. Questioning these assumptions, and the systems that perpetuate them, is a powerful
way to begin to awaken from our collective trance.

Today, in a word, “the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our

lifestyle. (Pope Francis. LS 206)

Unexamined Assumptions:

• Human is separate from Nature.

• Nature has no rights as humans have.
• Technological advancement is progress.
• The Earth's resources are limitless and are there for us to use as we see fit.
• The price we pay for something reflects the full cost of making it.
• Happiness lies on having more.
• There is some place called away.
• We have throwaway resources, species, and people.

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1) Which of the unexamined assumption do you feel have been or still remain your very own
assumption?
2) What change of lifestyle you will do to answer the cry of Mother Earth?

(Please take a groupie, post in your social media account and tag everyone from your household and use the
following hashtags: #GenChrist #LiveGenesis #ChristProclaimed #iamSFC)