Since I see most problems as “evolutionary psychology” at root, you’ll not be surprised that I see a solution looking something like “cultural psychotherapy”, though the jury is still out on how to adminster the treatment.
It was Alastair McIntosh in “Hell and High Water” (Chap 9) that prescribed “cultural psychotherapy” quoted here by Rowan Williams (full transcript and audio). Thanks to Sam for the link. Whether or not Christianity has any monopoly of the kind of “love” needed, Rowan is right when he says
The nature of [any current] crisis could be summed up rather dramatically by saying that it’s a loss of a sense of what life is. I don’t mean ‘the meaning of life’ in the normal way we use that phrase. I mean a sense of life as a web of interactions, mutual givings and receivings, that make up the world we inhabit
… the ‘specialness’ of humanity turns out to lie in its role as protecting (through the exercise of …. love and intelligence) life overall.
… how we express and activate our relationship with the creator, our reality as made in God’s image.
… what we need is to be reconnected rather urgently with the processes of our world.
… ‘solving’ the problem of climate change as if it were a case of bringing an uncontrolled situation back under rational management, which is a pretty worrying model that leaves us stuck in the worst kind of fantasy about humanity’s relation to the rest of the world.
… we ought to beware of expecting government to succeed in controlling a naturally unpredictable set of variables in the environment or to produce by regulation a new set of human habits.
… our underlying problem is being ‘dissociated’, and we ought to be asking constantly how we restore a sense of association with the material place and time.
My emphases. OK, so instead of “the creator” or “God” an atheist might say “the creative processes” and “creation” but, hey … it’s the processes all the same. Very consistent with Terry Eagleton and with Alastair MacIntyre. Michael Sandel mentioned too – the great convergence. I feel a longer piece coming on – ever since we came to idolise objects and objectives we’ve lost sight of value in processes of interaction.
I see Operation Noah has been going since 2004. I see also the brief mention of Williams talk also in this news report on the hypocrisy of not tending ones own garden, picks up correctly on the personal attitude & local action focus of the archbishop’s talk.