All over the Earth a great turning in the evolution of humankind has begun. [...] Our capacities to learn, reason, and even empathize are growing quickly. We now know ourselves to be a part of a larger story of life in the universe and are beginning to understand what that will require of us. All over the Earth humans are engaged in a momentous conversation about the terms and conditions that must be met to sustain life [...]The "angels of our better nature" are growing more powerful relative to that part of humankind that Orr calls destructive, capricious, violent, wantonly cruel, derelict stewards, unworthy of the appellation Homo sapiens, destroyers, killers, rapacious, sinful, fallen, deserving of death, inept at seeing patterns and systems and acting accordingly, vicious, having no foresight, and - hold your breath - not courteous. According to Orr, this battle is not between intellectual camps but between good and evil, between angels and sinners.
Is the battle for decency won? No, but in time, I submit that it will be. [...]
The angels of our better nature are growing more powerful in human affairs. There is now a global movement to protect species, stabilize the climate, preserve habitats [...], to reign in our excesses, and reduce consumption.
Those who argue that modern environmentalism is a religion have scored a point.
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